Air bags for towing?

[sixstringsteve]

How many of you use air bags for towing?

The rear of the van is sagging about an inch or two when I tow. A lot is due to the bed and storage compartments I added to the rear of the van. I'm contemplating air bags to level it out, but I know nothing about air bags. Anyone have any positive experiences with them? As much as I'd love a cool in-cab switch to adjust them all, I'm thinking I"ll mostly use my compressor on each bag one at a time just to cut down on install time for now.

I'm also considering an add-a-leaf. I'm curious of the pros and cons between the two and if airbags are bandaids, or a really useful tool for towing.

 

[TRD270]

Air bags are fantastic for towing. Unlike an add a leaf they are fully adjustable to what ever load you are currently carrying, better ride and when you don't have the load you can take the air out to retain your empty ride.

 

[ID Bronco]

Air bags are fantastic for towing. Unlike an add a leaf they are fully adjustable to what ever load you are currently carrying, better ride and when you don't have the load you can take the air out to retain your empty ride.

My experience exactly. I ran the airlines back by the licence plate and they were easy to access and not bad looking. I just put the load on, and aired it up until it looked right. Much better than an add a leaf.

 

[Herzog]

Following - I need to do the same. With the RTT and towing I'm sagging a little lower than I like. Are the firestone airbags legit?

 

[mbryson]

I like the airbags for towing but not for hauling.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I like the airbags for towing but not for hauling.

what do you mean? You like it for towing, but not for hauling heavy loads in the bed? Why are they less than desirable for hauling?

 

[mbryson]

what do you mean? You like it for towing, but not for hauling heavy loads in the bed? Why are they less than desirable for hauling?

for towing, they are great to level the load. For hauling (stuff in the bed of the truck, say a camper) I feel like the springs keep me "connected" to the road a little better. The airbags will let me level the load but I feel better with a less level load and more weight on the springs. The truck just feels like it squirms/wanders less when there is more spring engaged vs having a lot of air in the air bags.

 

[ID Bronco]

Following - I need to do the same. With the RTT and towing I'm sagging a little lower than I like. Are the firestone airbags legit?

I had Firestone bags and had no complaints at all. As with anything, install them correctly, run the airlines properly and you'll have no issues.

I had them on a 3/4 chevy years ago and I was hauling my bronco on a trailer with a camper on the back of the truck. It worked well.

 

[Caleb]

Airbags are great, given what they are. By that I mean, it's air and air doesn't compress. So you are relying on the rubber to give you any "flex". Not a big deal when you have a load. You shouldn't let the air out completely, if there is no pressure in the system, it can cause the fittings (since most are compression push lock type fittings) to develop leaks. Nothing more frustrating/dangerous than one of your bags leaking down while towing. So I always kept a few pounds (5 maybe) in my air bags and I never had any problems. It did stiffen the empty ride a little, but it was a truck and I didn't mind. On your van, since you've already got a fair amount of weight over the rear, 5 lbs would probably not even be noticeable. If you have a load distribution hitch, make sure you readjust once you get your airbags aired up. I noticed before readjusting, it made my ride a little weird. I readjusted for the new "ride height" and it felt much better. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again if I needed to. I was going to put a set of firestones on my Tacoma before trading for my current Tundra.

 

[frieed]

Don't tell my air compressor

Airbags are great, given what they are. By that I mean, it's air and air doesn't compress.

 

[Jay5.9L]

By that I mean, it's air and air doesn't compress.

 

[Gary T]

If you use air bags, I do and I am very happy with them, make sure your air lines are separate for each bag. You don't want a common line between the bags to allow air to go between them. If you do, when one side compresses (more pressure) the other side will extend (less pressure) you don't need help tipping your vehicle.

 

[anderson750]

I run air bags on my 1 ton dually. My toy hauler has enough weight on the pin box to be riding deep into the overload spring and the truck was sitting low and bottoming out on good swells in the road at speed. Truck feels much better towing with them.

 

[DAA]

If you use air bags, I do and I am very happy with them, make sure your air lines are separate for each bag. You don't want a common line between the bags to allow air to go between them. If you do, when one side compresses (more pressure) the other side will extend (less pressure) you don't need help tipping your vehicle.

I just ran a T on mine. Haven't ever noticed any additional lean. Less in fact, than the same load without the air bags.

- DAA

 

[Unimog]

I'm going to be adding them to my 3500 with independent left and right. The freightliner and semi trailer air suspensions are definitely independent side-to-side.

 

[DAA]

Leveling side to side is the only purpose of having each side on a separate air line. Which, isn't anything I'm ever concerned with. So it's just way easier to have them connected. Cheaper too, since I have an onboard pump with remote controller to increase or decrease the air pressure. Dual path onboard systems are quite a bit more expensive. And just needless PITA for the times you want the same pressure in both sides anyway. Which, for me, is always.

But if you deal with uneven loads and need to level the rig side to side, having them separate and filling them to different PSI would be the only way to go.

With a single line though the pressure is always going to be the same on both sides. The pressure is the spring rate. Which, will always be equal on both sides. One doesn't get more pressure than the other. It can't, they're part of the same pressure vessel.

- DAA

 

[anderson750]

I will add that mine are T'd off of the same line for same reason DAA mentioned above about the single controller hooked to the compressor. I have never noticed any funny loading or leaning when cornering with a load.

 

[Bart]

I have had bags on my last 4 tow rigs and wouldn't tow/haul without them. Besides leveling they smooth out and stabilize the ride.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Really good stuff here, thanks guys! Super helpful for me. I haven't mounted a compressor to the van. I have one inside that I pull out when I need to air stuff up. I may eventually hardmount it, but in the mean time I plan on running the lines to one place to fill them manually.

 

[Hickey]

Big fan of airbags.