Air bag setup for load leveling?

Dr. Righteous · Aug 20, 2019

Just recently hauled a '79 Ramcharger bought for a restoration project up from Florida. Because of the size of the truck it was kind of hard to get it exactly balanced on the trailer. So I ended up with too much weight on the hitch and the rear had a significant squat. So the trip back was a rough ride since it soaked up every bump on rough patches of interstate.
Was thinking an air bag system to for the rear would really help in these situations. But this is something I really don't know much about. This is only a 1500 Express with a towing package. Any recommendations?

Shiva · Aug 20, 2019

Airlift 1000HD about $120 and a couple hours time

68PowerWagon · Aug 21, 2019

Lot's of options for air bags. I like to shop on etrailer.com for my stuff. Reasonably priced & will answer any questions you might have about their products & applications. There are many vendors on ebay & Amazon as well. As stated above you can get a set up fairly cheap & average install times around 2-4 hours.
Jamestown TN. huh? I have in-laws that live just outside of town.

Dr. Righteous · Aug 21, 2019

68PowerWagon said:
Lot's of options for air bags. I like to shop on etrailer.com for my stuff. Reasonably priced & will answer any questions you might have about their products & applications. There are many vendors on ebay & Amazon as well. As stated above you can get a set up fairly cheap & average install times around 2-4 hours.
Jamestown TN. huh? I have in-laws that live just outside of town.

Yeah, Jamestown is far enough off the beaten path it still has a small town "Andy Griffith Mayberry" feel to it.
Elevations is 1719 ft so summers are mild, low humidity. A hot day is a high of 86* with 40% humidity. Winters can be snowy but accumulation is usually not more than 3-4" for a "big snow". It will melt off in a few days. Below freezing weather is only in short term. Highs in the winter is is usually 40s and 50s. Fentess Co. is the last dry county in TN. No bars. No alcohol served in restaurants. Crime is almost unheard of. If you enter the local hardware store you are greeted with a smile and a handshake for unfamiliar faces. The clerks know every nut and bolt in the store so getting what you need is fast and friendly. Here these are Church going folk. On Sundays the activity is people making their way too and from Church. Sundays are of peace and quiet and the forgotten restfulness of a true Sabbath.

BruceMorgan · Aug 22, 2019

If you don’t have weight distributing hitch then start there.

I really like the Timber Grove bags I installed on my truck. They replace the bump stops rather than get inserted inside the coils. A little pricier than Airlift brand.

https://timbergroveenterprises.com/

Toddbigboytruck · Aug 23, 2019

Hi all got a super question would air bags help while towing TT And a WDH help with fuel efficiency

DILLIGAF · Aug 23, 2019

Timbren

crash68 · Aug 24, 2019

Toddbigboytruck said:
Hi all got a super question would air bags help while towing TT And a WDH help with fuel efficiency

yes and sorta yes..
You use the airbags in conjunction with a WDH to firm up the rear end. The airbags act like helper or extra capacity springs when you need them yet let you retain the factory ride when unloaded. When I tow the 28' I'll put 14 psi in the bags and with the WDH it levels me off and have a good front to rear weight distribution.
A WDH is for vehicle stability, it may help from an efficiency standpoint as you won't be fighting the trailer.
Towing a trailer is like having a parachute deployed behind you. Unless you put something on the truck to direct air over the trailer, not much is going to help other than how fast your traveling.

Toddbigboytruck · Aug 24, 2019

crash68 said:
yes and sorta yes..
You use the airbags in conjunction with a WDH to firm up the rear end. The airbags act like helper or extra capacity springs when you need them yet let you retain the factory ride when unloaded. When I tow the 28' I'll put 14 psi in the bags and with the WDH it levels me off and have a good front to rear weight distribution.
A WDH is for vehicle stability, it may help from an efficiency standpoint as you won't be fighting the trailer.
Towing a trailer is like having a parachute deployed behind you. Unless you put something on the truck to direct air over the trailer, not much is going to help other than how fast your traveling.

Thank you. What are you getting on mpg or L/100. My tt is 5500lbs. Full load. We are planing on driving back to Florida this time keys next December last time it cost $1000 round trip. At best I have 26L / 100km or 9mpg

crash68 · Aug 24, 2019

Toddbigboytruck said:
Thank you. What are you getting on mpg or L/100. My tt is 5500lbs. Full load. We are planing on driving back to Florida this time keys next December last time it cost $1000 round trip. At best I have 26L / 100km or 9mpg

your welcome. It won't be a very relevant comparison, with my EcoDiesel towing the 28' (a good 8K lbs) I get just about 15 mpg.
Interesting when I tow a 24' enclosed car hauler empty(3K lbs) the fuel economy is in the 16s mpgs. Towing the same trailer I high winds it dropped to 13 mpgs.

69GWC · Sep 5, 2019

Dr. Righteous said:
Just recently hauled a '79 Ramcharger bought for a restoration project up from Florida. Because of the size of the truck it was kind of hard to get it exactly balanced on the trailer. So I ended up with too much weight on the hitch and the rear had a significant squat. So the trip back was a rough ride since it soaked up every bump on rough patches of interstate.
Was thinking an air bag system to for the rear would really help in these situations. But this is something I really don't know much about. This is only a 1500 Express with a towing package. Any recommendations?

Timber Grove air bags are real nice for our 1500s, easy install and top quality parts.
There is also 1211 TuffTruck replacement rear coils that work well.

Longhorn1500 · Sep 5, 2019

Toddbigboytruck said:
Thank you. What are you getting on mpg or L/100. My tt is 5500lbs. Full load. We are planing on driving back to Florida this time keys next December last time it cost $1000 round trip. At best I have 26L / 100km or 9mpg

When towing my 9,000 pound 30 foot Airstream I get between 10.5 and high 11's mpg. The airstream does sit a bit lower than most travel trailers and is also rounded more on the front, so you are not pushing as much air and mileage is usually a bit better. Also, I rarely exceed 60 mph.

Toddbigboytruck · Sep 5, 2019

Longhorn1500 said:
When towing my 9,000 pound 30 foot Airstream I get between 10.5 and high 11's mpg. The airstream does sit a bit lower than most travel trailers and is also rounded more on the front, so you are not pushing as much air and mileage is usually a bit better. Also, I rarely exceed 60 mph.

Yes we are hopping out next and last tt will be a fly cloud bunkhouse it would s in my five year plan. Do you use the on-board brake contrôlée I have read a lot on this forum about people that have issues with the factory electrical brand control. I have no issues with my on-board brake controller.

Longhorn1500 · Sep 5, 2019

Toddbigboytruck said:
Yes we are hopping out next and last tt will be a fly cloud bunkhouse it would s in my five year plan. Do you use the on-board brake contrôlée I have read a lot on this forum about people that have issues with the factory electrical brand control. I have no issues with my on-board brake controller.

Yes, I use the on-board brake controller. I love it, it modulates the brakes very well. Works much better than the aftermarket, Tekonsha, unit I had previously. There are probably better ones these days, but the OEM one works great for me.

And I use Tow/Haul mode whenever towing or loaded.

Toddbigboytruck · Sep 5, 2019

Longhorn1500 said:
Yes, I use the on-board brake controller. I love it, it modulates the brakes very well. Works much better than the aftermarket, Tekonsha, unit I had previously. There are probably better ones these days, but the OEM one works great for me.

And I use Tow/Haul mode whenever towing or loaded.

Thank you. I also use tow/Haul as well

prp9391 · Sep 30, 2019

I just bought the 2019 3500 Laramie Longhorn and it did not come with the Auto Self-leveling feature. Does anyone know if the Dealer will install after market or how to get the OEM Auto-Leveling kit added? Any idea on costs?

Just curious so when I call my local dealer and ask I would like to have a second opinion...

Thanks!

crash68 · Sep 30, 2019

prp9391 said:
I just bought the 2019 3500 Laramie Longhorn and it did not come with the Auto Self-leveling feature. Does anyone know if the Dealer will install after market or how to get the OEM Auto-Leveling kit added? Any idea on costs?

Chances are you won't be able to get the OEM set up installed but Airlift has helper airbags for your truck. They also list installing dealers:
https://www.airliftcompany.com
My buddy uses an Airlift WirelessOne compressor with rear helper airbags on his 2500 which he hauls a fiver with. It works real nice for adjusting the ride while traveling.

prp9391 · Sep 30, 2019

Crash68
Thanks, I kinda figured that would be the case and I also saw the Airlift WireOne setup. Looks pretty sweet and with my 2-post should be easy to install...

Thanks!

crash68 · Sep 30, 2019

@prp9391 it took my buddy and me a couple of hours to put his airbags and WirelessOne set up in, that was with having to make a mounting bracket for the compressor. His is the Gen1 compressor, the Gen2 version can come with a mounting bracket and has Bluetooth. We weren't working very hard either, typical working on a vehicle and drinking beer routine...lol

stateofdade · Oct 2, 2019

Shiva said:
Airlift 1000HD about $120 and a couple hours time

Can verify that these are awesome. I also have a set of Timbren that I'm about to sell.

Air bag setup for load leveling?

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