Just Had Firestone Air Bags Installed

[cowboywildbill]

Hi everyone, we are at the ALL American Quarter Horse Congress at the Ohio Expo Center in Columbus. This place is loaded with truck and trailer dealers and aftermarket vendors. It is to the cowboy/horse enthuziest what Bike Week is to the motorcycle crowd. Good thing there ain't no spelling bees here! Ha Ha I wouldn't make thru the first round. This whole deal is fours weeks long and is sponsered by GMC Trucks. They always have lots of new diesels all sizes on sight to sell. It was here in 01 that we bought our first 02 D/Max ally 3500 c/c and were converted from cummins.
We have dealt with one of the other vendors here many times in the past. The saleman "Ken" from Distinctive trucks always treats us very well. We have purchased things like TTT mirrors and grills running boards mud flaps ect from him in past years. This year we had him install a set of Firestone air bags with compressor kit on our truck.The great thing is we camp right here on site and they will take your truck to one of thier shops do the install and drop it back to you. Our trailer is anywhere from 14,500 lbs to 18,000 lbs. depending on how many horses we have on. The pin wieght on the goose ball is 4,100 lbs. it's 40' nose to tail. I haven't driven the truck yet since the install, but will on the way home Sunday. I'll let you know how it does. Any advise on how much air to add when we are hooked up? The instructions aren't real precise about the pressures, only min and max psi. Or is it one of those play with it on the road things, and find out what rides/works best? Thank goodness for laptops and broadband cards. At least we can stay in touch on the road. Any input would be appreciated as always. Thanks

[Bliz]

I will be curious to hear how you like them. I have a new Dmax ordered and I have already talked to my trailer dealer about having them installed. How much were they? Is the compressor standard or is that an extra? My new truck will be a 2500HD crew cab 4x4, LTZ. Thanks for any info.

[cowboywildbill]

I paid about $760 for them including the labor for the install. The bags are about $300 or so and the compressor kit is about $200. I could have installed them myself, but for $200 I just let the dealer/vendor do it. We will be hooking up and going home tomorrow. I'll let you know how they do.

[cowboywildbill]

They did well. The ride was better. And level or even a little higher. I was running about 30 to 40 psi in them. I noticed that after I unhooked, the pressure dropped to about 10 psi. That makes sense, since the wieght is off of the springs and the bags are not compressed. Boyles law !

[Mark Rinker]

...its also why you should air down your springs when loading, then bring them up. Full bags + heavy load can = overpressurized bags.

Sounds like a good mod. Does your kit entirely replace or add capacity to the stock leaf spring setup?

[cowboywildbill]

Hi Mark, They are just add on's. I still have all of the springs including helpers in place. The truck when hooked up sat pretty level before the install. But it did ride harsh and would bottom out on things like spped bumps. I just add enough air to keep it from bottoming out and take a little strain off of the springs. So far I like them. I was running about 35 psi loaded.
I was underneath taking a look at the bags yesterday and I noticed a little fluid slung around the underside of the trans hump. It was right in line with the tailshaft seal on the transfer case at the driveshaft. I checked the level and it was about an inch below fill plug. I will be taking it to the dealers soon. Or I might just buy the seal and slap it in myself. Sometimes it's less of a hassel to just to do little jobs yourself. It would take about 45 minutes to do, or I can sit at the dealer half a day. Unless they give me a loner car.

[Mark Rinker]

My '06 K3500 factory overloads 'slap' when the truck is driven empty, and even sometimes with the empty trailer. Its annoying, sounds like something is broken back there.

Wonder if some big bags over the stock leafs could replace the overloads?

[D_R_C]

I ran Firestone air bags on my 03 F250 and now on my 07 LMM 3500.
Run no less than 5 lbs empty and what ever you feel you need, somewhere between 50-80 when loaded,I would not to exceed 80 lbs,just to be on the safe side.
I would leave your overloads on for the added support,unless the slapping noise continues then go from there.

[cowboywildbill]

Check and see if your missing the rubber bumper pads that go on the cradles that the helpers rest on when loaded. Also if your shocks are worn out, it might let it bounce enough to slap the helpers sometimes.