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Drop Shackles with Air Bags.


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I did the drop shackles within a month of buying my 2500. Am needing to tow heavy now, so am considering the air bags myself. Would indeed be interesting to hear what others in the same situation think of that kind of setup.

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Different vehicle, but same situation.

 

I pulled the 1.5" blocks out of the rear of my Dodge 2500 to make it more level with my 1/2-ton friendly 5th wheel. This was simple in the Dodge, pull the block from under the spring and "store" it on top of the spring. I had Firestone airbags already installed from my time of owning a slide-in camper.

 

While the airbags still technically functioned, because they were squashed down out of their intended length because of pulling the blocks, they lost a lot of their capacity. It took a lot more air to carry the same weight, they tended to "spill out" over the mounting pucks because they were unable to extend and/or be at their optimal length. I also had to carry more than the minimum air in the bags all the time to prevent pinching the bags which could make the ride stiff.

 

Don't get me wrong, I probably put 200k miles on that setup without an issue with the bags.

 

But it was less than ideal.

 

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I did the drop shackles within a month of buying my 2500. Am needing to tow heavy now, so am considering the air bags myself. Would indeed be interesting to hear what others in the same situation think of that kind of setup.

I'm in the same boat. I have the McGaughys drop shackles and have them set up for a 1" drop although I think it dropped it more then a inch...anyway, I picked up a used set of Air Lift Loadlifter 5000's (not sure if they are the ultimate's with the internal jounce bumper or not). I installed them the other day and when finished and lowered back to the ground, the bags were fully compressed and had lifted the back up a inch. There website shows that they have a compressed height of 2.3″. I have no idea how they measure them but when I measured mine when on the truck they measured 5". Mine either have the jounce bumpers or I don't know how to measure them. I will contact them tomorrow to find out.

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I had a chance to call and talk with tech at Air Lift. The bags I have are not the ultimate's just the standard 5000's. I explained to them that I had lowered the back of the truck 1" ish using drop shackles and told them the problem I was having. They had me remove the bags from the brackets and mount just the brackets to the frame and axle then had me measure mounting surface to mounting surface of where the bags would sit. I did just that and ended up with a measurement of 4 1/4". I would be curious what this measurement is with stock shackles.

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I then measured the bags at what I would say is fully compressed with the roll plates in place and got 4 1/4".

 

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I'm going to assume I had a little bit of air left in them when I first installed them that's why it sat up a inch higher.
I pasted on this info on to Air Lift, just waiting to hear back.

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Is there a different airbag version between a 2wd and 4wd? Thinking a 2wd bag/brackets would be shorter since most 2wd run a lower stance?

 

Again, the issue isn't really fitting a bag in the slot, but if you have it out of its working length range, it won't work nearly as good. Been there, done that...

 

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Is there a different airbag version between a 2wd and 4wd? Thinking a 2wd bag/brackets would be shorter since most 2wd run a lower stance?

 

Again, the issue isn't really fitting a bag in the slot, but if you have it out of its working length range, it won't work nearly as good. Been there, done that...

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

 

Air Lift does not designate 2wd or 4wd, I believe they are the same part #.

Edited by grnmtnboy
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So, Air Lift wasn't a lot help.

 

Here is there response:

 

"It would really be your call on what air spring to purchase. I would have no clue what would be an exact fit for your application. You can use our reference chart that I have attached with this email to pick which one would work best for your application."

 

Below is the chart, I have highlighted in red the bags that are for our trucks in stock form (58437) and highlighted in yellow, are the bags that MIGHT work best for us who have done the drop shackles (58407). Like mentioned above, we need to choose a bag that is spec ("design height") to work within the distance we have between the air bag mounting brackets. In my case that measurement is 4 1/4" (see pic in previous post). Air bag # 58407 (highlighted in yellow) is a single bellow bag, it's max ext. height is 7.1" and uses the same bolt pattern, fasteners and air fittings as 58437. Air bag # 58437 (highlighted in red) is a dual bellow bag and it's max ext. height is 9.1". We will lose 2"'s in max height, is that going to be problem? What happens when these trucks are put on lifts for maintenance, will the axle droop put to much strain on the bags? Will general driving cause the bags to be over extended in some situations? Just some stuff to think about..

 

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They did mention that at least 5 psi has to run in the bags at all times and that will cause a little stiffer ride.

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Rear shock length is what will determine how far the suspension will drop when its lifted off the ground. I'd measure how much space you have at full droop and use that to help pick a bag. I'm low enough on my 1500 that I'll have to run outboard bags with modified brackets.

 

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That might be worse, they are a fixed length.

 

Another option might be a call to Timbren, since they make all sorts of bump stops and could probably set you up with the puck for the OE cup and a shorter "spring" for your application.

 

Another option would be a custom built airbag setup...make brackets for the axle, and have them ride inboard of the frame. The guys with lifted trucks were doing that...and then buying really long air bags to match their articulation.

 

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