7 replies to this topic

[Quint]

I own the Ride Rites for my Nissan Frontier carrying an ATC Bobcat shell. When the camper is on the truck on weekends, etc, I run about 35psi to level the truck. When I take the camper off the bed slopes is lifted and slopes down towards the front. I lower the pressure to about 15 when the camper is off. My question is, can I safely run 35psi all the time even with the camper off and the rear end raised or will this damage the transmission, axel or anything else? It would be convenient to do this so I don't have to add air to the air bags every weekend. Can I damage anything by running the air bags this high without any weight in th bed? Or should I not worry about it?
Thanks.

[pvstoy]

May not do much harm...How many inches does it raise the back?

The higher you go up the more the weight is shifted to the front so the front brakes will do all the work and wear out faster.

It may be easier to drop the pressure and have better handling and brake control.

[Pete D]

Umm, it may not shift any noticeable weight to the front; all air bags/extra springs basically do is raise the rear by a little bit.

You might get more noticeable weight shift if you were to raise everything a couple of feet, but not likely on a couple of inches, esp when the axles and drivetrain haven't moved.

If you really want to prove this, take the truck to a set of scales, front on one platform and rear on another, and pressure the bags up and down and see how much the weights change (or don't change).

However, as stated above, raising the center of gravity in the rear may degrade handling to some extent.

[kcowyo]

I don't imagine that running 35 PSI unloaded would cause any great harm to your drivetrain or anything else. I don't think the increase over 15 PSI is significant enough to worry about.

I run a different brand of airbags, Air Lift, and I run 25 PSI unloaded around town, for work, etc. (And I run 60 PSI when loaded with the camper in town, then up to 85 PSI when off-road.) It has a slight rake or raised rear stance but an unloaded truck usually will. I run 25 PSI because it helps soften the impact of in town whoops and potholes when the bed is empty.

To get the real benefit of the airbags, they will need to be adjusted fairly often. Just like tires they don't hold air indefinitely. Fortunately most everywhere that sells gas has an air pump, so you're covered.

[Alex]

I run AirLift as well. Another plus for air bag is it can balance out side to side. Camper is much heavier on the driver side. On mine I run 80psi on driver side and 50psi on passenger side.

[Pete D]

Get a cheap 12V air compressor and you won't even have to find a gas station!

http://toolprice.net...TA=nextag-1307F

I have something similar that I bought at Wally for about the same price and I have even used it to reset the bead on a truck tire (takes a looooong time because it moves only a small amount of air with each stroke). I find the most convenient models have an on/off switch on the unit and a T for using my own pressure gauge. Wally doesn't seem to carry them anymore, unfortunately

[flinchlock]

Do any air bags systems have automagic leveling?

My '98 Pontiac Transport has that feature, and an extra tire value fitting inside the back panel, with 20' of very flexible hose so I can inflate tires/footballs/etc.

Mike

[Alex]

Do any air bags systems have automagic leveling?

My '98 Pontiac Transport has that feature, and an extra tire value fitting inside the back panel, with 20' of very flexible hose so I can inflate tires/footballs/etc.

Mike

Yes, Air Life has a system that can do auto leveling. http://www.airliftco.../smart_air.html.