Air Bags in Rear?

[SeppW]

Bags provide stability and not indented to increase payload. You should not exceed the GCWR and TW rating, but people do. If there was an accident and almost certain a sharp lawyer is going to investigate whether you exceeded the GVWR or GCWR to maximize his (her) clients damages.

If I were towing heavy a lot, the Power Wagon would not be my first choice for tow vehicle.

 

[olyelr]

I, also am seriously considering running air bags. Haven’t found any yet that are specific for Natasha (‘19 PW). Airlift has a universal kit that will probably do the job. I’ve seen “WDH” mentioned here. What is that? If it’s the external “air bags” that sit next to the coil, I’m concerned about losing any degree of articulation if I use those. I do a fair amount of overlanding.

The reason I need the extra suspension support is that I sometimes tow a 5K# TT and I am considering swapping out the rear oem bumper for the Expedition One product with dual swing out arms for my 2nd spare and Geri cans. I bent the crap out of my bumper last 4x4 trip to Nevada. I also blew out the sidewall of a tire so having only one spare with me while off-roading is too limiting.

WDH is weight distribution hitch...highly recommend with a travel trailer.

I towed our 8000 pound travel trailer around with my pw with no bags and it worked just fine. I only added bags because i leveled the truck.

Update: turns out that Airlift doesn’t make a universal kit with bags long enough for Natasha’s rear coils. Totally unloaded the inside distance top to bottom is about 13” (inside width is a hair over 5.5”). Does anyone know of a company that makes airbags for the Power Wagon? Thanks.

Did you not see our posts earlier in this thread about our airbag setups? It will work perfectly with your truck too.

 

[SeaSickSailor]

Yep, I have that same setup too. Been 4 years or so now...not a single issue yet.

Here is a writeup I did long ago on the setup...


https://forum.powerwagonregistry.org/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=4732

Pulled the trigger on the AirLift Loadmaster 5000 Ultimate Plus this morning. Olyelr’s dissertation and all the many accompanying comments, etc really helped me decide. AirLift may have reengineered the design a touch as, after going through their installation instructions, it looks like the Daystar bottom cup/seat/roll plate is not needed. I wasn’t looking forward to the PITA of drilling and tapping into the bottom plate. Please correct me (and kindly explain) if I am wrong. One reason that I am confident that it will work right out of the box is that their website states that it is applicable specifically for my 2019 Power Wagon.
Purchased at AutoAnything for the Amazon price minus one dollar.
Updates to follow after I receive and install.
Thank you gentlemen for all the help.

 

[SeaSickSailor]

Bags provide stability and not indented to increase payload. You should not exceed the GCWR and TW rating, but people do. If there was an accident and almost certain a sharp lawyer is going to investigate whether you exceeded the GVWR or GCWR to maximize his (her) clients damages.

If I were towing heavy a lot, the Power Wagon would not be my first choice for tow vehicle.

Totally understand. A PW wouldn’t my first choice of a tow vehicle either. Unfortunately, my pockets aren’t deep enough to have an off-road vehicle and a tow vehicle. Since I spend <5% of my miles towing, I opted for a primary off-road vehicle, where I spend about 60-70% of my miles. And my TT is only 5K lbs with a tongue weight <500 lbs. I don’t think that I go over the GVWR by much at all, but it’s probably close.

 

[SeppW]

Totally understand. A PW wouldn’t my first choice of a tow vehicle either. Unfortunately, my pockets aren’t deep enough to have an off-road vehicle and a tow vehicle. Since I spend <5% of my miles towing, I opted for a primary off-road vehicle, where I spend about 60-70% of my miles. And my TT is only 5K lbs with a tongue weight <500 lbs. I don’t think that I go over the GVWR by much at all, but it’s probably close.

Roger on the deep pockets. I tow occasionally as well, but I keep well under the ratings and use a WDH and have no bags. It has the slightest squat, but I still get a good balance of weight between front and rear axles.

If we do what we plan to do after a I retire a second time, then probably try to pick up a lightly used 1 ton dually or SRW for some serious x-country RV towing. I thought I was done buying trucks. This Wagon was to be the last truck I buy.

 

[olyelr]

Pulled the trigger on the AirLift Loadmaster 5000 Ultimate Plus this morning. Olyelr’s dissertation and all the many accompanying comments, etc really helped me decide. AirLift may have reengineered the design a touch as, after going through their installation instructions, it looks like the Daystar bottom cup/seat/roll plate is not needed. I wasn’t looking forward to the PITA of drilling and tapping into the bottom plate. Please correct me (and kindly explain) if I am wrong. One reason that I am confident that it will work right out of the box is that their website states that it is applicable specifically for my 2019 Power Wagon.
Purchased at AutoAnything for the Amazon price minus one dollar.
Updates to follow after I receive and install.
Thank you gentlemen for all the help.

yea im not sure if they are long enough for the pw suspension or not. If they say it is, maybe they changed it up enough so it is? Its possible they may hinder some droop travel, or worst case scenario the bags could get torn if stretched too far.


Here is a (poor) pic i dug up showing how far they are from the daystar cradles on my truck. Im not sure they would stretch that far. Looks to be about 3” or more away from them.

 

[olyelr]

And with a 5000 pound camper you should not need airbags at all. Unless you are loading the bed up heavily too.

 

[olyelr]

I suppose if you leave the factory pw bumpstop drop in place (i have mine removed) and the lower mounting hardware raises it up off the axle a bit it may be just fine. But you will certainly hinder compression travel.

 

[SeaSickSailor]

Thanks for the (numerous) replies. I do, however, get some serious squat with the TT. I normally don’t get into extreme articulation scenarios but the one-off shouldn’t cause the bag(s) to rip, IMHO. I guess I’ll find out. And looking at the design, if there is any loss of articulation capability I think that it will be minimal. Obviously, more to follow...

 

[SeaSickSailor]

Installed the Loadlifter 5000 Ultimate Plus bags yesterday. Installation was really easy. Took some before and after measurements to check on articulation loss on extension. Couldn’t check the compression (jounce?) as I cannot duplicate the dynamics required for that condition in my driveway. That being said, given the approx length of the jounce bumper in the bag compared to the oem jounce bumper, there would be at most </= 1 inch loss. The extension loss is 0! Measurements with the driver’s side tire hanging off the ground both before and after installation with the oem spacer and using all the Airlift components were exactly the same. No loss of extension. Based on my driving style this should work just fine. A couple pics to follow:

 

[Andrew Austin]

I just had the Firestone Ride Rite system installed as part of my purchase deal. I took my camper for a haul when test driving the PW a couple weeks ago and it towed like a dream but I did not like the squat for a 700lb tongue weight. The RideRites did the trick though and are slick to use with the onboard compressor! So far I am very happy with my PW.