after having my 07 mega for about a month, i have to do something about the bouncy ride.. i cant even talk to anyone in the car becasue it bounces so much..

i have seen a few air ride bags for the back and i wanted to know if anyone had them on their truck and how you like them?

Do they make the ride less bouncy?

hard to install?

Problems with towing?

any problems what so ever?

Thanks guys

 

Most of the airbag systems, such as Firestone Ride Rite and such, do very little if any to help smooth out the ride of an unloaded truck. Mostly these systems are for load leveling purposes, and to provide a better ride under load.

If you are looking for improved unloaded ride, Kelderman air ride systems might be the way to go, but you are looking at systems between $5-10k.

If you do not plan to load the truck or haul (heavy) with it, might want to look at the 1/2 ton diesels coming in 09. You bought a heavy duty truck, that is why it rides like one.

 

Give Thuren a shout...

Id upgrade your factory coil springs, shocks, and go with either full replacement leaf springs out back(best ride), or mini packs(better than stock).


Like BlackSunShyne said, air bags are for loaded applications to level it out, bring the rear back up, and give a better ride when loaded down, empty it wont do anything for you(may make the ride worse even)

 

Yeppers!!!!! They go right above the rear axle and you have to remove your bumpstops, so even when you inflate them with no load in the back, its not going to do anything.!!

P.S. If you wanna make your ride less bouncy, fill the back of your truck with concrete/somethin???

 

i was going to toss some sand bags back there. but then i got to thinkin that the air ride would help..

But looks like sand bags for me..
what do you think maby 200 lbs.???

 

The heavier the looser the rear end becomes!!!!!

 

how much weight would you recomend?

 

You can change out your leafsprings for a few hundred!!!! I wouldnt throw crap in the back!!!! IMHO

 

I have a friend that had angle iron welded to his truck towards the rear. He said that it helped smooth the ride on his. for me i just pulled my camper a few times. But , i do have the equalizer weight dib. system; so it evens it all out.

 

Get a starter kit from Carli or Lorenz which will level out the truck and give you a controlled,secure ride without the jolt from the rear. My stock suspended '07 beat me to death,while bottoming out the front continually. Go figure! The Bilsteins provided are a huge improvement over stock shocks.

 

My truck rides or floats over bumps.... Its easy to do.
As you drive over a bump in the road, your air bags compress.
When this happens, the air that is forced out of the bags needs to go somewhere. With the small size air lines we use, there is little or no room for the air to expand.
What I did was to tie into the air bag supply line....between the valve used to inflate the bags and the bags themselves with a expansion chamber.
Think of the expansion chamber....or somewhere for the air to go during bag compression like the reservoir on a Fox shock.
A 6"x3" piece of galvanized pipe with a cap on one end and the air line fitted on the other end is what I used.
Its cheap, easy and works really well.

 

i put bilsteins on the long bed '03...HUGE IMPROVEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I think Stacked97 nailed it....Give Don Thuren a call. I bet he can set your truck up to ride like you want, and tons cheaper than the Kelderman thing.

One day, when I can afford to build the truck I want, I will definantly give him a call.

 

try reducing your tire pressure

 

If your dead set on air ride the only way to go is Kelderman Air Ride! They are based out of Oskaloosa, IA, a very short drive from my home town and I personally know the Keldermans. Their kits are first rate, and they will stand behind them. A good buddy of mine and his father who runs Bill and Rays truck repair in Oskaloosa trust the Kelderman boys enought to buy a brand new 08 superduty and allow Kelderman to design the kits for the new trucks on their truck, no questions asked.

As far as convincing you to go with air ride, if an air ride system is designed, installed and operated correctly, basicly setting the air pressure correctly for the load, and using better than average shocks it will provide a better ride than springs. Kelderman has several styles, some work with your existing leaf springs, and others replace the leafs with bags. My preference is to remove the leafs and go with bags, but I've driven both styles and feel that both are an improvement.