Since the Carli long travel air bag setup is a good chunk of change, can one source the same bags elsewhere and build their own bracketry? If so, who makes the bags Carli uses? I've got a stock 03 2500 that I have a 01 Palomino 8.8 camper on and it squats too much for my tastes especially considering I would like to tow a car hauler behind the camper loaded with a Jeep. Since this truck is also used for daily driving and back road exploring without the camper, would it be a good idea to get the long travel bags or would cheaper firestone bags work ok and not get overextended? Thoughts? Jeff

 

Firestones travel enough fo rthe average 4x4. DO you have a lift?

 

I can say from experience that the LT's have much more travel than the Firestone's. I had Firestone's on my '99 and initially had them on my present truck. These things ride like marshmallows,but still control the sway of my camper. It works in conjunction with my Lorenz system real well. Bob4x4 uses them in conjunction with Carli's replacement leaf pack for full travel. I am somewhat limited by just the mini-paks. Carli put a lot of r&r into these things but I'm sure with enough time,diesel and perseverance you can fabricate something cheaper.

 

If you have a rear swaybar you probably can't articulate far enuff to need the long travel air bags. I have been on 2 wheels before with a load in the back getting thru some large boulder in a river bottom and didn't damage the bags.

 

The "bag" part of the Carli long travel bags are made by Firestone, but obviously to different specs that the regular firestone bags.

--Eric

 

I have Pacbrake's bags and they are great. But, I've noticed my truck is much stiffer in the rear now. Even on the freeway, those expansion joints, the rear almost seams to bounce now and I'm only running 5psi in the bags. I may switch to the Carli's if they don't do the same thing? Input from those running the Carli's.

Sid

 

My buddy put ride rites on his ford and has the same complaint now he said he dumped all of the air out and it still rides worse. I didn't really notice any difference with the firestone bags empty. I wonder why some trucks notice that and others don't

 

I know they made a huge difference on mine....and not in a positive way. Even with 0psi in the bags you can feel that it's much rougher than stock. I would go with the Carli bags but the price is ridiculous.

 

Someone with some good fabrication skills could probably source a couple of bags and mounts from a donor Range Rover, 1st or 2nd gen for a reasonable price and they are long travel air suspension. RR's are famous for their "magic carpet" ride. New bags for those go for $100 a pop though.

 

i was looking into air bags because of the rough ride and i was told by the mfgs i talked to, that it did not smooth the ride. so i am now looking into a shock that might keep the back from sagging under a load and take out some of the roughness. any ideas would sure be appreciated. i can't put the weight of a heavy bed on my truck because of the weight I tow.
thanks for any help

 

You just can't have it both ways. A smooth ride when empty will = sagging with a load. No sagging with a load = a stiff ride when empty.

You can buy the full Carli rear leaf packs and Carli LT bags and have the best of both worlds, but the cost is just too prohibitive for most people.

 

I don't know why they told you that because it helped my loaded and towing ride greatly. I no longer bounce off of the overload springs with every bump And when I had all the weight on the truck all of the time I would keep about 10psi in them and it helped out no more overload slap.
I use the rancho 9000's for the adjustment. I turn them up stiffer when towing or hauling something heavy