airbags and stableloads

[thejustin]

TC is a heavy one at approx 4750 lbs in a Host Everest TS. My TV is a 2012 F350 DRW crew cab 6.2L Lariat with the camper package. As of now, all I have are the upper stableloads. When the TC is loaded the rear end of the truck does squat several inches, however it handles fine on the road. I am getting Firestone ride rite bags installed on Tuesday and dealer is recommending adding the lower stableloads as well. Does anyone out there run the uppers lowers and airbags at the same time and have any experiences with the ride quality? I'm just wondering if the lower stableloads are worth the 200 bucks or not.

[Marshfly]

A couple of my stable loads are like that. They split the springs slightly when I engage them. While it makes it slightly harder to swing them in, it's still pretty easy to do with a ratchet handle. When I installed them I made the decision that squeezing them in was preferable to having them loose when engaged and empty. They really do stable things up when they're engaged with a load. Now that you have the airbags, I'd have them installed. You could air up the bags to jack up the truck rather than using a a jack.

[thejustin]

sky_free wrote:

thejustin wrote:
Dropped off truck this morning for lower stableloads and airbags, dealer calls me and says there is a problem. Apparently, with the spacing that is in their and the way they would have to be installed, I would have to jack up the entire rear end of the truck every time they needed to be engaged or disengaged in order to obtain the required clearance to slide them in and out of place. Kind of defeats the purpose of having the "quick disconnect" feature. Little bit bummed about that.

So, we are proceeding with just the airbag install. Hopefully I won't have much sway. May have to do the bigwig sway bar next instead of the shocks. We'll see how she drives.

I see that the airbags are working out for you, which is great. I wanted to comment on this even though it's not needed now.

When I installed the lower stable loads on my truck (which is the same as yours), I was able to use 3 wedges on the back and 2 on the front, while still having enough room to "quick disconnect" them without jacking the back up. Your guy probably was trying to put all 3 on the front and realized it would be a problem.

Later, since I always carry the TC, I decided to just put all 3 on the front too. If I wanted to disconnect them, I would have to release a little tension by quickly jacking up the back via my floor jack on the hitch. Takes a couple of minutes for me to do that, so no big deal. It would only have to be lifted a few inches, which is what I did to install them. Definitely not all the way up with the wheels off the ground. Didn't even do that when I installed them.

Glad the air bags are working out for you. I'll probably do that next myself when funds are available.

That sounds like the scenario he was explaining to me. I just didn't feel it was necessary to spend nearly 400 dollars on parts and labor if the "quick disconnect" feature wasn't going to be there. I drop the camper alot and still use the truck as my daily driver when the TV is not in use so I don't want to have to constantly be jacking the truck up and down to engage and disengage the lowers.

[sky_free]

thejustin wrote:
Dropped off truck this morning for lower stableloads and airbags, dealer calls me and says there is a problem. Apparently, with the spacing that is in their and the way they would have to be installed, I would have to jack up the entire rear end of the truck every time they needed to be engaged or disengaged in order to obtain the required clearance to slide them in and out of place. Kind of defeats the purpose of having the "quick disconnect" feature. Little bit bummed about that.

So, we are proceeding with just the airbag install. Hopefully I won't have much sway. May have to do the bigwig sway bar next instead of the shocks. We'll see how she drives.

I see that the airbags are working out for you, which is great. I wanted to comment on this even though it's not needed now.

When I installed the lower stable loads on my truck (which is the same as yours), I was able to use 3 wedges on the back and 2 on the front, while still having enough room to "quick disconnect" them without jacking the back up. Your guy probably was trying to put all 3 on the front and realized it would be a problem.

Later, since I always carry the TC, I decided to just put all 3 on the front too. If I wanted to disconnect them, I would have to release a little tension by quickly jacking up the back via my floor jack on the hitch. Takes a couple of minutes for me to do that, so no big deal. It would only have to be lifted a few inches, which is what I did to install them. Definitely not all the way up with the wheels off the ground. Didn't even do that when I installed them.

Glad the air bags are working out for you. I'll probably do that next myself when funds are available.

[thejustin]

MORSNOW wrote:

thejustin wrote:
I drove 50 miles from Anchorage out towards Portage and it handled beautifully. Absolutely zero sway so I'm guessing I have the perfect amount of air in each bag and its not over inflated. The truck felt much more solid, especially maneuvering around the tight gas station out in Girdwood. I did notice some bucking when I hit some dips so I think I'll forgo the hellwig for now and do the Rancho's. Rides very comfortably now and its level. I am a happy camper.

Great to hear you got the setup that works for you! I can relate to the crazy freight charges and frustration in finding vendors who are willing to work with you on alternative shipping. I've had pretty good luck contacting vendors and requesting they ship to Alaska using USPS Flat Rate boxes. See you on the road this weekend!

USPS is definitely the cheapest, unfortunately there are lots of things that simply cannot be shipped via US Mail. For example, the weight limit of any individual parcel sent USPS cannot exceed 70 lbs, even for flat rate boxes (I work at the USPS PD&C here in Anchorage). I've seen 90 lbs of metal stuffed into those flat rate boxes going out to bush points like Bethel and Aniak but they just get stamped overweight and get returned to the sender. It's amazing how much stuff people cram into those boxes......

But yeah, I'll see you on the roads! Was going to drive out and fish Anchor River/Deep Creek for some King Salmon on Monday but I have to work. I know the Quartz Creek and Russian River campgrounds will be open (but no fishing until the sockeye opener on the Kenai/Russian till 06/11), I may just drive down to the Russian and walk the trails. Can't wait to hook into some fish. Tight lines!

[MORSNOW]

thejustin wrote:
I drove 50 miles from Anchorage out towards Portage and it handled beautifully. Absolutely zero sway so I'm guessing I have the perfect amount of air in each bag and its not over inflated. The truck felt much more solid, especially maneuvering around the tight gas station out in Girdwood. I did notice some bucking when I hit some dips so I think I'll forgo the hellwig for now and do the Rancho's. Rides very comfortably now and its level. I am a happy camper.

Great to hear you got the setup that works for you! I can relate to the crazy freight charges and frustration in finding vendors who are willing to work with you on alternative shipping. I've had pretty good luck contacting vendors and requesting they ship to Alaska using USPS Flat Rate boxes. See you on the road this weekend!

[thejustin]

msiminoff wrote:

thejustin wrote:
Does anyone out there run the uppers lowers and airbags at the same time and have any experiences with the ride quality?

I run run airbags and extended upper and lower overload bump stops that are nearly identical to upper/lower StableLoads This combination offers great ride quality and allows me to keep the pressure in the airbags to 25-30psi or less. Of course my truck is a RAM so YMMV.

Note that you should run your airbags at as low the minimum pressure that will restore your desired ride height. High airbag pressure causes a harsh ride due to them having a rapidly rising spring rate.

Cheers
-Mark

Just got back from my first test run and I am very very happy. Was kind of bummed that apparently my truck spring back isn't a good candidate for the no drill 7310 stableloads, so I ended up skipping those and just doing the Firestone 2550 Ride-Rite bags. It was pretty neat putting the air compressor on the valve and watching them bags almost instantly raise the camper level. Anyway, put just enough air in each bag so the upper stableloads are touching the upper overload. Comes out to ~ 50 psi in each bag (I am already dead level left to right probably due to having slides on both sides of the camper). Im guessing if I had the lower stableloads I could run 25-40 psi, but I am happy staying in the 50-ish threshhold and not having to run a crazy high number like 90 psi in each bag.

I drove 50 miles from Anchorage out towards Portage and it handled beautifully. Absolutely zero sway so I'm guessing I have the perfect amount of air in each bag and its not over inflated. The truck felt much more solid, especially maneuvering around the tight gas station out in Girdwood. I did notice some bucking when I hit some dips so I think I'll forgo the hellwig for now and do the Rancho's. Rides very comfortably now and its level. I am a happy camper.

I am glad I did not get the on board compressor. I have a generic Walmart compressor that my Onan and Yamaha generators power just fine. I can fill both air bags up from one full cycle of the compressor (and it only takes a matter of seconds).

Just a heads up to anyone with a Ford considering the Firestone bags. There are seperate part numbers for the Diesel and Gas trucks, I believe due to the different exhaust configurations. I almost ordered the diesel airbag kit (2535). The correct 6.2L gas kit is part 2550. Additionally, my truck did not come with the OEM Ford 5th wheel prep package. I bought the Reese elite underbed gooseneck/5th wheel rail kit and had it installed after the fact. My RV installer said it added an hour or so of labor in time and materials and some drilling was involved. This may have been the fault of the goober shop I had install my hitch kit though. Something you will want to consider.

[Boatycall]

Nautique200 wrote:
install the RS9000xl and run them at 3 when empty and then crank them up to 10 when loaded with the camper. Huge difference!

X2....

And as for sway, why all the talk on relying on shocks and bags to control sway when that's not their primary function? If you're concerned with sway control, Roadmaster makes the largest available anti-sway bars for Fords. Hellwig is good, but not as large, but also doesn't cost as much.

I couldn't be happier with my setup, and my TC is over 7,000lbs. I recently added Stableloads as well as swapped the front sway bar to a Roadmaster. I did the rear sway bat ~year ago, so now both front and rear are aftermarket. That with the Rancho 9000's made me stop looking for a F550.

[msiminoff]

thejustin wrote:
Does anyone out there run the uppers lowers and airbags at the same time and have any experiences with the ride quality?

I run run airbags and extended upper and lower overload bump stops that are nearly identical to upper/lower StableLoads This combination offers great ride quality and allows me to keep the pressure in the airbags to 25-30psi or less. Of course my truck is a RAM so YMMV.

Note that you should run your airbags at as low the minimum pressure that will restore your desired ride height. High airbag pressure causes a harsh ride due to them having a rapidly rising spring rate.

Cheers
-Mark

[AH64ID]

Boy Hellwig's website is all jacked up. It stats the 7271 for all truck, at least the instructions state SRW only. The 7282 instructions don't state DRW only, even thou it is...

[thejustin]

ah64id wrote:

thejustin wrote:

ah64id wrote:
I think you will be better off with a big wig anyhow...

Looking for somebody online that will ship to Alaska. Amazon doesn't have the one I need. 😞

Isn't is a 7271?

http://www.amazon.com/Hellwig-7271-Rear-Sway-F-250/dp/B006J1ASZ6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1400615501&sr=8-4&keywords=hellwig+big+wig

7282 for 4wd drw.

Best price I can find with shipping is about 450 to 475.

[AH64ID]

thejustin wrote:

ah64id wrote:
I think you will be better off with a big wig anyhow...

Looking for somebody online that will ship to Alaska. Amazon doesn't have the one I need. 😞

Isn't is a 7271?

http://www.amazon.com/Hellwig-7271-Rear-Sway-F-250/dp/B006J1ASZ6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1400615501&sr=8-4&keywords=hellwig+big+wig

[thejustin]

ah64id wrote:
I think you will be better off with a big wig anyhow...

Looking for somebody online that will ship to Alaska. Amazon doesn't have the one I need. 😞

[AH64ID]

I think you will be better off with a big wig anyhow...

[thejustin]

Bedlam wrote:
Mine are tight, but I can inflate the airbags to take pressure off. You can also use 1, 2 or 3 wedges per StableLoad if you have less clearance.

He suggested the airbags may be able to be inflated to get sufficient clearance but couldn't guarantee. He indicated with my particular spring configuration even with the use of wedges I was going to have to jack the rear end up if the airbags wouldn't get the rear end high enough to disengage. I'm passing for now.