FireStone Ride-Rite Install question...

I installed mine last weekend, was super easy to install. I routed my airlines to the passenger side pocket beside the power point and made a piece of plastic that fit in nicely.

 

Looks awesome! Nice job. Enjoy em!

 

HAHAHA I thought you had the auto kit tucked in there.

 

How do these air bag suspensions hold up in light to medium off-roading? I'm interested in buying some for potential towing but I don't want to sacrifice my plans for some trail riding.

 

I left 5psi in mine while offroading a couple of weeks and it held up. Mind you I wasn't doing anything extreme.

 

Well light to medium in my mind is that you are not going rock crawling where you would need huge amounts of travel. What I had heard initially when I was considering bags is that they are not good for off-roading, that i could tear a bag out on the trail. Well, I have taken the truck up Black diamond trails, driven trails, abused it at speeds that would not be likely to bust shocks, struts, CV's or other parts of the drive train. What I do is to let all the air out of the bags when I air down my tires, this gives the bags the maximum amount of travel with out any pressure in them. My impressions with the Firestones is that they build these things tough enough that in order to bust these I would most likely be breaking other parts at the same time. It appears to take abuse well but I don't want to find out where the outer limit is. With that being said, before I go one my next run, for peace of mind I want to install limit straps. These are not normally used for bagged set-ups but rather for off-road guys who need to limit the amount of travel in the suspension in order to avoid over extending and breaking stuff. The mounts for limit straps will have to be welded on the frame and the axle but they are not very expensive to buy. They come in several different lengths so I will have to figure out how much travel is too much travel as well as where exactly to mount them.

 

How long is the install time.
I'd be working off the floor with floor jacks and no pnumatic wrenches.
and, sorry a bit confused on what Firestone Ride-Rite to put on my 2007 tac trd dbl cab 4x4?

and so, just to get some of you going maybe. I was quoted $750 installed today, sounds a bit rich eh!?

 

on the floor, took me about an hour.

http://www.autoanything.com/suspension-systems/75A4899A0A0.aspx

select the appropriate sub model.

 

What Skygear said, around an hour to get the bags in, a little more depending on where you put the valves.

You should really get a good big set of jack stands for your safety, both back wheels have to come off and you will be spending quite a bit of time under the truck running your air lines.

 

Skygear and Acdronin both make great points! I did mine with a basic pneumatic jack and some stands and it worked fine. Also didn't have any pneumatic tools otherwise. Just the basics and it was fine. Lots of turning wrenches but that's kinda part of the fun too. Really not to bad. The only tool I WISHED I had at the time was a sawzall. Those bumpstops took forever to cut off with a hand saw. Total time for the job took a few hours for me but I was also listening to music and "relaxing" a bit on my day off.

$750 is a bit expensive in my opinion. Although I didn't price out getting them installed since I knew I'd do my own setup. I'd be skeptical to pay that much for such a relatively easy install, especially for a shop with appropriate tools which will finish it in about an hour or less.

If you have time and want to do it yourself you'd save a TON of money for other cools mods and it's a rewarding experience once their done.

Just food for thought-

 

I installed the fire stone bags on my truck about a year ago to help when I loaded my 1000 pound polaris in the bed. I dont load the atv in the bed anynore but there a big help with pulling my trailers.


No Air


45 PSI of Air

I have the Dakar leafs and U bolt flip kit on my truck so I have to make the install custom but everyhting works fine never had a problem about 2 hours of install, I ran the airlines out back into the bumper so i have access when the truck is loaded.

 

It was about an hour hour and a half to install the bags, and about the same for me to fabricate the plastic piece and mount it in the cubby. An extra set of hands to hold the other side of the 3/4" bolt definitely helped. I know when I checked into buying them from my dealership I thought wonder what the install would cost for shits and giggles (just to find out what I would save) an yes I was quoted around $700. That being said it was easy, had my computer programmer buddy help and we had a few beers while doing it too!

 

I had some leaks. Last night I took out the 90 degree elbow fittings that are int he airbags (where the l leak was, shown with soapy water), cleaned them up good, used yellow pipe dope meant for gas lines, etc. and re-installed. Instantly zero leaks. Just an FYI for anyone who may read and has that problem later.

 

Anyone have any suggestions on mounting locations for the rite ride single stage compressor or any pics of their install? I just got my rite ride system a few days ago and am not sure about where to locate the compressor.

 

Well, you have to get power to it, easiest place to do that is in the engine bay, folks tend to mount compressors on top of the wheel wells in the engine compartment then run the air lines back to the bags.

 

Does anyone have a definitive answer as to whether or not these bags actually limit the articulation of the suspension? I came across a few pictures in a another thread (see link) and maybe it just the picture the but one wheel of this guys truck is off the ground and the depression of the terrain does not really seem to severe at all.

I've been lurking here forever and am finally shopping for a truck. I keep going back and fort regarding the suspension and tire size portion of the mods list.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/218025-firestone-ride-rite-flex-pictures.html

 

I installed my Ride Rites something like 3 years ago and they have performed flawlessly. I meant to include some pictures of where I mounted my compressor. Handy little rig.

Yes, my truck is filthy under the hood. I'm going to clean it this week.

 

Thanks for the pics, i got a few things beside my battery in the way preventing a drivers side install, so i am going to put mine on the passenger side.

 

Installed Firestone air bags today running at 15psi smooth and good on bumps.

 

After seeing the serious sag with my Coleman pop-up tent trailer one week-end and some sag from only 6 bags of mulch in the bed anohter week-end I got some installed last week. Keep them at 15 PSI, the ride is good, no more saggy-saggy. Didn't get the compressor, they fill really easy with a bike pump. Highly recommend them.