Air Bag Kits

Dano07 · March 29, 2009

I put a rough country leveling kit on my 2007 Silverado 2wd 5.3L CC. I will be towing this summer. i would like to put air bags on the back so when I hook up to the trailer I can level the truck bac out. I have read some other topics and found some brands. I have found the firestone and also Air Lift leveling Kits and good year brand.

i was wondering whot other people thought about the ones i listed. i am looking at the Air Lift leveling kit from Autoanything.com. I plan also geeting the Air Lift Load Controller II.

07cliffordreddog · March 29, 2009

I have had experience with the firestone ride-rite kit. I helped to install it on a friends Ford F-250, and use his truck whenever I need to tow anything super heavy. It works very very well with an on board air compressor. last summer I used his truck and bri-mar dump trailer to haul a load of river rock for landscaping around my house... 6 ton of rock in that trailer with 70lbs of air in the bags and the back end of the truck did not squat one inch.

from what I have researched, the firestone and air-lift brands are very similar... with the air-lift being slightly cheaper. An air lift kit is also on my long term mods list!

c4cruiser · March 29, 2009

I installed a set of Air-Lift bags on my old '99 Silverado Z71 for helping with my trailer. The install was simple even with the drilling of holes in the frame. The install instructions had specific instructions for the GMT800 frame and which specific bolts and shims (provided in the kit) to use.

I didn't go with the compressor but ran each line to the inside of the gas door. There was lots of room to drill two holes and add the valves. That kept them out of sight and away from dirt and debris you would get from around the back bumper. With an air compressor at home, it was simple to inflated the bags as needed.

alaska511 · March 29, 2009

I am very pleased with my Air Lift bags.

No drilling

nbscanuck · March 29, 2009

Ive got Firestone and love em' Can't go wrong with either brand. Fill em' when you need em', air them down when you don't and the ride is good all the time.

khancock · March 29, 2009

i have the air lift kit but don't have the compressor in yet. I hope to put it in this summer although its really not that big of a deal to inflate / deflate with a small electric pump. No drilling, and quick install. It makes towing 100% better, especially with a leveling kit.

Dano07 · March 29, 2009

i have the air lift kit but don't have the compressor in yet. I hope to put it in this summer although its really not that big of a deal to inflate / deflate with a small electric pump. No drilling, and quick install. It makes towing 100% better, especially with a leveling kit.

I was wondering if you can post pictures of the bags and your install. Thanks

blankey · March 29, 2009

I got my Air Lift Ride Control kit off of Amazon. Check out their prices, they were the cheapest I could find when I was looking and it also had free shipping. I love my bags and think they make a huge difference when towing.

Dently · August 21, 2009

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

chaplainwayne · July 3, 2010

Ive got Firestone and love em' Can't go wrong with either brand. Fill em' when you need em', air them down when you don't and the ride is good all the time.

What did you use to remove the Joust bumpers for install?

[email protected] · July 3, 2010

airlift for sure. i just had my buddies 30' enclosed camper hooked up to half ton truck, it was sagging real bad, put in 75 psi in the bags and it lifted the whole back end of the truck up level.

250motorsportz · July 3, 2010

Firestone here and love it!

pete_ame · July 4, 2010

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

I just installed the ride rite system on my 07 NBS ext cab 4x4, and didn't get any heat shields with them. Maybe they fixed the issue that you had? On my install it specifically states that you have to tie back the park brake cable as it will rub on the bag and damage it. I love the bags so far, towed my 27' trailer twice so far, and it makes a huge difference.

tunseeker1 · July 4, 2010

air is nice but a lot of maintenance potential.

I like solid rubber springs better.

http://www.timbren.com/

peterarch · July 4, 2010

i have the air lift kit but don't have the compressor in yet. I hope to put it in this summer although its really not that big of a deal to inflate / deflate with a small electric pump. No drilling, and quick install. It makes towing 100% better, especially with a leveling kit.

I was wondering if you can post pictures of the bags and your install. Thanks

heres my install

Before

After