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Air Lift Tow Bags-Ride Performance

Charles P.
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Charles P. Enthusiast

Charles P.

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Hey Guys!

Quick question for those that have tow bags/ know about them. Do they increase/decrease performance? Meaning, If I DO NOT tow, and just leave the bags deflated/at the 3lbs the manufacturer states, would I see a noticeable (better) difference moving back to the spring setup? Would it be worse?

 

I would love to hear some feedback. First time owning a truck that came with tow bags.

UnlimitedMatt Enthusiast

UnlimitedMatt

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14 hours ago, Charles P. said:

Hey Guys!

Quick question for those that have tow bags/ know about them. Do they increase/decrease performance? Meaning, If I DO NOT tow, and just leave the bags deflated/at the 3lbs the manufacturer states, would I see a noticeable (better) difference moving back to the spring setup? Would it be worse?

 

I would love to hear some feedback. First time owning a truck that came with tow bags.

Hello Charles, I installed air bags on my 2018 1500.  The main reason I did it was for a more stable towing experience.  With my bags, the minimum is 5 psi so the majority of the time they are set to 5 psi.  They are minimally noticeable at this pressure.  I do think they would take away from articulation if you take your truck off-road.

T1Kaiju Enthusiast

T1Kaiju

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I used a set of helper springs on a nissan titan 15 years ago or so (upside down I think as was the trend) - they essentially just clamped down all the leafs. Best bang for buck rear driving improvement I can recall for a pickup. Really cleaned up the hop...

Charles P. Enthusiast

Charles P.

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1 hour ago, sharkeysierra said:

Tow bags are used for towing, leveling a truck when weight is applied for a safer ride. 
 

There is no performance loss/gain from leaving 3psi in the bags or having them at 100psi

I beg to differ on this- these bags at 10psi with no load in the back going down the highway? rough stuff.

Charles P. Enthusiast

Charles P.

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11 hours ago, UnlimitedMatt said:

Hello Charles, I installed air bags on my 2018 1500.  The main reason I did it was for a more stable towing experience.  With my bags, the minimum is 5 psi so the majority of the time they are set to 5 psi.  They are minimally noticeable at this pressure.  I do think they would take away from articulation if you take your truck off-road.

Good to know. I'm not looking to do any crazy off roading soon for sure, but this is info I did not have.

sharkeysierra Enthusiast

sharkeysierra

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Posted

Yeah, it was fine for me at 10psi rolling across bridges and construction in the road. 
 

I usually kept mine at 20-30 with no load, but I was also dropped so maybe that is what made my drive better. 
 

but there is no performance in tow bags.. my opinion

Charles P. Enthusiast

Charles P.

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14 minutes ago, sharkeysierra said:

Yeah, it was fine for me at 10psi rolling across bridges and construction in the road. 
 

I usually kept mine at 20-30 with no load, but I was also dropped so maybe that is what made my drive better. 
 

but there is no performance in tow bags.. my opinion

Maybe im thinking about this wrong....do the tow bags replace springs that were in place on the axle? Or, was there simply nothing but a bump stop there before?

 

Now im wondering if this question even makes sense.

sharkeysierra Enthusiast

sharkeysierra

Posted
Posted

There is no coil springs in the rear of a truck. So yes, they sometimes replace the bump stop. Most times they mount to the axle and bolt to the frame. Sometimes they mount to the leaf springs and to the frame. 

The leaf springs stay in place. 
 

I believe most SUVs have coils and not leafs. I could be wrong though. 
 

 Tow bags only help the Extra weight of Truck bed or trailer. 

Charles P. Enthusiast

Charles P.

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8 minutes ago, sharkeysierra said:

There is no coil springs in the rear of a truck. So yes, they sometimes replace the bump stop. Most times they mount to the axle and bolt to the frame. Sometimes they mount to the leaf springs and to the frame. 

The leaf springs stay in place. 
 

I believe most SUVs have coils and not leafs. I could be wrong though. 
 

 Tow bags only help the Extra weight of Truck bed or trailer. 

makes sense.

I had an avalanche previously (My only other "truck") and I know it was based on the tahoe/suburban/whatever suv it was platform. This is where my thought came about.

Pearl2017 Enthusiast

Pearl2017

Posted
Posted

I let mine go down to a few pounds and with bilsteins in the back the ride is great. If pumped up to 10+ it rides rough for sure. The bags are not replacing any spring ...they are in addition to springs. add air when you need more spring like towing. I just add enough air to get back to same ride height when towing.

Charles P. Enthusiast

Charles P.

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On 7/25/2020 at 11:35 PM, Pearl2017 said:

I let mine go down to a few pounds and with bilsteins in the back the ride is great. If pumped up to 10+ it rides rough for sure. The bags are not replacing any spring ...they are in addition to springs. add air when you need more spring like towing. I just add enough air to get back to same ride height when towing.

Thanks for the info. I swapped out to continental AT's and the ride is insanely different. I do still have the larger than normal bump going on in the rear. I am wondering if this is just normal truck bumps or more like...something is loose/ needing replacement? the truck was a towing machine before I got it, I am wondering if leaf springs/ Ubolts need to be checked? OR, if like I said, this is normal.

truckguy82 Senior Enthusiast

truckguy82

Posted
Posted

So our springs are designed for a 2k lb load in the bed. Then you add airbags on top of that.

 

the key to a nice ride with air bags.....reduce the spring rate of the leaf springs and then adjust the airbags to compensate for the weight.

Charles P. Enthusiast

Charles P.

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2 hours ago, truckguy82 said:

So our springs are designed for a 2k lb load in the bed. Then you add airbags on top of that.

 

the key to a nice ride with air bags.....reduce the spring rate of the leaf springs and then adjust the airbags to compensate for the weight.

How do I go about reducing the spring rate??these bags are on the axle fyi, not on the springs. Just want to make sure that part is known since they have kits for both

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