Air ride suspension

[markowwes]

Seriously thinking about pulling the trigger on a Kelderman 4 link rear air ride suspension. Does anyone have any experience with these systems? The F550 Super Duty has a very stiff suspension even with the camper is loaded. I figure it will soften the ride both loaded and especially unloaded and eliminate the squat when the trailer is hooked up.

[Rocknxj]

I just bought an F450 with full air bag rear. I loved my '97 F350, was very well set up and reliable, but the ride was horrible when empty or with the 5th wheel, was fine with the Lance 921. I was keeping my eyes open for something newer with a better ride and I came across this '00 F450 with full air ride rear. Wow! What a difference. Because it has auto ride height in the rear it pretty much rides the same loaded or unloaded. I was concerned about stability with the camper, but it handles and corners flat, no lean. I also just spent 10 days in the desert with the camper and never put the jacks down. I was hoping for the great ride, but I was surprised by how good it is and really surprised by the stability. I think if you have the money to spend, and are willing to spend it, you would be glad you did. The auto ride height control is nice as well, no matter what load, pull trailer, 5th wheel, camper, camper with 4' extension and car trailer, the ride height is the same.

[burningman]

If you mostly want to improve your ride quality, especially when unloaded, the Kelderman two-stage is pretty easy to bolt in and it’s only $1700. Add a few hundred more for an onboard compressor.
It’s hard to beat the bang-for-the-buck.
I run that plus a set of airbag overloads, so four total bags.
The overloads are empty when the truck is empty.
Very cost-effective.

[HMS_Beagle]

markowwes wrote:
Bedlam; I scale in at 5,490Kg.(12,078 lb.) on the drivers with the camper and boat loaded. Total is 12,836 Kg.(28,239 lb.).

OK so I found a company in Eastern Canada that manufactures a system that bolts right into the spring hangers,

https://www.autoflexsuspensions.com/

Called one of their customers, he says it works just great on their 550. They also have it on some 250’s. About $3000.00 cheaper than Kelderman and a lot less work to install, also includes compressors and controls unlike Kelderman. Called up “Link” they have discontinued there system that looked pretty good.

I have the Autoflex installed on my F350 DRW. Autoflex makes two different systems, a trailing arm and a true 4 (or 5) link. The trailing arm version gives you the advantages of air ride, but since all the drive and braking torque goes through the arms you will get suspension rise on acceleration and squat on braking. I installed the kit myself, it is within the limits of a DYI if you have the space and tools. Mainly big wrenches - some nuts have to be tightened to 400 ft lbs and that requires a torque multiplying wrench. The system is cleverly designed to bolt on, and feed the loads into the Ford factory designed suspension connections.

It is the best modification I have done to any truck suspension. I run about 30 psi empty and while not Cadillac plush, the ride is much improved and the front suspension is now responsible for the harshest bumps. With the camper on, 95 psi for the same ride height, the ride is even better with the camper. Ride remains level, headlights aimed properly, etc.

The roll and sway were reduced with the air suspension (Autoflex recommends simply removing the anti roll bar) but I refit the large bars that I had (Helwig bigwig) which in my opinion improves the handling.

One difference you may find between the Kelderman and Autoflex is that the Autoflex is truly bolt on and reversible (the Kelderman requires cutting torches and grinders). But another is the Autoflex has only one airbag per side vs. two on the Kelderman (they use the same bags). On a 550 you may run out of capacity in one bag per side. I can put about 4000 lbs in my bed at 100 psi, the recommended max for the bags.

Both of these systems are true air ride, no springs and rolling lobe bags, while the Ram factory system - at least in the 1T trucks - is kind of a warmed over air bag assist.

PM me for more details.

[Reality_Check]

markowwes wrote:
.... Called up “Link” they have discontinued there system that looked pretty good.

When I found out they weren't going to keep making them, I was pretty bummed. It's a great system, but if I understood their thinking, the ROI for the quantity sold compared to their heavy suspensions, just wasn't there. So we picked up a unit while we could. It's been sitting on a pallet for 18 months or so.

New truck has been sitting in the drive since Sept; just haven't had time to tear it apart and getting going on it.

I've looked at the Kelderman; I'll have to check out Autoflex for sure. Hope you find something that fits your needs. One just can't beat air, especially for those of us that load and unload (travel light often). Everything else is just a bandaid.

[markowwes]

Bedlam; I scale in at 5,490Kg.(12,078 lb.) on the drivers with the camper and boat loaded. Total is 12,836 Kg.(28,239 lb.).

OK so I found a company in Eastern Canada that manufactures a system that bolts right into the spring hangers,

https://www.autoflexsuspensions.com/

Called one of their customers, he says it works just great on their 550. They also have it on some 250’s. About $3000.00 cheaper than Kelderman and a lot less work to install, also includes compressors and controls unlike Kelderman. Called up “Link” they have discontinued there system that looked pretty good.

[Kayteg1]

Ram started offering rear air after I bought my Ford.
I was researching Ram when ordering, but in California finding a dealer was difficult and the couple I could find did not have sell person who would be willing to work on the deal.
I had 6 or 8 Ford dealers within 100 miles radius

[Grit_dog]

^ Buy a Ram.....

[Kayteg1]

What really upsets me is that air suspension in heavy vehicles is used for like 100 years.
For last 15 luxury car manufacturers commonly use it.
Yet pickup are still waiting for manufacturer who would get the message.
Anyway, since we are converting to electric trucks in next few years ;), I only hope their manufacturers will make it right.

[burningman]

I have the Kelderman Two-Stage on my truck. It’s the one that replaces the rear shackles with a hinged bracket on air bags.
It’s not exactly the one you’re looking at, but I will say the truck rides much nicer, especially empty.
In big-trucks, air ride makes a huge difference.
I’m not at all a fan of the “Stable Loads” or other spring spacers, IF it’s a truck you drive all the time both empty and loaded. Empty, it’ll beat you up.
Air is where it’s at!!

[Kayteg1]

When I would love to have air suspension on my F350 and I followed the pictorial on this forum showing the conversion, it is costly addition to not too cheap new truck, while putting warranty in question.
So I went for alternative Sulastic Hangers, who did smooth empty ride.
Probably the best $300 I spend on my combo.
On my bus conversion air bags gave me about 8" of total adjustment, or +5 and -3. That was nice for leveling, but aged system in the rear leaked, so I had to put rocks under after getting it level.
That made for rock-solid stay while camping 😉

[work2much]

I am also interested in hearing more about the Keldermen suspension. Mainly how it handles the sway of a large TC. I have heard that the bags can be individually aired with a pretty decent range of heights possible. That could be very handy leveling the rig right from the cab of the truck rather than using the wheel ramps.

[Bedlam]

These Class 5 trucks do have stiffer suspensions to handle their payloads - I don't even use the jacks to stabilize the camper when it sits on the truck. I felt it was harsh at 15-16K lbs GVW and is much better now at 17-18K lbs GVW on my Ram 5500 - It is rare for me to run the truck empty when it only weighs around 11K lbs GVW. I added upper StableLoads once I started loading my Ram over 17K lbs GVW - That was about the weight where the rear of the truck started to lag in height compared to the front. What is your scale weight when you are packed up? I'm sure the ride would be better on the Kelderman bags, but my application works fine with the springs and reduced cost.