Opinions on air bags for 2015 HD 3500 to carry my Lance 855s

[PSUJIM85]

Looking for pros and cons. Dealer said I could use them and they would be great but not totally necessary. What do you think ????

[travelnutz]

The springs are supported by the vehicle's frame just like the airbags are, so in that respect it makes not an iota of difference. On the GM trucks, the airbags are mounted wider than the springs so there's even more width/sway support. The airbags centerline is farther from bag to bag than the spring centerline from spring to spring. Wider is better and you control how much extra lift by the psi inflation. Couldn't possibly add sway if inflated properly to the load carried.

Of course, any nimrod could inflate the bags to 100 psi when carrying 2000 lbs of high COG weight and then complain that it's tippy. DUH!!!

For the over 4000 lbs of loaded to travel TC we carry, our bags are always inflated to 65-70 psi when the camper is on. 45-50 psi with the 12,800 lb loaded to travel 5th wheel attached. PERFECT!

There comes a time in life when you have to actually use that gray noodle that's stored inside your head!

[deltabravo]

Reddog1 wrote:

deltabravo wrote:
Airbags effectively "unload" the suspension.

I do not understand this statement. The airbags are one of the many components of the suspension, which also includes springs, shocks, anti-sway bar. If stableloads are used, they too become part of the suspension.

The airbags do take some of the weight off of the springs, when inflated. That is their purpose. The air pressure determines just how much weight is removed from the springs.

They do unload the springs, like you said above.

[travelnutz]

All of our airbags were/are Air-Lift systems. Not about to change brands either!

[travelnutz]

wintersun,

Quote:

"Air bags are terrible for use with a camper."

Absolute total BS!!!

Been using air bags on 3 different 2500 pickups since 1993 and they are fabulous +.

NO SWAY ever, totally adjustable to the load carried or no load, are wonderful for off road (2 track) travel with a TC etc on, none have ever leaked and the ones on the 1993 Chevy 2500 ext cab long box 4X4 truck we'd sold to a farmer friend are still going with the original bags and air lines at 386,000 miles and 19 years on them now. Saw the truck and talked to the farmer only 2 weeks ago. He really loads the truck with crops, fertilizer etc, and other farm needs.

I/we wouldn't carry an 8' + TC without them or our 5th wheel either. Also worked great with our various TT's.

Air bags allow you to have the ride quality of the better 2500 trucks and also have the true load carrying and handling abilities of a very stout 3500 HD. Our 2004.5 GM 2500 HD DA CC LB 4X4 truck in our signature with a little over 150K on it now and has always been a pleasure and so comfortable to drive anywhere with our over 4000 lb 11'4" lance on the poop deck. Just went 2 tracking on seasonal unimproved potholed muddy dirt roads yesterday thru the national forest for over 10 miles to get around a serious accident that closed the only paved highway. No problem at all! Yes, we often also pull a 16.5' 2150 lb boat behind our truck/TC or our 3500 lb vee nosed trailer behind. Both ride and handling is excellent and always has been!

[AidenJ]

If all your trying to do is level your load, why not add Timbrens. Had them on my last 2 GM trucks and they worked great. Leveled the load and no sway and won't affect unloaded ride. Don't need anything on my current truck, handels camper fine stock.

[Bigfootchevy]

I don't think your going to need anything but if you do I suggest you start with Torklift stable loads. That's all I added to my one ton SRW truck's suspension.

I had air bags once, for me, air bags are not an option.

Paul

[Bedlam]

I think you will like the upper StableLoad pads. For those of you that do not like the unloaded ride because of spring/pad slap, you can try the Energy Suspension pads. They do offer a better ride, but they compress to half their height before really engaging your upper overload spring (the reason I switched to StableLoads).

The lower StableLoads on my Ford fit three wedges in back and only two up front without lifting the rear. By putting a floor jack under the receiver to unload the suspension, I was able to fit three wedges up front too. You can wedge in blocks of wood between the spring pack and lower overload keeping it captive with a lag screw though the overload. I did this on and off almost about a year before deciding on adding the lower wedges.

[gregchambers]

I recently purchased a 2015 Lance 855s and carry it on a 2015 GMC 3500 SB SRW 4x4 truck. It sits level and rides good but the headlights are a little high and I prefer a slight forward rake. I experimented last Saturday with the upper overloads by inserting chunks of 2x4 between the upper overloads and the perches. Currently the camper barely engages the upper overloads. The 1 1/2" of wood raised the rear of the camper a full 1" and improved the ride and handling with less side sway on turns. (the DW and I took it for a one mile spin around the neighborhood and she liked the improvement as well)I have upper Stable Loads on order as the gaps between the lower overloads and the main spring pack on this GMC are too small when unloaded to allow all of the lower stable load leafs to be utilized. The truck is a dedicated camper hauler for now so ride quality when empty is of a lesser concern. I agree that you should get the camper, load it and drive it first before doing anything to your truck suspension wise. Have fun with your 855s!

[Jfresh]

I'm a little confused. Why does he need air bags to carry a 855s on a 3500?

[wintersun]

Air bags are terrible for use with a camper. They affect the ride and road handling in a negative manner. They need periodic adjustment. If one of them fails you are in trouble and heaven forbid one fails while out on a trip with the camper in the truck.

If the truck does not handle the weight and sags in the rear then you can add SuperSprings and you can even do this with the camper in the truck as there is no need to lift the truck or to remove the wheels to install them.

The advantage of Supersprings is that they do not affect the ride and handling of the truck when the camper is not in the bed, they never need adjustment, there is nothing to break - ever. I have installed two sets of Supersprings and it never took more than 60 minutes and for tools all I needed was a C-clamp and a couple of wrenches.

I would be surprised if you truck needed additional support but if it does, adding more leaf springs preserves the factory engineered operation of the truck's suspension.

What is also great about fixing the problem at its source with the leaf springs is that it will improve the function of the shocks as well. With air bags you have in effect a second set of shocks and supports and they can fight the factory components. Lots of posts by people with air bags trying to fix road handling problems with their trucks.

Air bags are good for trucks that will be towing a 5th wheel trailer and a precise adjustment of the bed height can be beneficial.

[mkirsch]

SugarHillCTD wrote:
Close to 4000# on a 1 ton is going to require some supplemental suspension help.

First, why? Most 1 ton (assuming-->) DRW's have a payload of 5000-6000lbs these days, and they're designed to haul it all day long, day in and day out. If 4000lbs pushes the suspension past just taking the rake out, I would be surprised.

Second, how do you know what you need until you see what you need? You could be spending dollars and hours on a complex airbag system when all you need are a set of relatively inexpensive StableLoads that take a few minutes to install.

[Reddog1]

deltabravo wrote:

Reddog1 wrote:
Without air bags, I do not see how you can eliminate rear sag.

deltabravo wrote:
Torklift Stableloads eliminate it because they engage the overloads sooner.

I am missing something in this logic. How can the Stableloads eliminate the squat, if they simply engage sooner? To say they "engage sooner" says it has to squat to engage. I would agree the Stableloads reduce the amount of squat, maybe even to an acceptable level. But even that would depend on the load and the spring pack.

deltabravo wrote:
Airbags effectively "unload" the suspension.

I do not understand this statement. The airbags are one of the many components of the suspension, which also includes springs, shocks, anti-sway bar. If stableloads are used, they too become part of the suspension.

The airbags do take some of the weight off of the springs, when inflated. That is their purpose. The air pressure determines just how much weight is removed from the springs.

deltabravo wrote:
Stableloads are far less expensive, and in my case they did far more to the ride and handling of my 2009 3500HD with AF811 than airbags.

I agree the Stableloads are far less expensive than airbags. As for doing far more to the ride and handling than air bags, that is subjective, and each of us have our own comfort level.

deltabravo wrote:
With the Stableloads, the truck still rides high in the back end compared to the front. I always have to put leveling blocks under the front wheels when setting up camp.

My objective is for the front and rear of the truck to maintain the same height relationship, loaded or empty. My truck also rides high in the back. If on a level camp spot, I do not have to use leveling blocks under the front wheels. I just let enough air out of the bags to level the TC. If the rear of the camp spot is too low, I press the button (add air) and raise the rear. Works great when it is windy, cold and raining.

Wayne

[deltabravo]

Reddog1 wrote:
Without air bags, I do not see how you can eliminate rear sag.

Torklift Stableloads eliminate it because they engage the overloads sooner.

Airbags effectively "unload" the suspension.

Stableloads are far less expensive, and in my case they did far more to the ride and handling of my 2009 3500HD with AF811 than airbags.

With the Stableloads, the truck still rides high in the back end compared to the front. I always have to put leveling blocks under the front wheels when setting up camp.

[SugarHillCTD]

Reddog1 wrote:
Without air bags, I do not see how you can eliminate rear sag. The truck must squat for any springs to engage. You can reduce the sag with springs and related, but not eliminate it.

I disagree with the top heavy nature of a TC will cause sway if you are off your overload springs. If improperly inflated the bags might increase sway, but that is the purpose on an anti-sway bar. I base this on personal experience. My 2WD 2500 Dodge has no overload springs, has an anti-sway bar, 19.5 tires and my TC weights 4,200 lbs.

I agree.

Close to 4000# on a 1 ton is going to require some supplemental suspension help.