Before/After Air Bags pix

[Tomas Tierra]

Thought I would post shots of my stock (until now) '02 Tundra 4x4 before and after suspension mods..
'02 FWC Ranger on the back

Ride Rite air bags
Rancho 9000 shocks
BFG 265's

We tested moderatly in Death Valley and the Eastern Sierras. It seemed to carry the load very well.A very smooth and level ride with 45lbs on the heavy side and 40lbs the other. Very quick recovery form any uneven point in the road. Maybe to quick, very un-natural compared to passed rigs with only beefed up leaf pack.

I am happy with it.

pix

 

[Tomas Tierra]

After the cha $$ ching ...

 

[Tomas Tierra]

The ability to adjust the suspension wieghed heavy on the airbag decision..The camper will be off the truck much more than on..I really do like the tundra as a road vehicle and want to maintain the comfy ride

 

[Tomas Tierra]

Titus Cyn, Death Valley.

 

[Tomas Tierra]

I guess this is turning into a trip report of sorts...



My daughter "lost on the moon"

She walked all the way out there and back safely in flip flops, I walked 10 steps and got spined..

Artists Pallet, Death Valley

 

[Tomas Tierra]

Our Eastern Sierra campsite..

 

[davinski]

Thomas:

Nice to see the comparison. Am deciding what to do myself. i know I need new shocks, but not sure if I will go ranchos or not. I am still not too sure if airbags or the extra leafs would work. I think FWC suggest supersprings or something like that?

Did you consider all the options before going with the bags?

thanks

Dave in Seattle

 

[Tomas Tierra]

We drove through Alabama Hills on the way home..

All in all it was a great trip. We were fortunate enough to miss weather (75k's of wind the day before we got to DV ) both before and after the trip..

Looking forward to more adventure in our new rig..

TT

 

[Tomas Tierra]

Davinski,

I have run rigs in the past with built leaf springs and had to suffer with the ride when not using th camper. Didn't want to do that again.
I broke a hellwig system and two different add a leafs on past rigs. The full leaf spring pack upgrade was the only way to go. The air bags had a bad reputation with alot of Baja people for a long time, but that seems to have changed in recent years.

With advice from this board and my local suspension expert, I went with the airbags..

I still have my t-rusty 'ol T-100 with the built leaf pack to get me where I really want to go...SOUTH!!

TT

 

[DLN]

I here ya Thomas, the air bags cleaned my ride up very nicely. I also like the redundancy of the added leaf w/ air bags, if one fails we can limp home without too much trouble. The camper is on full time so the rough ride caused by the added leaf doesn't effect us. The ride from here to Woodland to get the camper installed was really ugly, I think I loosened a tooth.

Dave, the ranchos are great shocks from what I've read here on the forum but you may not need such a high end shock with air bags and maybe upgraded springs. I just added a heavier shock/strut set to settle the front end bouncing and it work fairly well.

 

[kcowyo]

...air bags
Rancho 9000 shocks
BFG.....

Same stuff I'm running and I really like the combo.

What I'm not running is a nice 4.7ltr V8. How are you liking the V8 vs. 3.4 (3.0) ? It's gotta make a big difference. A move to a Tundra seems like the next logical step for me, so I'm real interested in seeing how you like the change from the T100 to a Tundra.

Beautiful scenics. The T100 on the beach is my favorite though. The difference with the airbags is really evident when you see those pics. The whole set up on either truck looks great. The white on white always looks good.

So will you be carrying a small air compressor? I keep one of those little Checker air compressors on board now. It helps when I want to air up the tires or airbags. On as rough a trail as I'll take my truck over, I seem to run the shocks on 4 of a 5 position setting, the tires down to 18PSI and the bags up to 85PSI. I'm always playing with the air pressures, trying to get the cushest ride possible.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you have lined up next.

 

[davinski]

Thanks for the info, y'all.

Still not sure what to do. I just have a full sized dodge ram 1500 with hawk shell. Not a bad drive, though. Shocks, I think, are shot. about 100,000 miles. Still stock. I usually leave the camper on most times, but do take it off to work on home projects or do some moving. I was thinking about new shocks, maybe airbags or those supersprings.


I don't know anyone with them so can't really drive them to find out. Of course, a part of me would love to get a new truck. Tundra would be really nice. I'd love to get a diesel one if they made it. It only takes money.

Any more opinions?

thanks

Dave

 

[Tomas Tierra]

KC,

Yes loving the big v8. Haven't used it really, been running around at half throttle trying to save gas. My T-100 has a
3.slow, a dog of a motor. My old T100 had the 3.4 which I loved and felt was plenty of power to pull my normal load. Really wanted a 3.4 tundra 4x4, but was unaware that they ever made one. I guess they did for a year or two.
I do think the double wishbone front suspension is a little better than that coil deal on the Tundra(the rancho's are almost double the price for the front end )

So far I really like the new Tundra. The push button 4x4 I could do without, I like grabbing the nob and slamming it in 4wheel drive. i actually punched the button going 60mph by accident. confused it with the AC button(not used to AC either)
didn't even feel it drop in! looked down and the light was on.I would look for a 5 speed stick. I bought my truck as a road vehicle for my wife, so the auto was OK.

My current air compressor will not fill my air bags past 30lbs so I will be getting the one from costco( forgot the name) to do the job.

Hope this helps KC. I'd try to milk the T-100as long as you can. My'95 was the best truck I've had. The '93 3.0 leaves a bit to be desired..

TT

 

[jimjxsn]

Tomas,
Great info and very nice pictures. Thanks for the report.

I still need to get new shocks for my Tundra and have virtually the same setup.

Best of luck to you

 

[Mushhuskies]

Air Bags: Before and after

Tomas,

Nice looking outfit there and your pictures of places you have been are excellent! I always look forward to seeing them!

I was interested to see what you thought about the air bags on the Tundra. I own a 05 Tundra reg cab/long bed 4x4 and put air bags on shortly after getting our Granby shell. I only did one trip with the camper before getting the bags on but really noticed the improvement in ride quality and I like the height adjustability too. Before the bags the tail end sagged quite abit when fully loaded and wagged alot. My camper is on and off quite abit and I haul lots and lots of firewood and building materials so the bags are more often than not inflated at 35 lbs or more dependent on load. I just got done hauling bags of concrete and it is very handy to be able to adjust your load with a touch of air. I still have the stock shocks and am thinking I'll probably get another six months out of them before they are trashed. So, am definitely interested in what other folks think of their aftermarket shocks.

Someone else was asking about the V8. I really like mine but its still early days (only 28k on rig). Its very quiet and smooth and the auto tranny is pleasant to drive with. I have found that the mileage isnt that great tho. I get 20 tops and with the camper on no more than 14 (65+ mph). But I dont have the form fitting camper either. It kind of juts out everywhere but I sure like the extra room it gives me. I traded in a 96 Dodge 1/2 ton 4x4 for it. I lreally liked that old truck but it was a maintenance pig. I do miss the manual tranny tho and being able to actually shove a lever in for four wheel drive. I will never trust pushbutton anything!

 

[Tomas Tierra]

Tomas,

Nice looking outfit there and your pictures of places you have been are excellent! I always look forward to seeing them!



Thanx MH,
I wish I could go somewhere every month just for your entertainment ....and mine..

TT

Badlands, DV

 

[SunMan]

Sorry to revive this old thread, but I just got home from having Firestone Ride-Rite air bags installed. All I can say to anybody still sitting on the fence is JUST DO IT! The difference is amazing after having driven around for almost 3 months without them, my rig handles so much better, takes bumps like a champ. I didn't have much sway before but now there is zero. I'm very happy with the purchase.

Now I just need to get out there and field test them properly!...

 

[CJ8Rockcrawler]

How does everyone feel about their suspension travel? How much travel do the Tundras/T100s have stock? Do the airbags limit it? I would like to add airbags to my Dodge, but don't want to give up the 10 inches of travel that I have w/ my Lorenz DP springs. There is a long travel airbag option offered by Carli Suspension, but I can't bring myself to swallow the $850 price tag!

Thoughts?

 

[chnlisle]

I find that I dont need any additional body clearance on mine which is identical to yours. I'm not sure what you gain with air bags other than a body lift. I could be wrong but the bags wont do anything to lift the pumkins. If I jacked the cab up an higher my wife would make me get side steps and I figure thats just one more thing to get torn off in the outback.

 

[CJ8Rockcrawler]

I lost about 2 -3 inches in ride height in the rear w/ the camper on. More than the drop though is that fact that the driver's side dropped 3 3/8" and the passenger side only 2 1/4" and it bothers me to have my truck sitting about an inch lower on one side than the other. I assume the combination of the fuel tank, propane, refer, furnace, water etc. all on the driver's side is the culprit for my tilting problem. Anyway, from my research, it seems as if my best options are to put the stock springs back on w/ the mini packs to better handle the weight or keep my current aftermarket springs with airbags. I just don't want the airbags to end up limiting the suspension travel. If I'm going to limit travel, I might as well just save the money and put my stock springs back on.