50 replies to this topic

[daverave]

Y’all can relax now, we’ve made it back safely to Sactown today ;-) There were no further suspension issues. We kept the remaking good airbag completely deflated. We did keep close to pavement (within an easy 3/4 mile) on the way back and found some neat spots.
I will follow up on this in the next couple of days with some additional input from others more knowledgeable than I am.

[daverave]

remaking=remaining

[daverave]

He confirmed what several have said that it was likely a poor install, guessing that Four Wheel Parts may have installed with the camper on it, a big no-no as you can’t really know the true ride height so the articulation was compromised. He also thought 35 psi was too low for the load.
 

 

What do people think about the contention from the mechanic that a proper airbag installation can not be done without removing the camper from the truck? He likened it to trying to install airbags with a trailer attached to the hitch. He also said that we should not drive the camper with one airbag even slightly inflated. He also thought that adding a leaf to the springs would be a waste of time/money. If he was trying to sell us something I might take his opinions less seriously but we both knew that I would be driving to California to have subsequent work done.

 

I'm pretty sure that Four Wheel Parts did not remove the camper for our springs and airbag installation seeing as how that would entail detaching the turnbuckles and the electrical hook-up to the truck battery. That would be something that would mean taking responsibility for re-installing the camper. (We also don't have jacks for the camper.) Maybe there is a camper-experienced suspension shop in Woodland that FWC can steer us to if camper removal is a good idea.

 

Thanks again for the wisdom!

Dave

 

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

I am going to add my 2 cents here.

When I transferred my 2009 ATC Bobcat from the Ford Ranger

to the 2002 Toyota Tundra,I couldn't add air bags to the Tundra.

The swap was made by going to ATC and Marty removing the Bobcat.

Driving across town to trade in the Ranger for the Tundra then back to

ATC and mount the Bobcat on the Tundra and drive home.

 

At home I ordered the Firestone air bags and mounted them WITH CAMPER ON.

That was 10 years ago today and I have driven over 37K miles and not a single problem.

 

IMO I don't thing the camper needs to be removed,for what reason I am not understanding.

 

Frank

[RONR]

Sorry I’m a little late to the party but thought it still may be helpful. I have an F150 and the Firestone airbags attach to the side of the frame. The two bolts that attach the bracket to the frame via the “frame hole bracket” (nuts?) apparently came loose and the entire bracket came off the frame. I did not know what had happened at the time, but was able to get a tow to a shop that put a new pair of bags on. The shop did the installation with the camper on.

So two things.

1. I’ve had airbags, shocks, extra leaf spring added all while leaving the FWC camper on. I leave the camper on full time and it’s never come up as an issue for any maintenance I have done so far and I’ve had the camper on since 2015.

2. Because of the side mount to the frame on an F150, I now check the bolts for tightness before, during and after a trip. I have a ratchet with an extension and the correct socket all set up in my tool kit just for this. There is no locknut provided by Riderite which seems weird, but before adding a locknut, I decided I’d try Lock-tight (I think I used blue) and it’s never loosened again after many thousands of miles.

Ron

[smlobx]

Late to the game as well but as I read the original post a couple of questions immediately came to mind..

 

1. What is the rated capacity of the Firestone airbags? I have Airlift airbags on both of my pick ups. For the F-350 and my Hallmark camper I have a set of 5000# bags. For my Jeep Gladiator I have a set of 1000# bags.

 

2. Tying into the above question what is the maximum inflation rate for your bags? Mine are 50 and 35 PSI respectfully. I was thinking if yours was 35 psi that you were at the limit and with the weight (1200#) possibly over the design parameters..

Edited by smlobx, 20 October 2021 - 01:33 PM.

[daverave]

The airbags are Firestone Ride-Rite 2525 with load leveling capacity up to 5,000 lbs.

 

The more I've thought about it I agree that removing the camper for the install would be impractical and beyond the scope of most suspension shops. They should know what the factory "true ride height" would be for the unloaded F-150.

 

Thanks again for everyone's input. We have yet to do anything since we are still in decompression mode from the long trip and need to attend to home maintenance issues.... like a main sewer line replacement. Damn roots took advantage of our absence!

 

[daverave]

FYI, the 2525 install instructions are here:

 

https://www.sdtrucks...5-ride-rite.pdf

 

It says to allow 40 pounds of carrying capacity for every one pound of inflation so at 35 psi we should have been capable of carrying 1,400 pounds of load. Also it says that they can handle 100 of inflation and that 5 psi minimum should be kept in them at all times.
 

[daverave]

The red line shows where a portion of the mounting bracket failed. There were three bolts through this piece that mounts to the frame, two on the side and one on the bottom. The bracket on the still attached airbag on the opposite wheel is indicating failure at the exact same location. That tells me that this failure was not due to a sudden airbag deflation but I can’t blame Four Wheel Parts for a bad install (yet) as it appears to match the installation instructions.

[rubberlegs]

We are enjoying joy our Sumosprings, which are like an airbag that needs no air. Black ones.