"Official" Firestone RideRite + Lift Thread

Daystar Cradle is the key. My bags are at 30 - 35 pounds at all times and I flex the bags off the cradles on a regular basis for work and play. It's a great product and a fantastic compliment to the RideRite air bags.

 

How much space do you have between frame and leaf unloaded? Mine is about 7". Not sure what it was stock. I don't offroad at all so not worried about articulation or limiting droop. I have a 2" AAL so the spacer should fill that 2" and the remaining space should be what it was stock. How thick are the daystar cradles?

 

Cradles are an inch +/- thick. You can air up the bag more if you want to maintain contact for DD, otherwise you just ride on the springs and keep the bags at 5 - 10 pounds. My rear lift is actually all from the bags currently - been running that way for over a year. EMU shocks on rear.

ETA: The ride with this setup is much better on and off road than my Nissan pickup was with AAL and Ranch 5000 shocks.

 

Not sure how much space there is. Id have to measure but maybe my pics can give you some idea.

For me, the spacers screwed up the ride on road too - going over speed bumps especially. There was a clear difference in ride on the street with and without the spacers.

 

I can understand that especially if there was not enough space to add a spacer it would compress the bag so much that there would be no compresion left effectively riding on the bump stops. Did you try them without the spacer before the daystar cradles?

 

Exactly. And no, I didn't try with just the bags themselves. The cradles are great and it doesn't seem like anyone is having problems with them. I don't seen any benefit of running without them (other than the extra expense).

 

There is only win with the cradles.

 

I'd be interested to know what aftermarket spring packs are too thick for the lower RideRite bracket (no contact with axle = bend/break).
Springs are definitely on my mod list for a smoother offroad ride/ better performance, but I want to retain my airbags. Or maybe shackle flip for more flex...

 

Subbed

 

don't bother with the spacers, just get the cradles, and that adds 1 inch, then put like 25-30psi. It will fit like a glove with 3" lift

 

Riderites being delivered today. Read a lot more about the daystar cradles and decided to order them also. The cradles should arrive Friday. Hopefully, I can return the firestone spacer. I got a little nervous - most people were saying the ride was smooth and/or improved and others said it was harsh (with just riderites, no spacer or cradle). I figured with the cradle, I should not notice them for unloaded driving. They should act just like cushy bump stops, not limiting travel until the cradles touch the bags. I do haul heavy loads from time to time but not regularly. I do tow a boat in the summer and will be driving several hours with the boat and whole family for a week vacation this summer. Didn't want to be riding on my bumps, nose in the air, all loaded down and towing for extended distance. Also going to be hauling about 700 lbs of water bottles for a road race in a couple weeks. Water is fricking heavy. I've done it before and it's only a few miles but doesn't feel good and doesn't look good and also probably not all that safe. This year I'll be hauling that water and making it look like it's a load of feathers.

 

For unloaded driving, just air down to 5 - 10 psi. The cradles (or spacers) won't make a difference here. My truck is always loaded, so they're always inflated.

Also, some people connect them with a "T" fitting so they only need to fill one valve - don't do this. You want them to be independant for stability under load. If they are connected, the side with the most force (ie, the outside of the vehicle on a turn) will purge its air into the other bag.

 

Yeah, I read about that. Easy enought to just fill them independently.

 

I also have them independent of each other. It keeps the bed from swaying with a load. I almost always have dirtbikes, camping gear, or a boat hoooked up. Also, when you install the riderites, you cut the bumpstops off. The air springs act as your bumpstops, so leaving 5-10psi it works like an air-bump.

 

Riderites delivered yesterday along with 2" spacers which I will try to return. Gonna put them in place first and take a picture for reference in this thread. Cradles delivered today. Won't have time to install till Tues. I'll post back with pictures and my experience with install and pressure settings later next week (and of course my water haul on the 17th.)

 

Has anyone ever looked into connecting them using a leveling valve, like they use on "big trucks" with air suspension? Leveling valves can be set up to keep ride height the same all the time by automatically adjusting the air. As long as you have an on board compressor that will run on demand, you could do this.

 

I used to have a work truck (F350) with the airbag gauges in the cab which would activate the compressor if one of the bags fell below its set pressure. The pressures could be set independently (different psi if desired) and could be adjusted on the fly from in the cab. Auto leveling must be possible, but probably cost prohibitive.

 

i want to get on board air for that with the gauges in the truck. It would be ideal

 

Installed riderites and cradles today. Did not take pictures of the spacers in place because they would not fit. Barely enough space for the cradles without air in the bags. Aired up to 15 psi and took it for a ride. Smooth. Not harsh at all. 15 psi gave me another inch of lift. Might try to back off to 10 psi. Still have to experiment but happy so far with 15psi with no load. Haven't tried any weight yet. Depressed manhole covers in the middle of the road that I would try to avoid in the past are barely noticeable now (at least from the back end). Took me about 2-1/2 to 3 hrs. Longest part was the 4 bolts on the top 1/4 arch bracket to the frame. Ratcheting 1/8 turn at a time with hardly any leverage. Very slow go. Made sure to wear gloves this time so no scrapped knuckles. I did however bruise the side of my back on my ball hitch crawling out from under the truck. Also dropped the spare. Would have been next to impossible to install with the spare in place. Anyway, Happy customer here.

 

So wondering if this is going to be an issue. The lower bracket does not sit on the axle as I believe it was intented. My leaf springs are too thick I guess. AAL with overload left in.