Timbrens Or Firestone Ride-rites On My 1997 1/2ton

[Truckin2003]

hey guys...

 

im wanting to make the truck not squat so much when pulling a couple of gooseneck trailers. right now i would say that an empty trailer makes it squat approx 3 inches or so. now the trailers arent exactly light, there both steel trailers. one is a 20ft horse trailer and the other is a 24ft dual axle flat bed.

 

i dont imagine ill be hauling heavy loads long distances, just locally hauling hay and such. what im wanting to know is which would work better: airbags or timbrens?

 

again this is on a 1997 chevy k1500 reg cab, long bed.

 

 

thanks for the help

[ken1mod]

I use air shocks with a connected 8.00 wal mart compressor and gauge. Works great. Mounted under back seat.

 

Ken

[Truckin2003]

anybody else have experience with these products? im leaning more towards the timbrens as they have more capacity. They have a 6000 lb. cap. and the airbags have a 5000 lb cap.

[Dently]

Guys,

 

You don't want Firestone ride-rite air bag system. I purchased and installed them over a year ago, just had my first failure.. Called the Tech support, they had me send photos of the installation, they agreed I had installed them correctly, but they would not cover the blown air bag. Their lifetime warranty only coves defects in materials and workmanship not design flaws. I had the correct pressure, but when the bags fully compress it pushes on the heat shield and cuts the air bag. With their design, you remove the factory joust bumpers so now the air bag is the joust bumper, a lousy design. Goodyear air bags can be ordered with a hard rubber joust bumper internal and their bags are much stronger and rated higher... also save your self some money after installing this kit I could have fabricated a similar kit in about an hour, bought the Goodyear bags 2 for $119.00 on ebay and not had a failure. If you do buy the Firestone kit do not install the heat shield, fabricate your own not connected to the air bag.--- just my opinion

[spikesputnik]

I had some Timbrens on a '99 Furd F150. When down on them the ride was so-so. You definately know your suspension is rubber damped then, it didn't squat too much, it was stable and just had very little travel. On the up side, you don't notice them when lightly loaded.

But I like the idea of air shocks best, FWIW.

I can did up them Timbrens for you out of the garage, if you like. They may be somewhat universal, at least as far as the rubber bumpers dimensions, not so much hardware??(?? it's been a while) cheap too