Zeb Christensen

My 93 dodge rides like a tank and is really ruff riding. I was wondering if any one has put helper air bags on the front end of one of these truck. If so any ideas on prices and pictures wound be nice.

P.S. I already have air bags on the rear.

freight train

I have Kelderman front air ride suspensions on both my 92 W350 and my 92 Cummins RC. Both ride nice and levels out the truck nicely.

Zeb Christensen

That looks like what i need. What kind of air pressure do you have run in the bags. Also can you only buy them from Kelderman online or is there any other places that sell them

freight train

I have different pressures in the W350 than I do the RC. The RC I believe I carry 25lbs due to the lift I have on it (about 4"). The W350 I believe it was 18lbs since I only wanted about 2" of lift. I got lucky and bought both of my kits used. I did order new bags through my local Napa due to the original ones having dry rot cracks. They held air but I wanted to only install them once. The kit is available directly through Kelderman. I am not sure if its available anywhere else. Warning, the kits are not cheap. But you get what you pay for. The craftsmanship is really good on the upper and lower mounts and the tank mounts directly under the radiator support. Newer kits do not utilize the high pressure air hose. They use a nylon plastic line.

Zeb Christensen

Do you remember what the part numbers were on the air bags that your bought through Napa.

freight train

Off the top of my head no. I have a spare in my storage. I can look tomorrow and post it. I actually found them in the firestone catalog. On their online catalog they were even listed for Kelderman.

Jim Lane

I have Firestone Air Rides in the rear of my D-350 and the pressure/wt-ratio is 1-PSI = 10 lbs .
lift.

Are the front airbags helpers or do they carry the full weight of the vehicle, from your PSI I would think only helper.

OK I see your springs.

BTW that looks too nice to get dirty.

Jim

freight train

Here you go Zeb Firestone #W01-358-2131

Thank you Jim. I wish it was as clean as your dually

Zeb Christensen

Sorry to keep asking questions, but I am trying to get an idea of how much room it will take up, so I was wondering if you could tell me how high the bottom bracket is off the leaf spring and how far it sticks out from the frame.
Thanks for the part number.

NJTman

The kit is available direct for about $1400

https://kelderman.com/ram_G1_air_sus..._2_stage_front

Zeb Christensen

$1400!
Is there any other options out there that don't cost an arm and a leg?

Jim Lane

I would think that air ride suspension would be more important in the rear than the front.

4 link suspension and a set of rolling lobe airbags would be an ideal setup for the rear, a true air ride.

On the Kelderman front system, do they have you remove any of the front leaves to lighten the spring rate using the main leaf to retain the axle?

Jim

freight train

Jim no they don't. I can say that I have the Kelderman setup on both of my 1st gens and they ride nicer than my 05. I had an opportunity to buy a rear setup and chose not to. The Kelderman setup is placed that it takes away your spare tire and heavy duty hitch (which is so important for what I use my dually for).

NE frmhnd

If you don't mind swapping in a ramcharger tank and losing your stock tank, a triangulated 4-link would be the way to go. But I also don't see why you couldn't move the links outboard of the frame and keep the main tank.

mknittle

My dad built a smaller copy of a Peterbilt air leaf for his 89 first gen W250. I had some pictures but I cant find them. I will get some later today if anybody is interested.