Air Bags & Campers

[myowneq]

Hi Everyone,

I have a question. I think I know the answer, but I want to confirm.

I'm putting Firestone airbags on the rear for when I'm hauling heavy or towing. I plan on putting a pressure gauge inside so I can monitor when I'm on the road.

I'm looking for a pressure gauge. From what I've heard, I'll probably have only 50psi in the bags when towing. I've found a few, but I don't want a 0-200 range when I'm only using 50.

So, finally, here's the question. Let's assume I have 50 psi in the bags. If I put in 1000 pounds in the bed, the pressure gauge would increase, right? And if so, do you think it would be a small jump, let's say 10psi or would it be a big jump like another 50psi?

Thanks,
Tim

[travelnutz]

I've had either steel overloads, elastic overloads, or air bags one at least 11 of our trucks used for personal or my businesses use and hands down, air bags are vastly superior as they are fully adjustable to the load or unloaded and ride like floating on air because that's what it is! The others have ZERO adjustment to varying loads when installed. A light load in the bed with people riding in the rear seat is like being on an unsprung buckboard and it was a constant complaint.

With air bags, using the onboard compressor with controls for each side is as good as it can get. Had 3 trucks setup this way with Air-Lift System bags and it gives infinite control anywhere anytime. Load first and then set inflation as needed whether with the onboard compressor or use the exterior fills. 100 psi gauges, if gauges are installed, are a min as driving over bumps in the road alters the bag's psi constantly as the axle bounces. The bags themselves are capable of 250 psi pressures (my Air-Lift bags are) for short terms without any damage but do not inflate them to over 100 psi idle when loaded. Inflating to over 100 psi will create pressures of even over 200 psi on large bumps and can or will bend the bag's mounting plates or brackets and ruin the bags.

[myowneq]

W.E.BGood, I bought these 2nd hand off the truck forum. There's no return. I also bought the compressor 2nd hand also. I'm pretty well committed. 🙂

But I wanted a separate compressor and tank anyway. I want air on board so I can air my own tires up & down as necessary and just to have in general. It won't be designed to run anything more than that, but it'd be nice to have and I bought the stuff almost half off new. Couldn't turn that down.

As for plumbing, I'm going all electrical and relays. It's a bit more expensive, but then I can leave all the air connections outside.

[W_E_BGood]

myowneq...IF you don't yet have the Firestones or can't get a refund on them, consider the AirLift 5000 with remote. I have one on my Tundra.

You have an on-board pump mounted under the bed, and a wireless remote in the cabin (clips on the visor) with digital readout that you use to set the airbag pressure, from 5 to 100 lbs. There's NO plumbing to the inside for gauges, no tubes, no connections, no leaks, no worries.

The pump sensor will continuously and automatically adjust the air pressure, either running the pump or venting air, based on the change in load, even with as little as with me getting in or out of the cab, and I weigh only 175.

Regards, BGood

[mpierce]

Unless you are hauling, in the bed, something that tends to get one side a lot heavier than the other, you will find better to plumb together.

Also, seems like most want to air the bags up so ride returns to original ht. I found that results in a very rough ride. All the additional wt is then carried by the bags. I have gotten to where I air them up so that the pickup returns about 1/2 way to MT height. That way, the additional wt carried is shared by the oem springs and the bags. Works for me. Better ride too.

[myowneq]

Hey Everyone,

Sorry for the delay to be out. Just transitioned from work to home. Unusually long this time.

I just figured I would never go that high on my pressures. Closest I come to maxing out is hauling gravel 20 miles from store to home. Someone told me 50psi is the most they put in theirs. So I figured a small range gauge would be good. But ya'll have given me lots to think about. I'm pretty much sold on the bigger range, a 0-150 for tank and another for air bags.

I'm still back and forth on plumbing. I'm leaning toward plumbing together. If I don't like it, I can easily add the components to plumb separate.

[vern_kelly]

myowneq from Louisiana:

You are correct that the pressure will increase if you air up before putting a significant load on the rear axle like a truck camper. I load the camper and then air up my firestone rite rites. Measure the fender wells or rear bumper of the camper on each side to determine how much air in each bag to have truck level side to side and front to rear. I have overload leaf springs and I have found the best ride is with 1 end of each overload on each side engaged on the stops. On my setup I run ~35lbs on the drivers side and 65lbs on the passenger side. Trial and error will help you! Mine are 15 years old and still work great. Check the mounting bolts to the frame as I've had these work loose.

[vr200275]

Why would you not get a gauge that can read at least as high as the max pressure rating of the air bags?

[wintersun]

I put a 3200 lb. load in my stock GM 2500HD and there was no squat at all. Later added a Superspring on each side for heavier loads. Even a 1/2 ton should be able to handle 1000 lbs. without needing air bags.

Air pressure will increase with ambient air temperature and with elevation. If I was planning to run at 50 PSI I would want a gauge that could read up to 100 PSI.

Important also to have separate fills for each airbag as you do not want an air bag that is supporting a heavy load to be having its air pushed over to the air bag on the other side that has less pressure on it in turns. Not a problem when towing a trailer but can be with a very heavy load in the bed.

[Airstreamer67]

I have a set of Firestone RideRites on my F250 and have the sides plumbed together. I don't experience any extra rolling on turns. I think having them plumbed separately is important mostly for truck campers which tend to roll a lot. With a center-point hitch like my trailer uses, I don't have any problems with them being plumbed together.

Relative to the psi variations with weight, I think some of the early posters were thinking that weight doesn't seem to affect tire pressure. That may be relatively true, but there's a lot of differences between tires and suspension air bags. An air bag doesn't have the stiff sidewalls of a tire, so significant addition weight on air suspension airbags does cause significant pressure increases compared to a tire.

[Bedlam]

My Firestone bags are rated for 100 PSI loaded. I never pump more than that in the bags after I load up and then don't worry about it until I reconfigure my load.

* Realized I typed this backwards to what I was thinking and corrected it *

[myowneq]

Thank you for the information guys. I know I'm reinventing the wheel with what I want to do but there are reasons. I am building a "box" (that's oversimplifying the term) to house a CB radio, the air gauges, and some switches (air compressor master, air bags up / down, extra lights) for various things I plan on installing in the future.

I'm not fond of gauges hanging down or off of stuff. I like things to look like they belong and not added as someone's afterthought. It's me being anal and nitpicking, but when it comes to my truck, that's how I am.

But the new wrinkle in this is the plumb them separately. It's what I was thinking originally but figured it was a waste. But now it's sounding like it isn't.

Glad I still have a few weeks before the air bags make it in. I work two weeks and off for two weeks. This time home, I plan on having the air compressor installed and running. Next time home is the tank. I've got a lot of other projects around the house that need my attention.

Thanks everyone for the information. I appreciate it. 🙂

[transamz9]

My set-up is a little different then all the others as that the air bags is all I have, no steel springs at all. I will see mine spike over 100psi every now and then. I run 50-55 with my 5er on. I have a single gauge with duel needles. I think a 100 psi gauge will be all that you'll need if you still have you OE springs.

[nremtp143]

To give you an idea of how much the bags pressure can rise under a lot more weight, I run mine around 12-15psi when unloaded. When I hitch up and put the weight of my 5er(3000 pound pin weight) on the truck, the pressure rises to between 30-35 psi depending on the outside temps. I usually then air them up to 40-45 for traveling. With gravel and things like that in the bed, you'll likely see numbers closer to these. Just remember to plumb them independently so you can adjust each side, it will be much more stable that way.

[mooky_stinks]

FWIW when I had air bags I usually set them to 30lbs and then after loading approx. 1000lbs they would read 35-40lbs.