Can You Wheel With Air Bags

I want to beef up my rear suspension so that my truck doesn't sag with my travel trailer on. I am thinking about air bags or timbrens. The problem is that I also want to be able to unhitch and go wheeling. Trailer weighs 3800# wet. Do I need a different set of leaf springs and the air bags, or just one or the other? I have an Icon stage 4 suspension and they recommended to take out the overload spring and put in the AAL that comes with their kit.

I have read through this forum 'till my eyes crossed and can't seem to get a handle on just the right setup.

 

I put a set of helper springs on the back of mine.........i dont know how good those airbags would do offroad, with the constant up and down and not letting them inflate and deflate as they were meant to.

 

So do you tow and how much? If you do are the helper springs working?

 

Helper springs or Timbrens are a better option. The OME springs tow and haul well, but give you a 3" lift. I had the Timbrens, and liked them, before my lift.

 

I've wheeled my Firestone airbags a whole bunch of times, I leave 5lbs in the bags and haven't had a problem, they are tougher than they look believe me.

 

I tow a 12' enclosed and a 16' lowboy, average of 3 times a month combined. The helper springs help out quite a bit. The heavier the load, the better that the springs perform i have noticed. Of course there is slight rake on the rear end but not anywhere near what it would be without the springs.

 

Forgot, the cargo varies from 1900lb of moonwalks to 4300lbs of construction material and equipment......... A bobcat front end loader every now and then.

 

Look into air bag cradles by Daystar. They will allow you to wheel with air bags.

 

dayum, me likey!

 

That camper doesn't weigh that much. Do you know what your tongue weight from the camper is? If it's under 400Lbs I say try towing it 1st without any other mods to it. If needed look into the Firestone air bags or Dakar leaf springs.

 

When I hook up the trailer it drops the back end 4-6 inches. It will put my headlights right into the eyes of oncoming traffic. I realize that it will still tow as it is but, call me crazy, I like things to be right. A trip for me with my trailer will vary from a week to 6 weeks. That is too much towing on a regular basis to not be right, at least for me. I figure that the tongue weight is between 350-400 lbs., plus there will be at least 200-300 lbs. of stuff in the bed.

 

I actually ordered this setup and then chickened out. I was reading too many posts that said the way to go was to get a leaf pack that would do the job.

 

Get bags dude, I pump em when i run loads/tow for work, leave em around 15lbs empty to level the truck and 5lbs when i wheel, extends the life of the leafs, tailors the capacity to the situation, I love mine.

 

2 schools of thought, both will work. If you tow a lot, leaf packs might be better although they can not be adjusted to the load you're carrying. If you get a stiffer leafpack, it'll support the weight of the trailer but also ride stiffer when unloaded. The huge plus to the leaf pack is no additional hardware to mess with, no air bags, no fittings, no additional potential failure points. I was more responding do the thread title "Can you wheel with air bags" when I posted that product.

Also, if you carry a philips head screw driver with you, your headlights can be adjusted in about 30 seconds to account for the added load.

 

True and yes there are more things that could fail (none of which has failed for me BTW), I think though, for it's cost (less than buying and installing a pack), and the versatility, it's a great option.

 

Is it the same trailer every time? Could you invest the money in a weight distributing setup for it?

 

Thanks for all the good info and input. Sooner or later I will just have to pick one or the other. I do not want to go with a weight distributing hitch.