Load leveling airbags

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Hi All - I am potentially looking at getting some load leveling airbags for my 2019 to tow my car trailer (~600lb tongue weight). I wanted to find out if anyone is running these? Any impact to unloaded ride quality?

I'm looking at going with the Firestone kit, which doesn't have the internal jounce bumper, which I hope will help it ride better.
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Frenchy

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I haven't used any air bags for towing in the past what so ever but I have heard good things. My question is what is you goal with all of this? Are you just looking for better comfort and control while towing and daily driving? And is your truck still stock?
 
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I haven't used any air bags for towing in the past what so ever but I have heard good things. My question is what is you goal with all of this? Are you just looking for better comfort and control while towing and daily driving? And is your truck still stock?
Truck is leveled with an Icon Stage 2 lift (front coilovers and a-arms, rear shocks)

Usage is towing a car hauler for my track car (~5500lbs total), but on extremely long journeys - I frequently will do a 12-15hr drive with the car in tow. Shortest tow is about 6 hours. The bed of the truck will also likely have a few hundred lbs of tools and track stuff in it.

The idea is to use airbags to bring this back to level.

The rest of the time, around town, the truck is completely unloaded aside from a Bakflip tonneau cover.
 

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If you want you can go with air bags and you will have to figure out what pressure to set them at loaded and unloaded.

As a suggestion perhaps go the the APG heavy load springs? It is meant for an extra 600 lb load amd I'm sure the Tonneau cover already has some weight to it as well. That may fix your issue and still provide good comfort towing and daily towing.
 

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I used the Firestone bags on my 97 Ranger when I pulled a landscape trailer. They worked great. I ran the Schrader valves to a bracket I made beside the hitch, without a "T" and just leveled each side to the height I wanted.
When I didn't need them I pulled the valve stems out. I noticed even though I let the air out of each side the bags weren't collapsing enough and the truck rode too firm. I covered the stems to keep debris out.

I took them off when I sold the truck and I think they are in a box in the garage.
 


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I went with Air-Lift air bags, with the internal jounce bumper. Around town I run it with no valve in the line and a small K&N filter to keep dust out (its actually a keychain filter lol)

Rides like stock until I need it to haul, then I put the valve back in and add air

Without the jounce bumper you will need to run 5-10 psi in the bags at all times to avoid bottoming out since the bags take the place of the factory jounce bumper
 

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Thanks for posting. I have air bags on the motorhome (C-Class) and they were a godsend not just for leveling but for easing out the harshness of expansion joints.

I'm thinking they would be helpful on the Ranger to keep the rear up and add a bit of stability while towing.
 

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I have rear bags in my Ranger. I think they are the thing I regret the most. I have not yet confirmed my hypothesis because I don't remember what the truck rode like, stock, but I recall it being comfortable before I installed them.

When towing/hauling they are absolutely amazing. But they're not LONG enough to allow the rear end to come to full droop over bumps and gives the rear end a VERY harsh ride. When you install the bags, you attach the top bag mount to the frame, and then you have to jack up the rear axle to bring it up high enough to bolt to bottom of the bag to the axle. It just doesn't seem long enough. I'm away from home right now, but the first thing I'm doing when I get home is taking those bags off to test this theory. The ride is extremely unpleasant as of now.

I have tried running as low as 5psi (I have the internal jounce stops) and up to like 50psi, unloaded, and the ride just sucks.

I would HIGHLY suggest a weight-distributing trailer hitch for your rig. I tow a 4000# enclosed behind my Ranger and it rides better WITH the trailer than without. It's super easy to use and makes a WORLD of difference in towing. If I'm going more than an hour away, I'm putting the leveling bars on.
 

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I have rear bags in my Ranger. I think they are the thing I regret the most. I have not yet confirmed my hypothesis because I don't remember what the truck rode like, stock, but I recall it being comfortable before I installed them.

When towing/hauling they are absolutely amazing. But they're not LONG enough to allow the rear end to come to full droop over bumps and gives the rear end a VERY harsh ride. When you install the bags, you attach the top bag mount to the frame, and then you have to jack up the rear axle to bring it up high enough to bolt to bottom of the bag to the axle. It just doesn't seem long enough. I'm away from home right now, but the first thing I'm doing when I get home is taking those bags off to test this theory. The ride is extremely unpleasant as of now.

I have tried running as low as 5psi (I have the internal jounce stops) and up to like 50psi, unloaded, and the ride just sucks.

I would HIGHLY suggest a weight-distributing trailer hitch for your rig. I tow a 4000# enclosed behind my Ranger and it rides better WITH the trailer than without. It's super easy to use and makes a WORLD of difference in towing. If I'm going more than an hour away, I'm putting the leveling bars on.
With the internal Jounce bumper you can run 0psi

Also try running the bags without the valve in the line, allows the air to free flow

Additionally, you may want to look into the Daystar cradles which allow the bags to disconnect from the axle (mainly for off road use)

I agree it rides better with a load or the trailer. Much smoother
 
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Unfortunately my trailer does not allow for the use of a WFH, so that isn’t an option for me.

Looks like I’ll be doing my towing with my Cayenne, which has the full air suspension.
 

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It appears a solution is to remove and sell the front lift kit, or at least decrease the lift.
 

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Unfortunately my trailer does not allow for the use of a WFH, so that isn’t an option for me.

Looks like I’ll be doing my towing with my Cayenne, which has the full air suspension.
What makes it unable?
 
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What makes it unable?
its an aluminum trailer and the manufacturer states it will void the warranty as it wasn’t designed to carry that kind of pressure along the a-frame.
 

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its an aluminum trailer and the manufacturer states it will void the warranty as it wasn’t designed to carry that kind of pressure along the a-frame.
I can tell you right now that the dealer is full of shit. With WDH you do need to get the correct one since there are different capacities on a lot of them. With how light the trailer is you technically do not need to get a WDH when it is empty but when you have it loaded down it is a differnt story.

Also if you dont like the ride then it may benefit you to change shocks on the truck to help with the ride as well. If you domt want to lift or level the truck then I would recommend either the Eibach or Bilstein shocks. Both will help the ride quality and improve overall control.

Hope this helps.
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