"Official" Firestone RideRite + Lift Thread

Absolutely correct

 

I ordered the Firestone bag kit and Daystar cradles to mount on top of OME Dakar packs (without the extra leaf), and 5100 Bilsteins.

I understand that the bottom airbag bracket axle support piece may need to be lengthened, but I'm not clear about whether a spacer needs to go under the Daystar cradles to raise them up some portion of the 2.5" that the OME Dakars lift the truck? I know that the leaf pack makes up some of that distance, but the Dakar spring arch does increase the gap between the top of the leaf spring and the truck frame.

Since the Firstone's are designed for stock height, it would seem that something should go between the leaf spring and bag cradle to bring it back to the right gap, unless the firestone bags can extend from stock to 3" or 4".

Thanks

 

That's an interesting question, and one which I'm not sure has been addressed before. Off the top of my head, I'd think that the air bag would have an operating range beginning with contact top and bottom, down to maximum compression at bump stop height. If installed with an initial free range, there would be no benefit whatsoever until spring compression closed the gap, and at the other extreme of motion, maximum compression would never be achieved before bump stop height. This thinking is of course predicated on Firestone's recommended minimum air pressure of 5 lbs, which itself may be adjusted to a higher minimum to compensate, but then, the bag would always be in an unnatural stretched out position, wouldn't it?

There may be other opinions out there, and answers from Firestone itself, mine is just my opinion.

 

It's better to just keep a little extra air in the bag than put a spacer under the cradle.

 

I'm surprised, what I've seen even with people who have 6" lift kits and Firestone air bags, it doesn't look like there's any spacers under the cradle. It seems like the bags would be fully extended almost 100% of the time unless really flexing off-road.

Sounds like I'll be good, and may try keeping 20# or 30# in the bags to start.

 

With my Dakars, I keep 5# in the bags.

 

Where do you Gen 1 Tacoma owners have your air valves mounted? It seems like either side of the license plate is the preferred location, but I haven't seen any close-ups that show where the holes are drilled.

 

Anybody have a 1st gen with Dakars + aal with the Firestone lower mount? Do you need an extension for the mount, or does it fit right out of the box? Should be receiving my kit this week, hoping to install soon. Didn't see anything until after I placed the order about the extended mounts...

 

It would be nice if they somehow had a design that had a rubber bump stop inside of the bag itself. I've had times when I had it at 5psi and then loaded stuff in the bed forgetting to increase the pressure and it has "bottomed out".

 

Yep, been there

 

Here is another option for bags, they have internal bumpstops and longish travel. I like what you are thinking with the mounts. What are the specs on the stock airbags?

http://slamspecialties.com/W/slam-products/ss-series/

 

I'm very happy with mine

 

Just installed mine last night with Daystar cradles. I have OME Dakar without extra leaf and 881 springs up front, with Bilstein 5100s all around.

The ride is notably more harsh with the Firestone bags, even at 5psi. The Daystar cradles raise the perch up more than 1/2" right off the bat, and even at 5psi, the bags are under slight compression with no load in the bed. I don't know if the difference between the raised perch of the cradles and the stock bracket with bolt holding the bottom of the bag to the mount would make the truck ride on the springs instead of the bags. Either that or I may be lowering the air pressure below the recommended 5psi.

Also, the rear is slightly higher by less than an inch, but it is higher with the bags at 5psi.

Running at 10psi lifted the rear by 1.5".

I may call Firestone and see what they say - but I am surprised

 

That isn't the same kit as I got for my 2015. That top mount isn't familiar to me.

 

Mines an '04, and I believe it is the correct system for '98 - '04. It fits perfectly with the upper bump stop bracket and over the u-bolts and leaf spring.

I just looked and the Daystar cradle adds about if not more than 1" to the stock Firestone mounting position. I dropped my pressure to 3.5psi and the ride feels like it did on the Dakar packs alone.

I'd hate to pinch the bags though from running too low of pressure.

I may machine down the Daystar cradles by 1/2" so I can run minimum 5psi and not ride on the bags. The ride was horrible.

 

@Taco Loco 04 do you have any pictures of where you routed the air lines? I was going to install my kit yesterday, but the bottom bracket piece for below the leaf springs was missing from my order .

Also with the aal in the dakars, I'll be needing longer carriage bolts to reach the distance of the pack to the bottom bracket, looking to pick up grade 8 4.5" carriage bolts vs the provided 3.5".

 

Hey, I don't have pics yet but will take some and post.

I did take a picture with about 1000# of cement siding and lumber on the rack. What a difference! 25psi in each bag, and they actually lifted the springs by 1/2"!

The next load was Even heavier.
The Firestone bags have already paid for themselves, and will save my OME springs from an early death. Great!






Edit, here's the air line routing. Note, I used the nifty no-drilling bracket they supplied which mounts with cable ties to a hitch square tube. It keeps the valves up and out of the way, but accessible. I keep a portable 12v compressor behind the rear seat.

I would also suggest replacing the hardware that came with the Firestone kit with higher grade (grade 8). One of my drilled frame holes came out next to a weld on the back side, and I wanted to tighten the nut enough so more than half the face of it was in contact with a surface when adding a split washer. I could feel the bolt stretching as I tightened it, so I replaced that one with grade 8. If I ever have everything apart for any reason, I'll replace the remaining hardware with grade 8.




Left side:




Right side

 

Sub'd. Great info!!!

 

Guess I will ad my comments. Since I purchased my 2014 in the summer of 2015, I have pulled a utility trailer each summer to a tractor show with up to 5 restored garden tractors loaded on the 6 x 12 trailer. This year was no different, however I had the a Leer cap on the back, and the back was loaded with about 500 pounds of parts. The springs were bottomed out. So I got a set of Ride-Rites and Daystar cradles. Pumped them up to about 55 pounds and I leveled out nicely. Ride and handling was good as well. However, after removing the trailer and load, I reduced the pressure back to 5 pounds as recommended, and the ride was really bad. I could feel every bump in the road. My wife said she could feel when I ran over a shadow. So I have aired them up to about 15 pounds and it is much better, but still not the ride that I had prior to installation.

By the way, here is my air fill set-up.

 

Bob, your wife has fine sensitivities! Mine drives over parking lot wheel stops and doesn't feel a thing. As for the difference between loaded and aired up, and light and fluffy, is that your loaded truck is not going to recognize a bumpy road, as it just trucks right along with the springs and shocks taking the insults. The light and fluffy, on the other hand, will readily transmit each and every shadow to your sensitive wife.