airbag install

[Turbo Brian]

i dont know what black magic is required to install these damn things, but i apparently dont have it. 3 hours, and all i could manage was getting half a bag in. and needless to say, after 3 hours, my arms are noodles and will not be finishing this job. plus i spent another hour just trying to drop the spare tire that did not help matters. kinda wish i didnt spend the money on the wirelessone compressor for these f'ers. at least amazon is good about returns.

 

[14hemiexpress]

Damn in that amount of time you could of dropped the axle! Did you try some Vaseline so anything like that?

 

[jwheeler]

Huh? Remove the lower shock bolt and lower the axle. Those springs will pull right out in just a few min.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[PippinAin'tEasy]

Deflate, cap, soak in bucket of hot water. Make 'em like butter. And take the tire off. No sense fighting around that big 'ol donut. Did you remember to drink beer while working?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I547 using Tapatalk

 

[xrsman]

Yeah what Pippin said! I soaked mine in hot water, they slid in decently easy. I also had the tires off. That's the only way I'd do it! Make sure once you get it in almost all they way in there that you put the air line on the airbag stem. Do not do this once the airbag is fully in the coil. Makes it way easier!

 

[SlowRoller]

I started in about 1 coil higher,,, Tires off, springs still on truck,, Gently used a tire spoon.
Took longer to run the lines than to install the bags themselves,,,

Those springs sure look shiny compared to the rest of the truck,,, Are they OEM or aftermarket? (wound tighter?)

 

[avolnek]

when i did mine in 2010 I jacked up the frame to make the spring droop as much as possible. i think put a gob of painters tape on a smaller crow bar to help pull the bag up. Soaking in warm water sure should help the process as well!

 

[Turbo Brian]

Damn in that amount of time you could of dropped the axle! Did you try some Vaseline so anything like that?

didnt use vasoline, but i did lube them up

I started in about 1 coil higher,,, Tires off, springs still on truck,, Gently used a tire spoon.
Took longer to run the lines than to install the bags themselves,,,

Those springs sure look shiny compared to the rest of the truck,,, Are they OEM or aftermarket? (wound tighter?)

didnt have a spoon. best i could come up with is a bunch of duct tape wrapped on the tip of a screw driver. afaik, the coils are oem. im not the original owner but truck sits at a typical stock height. they look clean from 3 hours of my hands rubbing on them with the lube. lol

i did take the tire off after i gave up on this project to tackle rear rotors and pads. that too was an epic fail. rotors are rusted to the hub. no amount of pb blaster and whacking with a mallet was freeing it.

all in all, a paid vacation day wasted and accomplished nothing. have $800 in parts sitting here staring at me. didnt even bother to try the spark plugs.

 

[cableguy_hd]

fold bag like a taco and zip tie it. make sure you jack the frame up not a shock mount ( you probably did I'm just throwing my stupidity out here cause I jacked up the wrong spot at first ) then take wheel cover off and it should slide in will a little work. press all the air out you can before you zip tie. the first side took me a while cause of the jack mistake the other side was less than 30 minutes.

 

[twooldfarmers]

Yep, take the black cap off the top of the bag and stand on it and totally press out the air and then replace the cap to stop it from expanding again

5 gallon bucket of hot water

set something on top of the bag to hold it under hot water for a couple of minutes and then work fast

once in then pull the black cap off the brass nipple and let the bag begin to regain its natural shape and you can work it up into place easier then

and yes you will be an hour or so running your lines

I ran mine up and along the small spot welded brackets on the bottom of the box and then up into the tail light cavity and then the nipples are accessable each side above the tail gate latch pin

look at my pictorial and it may help

best not to Tee the connections for several reasons

one is should a line or bag leak you can determine which one and

secondly you can compensate for uneven loads side to side

 

[ohiogrown]

Maybe it's because I work on cars all day every day, but no hot water, no lube, on a drop spring that's tighter coils than stock and it took 30 minutes. The other guys have some great solutions that should hopefully help you.

As for your brakes, the only solution is get rude with it, a mallet won't help. Get a 3-5lb sledge and give em the business.

 

[millwrightguy]

Or you can add these boys in less then an hour that will last for ever.

 

[The Crow 1994]

i dont know what black magic is required to install these damn things, but i apparently dont have it. 3 hours, and all i could manage was getting half a bag in. and needless to say, after 3 hours, my arms are noodles and will not be finishing this job. plus i spent another hour just trying to drop the spare tire that did not help matters. kinda wish i didnt spend the money on the wirelessone compressor for these f'ers. at least amazon is good about returns.

Good luck with the rest of your install, if you are going to keep your bags. I wouldn't give up on the Wireless One System either. It's so awesome to be able to adjust the bags with just a touch of the remote.

 

[jbr]

Or you can add these boys in less then an hour that will last for ever.

Can't tell what you added by the picture?

 

[xrsman]

Can't tell what you added by the picture?

It's the boss airbag system

 

[Turbo Brian]

Maybe it's because I work on cars all day every day, but no hot water, no lube, on a drop spring that's tighter coils than stock and it took 30 minutes. The other guys have some great solutions that should hopefully help you.

As for your brakes, the only solution is get rude with it, a mallet won't help. Get a 3-5lb sledge and give em the business.

i was concerned i could damage the axles/diff whacking much more than i was. that lateral shock cant be good for things. first full size truck ive worked on so maybe im being too careful. used to car stuff.

 

[ohiogrown]

i was concerned i could damage the axles/diff whacking much more than i was. that lateral shock cant be good for things. first full size truck ive worked on so maybe im being too careful. used to car stuff.

Its not ideal, but neither is not having functional brakes. Very little force will transfer that far inward. Myself along with thousands of other highly qualified tech beat the hell out od them every day. Haha

 

[14GraniteSport]

Its not ideal, but neither is not having functional brakes. Very little force will transfer that far inward. Myself along with thousands of other highly qualified tech beat the hell out od them every day. Haha

^^^This. If youre replacing the rotor just whack it on the inside braking surface with said Large ball peen or mini sledge, rotate the axle and whack it again, repeat til broken free and don't worry about anything else unless you miss and mangle it with the hammer lol