Firestone Air Helper Springs

Im picking up my new to me Tacoma today and im thinking about installing a set of helper springs on the rear. I will be towing a boat thats 2700 lbs dry weight not counting engine, fuel or gear. The boat is in storage and is about 1 mile from the ramp and the speed limit is 25MPH so there will be no highway driving involved. Any of you guys ever installed these or know someone who has or is there a better alternative than bags? Bags are rated at 5k. Any info is greatly appreciated

 

Bags are awesome / cracked frames are bad.

I will do it once my truck is paid off and I have some money set aside for repairs.

 

Love mine, didn't realize how much they help save the rear leafs from abuse, it will make everything last longer, worth every penny. I routed my air hoses and mounted the fill stems into the plate that hold the 7 pin connector. I took my time and zip tied the hoses to the frame, away from the exhaust pipe and out of the way of the spare tire. Unloaded, 10 to 15 lbs is all i need, heavy loads i have pumped them up to 40+

 

Generally called 'Air Bags'... I had Firestone Ride Rite Air Springs added to my 2005 DC after the dealer wouldn't do a thing about that truck's bottoming-out any time going over a bump with a load in the back, or rear seat passengers. In addition to the Ride Rites, I also replaced the rear shocks with Bilstein 5100s. The set up was perfect. The range I used mine was 15-45 psi (normal to fully loaded). Never had to go higher (over inflating when not needed is bad, and can crack an axle).

The 2010 DC does not bottom out under the same (or any) conditions, so my air bags (taken off my '05 at trade in) are in a box... just in case!

 

What is the cost range to get a set of these installed? I don't wrench and Labor is 20% cheaper her in South Carolina.

 

I was quoted 465 for kit and install here in VB. I thought that was expensive so I ordered the kit and am going to install myself. Install instructions seem very easy, no drilling or anything.

 

You will drill two holes (one one each side of license plate) through back bumper for the air fill valves. Don't put them under the bumper because of damage if you scrape the bumper off roading.

 

I installed a set on my new 2011 Tacoma this morning. Took me about 4 hours. Drivers side took three times as long due to gas tank and spare is over that way. I would recommend dropping the spare....I should have. Passenger side was a breeze. Routing the air lines is simple and took advice above and just put the air stems in the 7 pin connector bracket. Good location and out of the way. Be sure to have a way to tighten the big 1 1/16th ( I belive that is the size) Bolts to the frame. Luckily I had two sets of sockets this size. I am running them at 18lbs for a couple days just to see if they hold pressure then probably drop them to 10lbs. I took it on a ride and seems to help with high speed cornering. Just got this truck and towed my 4000lb camper home to clean it up and winterize it. Bottomed out on some rough gravel roads. Should be taking it back in a few days to storage and will report back how she rides with air bags installed now. I sprayed the soapy water on the air connections and did find a leak. I recommend following instructions and checking.

 

That bracket is the first thing to get smashed when you go four wheeling... Happened on my '05, so I removed the light cable plug and zip tied it up and out of the way (I don't tow), on my '10.

 

Question: What are people using to adjust these when away from an air source. You know a truck is a truck and you may drive it 100 miles and then someone says, hey can you haul "______" for me back to my house? Sure, throw it in. Or say you are out camping and decide at the last minute you are going to throw in 500 lbs of firewood.

Would a bicycle pump work? Carry a little 12v compressor? Smaller hand held bicycle pump(the kind that is about 1" in diameter and about 12" long and attaches to the frame)? Other suggestions? Or just carry 5-10lbs in them all the time and that helps quite a bit?

Thanks in advance!

 

I have a bike pump behind the seat.

 

Same here...a good floor pump from a bike store, dual action. A few pumps and the bag can be inflated to 60-70PSI.

 

THIS:


OR THIS:


which of course are my tire pumps for sand driving or tire refills (after plugging holes in the BFG Rugged Fails)... The air bags need very LITTLE volume of air to add... You could just keep them at 25 psi and be good for all conditions including loads.

 

The bags cost about $250... About 4 hours labor to install them... $50 an hour to pay someone is not all that bad. Hmmmm

 

i have a small compressor mounted under the hood and i have a control and gauge in the cab so i can adjust the pressure on the fly

 

When would you have to do that? Just curious. Would the load change enough to warrant all that or do they leak?

 

How do they affect articulation or travel? I like the idea of the air bags but not if they reduce wheel travel too much! IE if you go wheelin and you put the air pressure to the minimum do you get full droop and compression?

 

Not sure my travel with the bags on but I've found the odd spot to flex and at 15psi, never did any damage. If they are pumped up any more than that they may tear when the suspension is flexed.

 

15 psi is the lowest I ran mine... and 45 psi is the highest with super heavy load. They will go up to 100 psi... but I have heard of body parts breaking if you max. them... and there is NO NEDD TO!

 

I had them up to 80psi with a load of peastone in the back. The truck was almost level. Without the bags, it would be just on 4 leafs and I bet it would have bottomed out. But one thing was for sure, the truck behaved differently on the highway with that load...like the rear end had a slight mind of its own.

See pics. The last pic is with a load of topsoil, 2 bobcat scoops to be exact.