Questions for people with air bags

[JerryCanada]

Hey guys,

 

Installed airlift 5000 air bags yesterday. Left them with 30 psi of pressure overnight. Checked them in the morning and they were both equally down to 21 psi. Checked for leaks and doesn't appear to be leaking anywhere. The temperature dropped 15 degrees C overnight. Could this have affected the airbags this much?

 

I have a 32' camper with about 650lbs hitch weight. If any of you have a similar setup, what pressure do you run them when towing? 

 

Took off Timbren suspension helpers to put the airbags. Even with 30psi in the bags for the test ride the truck rides a ton smoother. Took longer to take the rubber blocks than it took to install the airbags. As long as I don't have any pressure issues I'll be satisfied with the switch.

[jacobrmiller05]

the airlift bags i had on my old truck had the same issues. the pressure would drop quite a bit with temp change.

 

Also make sure you cut the lines straight. if not that will cause a small leak that is almost impossible to find

[hizzo3]

I noticed small pressure issues on my Cobalt with air bags. Really didn't matter much though. I always topped than up when I was towing NY dirt bike.

Personally, I think the air bag suspension should be standard (or at least an option) for tow package on trucks... Say what you want, but that squat can be pretty hairy at times.

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[JerryCanada]

On 14/06/2018 at 4:03 PM, jacobrmiller05 said:

the airlift bags i had on my old truck had the same issues. the pressure would drop quite a bit with temp change.

 

Also make sure you cut the lines straight. if not that will cause a small leak that is almost impossible to find

That's pretty much the only way I can explain why they'd both go down the same amount of pressure overnight. And yes followed the instruction and cut the lines as straight as it can be.

[Jon A]

I'd wait to see if that's repeatable, without the temp change before worrying too much.  Drive it for a few days, check the pressure in the morning and see if it has lost any by evening on a day you can let the truck sit (changing parking positions or load in the bed will vary the pressure).  You should also check tightness of all the bracket bolts, etc, after a few days to make sure nothing is moving around.

 

As for how much pressure, you don't have a lot of tongue weight so 30 psi is probably plenty, but that will vary a bit with installed height.  Those bags are nicely sized, so if you want a no-brainer way of setting them you can pretty much just drop the trailer on the hitch, add air until your ride height is restored (at the rear fenders) and leave them and that'll be a pretty good setting (why self-leveling systems work so well).  Of course you can vary it for your tastes, if you like the more solid (3/4 ton-like) ride when towing you can add a little more, if you want a little squat and a softer ride you can go a little less.

 

Keep in mind adding or subtracting air will change the preload on you WDH so you're changing two things at once when you make an adjustment.  If you like messing with things you can try all sorts of different combinations, if you just want a good setup without thinking, it's generally easiest to drop the trailer on the hitch, add air to restore the amount of rear ride height you want and just leave them and forget about them.  Then adjust the WDH as if they aren't there by measuring front fender height (or better, going to scales).