I am considering a Ram 3500 but am concerned about the ride compared to the 2500. One of the options is air suspension. I am trying to find out how this option affects the unloaded ride. I think that I understand that the air suspension replaces all but one of the springs in the standard leaf spring setup. That would seem to suggest that the air suspension is operative when unloaded. The salesmen are not very helpful, giving conflicting information.So any of you have a Ram 3500 with the factory air suspension option? How does it affect the unladen ride?Thanks for your help.

I believe the computer tells the bags when to inflate or deflate for a level ride. Yes I have read the AS does still have a single leaf. It would be a must have for me.

wgriswold wrote:I am considering a Ram 3500 but am concerned about the ride compared to the 2500. One of the options is air suspension. I am trying to find out how this option affects the unloaded ride. I think that I understand that the air suspension replaces all but one of the springs in the standard leaf spring setup. That would seem to suggest that the air suspension is operative when unloaded. The salesmen are not very helpful, giving conflicting information.So any of you have a Ram 3500 with the factory air suspension option? How does it affect the unladen ride?Thanks for your help.The 3500 air has a half spring full multi leave spring pack on each side to a standard frame mount in front of the axle. From the axle back there is no spring, so these half springs hold the axle in place and control axle wrap. ALL THE WEIGHT is carried on the air bag system. Cummins12V98 should be along to give you a detail report. He really likes the setup.Chris

I have that setup on my RAM, it's nice. It works like the air bags on the big trucks, there's a control arm attached to the axel as the chassis "sags" the control arm "tells" the compressor "we need more air" to keep this thing level. It doesn't matter how much weight you put on the rear axel, the truck won't sag. No more head lights pointing into the sky at night with a load/RV on!Here's a couple of shots I took of my truck suspension right after I picked it up.One shot from the rear and one from the front, not the best, sorry it was five below zero the day I shot these pictures.Dan

I should've said in my first reply, in my opinion the truck does ride smoother than springs. It's hard to say though, I had an '06 3500 RAM with springs and I added Firestone Ride rites to cut down on the sag. So going from an "old" truck to a brand new truck was over whelming to me. So many nice new upgrades! The pulling power, the EB and the solid ride itself, very nice!! What's not to like about a new truck right?It's nice that the truck sits level with OR without weight on it. I like the ride it gives but I was used to the ride I got from my '06.I'm sure Cummins will chime in as well, I love my truck, it's a towing beast and he will probably reiterate..... I'd say go for it, you'll love it!Dan

How's the suspension travel with that setup? It seems like the airbags would be pretty limiting in terms of allowing axle droop offroad.

Ram 3500 and air suspension option | Good Sam Community

Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Dec 21, 2015
Me Again wrote:
zb39 wrote:
I like that finned diff cover...................Thanks for the info on the air ride, I ordered it. Also your posts on the B%W tun over hitch with companion convinced me to buy it last summer. So glad I did. This is our first 5th wheel and the hitch was super easy to use and very secure. Love it. I will be getting the B&W for the 5th wheel prep in the new truck. Looking forward to this summer.

I think you can reuse your B&W head and just but the RAM puck base!

Chris

I could have done that with my Companion I used in my 11 Dually but sold the whole thing for $500 on the first call. The RVK3600 base only is $625 at E trailer. So for about the same $ I have a new hitch.
IdaD
Explorer
Dec 21, 2015
spoon059 wrote:
Searching_Ut wrote:
As for using this truck for off roading, as someone who has been a pretty hardcore off roading sort for 30 plus years, I don't find the vehicle very appropriate for that sort of use. Handles poorly at any speed at all through bumps or washboards, poor maneuverability, has enough weight that you spend forever getting unstuck when you do hang it up or bury it, and most importantly, on this rig compared to the 2011 I had there is more expensive looking plumbing on the underside to tear up fairly easily.

Not sure too many people will be offroading their $60K trucks anytime soon either...

My truck didn't cost $60k, but I do run it off-road quite a bit on camping and hunting trips. It does better than you'd think in most conditions, with the big limitation being sheer size on some of the narrower trails. Even with the size and wheelbase I've found that the big girl turns pretty tight - it's quite a big better than my dad's super duty in that regard.

I don't think I'd want to run a truck with airbags off-road too much.
Me_Again
Explorer III
Dec 21, 2015
zb39 wrote:
I like that finned diff cover...................Thanks for the info on the air ride, I ordered it. Also your posts on the B%W tun over hitch with companion convinced me to buy it last summer. So glad I did. This is our first 5th wheel and the hitch was super easy to use and very secure. Love it. I will be getting the B&W for the 5th wheel prep in the new truck. Looking forward to this summer.

I think you can reuse your B&W head and just but the RAM puck base!

Chris
zb39
Explorer
Dec 21, 2015
I like that finned diff cover...................Thanks for the info on the air ride, I ordered it. Also your posts on the B%W tun over hitch with companion convinced me to buy it last summer. So glad I did. This is our first 5th wheel and the hitch was super easy to use and very secure. Love it. I will be getting the B&W for the 5th wheel prep in the new truck. Looking forward to this summer.
cummins2014
Explorer
Dec 21, 2015
Searching_Ut wrote:
Beau Bo wrote:
Will a failure of some sort with the air bags leave you stranded or can you still drive on the leafs like with some of the after market setups?

On my SRW 3500 you can't select the alternate ride height setting without several hundred pounds of payload as the rear won't sag enough. On the other hand with around 3k of pin weight the sag is several inches until the airbags air back up. You could probably get to the next town if you lost air, but I wouldn't want to tow far.

As for using this truck for off roading, as someone who has been a pretty hardcore off roading sort for 30 plus years, I don't find the vehicle very appropriate for that sort of use. Handles poorly at any speed at all through bumps or washboards, poor maneuverability, has enough weight that you spend forever getting unstuck when you do hang it up or bury it, and most importantly, on this rig compared to the 2011 I had there is more expensive looking plumbing on the underside to tear up fairly easily.
.

I have asked this before, is there any difference with this OEM air system then say the AirLift, or Firestone aftermarket. The Firestone airbags look pretty much identical OEM or aftermarket. I understand the automatic part on the new Rams, Airlift offers the same system , as the weight pushes down it automatically airs back up, Ride Rite probably offers the same.

I keep hearing from Cummins12V98 about this OEM system , price is no different etc etc, but in reality its about double in price when ordered OEM , but is it doing ANYTHING that aftermarket won't .
Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Dec 21, 2015
A bag failure is about as likely as a spring breaking. I am at the upper end of it's design limits as far as keeping the truck "Level" and have had zero issues. Some will use any excuse to not spend $ on something that they think they can do for less $. Yes you can add bags with air fill at the license plate for a few hundred but is is no way in the same league as the built in system as far as convenience of use and ride quality. I have had both and the factory system is worth every.

A lot of dealers don't even have the 5th wheel gooseneck option installed when ordering even tho it's only $350 or so. So to have a $1,350 option installed on a truck is not too likely unless they are a larger dealer.

As far as having to add a few hundred pounds for the Alt ride to activate that is true but once you have done so it will stay in that mode with or without a load until you turn it off. Mine is on all the time.

The bags are made by Firestone. The bags and springs limit travel.
cummins2014
Explorer
Dec 21, 2015
FishOnOne wrote:
spoon059 wrote:
Searching_Ut wrote:
As for using this truck for off roading, as someone who has been a pretty hardcore off roading sort for 30 plus years, I don't find the vehicle very appropriate for that sort of use. Handles poorly at any speed at all through bumps or washboards, poor maneuverability, has enough weight that you spend forever getting unstuck when you do hang it up or bury it, and most importantly, on this rig compared to the 2011 I had there is more expensive looking plumbing on the underside to tear up fairly easily.

Not sure too many people will be offroading their $60K trucks anytime soon either...

I use 4 wheel drive for off road use. Without it I would get stuck.

I will say that the dealer my cousin works at does not stock trucks with the air springs do to most ranchers in the area run a lot of gravel roads.

I'm not sure what gravel roads have to do with airbags, but I ran them on my previous truck for around 9 years, and a lot of off road hunting ,mud, gravel etc.
45Ricochet
Explorer
Dec 21, 2015
Beau Bo wrote:
Will a failure of some sort with the air bags leave you stranded or can you still drive on the leafs like with some of the after market setups?

Those bags will not fail any faster than a OTR truck or air bag Motorhome. Even a failure you can limp to the side of the road.
I have not read of any, but again I didn't google it :W I'm sure there is a different story on Google :B
FishOnOne
Nomad
Dec 21, 2015
spoon059 wrote:
Searching_Ut wrote:
As for using this truck for off roading, as someone who has been a pretty hardcore off roading sort for 30 plus years, I don't find the vehicle very appropriate for that sort of use. Handles poorly at any speed at all through bumps or washboards, poor maneuverability, has enough weight that you spend forever getting unstuck when you do hang it up or bury it, and most importantly, on this rig compared to the 2011 I had there is more expensive looking plumbing on the underside to tear up fairly easily.

Not sure too many people will be offroading their $60K trucks anytime soon either...

I use 4 wheel drive for off road use. Without it I would get stuck.

I will say that the dealer my cousin works at does not stock trucks with the air springs do to most ranchers in the area run a lot of gravel roads.
Adam_R
Explorer
Dec 21, 2015
SolidAxleDurango wrote:
transamz9 wrote:
SolidAxleDurango wrote:
Shocks should NOT be the limiting factor. They will get damaged.

The steel spring or limiting strap should be limiting factor.

What do you think the limiting factor is on the front of your truck with the coil springs? What about the rear on the new Rams with coil springs?

The coil itself.

No, that is not the case. As mentioned already, the coils will fall out if the shocks are a little on the long side. All of my rock crawlers use the shocks as limiters. No problems there. If I was off-road racing and jumping, I'd look at some limiting straps, but for my low speed world, shocks do the job just fine.

Adam