Airbags not working with overloads

[BigfootBill]

I just put on Airlift airbags on my 3500 and am finding that it is preventing the load from being carried on the overloads.

I have done a fair amount of googling and am not finding people with my particular issue, could just be me?

When I bought my camper in Ohio, it loaded up nicely and the truck sat with the frame perfectly level. I was happy with how it rode for the most part but some of the harder bumps on 90 felt like I was hitting the bumpstops so I was hoping to get a little extra cushion. I read some of the various options and didn't want to mess with the suspension (engage overloads earlier, etc), just wanted the option to raise up a little bit if the situation dictated.

I added the airlifts, which install in the place of the bumpstops and am now finding myself in the situation where the upper and lower brackets plus airbags are fully collapsed/pancaked with 5psi and the overloads are just barely touching the stops on the frame. Fully aired down, I am also no longer level when loaded up which means I will always have to block up the front when parked.

Now it looks like if I want to use the airbags, I will need to put some extensions on the overloads which will put me even higher in the rear for normal travel. I have no interest in raising the front to compensate for the additional lift in the back, not sure what my options are even if I did with a 2wd.

Has anyone gone on this journey and have any suggestions?

[KKELLER14K]

Did you have an onboard air controller?..that was not discussed.

[billtex]

BigfootBill wrote:
And now to close the loop... I put 500 miles on the truck camper over the weekend and was very happy with how it ran. Still experimenting with the pressures but it seemed like 65-85 was the best for highway and then I was dropping down to 45 for city driving. I had no bottoming out, even on 81 in PA which is good enough for me.

There may be some shock upgrades in the future but for now I will drive it as-is and put some more miles on the setup.

Every rig is different. Experimenting will help you find the settings just right for you.

I will say-that is very high psi. But if it works-it works!

Safe travels.

[Grit_dog]

I’m glad it works for you, but I am sooo confused.
Idk what happened or how your truck is setup, but your stories are conflicting and those pressures? How can that be right? First, 45-85 psi with the same load? Second, that much air, the upper pressures is carrying ALL the camper and then some.
Interested to hear the explanation here.
From just needs a little help, to airbags too tall , to I can run 85 psi in them and happy with the setup. Make sure you’re really good with the setup and not just placating for the sake of wanting to feel like you fixed the “issue”, because your “solution” defies physics.

[BigfootBill]

And now to close the loop... I put 500 miles on the truck camper over the weekend and was very happy with how it ran. Still experimenting with the pressures but it seemed like 65-85 was the best for highway and then I was dropping down to 45 for city driving. I had no bottoming out, even on 81 in PA which is good enough for me.

There may be some shock upgrades in the future but for now I will drive it as-is and put some more miles on the setup.

[Grit_dog]

Something is still amiss in your analysis imo. No way an additional 70psi only raised the truck 1/2”. 70psi is over 4000lbs of uplift pressure or something close to that.

[BigfootBill]

For those of you following along, I added a 2 inch spacer at each of the 4 contact points for the upper overloads and when the camper was loaded back on the truck, with 5 psi in the bags, the truck bed was sitting 1/2 inch higher than before. 75psi took the bed up another half inch to give me about an inch of travel. I am taking it out this weekend and will play around with the pressures but right now, I think I will go with the KKeller suggestion and do some surgery on the lower airbag mounts.

The design is set up so that the location of the bag in relation to the bracket can be adjusted with slotted holes, but now that I know where it should be, I can mark the mounting spots and lose the wrench space.

[Kayteg1]

Click For Full-Size Image.

$10 worth of hockey pucks after carrying my heavy camper (up to 6500 lb) for 30k miles.
Btw I sold original pads for $25.

[BigfootBill]

towpro wrote:

ON my 2006 I replaced the thinner overload pads on the frame with a set of these (you will need 2 sets, or 4 bumpers)
click here

I found an old post on here where someone had done this exact mod. It may have been you, I dont remember. If these end up being a similar length to what I get narrowed down I may try these, especially if the unloaded truck is slapping the overloads on bumps too much.

[jaycocreek]

I had the same issue and I wanted an inexpensive fix...
So I decided to do this with items I had on hand:

[BigfootBill]

Thanks for all the different perspectives. I stole from several of you to get to where I am. I did various loaded and unloaded measurements and it was eye opening from several perspectives.

1 - With only the suspension loaded with the camper, air bags not present, I was about half an inch off the bumpstops, which is why I was having them hit some on my drive home after purchase.
2 - With the airbags aired down, and siting fully on the bags internal stops, the camper ended up being perfectly level taken on the refrigerator. Although the tire wells were different heights, various factors ended up combining to be where I wanted even though I didn't realize it.

With that information, I am going to play around with upper overload stop extension lengths to try to get the fully loaded suspension to be just above the air bag bump stops to try to be close to level when aired down and then air up the bags to get 1-1.5 inches of travel in the suspension when driving and see how that rides.

This will end up being a long way around to getting to where a large percentage of truckcamper+airbag users end up with the upper stable loads and airbags. Once I have the airbag pressure and overload extensions dialed in, I expect that I should be happy with the ride.


KKeller - thanks for the pictures. I had a similar thought to cut down the lower bracket for the airbags to get it sit closer to the axle (my bags replace the factory bump stop, directly under the frame) and may still do that depending on how my extension experiment goes. I can gain about 3/4 inches from that lower bracket.

[towpro]

I have had several rams with top overload springs. the problem I have found is some loads your springs are just hitting the overload springs, but when you hit a bump and "bang" the upper spring hits the overload bracket and you feel the jolt in the suspension.

now you have air bags on and it jacked up teh truck so your sitting higher, and I bet the overloads are banging even harder when you hit them.

ON my 2006 I replaced the thinner overload pads on the frame with a set of these (you will need 2 sets, or 4 bumpers)
click here
they are not designed to be used in this job, but I ran them 100,000 miles with different 5th wheels and a Wolf Creek truck camper with no problem (my brother still owns the truck with them installed). what these do is as the weight goes up, these hit the springs sooner, but because of the holes in them they compress some and take the JOLT out of the springs banging into the frame perches.

[KKELLER14K]

Some more advice. Take the bags off and leave the brackets on. With the truck unloaded look at the distance in between the lower and the upper bracket. Then load the truck up with your overloads engaged. It should be obvious that the space is too small for the bags to fit. I modified the lower bracket to get the space needed for the bags to fit.

You will have to cut and re-weld the lower bracket down as far as you can get. It stretches the bag out unloaded somewhat but I had to do this for the same reason. The air bags were bottoming out before the overload springs were completely functional. Don't trust that the stock brackets are correct...mine defiantly were not... the height of the bracket was incorrect. Mine works great now. Look and see if you have any space between the lower bag bracket and the spring pack bracket.

[Grit_dog]

WyoBull wrote:
I have not had that problem with my 2017 F350 and I have Torklift upper Stableloads in addition to Airlift 5000 Ultimate air bags.

I am wondering if it is a Dodge Ram issue as I have not heard of this before with the Super Duty's? My camper weighs 3600-3800 lbs fully wet For my camper, that means putting about 35 lbs of air in the bags.

The only issue with the Ram is how the OP is handling it. And maybe the bags are bottoming out before the springs are.
Sounds like his springs are stouter than your ford if you need 35psi to help your springs with your camper weight.
Apples and Tomatoes comparison.
$20 says if he slapped a set of wedges in the lower springs or lowered the upper overload pads (upper stable loads or other means), it would add just enough to keep from bottoming out.

The add on things are all band-aids (save for sway bars). My truck is full of them because the OE springs can't handle the weight I'm putting on them. If they could (in the OP's case) then minimizing the bolt on **** is the best method.

[Grit_dog]

Geo*Boy wrote:
Timbren makes a front kit for your truck, https://timbren.com/i-30497575.

Why would he need front timbrens? No extra weight on the front.
Are you suggesting shimming them tight so they raise the front (and ride like sht)?