Ride Rite Air Bag Lift Results

By request of a fellow TW member, I did some measuring of how much lift the Ride Rite (by Firestone) air springs (air bags) provide.

I have had these air bags for over 10 years now. First on my 2005 which bottomed-out with any load when hitting a bump and then when I traded that one for my 2010, I had the dealer remove my air bags and I boxed them up. My 2010 had better springs (still the 3-pack) and they did not bottom-out. However, after a few years, the springs weakened a bit and I began to get the "harsh ride" so I had Jason (@speedfreek) install my old Ride Rites and they again worked like a charm! I also had Jason replace the stock Bilstein shocks with new 5100s, all around.

OK, so how much do the air bags raise the truck bed up:

Measuring from the street up to the wheel well, past the center of the wheel, empty truck bed, 3/4 tank of gas in tank, 265/75-16 tires:

Left (driver's) side:
5 psi = 36.5"
15 psi = 37.25"
20 psi = 37.75"
25 psi = 38"
35 psi = 38.5"
40 psi = 38.5"

At 5, 15, and 20 psi, the right side was .25" taller but the same at 25-40 psi.

Looks like 2" is the max lift, but with more pressure, the ride is surely stiffer. You can feel a big difference between 5 psi and 25 psi. I usually run mine around 15 psi.

Today I set it so both sides were level (37.75") with 20 psi on the driver's side and 18 psi on the passenger's side.

See the air bag and new shock... July 2015

 

For many years, we've encouraged measurements to be from the center of hub to the wheel well. This makes it easier for other people to translate your results to their intended uses for their vehicle - it negates the differences in tire sizes.

Any particular reason you didn't pair the bags with Daystar airbag cradles?

 

Awesome!! All I can say

 

Without the cradles, you significantly reduce the down travel of your rear suspension - even on stock springs. With HD Dakars, my bags don't even sit on the cradles at rest - with 500 pounds in the bed.

 

pretty neat!

 

I can go out and measure the distance from the street to the center of the hub, then subtract that from the overall distances I posted... not a big deal at all.

The bags were purchased at and installed originally at Off Road Warehouse, in Escondido. When I had Jason reinstall them onto my 2010, he used the same mounting parts that came with the air bags. Until your post, I never heard of this other thing nor in all the years of my posting this mod has anyone mentioned them...?

 

Photos please.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/official-firestone-riderite-lift-thread.279865/

 

When I had my stock leaf springs the Rite Ride were perfect at 10psi. Once I installed the Dakar the bags were over stretched so I removed them, then I learned about the Daystar cradles. I wish I knew about the cradles I would kept the bags on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MH4rE7GB_Q

 

Hmmm... nice video, but based on what I see, I would have bumped up the pressure in the bags so they didn't squish as much. The cradle not attached to the air bag is an interesting concept. As I said, I just went with what Off Road Warehouse installed and there was no optional cradle mentioned.
Thank you!

As for the street to center of hub measurement, 15" to 15.25".
So here are hub to wheel well distances:

Left (driver's) side:
5 psi = 21.5"
15 psi = 22.5"
20 psi = 22.75"
25 psi = 23"
35 psi = 23.5"
40 psi = 23.5"
At 5, 15, and 20 psi, the right side was .25" taller but the same at 25-40 psi.

No matter where you measure from, the Ride Rites provide up to 2" of bed lift between 5 psi (min) and 35 psi.