"Official" Firestone RideRite + Lift Thread

So this is a bit off topic, excuse me for that. I never had the intention of adding aftermarket spring hangers, unless your alluding to increasing travel beyond the leaf packs original length to compensate for the restriction found with the air bags.

I find it a little difficult to follow your mod idea just because I dont have the air bags installed yet, but I'm certainly intrigued! I was thinking of a way the mounts for the bag and cradle could swing out of the way or be made to quickly remove to setup the truck based on the activity. I'd say sure if you wanted to make 2, but like I said I'm just not picturing your innovation, not that its its not genius. We'll be patiently waiting!

 

Here are the shocks I'm running, and I'll discuss frame reinforcement with @badger Thanks!

"suitable for 0 – 3″ of lift"

https://exitoffroad.com/product/dob...ra59-a940-rear-shocks-for-2005-to-2020-tacoma

 

Interesting idea about making some way to quickly remove them. I only mentioned spring hangers because those guys work with all the different springs and see them up close in ways most of us cannot. Wasn't meaning to suggest ours will or should be changed.

 

I don't see a collapsed length for those shocks, but the zero in the "0-3 inches" tells me you want to keep the height of your air bag setup as short as you can to maximize your compression. The OEM Tacoma bump stop is a little over 3 inches tall. The airbag itself will not collapse further than 2.8 inches, and probably not even that if you run the minimum 5psi. Then the Daystar cradle adds another 5/8 inch or more, so you have lost a quarter inch of compression already (in comparison to the stock bumps), before accounting for the height of the platform the airbag sits on (measured from the top of the spring pack).

To use those mounts my suggestion off the top of my head would be to gusset or box the inside of the frame channel above the bump stop so you can transfer the bump force to the vertical frame wall, which is where all the strength is for vertical loading. It's also entirely possible I'm missing something about that design. But our Tacoma frames are pretty dinky and can develop little wrinkles in the lower part of the un-reinforced channels from heavy use, even before a bump stop is put there.

 

Dude these shocks seem like they're better than Fox's! They allow high/ low speed and rebound adjustment. I have fox DSCs and love them except when my wheels drop out harshly and pound the internal bump stop. How do you like them?

 

They're awesome! I'm still dialing in the coil and leaf springs before messing around with the adjustments. My goal is to have the shock settings setup softer for daily driving with no load, and harder for driving with my truck camper.

 

Firestone makes a 1" taller bag with the same mounting arrangement - same advertized stack height at collapse. You have to search their list of available bags.

 

You can always put a foam or dynamat disc on the bottom of the metal plate. I have had zero issues in 8 years with this setup

 

I have the Firestone Airbags with Cradles. Has anyone found a way to suck the air out of the bags when not in use. My thought it that I would like to have them out of the way tucked up to the frame.

 

Is there a vendor on the site for purchasing these still? I bought mine back in 2013 for my Baja and sold it, and now looking for a neighbor.

 

You mean deflate it? Tire deflator? You’ll want them in since the bump stops are gone. these are at 7psi and floating above the cradle.

 

Subbing

 

My immediate thought about all this is, "much ado about nothing".

But, having said that I get the idea that people want a quick fix to suspension issues without investing a lot of money. And, yet another but, the purpose for these bags based on the manufactures literature is to provide the ability to level your load, not act as, in addiction to or replace suspension components; they were never intended to provide additional load capacity.

I installed these on a 2008 Ford F250 to make the task of having the multiaxle trailers I tow level so as to distribute the load evenly over each of the axles. And, the truck has a flat bed on it that has 1,000 lbs. on it when one of the trailers is attached. These bags can do nothing to help the suspension with the weight. They can provide a minimal bit of lift that will raise the rear of the truck, and therefor the tongue of the trailer a few inches. This became necessary because it was impossible to get the weight distribution and anti sway hitch system to operate properly AND have the trailer perfectly level for the purpose of distributing the weight evenly across the trailer axles. NOTE: I ordered this truck with a suspension package that allowed for the 1,000 lb. wight load.

So, I really don't understand why all the time/energy is being spent to try to make these bags do a job for which they were not designed. After reading the threads about these bags on this web site I am beginning (operative word) to understand why Firestone is voiding warranty claims when they have been installed and used for purposes for which they were not designed/intended.

If you need to carry more weight you need to change springs and shocks, period. These air bags will not solve that problem.

When you couple this with the issues that arise with rock crawling, these things are bound to have problems for all of the reasons y'all are chatting about.

Regards,

Jim

 

Yes bags are great for leveling loads and allowing the suspension to operate from the middle of its zone but if you’re towing that much you really should be using a weight distribution hitch since bags do nothing to help shift load to the front axle.

 

Forget it. The guy already knows everything he wants to know.

 

To be more specific:

Q: Does this allow my truck to carry more weight?
A: Absolutely not. Only the vehicle manufacturer can set the GVWR. Even with the air springs, you have the same brakes, axles, bearings, and frame stiffness, which in part determines the vehicle’s load capability. The Ride-Rite™ air springs simply allow you to carry the maximum capacity of your truck more comfortably and without suspension sag and the poor handling that comes with it.

That being said we all know the shortcomings of the stock Tacoma Springs. Ride Rite air bags will bring them into the normal performance range where they should be with just the springs and no air bags. I have a 2012 and the last few loads that I have hauled I have been bouncing off the bump stops when I had only 6 or 7 hundred pounds of load in the bed.

Seriously considering bags... I have a Prerunner and do not rock crawl.

Anyone with experience with Firestone Bags please let me know what your experience is like.

 

Personally, the bags make a world of difference for me with the bed loaded up. I was constantly hitting the bumps and really don’t like the handling with the rear squatted down. Also, i sometimes pull a trailer ~2k lbs. The leveling makes a big positive difference, and the feedback of the bags is much better than basically riding on the bumps. Most of the time the bed is empty, and this provides the right level flexibility for me.

 

Me too.

 

I like them, I use them when I haul my 4-wheeler and other things.

 

For your feedback, consider that probably more than half the guys on this thread have them installed, and I don't recall any that took them off. If you carry anything more than half a dozen grocery bags, the Tacoma can benefit from airbags. I have the bags with cradles, individually plumbed to fittings next to the trailer hitch. If i were to do it again, I'd plumb them together to one fitting (for convenience) with a valve between, or better yet, an onboard pump with a gauge on the dash. My reason, of course, is that not only does every system leak over time, different loads and road conditions warrant adjustments that soon become a PITA.