Air bags

[Scheib32]

I'm new to the forum but not HDs. Just picked up my third one yesterday a 2016 gasser. Has anyone put airbags on their truck? If so what have your results been?

[Rvduck]

This is my experience with airbags. I have hauled slide in campers for 42 years and I had air bags on several of my Ford F-250s and I found you had to make sure you have the right airpressure in the bags. You want to share the load with your springs. If you take too much weight off the springs to level the truck, you get very mushy handling with too much roll. I like the Torque Lift Stabel loads. Go to torqulift.com and read up on them. They make upper units for the gap between the upper overload and the main spring pack and they also make lower units if you have a gap between the bottom overload and the main spring pack. I have used both and for me they made my truck handle far better than air bags. On my new 16 Dually (not sure on SRW trucks) the bottom overload has the same radius as the main spring pack, so the gap is very small and you can not use the bottom stable loads. My 16 Dually has a large gap between the upper over loads and the main spring pack so I installed a set of upper spacers and they are terrific wnen I load my 5000 lb Arctic Fox. The truck stays level and handles great. My 08 Dually Silverado was the opposite and had the gap on the bottom and on that truck I had the bottom units and they levelled that truck and made it handle the same 5000 lb camper even though that camper made the truck 2000 pounds overweight.

Hard to believe but my 16 Dually gasser has a 2000 pound higher payload than my 08 Dually Duramax.

The advantage of the bottom mount stable loads is they are designed to swing under the springs when you want to haul heavy, or you can swing them out when the truck is empty and keep a softer ride. The top ones I have on my 16 Dually are permanent and give you a little harsher ride if you hit a bump. No real big deal. My 4x4 Dually crew Cab which has a 5700 pound payload with the upper stableloads in place still rides far better than my last 3 Ford Superdutes. Do the research, watch some videos on the stable loads and make your own choice. Good Luck.

I should add that when I sold the 08, I took off the bottom mount stableloads and sold them to a friend with a 2012 Ram that was sagging with his camper. They fixed his problem and made him a happy camper.

http://www.torklift.com/index.php/products/suspension/stableload

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[Dirtbiker]

I have had two 3/4 tons with Firestone air bags. My holiday trailer is very heavy on the hitch and I put a 50 gallon tank of water in the truck when I go to races as well. Sometimes I pull skid steers or tractors around. Other wise I don't usually haul anything too heavy. The airbags pumped up to about 50 psi bring the back end back up so the front end isnt pointing up. I only leave 5 pounds of air in them when driving normally. I find this leaves a good ride when empty but stiffens it up when loaded down. I have always kept both sides separated so that the air doesnt get transfered from side to side as I have heard this can happen if the lines are tied together.

I am very happy with them and know other guys that do the same.