Anyone haul camper with Ram SRW 3500 2wd factory air bag ?

[MTK251]

I have a Lance 850 that I haul on a 2002 Dodge 2500 with upgraded suspension.
Recently I have been looking at 4th Generation Ram trucks. I found a 3500 SRW 2wd that has
the factory air bag system. Just wondering how they would handle a slide in camper that
weighs about 3000-3500? I'm pretty sure you can't adjust the pressures in the bags.
I know how to get the regular leaf spring setup to work. But this new system will probably be hard to modify if it doesn't handle a camper. Any info is appreciated. thanks

[kohldad]

I moved from a 2004 to 2015 srw ram worth the same 2,400# tc. The ride is about the same except there is slightly more lean in the corners. The big difference I think is that the 2015 doesn't have helper springs as they expect the main set to do all the work. This means no upper bump stops which I did have on the older truck. The leaning still isn't bad bit is noticeable.

[finsruskw]

That's where the lower stable loads will come into play.

[ajriding]

work2much wrote:
I have a 3500 DRW with the factory air. … We have noticeable more sway on our 2017 ram with factory air than we did on our 2004 ram DRW with leafs. ..

Air bag placement is a key issue. Where on your truck are the airbags? Inside the springs? In between the frame? On the frame?

Some have bags between the frame, on the bump stops sometimes, and this is bad for TC. It creates a more narrow suspension set-up, more topply. Bags need to be at the frame or at the width of the springs…

[MTK251]

Thanks to everyone who replied. I am leaning towards getting the standard suspension
setup . It would be nice to try the factory air suspension . I'm going to go with what worked
good for me in the past. I really like timbrens front and rear, then I use lower stable loads to
preload spring leafs and run bilstein shocks.

I drove a 2016 ram 3500 SRW 2wd and really like the power, comfort and being able to stop easier,
compared to my 2002 Dodge . Going to keep looking for low hour good condition Ram.
Oh one other thing was the lack of noise. I'm liking the quiet factor, and my neighbors will
like me better when I leave on early morning trips.

[Gary_Morency]

Not a nightmare at all been out to AZ last winter in lots of high winds the only thing I did was change the 1in bumpstops to 2in that made a big difference turning corners and comeing out of fuel stations

[Kayteg1]

97chevor wrote:
I would think the air ride would make handling in the wind a nightmare.

All 13' tall semi-trailers do it just fine.

[97chevor]

I would think the air ride would make handling in the wind a nightmare.

[Grit_dog]

Small camper like that, the air assist would do fine, IMO. Much heavier though and you’d be better off with a full set of leafs in lieu of the half set on the 3500 air trucks

[finsruskw]

I am right at 14K ready to camp with our 2015 Ram 3500 DRW 4x2 Cummins powered with Laramie Longhorn trim level in a crew cab and hauling a Lance 1181
Love it, love it, love it!!

[work2much]

I have a 3500 DRW with the factory air. If I was buying a new truck to haul a TC I would go with the std suspension with the beefier leaf springs compared to the factory air. We have noticeable more sway on our 2017 ram with factory air than we did on our 2004 ram DRW with leafs. That's with a direct comparison on an Arctic Fox 1150. Also the factory air bags are not adjustable past a simple selction switch that can lower the bed about 2 inches. A feature more for 5th wheels. Also no side to side adjustment to level the camper side to side.

You can always add airbags or other aftermarket load leveling devices on the std leaf version. The factory air is more limited in suspension upgrades. There is finally a sway bar available and that helps.

Just my 2c after using both extensively.

[otrfun]

Not aware of any problems/complaints with the 3500 air suspension. Availability of aftermarket suspension parts/upgrades are much more limited (vs. non-air). Although I don't think it's continuously adjustable, I believe it does have 2-3 presets that will vary the height somewhat.

My guess a 3500 SRW 2WD should have over 4,000 lbs. of payload in the lower trim levels. May drop below 4k with a higher trim level due to the weight of the additional options. It should handle a 3000-3500 lb. loaded camper just fine. If 3,000-3,500 is the camper's empty weight, then you're probably looking at 4,000 - 4,500 lbs. loaded.

[ajriding]

The air bags should self-adjust to maintain ride height, which is what most people do with air bags, so it will increase air bag pressure when the TC is loaded. Same effect.

SRW is not a big issue, yes DRW will be more stable, but so will a class 8 truck…
You are more than adequate to carry a TC…

[twodownzero]

I'm pretty sure virtually all newer SRW trucks are rated at or near 4k in payload. The 2wd models might even have more than that.