Air bags to level f350 superduty 1 ton

[gcollins1954]

Got a question for everyone. I have a 2004 Holiday Rambler 37 foot SKQ with gvw of 17000 and about 16300 loaded. My truck is a 2012 f350 super duty crew cab long bed with overloads and airbags on rear axle. I also have a mor ryde pinbox that all but eliminated the chucking I had before with the stock pinbox. Before I got the mor ryde pinbox I experimented with the airbags and the chucking was worse. With only 5 lbs in the bags the nonhooked up ride is decent. When I hook this heavy 5th wheel up the truck squats some and just out of level but the camper is VERY close to being level. My question is : If I increase the air bag psi it will level out the truck but also take the 5th wheel out of level with the nose higher. My frame is engaging the overloads now and the airbag increase should take the frame off of the overloads. Opinions please !!!! Thanks alot

[glennwest]

Your truck is designed to work like this. I would not change it. I had a 3500 dually and my Teton overloaded the rear springs. Bowed them backwards. Put air bags on to just level out springs. Could not tolerate the ride afterwards. Got rid of it and got a semi.

[consolenut]

yeah I agree with Glenn if you need airbags you need more truck instead. your asking a boy to do a man's job if you ask me.

[RoadrunnerII]

On our F250 factory order with the trailer package..
Has overloads but truck has to squat like 2-3 inches to engage them
I added air bags and found if I air them up to level truck the truck porpoised some. I added more air and it rides better than empty.
I am thinking just levelling the truck with the air bag allowed the bags to collapse enough too engage the overloads on bumps.
Adding more air stops that from happening
Truck is not overloaded weight wise
Initially my reason for the air bags was just to bring headlights back down to proper height so we don't blind others when hauling trailer.
Ford's way to make a better ride empty is a softer set of main springs. Overloads for when you load it.
I started at 20 lbs in the bags and ended at 55-60 lbs is the sweet spot on our combination
I have also replaced the shocks all around. The OEM shocks are junk.
Bilsteins stopped the porpoising completely

YMMV
RoadrunnerII

[MtCamper]

Manufacturers have tried to make their one tons ride like 1/2 tons. The first couple of inches are really soft. When I ran air bags on my 2500, I'd put just enough in to disengage the overloads. That seemed to give me the best ride. You'll need to vary your PSI to dial in the pressure. On board air really helps because you can change the PSI as you go down the road.

[rblanch]

I added the torklift upper load stabilizer. It's just larger rubber bump stops to make the upper overload springs kick in faster. I found that by using the upper springs and only 25 PSI in the air bags it's a much smoother and stable ride using all of the suspension as designed. It didn't change the unloaded ride at all .

[5050racing]

So I haul both a 5500+ lbs truck camper n a 36’ DRV 5th wheel n flatbed goosenecks with a very wide range of weights, the air bags lift the helper springs off of the perch that they contact when compressed so you loose the weight carrying capacity from that spring! So torque lift makes these adjustable rubber stops that you manually set to come into play when load is on the rear you add air to bags n check to see if they are in contact with the rubber stops the work great n a must hauling a very top heavy truck camper.

[OTH]

My 3500 SRW Chevy rides beautifully unloaded. My 5th wheel squats the truck about 3", and before I put air bags on it, the rear felt a little soft and you could tell it was just a little nose high. After putting 45psi in the red label Firestone bags, it tows like a dream. Feels like a different truck. With the bags at 5psi unloaded, I feel no difference at all with the ride. I'm sure results vary from truck to truck, but it was money well spent for me.