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Airbags - install single or individual schrader valves?


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Ordering Airlift RideControl this week, wanted to get some real world input on whether or not it'll make a difference between plumbing them separate or together. I have read that if you plumb them as a single unit, air can shift as body weight shifts, not sure how true this is. I had firestone bags together on my Ram, but they were POS, very light duty bags. lol

 

How are you all installing these? Thanks! 

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I have mine plumbed separate, and the valves going out the back of the bumper.  I have the Firestone RideRite assist bags on my truck and I love them.  For all the weight a 1/2 ton can handle they seem plenty durable.

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  1. I have the Airlift plumbed separately, but I really don't think I matters. I used the license plate holes to run my lines to.  Kinda off subject, anyone hear a clunk when jumping up and down or pulling into a driveway or going over a speed bump?  I just cant see anything else it could be than the bags. Leafs have pads and shocks are not loose.?? thanks!

post-155210-0-23496400-1503349394.png

Edited by Bwoodkid
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39 minutes ago, Bwoodkid said:
  1. Kinda off subject, anyone hear a clunk when jumping up and down or pulling into a driveway or going over a speed bump?  I just cant see anything else it could be than the bags. Leafs have pads and shocks are not loose.?? thanks!

 

Leaf spring noise there’s about 137 threads on here about it. IMO the for sure test is stand in front of either rear wheel and shake the bed side to side if you hear the same “clunk” it’s the spring noise. You can take it to the dealer and get lip service, bunch of parts replaced with the noise coming back eventually, or the we washed and greased them and they are fixed will last between a week and years. Some guys have found placing a piece of rubber (bulk or bike inner tube)  between the springs will quiet them down.

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  • 1 month later...
On 10/23/2018 at 1:58 PM, Move Over said:

Ordering Airlift RideControl this week, wanted to get some real world input on whether or not it'll make a difference between plumbing them separate or together. I have read that if you plumb them as a single unit, air can shift as body weight shifts, not sure how true this is.

 

I've done it both ways.  Doing them separately will provide slightly more roll resistance.  This is most important if you'll be hauling high cg loads such as a slide in camper, stacks of square bales, etc, (I'd also recommend a rear swaybar for those uses).  The downside is it's a pain to try and keep the bags inflated the same.  Unless where you hook up to a trailer, add a load or wherever you add air is a perfectly flat, level surface, you'll get the bags set to the same pressure only to have them at different pressures once you take off down the highway.  Having them at different pressures is obviously not good. 

 

For the way most people use a truck--towing, hauling loads easier to handle than a slide-in camper, etc, you're fine connecting them.  It's a lot easier to fill them (no matter what terrain you're on), you don't need to ever worry about having them at different pressures when you're going down the highway and they still perform their function very well.

 

Edit, forgot to add:  Plumbing them together is much better for offroad use as well.  The added resistance to roll of doing them separately reduces the usable travel of the axle on uneven terrain, the same as a rear swabar does.  If offroad performance is important to you, that's another reason to plumb them together.

 

On 10/23/2018 at 3:37 PM, pronstar said:

Plumbing them together is dangerous.

 

That's just ludicrous.  Where on earth did you get something like that?

 

 

Edited by Jon A
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On 10/23/2018 at 6:37 PM, pronstar said:

Always plumb airbags separately.
Always.

Plumbing them together is dangerous.

GM must have sold a LOT of dangerous vehicles then - all the Auto-Level suspension trucks sold were plumbed together.  I'm very certain of this, after replacing pretty much every ounce of that system myself on my previous truck.

 

I sure hope everyone here doing airbags is doing an on-board compressor.  I can't imagine how much of a pain in the arse it is to pump up airbags by hand or external compressed air.

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GM must have sold a LOT of dangerous vehicles then - all the Auto-Level suspension trucks sold were plumbed together.  I'm very certain of this, after replacing pretty much every ounce of that system myself on my previous truck.

 

I sure hope everyone here doing airbags is doing an on-board compressor.  I can't imagine how much of a pain in the arse it is to pump up airbags by hand or external compressed air.

 

 

Here’s how a single-path can create a dangerous condition:

 

Heavy load, truck turns and body leans.

 

As body leans to one side, air is compressed in bag on that side, and routes to the relatively unloaded bag on the other side.

 

This compounds the lean.

 

In an evasive maneuver, this could increase the propensity to roll.

 

Having an even load distribution helps minimize this condition.

Having an uneven or top-heavy load makes this condition worse.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

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7 hours ago, pronstar said:

Here’s how a single-path can create a dangerous condition:

 

Heavy load, truck turns and body leans.

 

As body leans to one side, air is compressed in bag on that side, and routes to the relatively unloaded bag on the other side.

 

This compounds the lean.

 

In an evasive maneuver, this could increase the propensity to roll.

 

It just doesn't happen that way.  That's not how airbags work.

 

First, if you've ever filled one or let the air out of one, you know with the line sizes commonly used in these kits it takes a long time.  The pressure will equalize eventually, but it will take a very long corner--skidpad like--(or as I mentioned, slowly crawling over rocks or uneven terrain offroad if you stop for a while) for the pressures to equalize.  In dynamic maneuvers, it's a non-issue, there will be no measurable difference.

 

Even ignoring that and assuming for a minute the pressures would equalize instantaneously, don't take my word for it, look at the data for yourself:

 

Goodyear2B6-535Charts.jpg

 

 

That's the actual data chart for the bags in the Airlift 5000 system, some of the most commonly used on these trucks.  If you compare the graph on the left to the graph on the lower right, you can see how the bags act in each scenario.  With them connected so the pressure equalizes they'll act like the chart on the left in pure roll.  You can see their spring rate is much more linear than on the right, but it's still just a spring rate. 

 

If the bags are at 6" static height and under roll the outside is compressed 1" its load will increase by a certain amount depending upon the pressure at which it started.  And the one on the inside, which is extended by 1" decrease its load by a similar amount.  Just like your leaf springs or any other spring.  They will act no differently than an added set of springs.  They will add roll stiffness, not subtract from it.

 

Conversely, if plumbed separately, a very similar result occurs, just bigger as the outside bag gets into more of its progressive range so its load increase will be higher and the pressure the inside bag will be reduced a little so its load drop will be bigger.  The result is similar--they add roll stiffness, just more of it.

 

So no, they will not "compound the lean" in either scenario.  Both methods will add roll stiffness, reducing total roll, adding stability.  One just more than the other.  It's like comparing a large swaybar with a smaller one.  Just because the large one adds more roll stiffness, that does not mean the smaller one actually makes things worse and increase the roll.  It doesn't.

 

And again, that's assuming you're circling a skidpad or the like.  For dynamic handling and most real-world corners, the above is largely moot as there's not enough time to exchange the air between bags for people to even notice a difference in handling between the two setups.

 

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I tried both.   together Didn't side as solid.   Little difference but you notice it.   (when loaded). Especially when a load was in the bed on 1 side.   Also... DO ON BOARD AIR.   There are wireless system now WELL worth the $

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