Another air suspension question.

[Matthew A Kenning]

2014 Ram 1500 Limited 5.7 4x4
Hello, thanks for taking time to read this post. I've been stuck on how to move for a while now and am hoping you guys can help me decide one way or the other. I'll try to be brief as I feel I could rattle on about this all night I have a leaky rear driver airbag. The dealer wanted to change it and the compressor for 3k. The compressor still works however they say due to moisture they wanted to replace. They will also just replace the bag and recharge. I read every air suspension post on here that I could find, lots of great info I found. Unfortunately I'm still undecided. I like the air system however don't need it. This is my first truck, and ive really enjoyed the ride. I tow occasionally 3k boat - 5k trailer - 7k camper. I really dont know what question I even have, just gonna ramble out my thoughts and hope someone can get me off the ledge one way or the other. I'm concerned of throwing money into the air system only to have continious problems, I live in NC so not super cold but it does freeze here ocaissionally. Part of me feels I should be happy I've made it this far without putting any money into the air system and escape into a delete now. (more on that in a sec) I'm concerned that I may hate the feel of the truck after a delete for whatever reason, this is my daily driver and our familys vacation mobile. I'm also concerned about just replacing 1 rear bad and leaving all the other almost 10 year old bags/springs that it may feel wierd because of that.
Regarding a delete. I have spoken with air delete and he recommends the bilstien over the fox. To get stock height they offer a Bil 4600 in the rear with either a standard or +35% spring and they do 5100's in the front. For some reason they don't offer 4600 for the front in there kit. I've also read that 4600 are little softer so I was curious about them in the front simply to have a matching set. The 5100 in the rear will lift the truck 1 inch which I would match in the front with the 5100 adjustments however I'm thinking that would sacrifice ride quality which I dont want. I read good things about the fox 2.0 other that maybe having to maintain at some point. I'll also add even the dealer tech said he would just delete it. If I went that route I would do the work myself. Does anyone have any advice for me? Any experience on the difference in ride going from air to whatever system you got? Anyone riding on 4600 or 5100 bills or the fox 2.0 have any feedback on how they like them? Thanks to anyone who made it through my post.

Matt

 

[Bandit517]

Your air system won't feel "different" because of one new bag and 3 old ones. They still function as they should until they leak. The front *could* ride differently if the strut failed you'd notice the "boat in the water" feeling at that point. But the bags won't do that because of age. But the older bags obviously could/would fail at any point obviously.

LOTS of people jump to deleting the air suspension and going with coil springs. It's really a question of how much you like the air ride. It's a costly system to diagnose/repair, even worse if the dealership/repair shop is doing it. My 2016 air system is still functional. I've got a leaky bag or valve I haven't tracked down yet. Which makes the system freeze in the winter as the system has been introduced to moisture. The CORRECT way to recharge the system is to vacuum the system like an A/C system which will remove any moisture from the system and prep it for nitrogen recharge.

The 5100 is a popular setup for the front of these trucks. When I finally decide to swap to coils it'll be what I buy.

 

[Matthew A Kenning]

Thanks for the feedback, that makes me feel better if I decide to go with just the one bag. I've never noticed it freezing, I would usually see the rear driver (one with leak they found) sagging, however it would rise and seem to drive fine. However while moving my tractor over to a neighbors house to help with yard stuff I couldn't get it to raise back up while trailered. It was only a few miles down the road. But it scared me enough to not even want to consider going out of town with my camper until I find a solution.

Thanks again for your reply.

Matt

 

[Matthew A Kenning]

Also another thought. I read a lot about the 5100 bill's on here. I read a lot of posts that refer to the 5100's being to stiff. A lot of these are coming from stock coils not even the softer air ride which makes me pause even more. Hoping to get some more feedback from those running the 5100's.

 

[mikeru]

I had a 2015 with coils and a 2017 with air suspension, and honestly I didn't feel that the 2017 rode any better or worse than the 2015. Granted, the 2015 was a Tradesman and the 2017 was a Rebel, so the 10 ply tires could have negated some of the smoothness the air suspension might provide. My plan was to convert if I ever had any issues with the air suspension, but it never gave me any issues in the 3+ years I owned that truck. The one thing I would miss is how the air suspension levels the truck whenever I would tow anything. Maybe convert and add air bags to the rear to help when you're towing.

 

[Matthew A Kenning]

Thanks for your reply! That's good to know. Do you have any idea what spring coil setup you had on your 2015? Sounds like you move through trucks often. With the prices as high as they are I feel i'll keep mine as long as I can.

 

[Matthew A Kenning]

I have heard adding airbags to the rear stiffen it up considerably. If I went the delete route I would probably choose the + 35% rear spring.

 

[crash68]

I read a lot of posts that refer to the 5100's being to stiff.

Just because you can drive over a quarter and tell whether it's head or tails.. LOL

A lot of people have this misnomer that you need a firm shock/suspension for good handling. Depends on what your driving, on what type of terrain, and how fast your going.
If/when I replace the shocks on my truck I'll probably go with either the Fox 2.0 or stick with the OEM.

 

[Matthew A Kenning]

I agree, I never do any off roading so my setup is for daily driving plus occasional towing. I live on a gravel road and when I read the 5100's are stiff I fear I may hate things like gravel roads or small bumps. I'm sure I'm over thinking this decision however I love my truck very much and would hate to move into something I dont like.

I will say the air ride is nice however I do get considerable body roll. It's made me slow down driving as a whole however I'm sure I would enjoy a "stiffer" driving experience however I don't want to sacrifice too much ride "softness" for it.

Thanks for you feedback. I feel like I'm glued to the internet researching this very speculative and opinionated subject

 

[mikeru]

Thanks for your reply! That's good to know. Do you have any idea what spring coil setup you had on your 2015? Sounds like you move through trucks often. With the prices as high as they are I feel i'll keep mine as long as I can.

Whatever the stock springs are is what was on my 2015. Yeah, I definitely do move through them. I really should look into leasing LOL.

I agree, I never do any off roading so my setup is for daily driving plus occasional towing. I live on a gravel road and when I read the 5100's are stiff I fear I may hate things like gravel roads or small bumps. I'm sure I'm over thinking this decision however I love my truck very much and would hate to move into something I dont like.

I will say the air ride is nice however I do get considerable body roll. It's made me slow down driving as a whole however I'm sure I would enjoy a "stiffer" driving experience however I don't want to sacrifice too much ride "softness" for it.

Thanks for you feedback. I feel like I'm glued to the internet researching this very speculative and opinionated subject

Try upgrading the rear sway bar if you want to reduce body roll. That made a world of difference on our current 5th gen.