2014 Ram 2500 Coil Spring Airbag Solutions?

[krazymatt]

So I'm planning on installing some Airbags on my 2014 Ram 2500 Coil sprung pickup to help soften the ride a bit under load. I was going to go with firestone but upon research I understand their "no drill kit" does indeed require drilling due to poor fabrication. Also the instructions seem to plain old suck. Are their any other brands I can go with that might be better to install? On youtube a guy installs the firestone bags and he has to use a plasma cutter because the drilled hole location doesn't allow for a standard drill to fit. Also do these airbags replaced the springs or do you keep the springs?

[FishOnOne]

Very interesting comments about the rear spring suspension here.

[wanderingbob]

MY 2014 2500 RIDES NICER WITH A LOAD .

[krazymatt]

bman916 wrote:
All I know is when I pull without air in the bags it feels like it's bouncing all over the road back there....

Looks like you know what I'm talking about and pretty much proves that my new bags will alleviate my issues. Many of these folks that are opening their mouths either A: don't have a coil spring Ram 2500, B: Have one and don't tow with it, or C: they've never had air bags so shouldn't be inserting coins. LOL

[bman916]

All I know is when I pull without air in the bags it feels like it's bouncing all over the road back there....

[goducks10]

Yes, there's no overload springs on coil sprung Rams but isn't the spring a progressive spring? The more weight that gets put on it the harder it is to compress. That would seem to make a smoother tow than leaf springs that have an over load spring that only comes in contact when the load reaches a certain weight or when the truck hits a bump causing the rear to sag.

[bman916]

I have a 2014 ram 2500 6.7L 4x4 short box. Pull a 40' toy hauler with 3100lbs of pin weight. I installed the firestone bags 2 months ago with no drilling and left the springs on. Have about 3k miles on it now and pulls great. I run about 55psi in the bags and ran the air lines back through my lic plate holes.....

Before the towing hatters get going... I know, I know... by the "book" I am over loaded on the payload a bit.

[ib516]

krazymatt wrote:

ib516 wrote:

krazymatt wrote:

So you're saying that springs run as smooth with no load vs loaded?

No, adding some weight in the bed usually smoothes things out some.

The above statement I have found to be completely NOT TRUE when talking about the Coil rear Sprung Ram 2500. Empty the truck has an acceptable ride. Hook on a heavy trailer be it my 32' 5er or my equipment trailer with a tractor and equipment and the ride gets not so pleasant. It's like you feel every little thing the trailer tires hit on the freeways.

It does for mine but hey - whatever floats your boat - it's your truck and your money 🙂

[krazymatt]

ib516 wrote:

krazymatt wrote:

So you're saying that springs run as smooth with no load vs loaded?

No, adding some weight in the bed usually smoothes things out some.

The above statement I have found to be completely NOT TRUE when talking about the Coil rear Sprung Ram 2500. Empty the truck has an acceptable ride. Hook on a heavy trailer be it my 32' 5er or my equipment trailer with a tractor and equipment and the ride gets not so pleasant. It's like you feel every little thing the trailer tires hit on the freeways.

[ib516]

krazymatt wrote:

So you're saying that springs run as smooth with no load vs loaded?

No, adding some weight in the bed usually smoothes things out some. What I am saying is that adding air bags will only serve to stiffen the ride, loaded or unloaded.

When you add airbags, you're adding spring rate which = less suspension travel for a given vertical load which = a stiffer ride. The only exception may be when a truck is factory equipped with auxiliary springs (overloads) which can and will come into contact with a certain amount of sag and then serve to stiffen the ride.
If adding airbags prevents that, in some rare instances they can soften the ride under load.

However, the new Ram 2500 rear coil suspension has no overload springs so adding bags will only firm things up, not soften them out.

[ib516]

ACZL wrote:

The nose of your 5er in pic looks a tad high or just the way you have it parked when pic was taken?

That 5er belongs to a friend. We just went out and did some testing with it (0-60, sag, and mpg) comparing his 2014 SRW 3500 Cummins to my 2014 2500 Hemi. I snapped that pic just to compare. The 5er was quite nose high. I only towed it about 10 miles to do the testing so I didn't bother to take apart my 5er hitch and adjust it down for a short test. It rides much more level on his truck. Here's a pic of his SRW 3500 Cummins hitched to his RV (same one I towed).

[ACZL]

ib516 wrote:
Adding airbags will only serve to stiffen the ride. Airbags are generally used to cure rear end sag with a heavy load. I've had a 41' 5er on mine and had very little sag.

The nose of your 5er in pic looks a tad high or just the way you have it parked when pic was taken?

[krazymatt]

Thanks for the info. I finally ended up going with the Airlift 5000 system with the Wireless One compressor system. I did do research and the firestone for the coil sprung rams does indeed require you to drill two holes in a very difficult location despite what Firestone claims.

[kzspree320]

The air bags supplement the springs. You do not remove the springs according to the instructions. I have the Firestone Ride Rites on my 2008 Ram 2500 CTD and installation required no drilling. I did read the 2014 instructions and they say drilling is not required. Installation looks pretty straight forward. I like my Ride Rites and they have helped the ride and level the load well.

Airbags are great at leveling the load. As far as improving the loaded ride, it may or may not help substantially. If your load is heavy enough that the jounce bumpers are contacting regularly then you will probably notice an improved ride. If you are substantially off the jounce bumpers and they rarely contact, then I doubt you see much of an improvement.

This is my observations. YMMV. Good luck. Keith

[krazymatt]

ib516 wrote:
Adding airbags will only serve to stiffen the ride. Airbags are generally used to cure rear end sag with a heavy load. I've had a 41' 5er on mine and had very little sag.

So you're saying that springs run as smooth with no load vs loaded?