Liking the Airlift 1000 air bags

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seaham358

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Put my first load of wood on my 1500 the other day, Red oak that was cut and left laying in wood for a few months so not a fresh cut. Wanted to see how much the airbags helped keep the ride level. There was some bounce and sway when driving but it was not bad. I'm used to my old Ram 2500 that rode better with a full load then when empty.. I am missing her now..

But I do love my new 1500 so I will live with hauling smaller loads of wood.
A couple of pics of the height in the wheel well

Not a heaping load.. Still seeing how much I can load and drive safely

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Side

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30lbs of air in bags

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No air in bags around a 1" drop and I did not drive it with no air

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Empty bed with no air


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smiley

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Love the bags they help a lot. It would be nice if they just came installed on the trucks as an option below the auto air suspension setup.
 

RangerGress

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I have the same airbags. ~800lbs of trailer tongue weight caused 3" of rear sag and 1" of front lift. Then I put 35psi into the air bags and ended up with 1" and 0". Big win.
 

audio1der

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Mine were perfect the first year. then I developed a leak, and they are a BUGGER to work on. Still have a slow leak on driver side but after replacing line twice, it's got to be good enough. Getting the line on those barbs with stiffer replacement air line is frustrating.
 
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seaham358

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Ya I got a slow leak also. The hose is a PIA to get on the bags when they are installed. If I was to go it again I would put the hose on first and get a extra set of hands to assist in the install.
 

WulfGang

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Oh man...

I was seriously going to get bags...

But why get them if they are THAT prone to getting leaks???

This just sucks.

I need a '14 2500 HD dually real bad. Then my problems would be solved :D
 

audio1der

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Oh man...

I was seriously going to get bags...

But why get them if they are THAT prone to getting leaks???

This just sucks.

I need a '14 2500 HD dually real bad. Then my problems would be solved :D

I'm pretty sure they only make dually 3500s?
I keep an inflator with me, and will top up the bags before we pack up to come home; the volume of air is so small.
 

jlb

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Oh man...

I was seriously going to get bags...

But why get them if they are THAT prone to getting leaks???

This just sucks.

I need a '14 2500 HD dually real bad. Then my problems would be solved :D

I have had mine for over 2 yrs now with no leaks. I topped them up this winter some time, but they were only down like 2 psi, either from the cold, or from checking them, and letting air out lol. I doubt you need a second set of rear tires, maybe just tougher springs.
 

WulfGang

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I'm pretty sure they only make dually 3500s?
I keep an inflator with me, and will top up the bags before we pack up to come home; the volume of air is so small.

Maybe. As long as I'm "dreaming", heck, I'll take the 3500!
 

iam_canadian22

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Yeah their awesome
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1403648639.546951.jpg
Load of white birch only put 20 lbs of air in bags


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

myoung84

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These bags are great. This is about 800 lbs of tongue weight, maybe more, with 30 psi in the bags. I've got about an inch of squat where I had about 3 inches without the bags with the same trailer.

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audio1der

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Maybe. As long as I'm "dreaming", heck, I'll take the 3500!

Get in line! LOL I would love a SRW 3500 Black/Street edition; lowered fully on air bags. Not to be radical, but not everyone needs the extra height the 3500 comes in at, or the harsh ride. I just want a solid towing platform.
 
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seaham358

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Wolfgang the bags are great.. It's not the bag leaking its the fact that the hose is hard to get on. It's my fault they leak not the bag.. I just need to redo the hose and get it on the fitting better and I'm sure the leak will stop. And it's a minor leak. Worth the money if you do any hauling..
 

chrgdrt

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Wolfgang the bags are great.. It's not the bag leaking its the fact that the hose is hard to get on.
t.

Just installed mine yesterday, try a dab of grease on the fittings to ease the installation of the air lines.
 

twooldfarmers

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lubing lines not a good idea

anything thats stays slippery may well help the line come off as well

a little spit is what may work best as it will not remain as grease will

Just installed mine yesterday, try a dab of grease on the fittings to ease the installation of the air lines.
 

chrgdrt

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anything thats stays slippery may well help the line come off as well

a little spit is what may work best as it will not remain as grease will

that's why there's clamps!
 

RonSS350

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Air Lift with Slide-in camper

I installed the Air Lift on my 2014 Ram 1500 2WD to handle my 1400 lb. slide-in camper. I am disappointed. The Air Lifts will not keep the truck level and the sway is really bad. I had Air Lifts on my 2000 GMC with this camper and they worked fine. But, they were the bags that could be inflated to 100 PSI (separate brackets and bags mounted on leaf springs). The Ram bags can only be inflated to 30 PSI. The bigger issue is the sway. I was wondering if the larger Hellwig rear sway bar would help.
 

loveracing1988

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I installed the Air Lift on my 2014 Ram 1500 2WD to handle my 1400 lb. slide-in camper. I am disappointed. The Air Lifts will not keep the truck level and the sway is really bad. I had Air Lifts on my 2000 GMC with this camper and they worked fine. But, they were the bags that could be inflated to 100 PSI (separate brackets and bags mounted on leaf springs). The Ram bags can only be inflated to 30 PSI. The bigger issue is the sway. I was wondering if the larger Hellwig rear sway bar would help.

That is why it says right in the owners manual that the 1500's are not supposed to haul a slide in camper. With these coil sprint setups in the 1500's they aren't meant to control that much mass tipping the truck around. The 250p coil spring setup is much more robust to handle that, the 1500's are made to haul people and a trailer every once in a while, they are much more built for comfort.
 

RonSS350

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O.K. your right. Funny how the salesman never mentioned the 1500 not being suitable for a slide-in camper even though I mentioned it several times and took measurements for that purpose.
Any way I probably would have purchased the 1500 with the intention of adding equipment to make the truck usable for the 5 to 10 days a year that I have the camper on. That's not a lot different than guys buying lift kits and different tires for off-road terrain.
So, how do I solve the sway? Stiffer springs, larger sway bars and taller bump stops are all available.
 
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