Installed: Firestone Ride Rite Air Bags

After recently installing Bilstein 5100s (set at 1.75") in the front, I started experiencing severe sagging in the rear when towing. After doing some research (on here of course ) I came to the conclusion that installing the Firestone Ride Rite Air Bag system would resolve this.

Installation took me over 4 hours (I'm not that technically inclined and have really shitty tools lol), but could easily be done in under 2 hours!

My rig: 2012 Tacoma Double Cab TRD Sport 4WD Short Bed (with rear TSB 4 leaf springs).

After filling both bags to about 20 psi, I was able to get an inch of added height (before: 22" from center of wheel cap to fender; after: 23").

I did notice a very slight/slow air leak on the driver side and will have to troubleshoot this further. More than likely, I'm thinking it's the air valve that screws in on top of the air bags.

Surprisingly, driving around town (at 20 psi) I really didn't notice any decrease (i.e. stiffness) in ride quality; if anything it's about the same as it was before. Of course, I haven't loaded anything in the back of the truck nor towed with this setup yet. Will definitely be back to post my experience after towing, etc.

 

Great looking rig and great pics of your install. Wanting to add the ride rites to my 05. Thanks for sharing.

 

x2

looks great with that small amount of rake!

nice Blaster(s) too...no reverse though. lol

 

Put ride rites on my OR last week. I have the TSB rear springs and it sagged pretty bad pulling a 3k trailer. Ride-rites completely fixed the problem and no more sag with the trailer hooked up. Ride seems a little better than before. With about 10-15 psi there is no body roll and 20-25 psi cures the sag. Pretty happy with them.

 

To help with your troubleshooting use soapy water. We use it all the time when testing air valves at work and the instruction suggest it. I did when doing my bags.

 

+1 on the soapy water in a spray bottle.
I had a leak on the passenger side. I found out it was at the L valve on top of the bag. I took it out and applied some pipe dope, screwed it back in and it is 100% good to go.

 

Good job, you'll like them

 

what was the cost of the project?

 

I think it's more of the angle of the picture I took; it sits perfectly level with no rake...

Exactly the look I was going for

 

Thanks for the tip!

I'm thinking exactly the same thing; the valve on top of the bags may not be screwed in all the way. Will take a look at it later today, and tighten it down some more!

 

Cost for the kit was: $300 (free shipping)!

I called around to find out about installation costs, and was quoted around $200 (2-hour job), so I decided to do it myself

 

Nice job OP! Ive had my ride rites in for 3 years with no problems. They help out a lot when I have my 400lb Yamaha Raptor in the bed! I have my bags tied into my on-board air system and can inflate and deflate the bags from the cab.

 

You have separate valves for each bag? I have air bags on my 4runner and I used a t-connection to use only one valve. That way they naturally equilibrize. might thing about that.

 

They recommend running the bags independent from one another due to body roll when cornering. The bag under compression forces the air into the other air bag. I've ran both setups and did notice a bit of body roll running a t-fitting.

 

Good job doing them yourself and great pics also...

 

if you put a level on your bedrail it reads level?
must be the angle of the pic or my eyes...lol
looking into this project for mine!

 

I had these on my ranger and loved them. regarding your slow air leak, dont fuss with the soap yet, as someone else posted, get a valve stem core tool at local parts store, and just tighten down the valve cores with the little tool. My new air bag slowly leaked until i did this as well and it never gave me troubles again.

on my ranger, 10-15 pounds with 'no load', did in fact stiffen the ride up. but i liked the versatility for when i needed it.

you guys think our tacos sag, my ranger was worse while only carrying 3-4 sand bags in the back.

 

I cant wait to start my install. My Ride-Rite's came in the other day and my Onboard air will arrive today so this weekend I know what I will be doing.

 

Thanks man! I was strongly considering getting an on-board air system (with in cab gauges and remote), but really didn't want to exceed my budget (or technical ability); money saved is money spent on other mods lol...

Can't wait to really test it out with a fully loaded trailer!

 

Thanks for the tip!

I definitely thought about that, but based on my research, I felt I could get more precise and accurate leveling by excluding the t-connection (especially for uneven loads, etc.).