slightly irritated right now

[oly884]

Well, my drivers side air bag has been destroyed, twice.

Yes, that's right twice. First time, the lower mount for the bag magically "hopped" off the u-bolt. Pissed me off because that's $100 bucks. Then today, I install a new air bag, make sure it's "hooked" onto the ubolt, drive 3 miles, and BOOM! So, now my options are

1. order another bag from airlift
2. buy another airbag kit from another company that is hopefully competent in their design
3. take a look at what deaver could set up for me.

I'm willing to take suggestions.

[flyingwil]

Wow that is horrible! What brand are you currently using again?

[oly884]

Wow that is horrible! What brand are you currently using again?

Airlift. I've heard great things about them, KC is running them, I guess I just haven't had luck with their product. And with it breaking 3 miles after I installed it, I don't think I'm going to stick with them.

[Scott Brady]

Oh man David, sorry to hear that...

I would recommend the Deaver route. I just upgraded to the 11 leaf pack and am super happy. And I am likely a few hundred pounds heavier than you.

[oly884]

Oh man David, sorry to hear that...

I would recommend the Deaver route. I just upgraded to the 11 leaf pack and am super happy. And I am likely a few hundred pounds heavier than you.

Thanks man, I'm thinking they can build some springs to suit the needs of my camper and extra gear just fine.


If it is the case that I do get the springs, the question becomes, do I lift my truck? The front would be easy, just do the TRD lift up front unless anyone has any warnings about it.

btw, i'm only looking 1.5 to 2" tops

[kcowyo]

....the lower mount for the bag magically "hopped" off the u-bolt. ......today, I install a new air bag, make sure it's "hooked" onto the ubolt, drive 3 miles, and BOOM! .....

Sorry to hear about this, but things don't magically "hop off" David. Possible installation error there? When you say U-bolt, do you mean the u-bolt that holds the spring pack to the axle?? It doesn't mount there, it mounts forward of the u-bolt, towards the cab. I looked at your pics and it looks like it is in front of the u-bolt but it's hard to tell...

Jonathan Hanson warned me that his had once "walked off" the spring perch, so I watch that rather closely but so far no problems on trails in Moab, Colorado and Montana.

And BOOM! what...? The bag popped? Overinflated maybe? I run 65 PSI in town and 85 PSI on the trail when loaded with camping gear. With a Shell model you shouldn't be nearly as heavy as me, so 60-70 PSI should be plenty on the trail, maybe 50 PSI-ish in town.

I don't think you'll have better experience with Firestone airbags as they are virtually the same product as Airlift. If the installation and inflation are correct for your application but just not working, the Deavers are a great option. I was amazed at the travel Ursidae69 has with his Deavers.

I prefer the ability to adjust the airbags over the fixed spring packs but that's because I don't plan on keeping the camper on the truck year round. You can order Deavers with 1.5 - 2 inches of lift and throw some coil spacers up front for an equal lift all the way around.

I would start with the Deavers first if you go that route. With the camper on the back, the Deavers will bring your back end up to level so your headlights are not pointing to the moon.

Sorry to hear about the problems already but it doesn't sound like the bags were installed and/or inflated properly. Have anymore info you can share?

[oly884]

Sorry to hear about this, but things don't magically "hop off" David. Possible installation error there? When you say U-bolt, do you mean the u-bolt that holds the spring pack to the axle?? It doesn't mount there, it mounts forward of the u-bolt, towards the cab. I looked at your pics and it looks like it is in front of the u-bolt but it's hard to tell...

Jonathan Hanson warned me that his had once "walked off" the spring perch, so I watch that rather closely but so far no problems on trails in Moab, Colorado and Montana.

And BOOM! what...? The bag popped? Overinflated maybe? I run 65 PSI in town and 85 PSI on the trail when loaded with camping gear. With a Shell model you shouldn't be nearly as heavy as me, so 60-70 PSI should be plenty on the trail, maybe 50 PSI-ish in town.

I don't think you'll have better experience with Firestone airbags as they are virtually the same product as Airlift. If the installation and inflation are correct for your application but just not working, the Deavers are a great option. I was amazed at the travel Ursidae69 has with his Deavers.

I prefer the ability to adjust the airbags over the fixed spring packs but that's because I don't plan on keeping the camper on the truck year round. You can order Deavers with 1.5 - 2 inches of lift and throw some coil spacers up front for an equal lift all the way around.

I would start with the Deavers first if you go that route. With the camper on the back, the Deavers will bring your back end up to level so your headlights are not pointing to the moon.

Sorry to hear about the problems already but it doesn't sound like the bags were installed and/or inflated properly. Have anymore info you can share?

I followed the installation manual to a T. They were mounted correctly, forward of the U-bolt with the wonderful "hook" thing over the U-bolt as stated in the install manual.

It "walked" off from where it was supposed to be and broke off the top half of the air bag, hence the BOOM. And it was not over inflated, it was at 60 PSI.

I know you have had no problems with them and that's great. With the recent experiance, I really don't trust their product anymore.

I'm at so many levels of pissed off about this right now, and they don't seem to be wanting to return my calls.

[kcowyo]

I understand, I would be frustrated as well. I wasn't knocking your install skills, just trying to figure out what happened based on your original explanation.

Hopefully they'll get back to you because if the install was done correctly it should be covered under their warranty. One walking off could be a bad bag. Two walking off and it sounds like something else is going on.

I hope you'll keep this thread updated as to how Airlift responds to the problem. So far I've had good luck but that doesn't mean mine won't go BOOM when I'm driving down the road later today.

Hang in there and please let us know what you hear (or don't ) from Airlift -

[oly884]

I understand, I would be frustrated as well. I wasn't knocking your install skills, just trying to figure out what happened based on your original explanation.

Hopefully they'll get back to you because if the install was done correctly it should be covered under their warranty. One walking off could be a bad bag. Two walking off and it sounds like something else is going on.

I hope you'll keep this thread updated as to how Airlift responds to the problem. So far I've had good luck but that doesn't mean mine won't go BOOM when I'm driving down the road later today.

Hang in there and please let us know what you hear (or don't ) from Airlift -

Well, I heard from airlift. they were asking what pressure, what weight, and so on. They also want pictures of it. Ugh, not what I need right now. And deaver wants $650 for springs with around $90 to ship. Maybe I'll just let my truck ride on it's bump stops for a while, grrrr.

[oly884]

Well, the camper is off the truck till god knows when