Tacoma/Swift - Firestone ride—wrong

[SmashRocks]

I’ll background with the fact that I am like most and am a weekend warrior and use my rig often. I also go up some semi gnarly roads to camp and explore here in Colorado so things bounce around a lot.

I have OME heavy duty leaf springs and firestone ride rights. The weight is obviously on the driver side so that particular bag gets the most stress. I did a river crossing that was deeper than expected and bottomed our pretty hard a few weekends ago. The bottom bracket bent down, the daystar cradle is cracked. Since replaced the bracket up it happened again this weekend. Bent bracket. I’ve got new cradles and a bracket on the way to install yet again.

My question.. is this a common problem for those who off road their camper? It’s a shell model with no excessive weight (cooler, kitchen tote, clothes and a mountain bike). With the leaf springs being so thick the bracket end toward the middle of the axle does not rest on the axle itself so it’s cantilevered which is the cause for the bending. Is there a fix? Perhaps the cracked cradle is making it worse because the passenger side which is not cracked seems fine.

 

[SmashRocks]

I’ll add that the bags are for leveling the truck because I sag a bit. I really don’t want to drop the coin on a custom leaf pack so has anyone put an add a leaf on the heavy duty OME’s? Perhaps I could just forgo the bags (even though they help tremendously with body roll up mountain passes)

 

[knoxswift]

https://activesuspension.com/

Also consider progressive bump stops like ICONs

 

[rando]

The mounts that come with the firestone air bags are designed to be used with the stock leaf spring pack. When used with an OME spring pack (which is much thicker than the stock spring pack) the notch on the inside of the lower mount is no longer supported by the axle housing, which is why it can bend if you hit it hard, particularly off camber. This is probably why your cradle cracked as well. The fix is to extend the bracket so it reaches the axle housing again.

 

[SmashRocks]

The mounts that come with the firestone air bags are designed to be used with the stock leaf spring pack. When used with an OME spring pack (which is much thicker than the stock spring pack) the notch on the inside of the lower mount is no longer supported by the axle housing, which is why it can bend if you hit it hard, particularly off camber. This is probably why your cradle cracked as well. The fix is to extend the bracket so it reaches the axle housing again.

I wonder if there is another model meant for a different truck that would extend down to the axle fully. Any thoughts? I purchased my replacement off etrailer for like $23 bucks.

 

[CamperCamper]

Seconding what Rando replied. You need to extend the bag bracket. I did a write up on that topic here: http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/12021-suspension-mods-to-a-2015-tundra-with-a-2014-hawk/page-2?hl=deaver.

I have since installed OME front and rear suspension with an extra 2 leaves and a flat bed Hawk on the same Tundra. The air bag bracket extension has performed flawlessly. The rig has been down one or two rough roads with no performance problems and the truck now has over 50k miles of travel.

 

[SmashRocks]

Seconding what Rando replied. You need to extend the bag bracket. I did a write up on that topic here: http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/12021-suspension-mods-to-a-2015-tundra-with-a-2014-hawk/page-2?hl=deaver.

I have since installed OME front and rear suspension with an extra 2 leaves and a flat bed Hawk on the same Tundra. The air bag bracket extension has performed flawlessly. The rig has been down one or two rough roads with no performance problems and the truck now has over 50k miles of travel.

A bolt on bracket like that is a great idea since I am considering adding a leaf to my leaf pack anyways. Thank you very much for chiming in.

 

[Ramblinroots]

I had the same problem when I first got my FWC on my Tacoma, running airbags and daystar cradles. Eventually the bracket bent and cradle snapped because it wasn't supported on the axle (because of bigger leaf pack)

Here's what I welded up to fix the problem, just extended the bracket down to a piece of square tube and welded on a half piece of tube the same size of the axle. Haven't had any problems with it again.

(Hopefully the picture I attached works, I'm new around here haha)

 

[SmashRocks]

I actually reached out to firestone and they do not cover anything that uses daystar cradles (knew that) but did suggest this...
https://www.amazon.com/Firestone-WR17602506-Air-Rite-Bracket-Extension/dp/B0052XZ9OM#customerReviews

It's a Firestone bracket that bolts on to the existing instead of having to fabricate your own. Either way I'm making my own because I already started the process.

 

[bsharp007]

I had an Eagle on a 2005 Tacoma with the composite bed which had the RideRites installed.
I straightened out all 4 turn buckles and bent the steel FWC uses to mount their campers on numerous accasions. IMHO it is the flexibility of the composite bed that did this because I have since gone with the F150 and a Hawk with zero problems.
I know it's not what Tacoma owners want to hear but it was my real world experience.

 

[knoxswift]

I had an Eagle on a 2005 Tacoma with the composite bed which had the RideRites installed.
I straightened out all 4 turn buckles and bent the steel FWC uses to mount their campers on numerous accasions. IMHO it is the flexibility of the composite bed that did this because I have since gone with the F150 and a Hawk with zero problems.
I know it's not what Tacoma owners want to hear but it was my real world experience.

This is an interesting comment, I have a 2010 and never had one of the turnbuckles or steel bed mounts cause an issue. I've done baja to rock crawls to High speeds on the Alaska Highway. However, I do not use and I'm one of the very few who preach against Air Bags for extreme off road...

 

[BajaSurfRig]

I would recommend adding two OME add a leaf to the heavy pack and timbren bump stops.

I did this on my 2000 Tacoma with a very heavy Callen camper and logged lots of miles on bad dirt roads with no issues...

DSC_0867 by Matt Sawyer, on Flickr

 

[SmashRocks]

I would recommend adding two OME add a leaf to the heavy pack and timbren bump stops.

I did this on my 2000 Tacoma with a very heavy Callen camper and logged lots of miles on bad dirt roads with no issues...

DSC_0867 by Matt Sawyer, on Flickr

I installed my brackets that I made (don’t mind the extra hole... measure once cut twice) so I will see how it holds up. How much added weight does the OME add a leaf add? I could probably look it up I suppose. Do you think I’ll need longer U bolts for the axle? Again... I could just peak under my truck. How’d the taco lean fare? Right now I have 50psi in the driver side and 30 in the passenger to make it appear even. All my weight including dual batteries, stove, gas electrical and an eventual dometic will be on the driver side. Thinking more leaf and less (no) air will serve me better long term as I rarely if ever take my camper off. $$$$$ damnit!!!

 

[So Cal Adventurer]

I ran the bags / cradles (with proper bracket spacer) for awhile on my 2014 Tundra / Hawk combo.

I HATED the weird undulation they would cause on fireroads at any sort of speed. I tried and messed with all pressures, etc, and it wouldnt go away.

I added a second add a leaf to the Dakar packs, and the difference is night and day.

I removed the bags all together, and the truck rides amazing!!

NOTE: My camper is all full time and never comes off.

 

[SmashRocks]

Well I broke another cradle this weekend doing very minor off roading to camp. I removed the cradles and have the bottoms of the bags bolted to the bracket per Firestone instructions. I would imagine I’ll tear one soon. Two Add a leafs and Timbren bump stops sound appealing now. I just HATE the taco lean and looking saggy in the back.

It was the same driver side that broke. For whatever reason I can’t get the bags to line up perfectly with the cradles so it puts stress on the lip of the “cup” of the cradle.

 

[So Cal Adventurer]

Well I broke another cradle this weekend doing very minor off roading to camp. I removed the cradles and have the bottoms of the bags bolted to the bracket per Firestone instructions. I would imagine I’ll tear one soon. Two Add a leafs and Timbren bump stops sound appealing now. I just HATE the taco lean and looking saggy in the back.

It was the same driver side that broke. For whatever reason I can’t get the bags to line up perfectly with the cradles so it puts stress on the lip of the “cup” of the cradle.

How bad is the lean? Maybe a shackle with a slight lift on one side?

 

[kluber]

Great rig! On the enhanced suspension issue, the RideRites will provide some balancing and leveling, but they do not substitute for heavier springs. The trade off is that the truck will ride poorly with the camper off if you have heavier springs, where you can adjust the RideRites when you remove the camper. I run a 2017 Taco TRD Off Road with full length bed + a Fleet on full time. After a year on RideRites, I went ahead and rebuilt my springs. There's no comparison on the ride - it's so much better now on and off road. I wish I had gone with the spring rebuild right out of the gate, but happy I did eventually. Additionally, I worried about an airbag failure 800 miles into Baja.

 

[SmashRocks]

Great rig! On the enhanced suspension issue, the RideRites will provide some balancing and leveling, but they do not substitute for heavier springs. The trade off is that the truck will ride poorly with the camper off if you have heavier springs, where you can adjust the RideRites when you remove the camper. I run a 2017 Taco TRD Off Road with full length bed + a Fleet on full time. After a year on RideRites, I went ahead and rebuilt my springs. There's no comparison on the ride - it's so much better now on and off road. I wish I had gone with the spring rebuild right out of the gate, but happy I did eventually. Additionally, I worried about an airbag failure 800 miles into Baja.

what do you mean by “rebuilt” your springs? Brought them in to someone to re-arch and add leafs? Or get a brand new custom pack? I’m in Denver and haven’t heard of anyone that does this.

(Edit): I would add leafs myself plus whatever bump stop I’m duped into buying that given day. Another question kluber, do you run a winch and steel bumper? I’m thinking I’m going to have to up my coil spring rate in the front once those are purchased.