Rear Air Bags and Height Adjustment

[BLUKTY2]

After doing a search and not finding the information that I am looking for, I am hopeful that someone with more experience and knowledge than myself will chime in.

My 2017 3500 has the factory rear air bags. I haul a heavy slide-in camper most of the time and the air bags seem to do a good job keeping the truck level front-to-rear and I have had no issues with them.

But the truck bed is not level side-to-side when the air bags are inflated. The right side sits about an inch lower than the left when measuring from the top of the wheel well arc to the ground. While certainly this is not much, it is very noticeable when the camper is loaded onto the truck; no matter how level or flat the ground is, the right side of the truck/camper is always leaning to the right. Even with good tie-downs and a rubber mat in the bed of the truck, the camper always slides to the right after a short time and mileage. I would like to correct this if possible; maybe not exact, but to within 1/2 inch or so.

There is a linkage that attaches from the rear leaf spring u-bolt plate to the ride height sensor on both sides of the truck. This linkage uses a ball and socket attachment on both ends to attach to the u-bolt plate and the height sensor with the socket part on the link. It looks like the sockets are threaded onto the links and are therefore at least partly adjustable.

These are photos of the left side:



So my question is can I adjust the length of the link(s) to level the truck side-to-side? Either by shortening just the right side linkage (telling the sensor that this side is low so more air is added to the right air bag) or maybe splitting the difference between the two links would be a better approach (lengthen the left, shorten the right)? Am I on the right track? Has anyone done this?

TIA for any help!

 

[tron67j]

I usually look for the easy solution first. Have you weighed your camper on each side to determine if the camper is heavier in one side? Second, no idea what your payload capacity is (looks like you have a 3500(?)) But how close is your loaded camper + people and gear to your PC value? Your bags could be working overtime to support you weight and one could be unable to maintain pressure.

Get your weights (could load all up and weigh individual wheels) both loaded and unloaded, it would help identify if excessive weight is causing issue. I don't know that it is, just as I said I always start at easy first.

Good luck

 

[BLUKTY2]

I usually look for the easy solution first. Have you weighed your camper on each side to determine if the camper is heavier in one side? Second, no idea what your payload capacity is (looks like you have a 3500(?)) But how close is your loaded camper + people and gear to your PC value? Your bags could be working overtime to support you weight and one could be unable to maintain pressure.

Get your weights (could load all up and weigh individual wheels) both loaded and unloaded, it would help identify if excessive weight is causing issue. I don't know that it is, just as I said I always start at easy first.

Good luck

Thank you very much for your thoughts and input and yes, it is a 3500. This is all great advise and I have already checked my front and rear axel weights when fully loaded and excessive weight is not the issue. I did not weight each side, but the bottom line is the right side of the bed is lower than the left without the camper or any other weight in the bed with the air bags inflated.

My only other previous experience with airbags was with my former truck/camper combination. I had aftermarket Firestone airbags on the truck that were inflated individually via a schrader valve. The instructions for those bags stated to adjust the air pressure in the bags if needed to keep the truck level from side-to-side to within 1/2 inch. With those I consistently ran 80 psi in one and 60 psi in the other in order to achieve this.

Therefore it seems logical to me that the same sort of air pressure adjustment is needed in my current truck; the right side consistently needs more pressure than the left. But since the air bag system on the Ram is automated I am not 100% sure how to achieve this. All that I can think of is to adjust the linkage(s) to provide either a higher or lower psi to the bags via the sensors to truly level the truck. But I am hesitant to start experimenting with this and end up doing more harm than good! I have lived with this issue for many years and really never had time to look into correcting it until now. I may just have to continue to live with it.

Thanks again for taking the time to comment!

 

[tron67j]

Reverse the bags and see if the problem shifts to the other side.

 

[BLUKTY2]

Reverse the bags and see if the problem shifts to the other side.

This is something that I had not thought of but I like the idea. I will give it a shot when I have the time to devote to it. Thank you!

 

[tron67j]

I am all about if something doesn't fit or work, try it backwards or with multiplies swap then around.

 

[olyelr]

I think i would just start with the sensors first. Quick and easy, and you would know right off the bat.

What are the lengths of the rods? Are they the same length side to side? Has the truck always had the lean, or is this a new occurrence?

I would pop the passenger rod off and just shorten it slightly and see what that does. Just jot down the original length so you can go back to that if needed.

 

[quickster2]

Following. My truck camper makes my truck lean to the left a bit. Hot water heater, fridge, sink, stove, heater, and battery all are on the left side.

 

[18CrewDually]

After doing a search and not finding the information that I am looking for, I am hopeful that someone with more experience and knowledge than myself will chime in.

My 2017 3500 has the factory rear air bags. I haul a heavy slide-in camper most of the time and the air bags seem to do a good job keeping the truck level front-to-rear and I have had no issues with them.

But the truck bed is not level side-to-side when the air bags are inflated. The right side sits about an inch lower than the left when measuring from the top of the wheel well arc to the ground. While certainly this is not much, it is very noticeable when the camper is loaded onto the truck; no matter how level or flat the ground is, the right side of the truck/camper is always leaning to the right. Even with good tie-downs and a rubber mat in the bed of the truck, the camper always slides to the right after a short time and mileage. I would like to correct this if possible; maybe not exact, but to within 1/2 inch or so.

There is a linkage that attaches from the rear leaf spring u-bolt plate to the ride height sensor on both sides of the truck. This linkage uses a ball and socket attachment on both ends to attach to the u-bolt plate and the height sensor with the socket part on the link. It looks like the sockets are threaded onto the links and are therefore at least partly adjustable.

These are photos of the left side:

View attachment 538177View attachment 538178

So my question is can I adjust the length of the link(s) to level the truck side-to-side? Either by shortening just the right side linkage (telling the sensor that this side is low so more air is added to the right air bag) or maybe splitting the difference between the two links would be a better approach (lengthen the left, shorten the right)? Am I on the right track? Has anyone done this?

TIA for any help!

Yes you can adjust them. If the right side (Passenger) is LOW you would lengthen the turnbuckle. Making it LONGER will register that the chassis is too low and should bring it up. Only do a turn at a time.

 

[crash68]

Reverse the bags and see if the problem shifts to the other side.

What's swapping the bags going to do? An air bag will lift as much as pressure applied. It's not like a regular spring that's compression can change.
The OP would need to check the pressure going to both the air bags. It might be worth using AlfaOBD to see if the system shows the pressure going to the bags and/or what the height sensors register before making physical changes.

 

[tron67j]

Swapping bags, if nothing else, would verify that the bag itself is not the problem. There are other things to maybe try first. I am assuming that that all the other tricks and adjustments available for airbags had already been tried because the OP was resorting to attempting to keep the weight in the bed shifted to one side mechanically and figure that is after trying adjustments. If not the case, then OP should follow other advice first.

 

[BLUKTY2]

I think i would just start with the sensors first. Quick and easy, and you would know right off the bat.

What are the lengths of the rods? Are they the same length side to side? Has the truck always had the lean, or is this a new occurrence?

I would pop the passenger rod off and just shorten it slightly and see what that does. Just jot down the original length so you can go back to that if needed.

Adjusting the linkages is what I had in mind all along. I agree with the quick and easy part; I just didn't know for sure if they were adjustable or that this was an option. I don't know if the truck has had this lean since day one, but I noticed it about two years ago. I figured that it wasn't really hurting anything, but I am tired of the camper always shifting to the right and would like to put an end to it if possible. I have not measured the length of the linkages, but just eyeballing them they look to be the same length, or real close. My thought is that the sensors with their linkages were just bolted and snapped into place on the assembly line and considered good. The truck bed was probably never checked for being level side to side.

Yes you can adjust them. If the right side (Passenger) is LOW you would lengthen the turnbuckle. Making it LONGER will register that the chassis is too low and should bring it up. Only do a turn at a time.

Thank you- this is the information that I was hoping to get! And thanks for setting me straight as to which direction to go; longer versus shorter. Makes sense.

What's swapping the bags going to do? An air bag will lift as much as pressure applied. It's not like a regular spring that's compression can change.
The OP would need to check the pressure going to both the air bags. It might be worth using AlfaOBD to see if the system shows the pressure going to the bags and/or what the height sensors register before making physical changes.

Great idea to see if I can monitor the system with AlfaOBD. I am not sure if this is possible, but definitely worth checking first before I make any adjustments.

Thanks everyone for your input, very much appreciated! I am not sure when I will have time to tackle this project but at least now I have a plan moving forward.