"Official" Firestone RideRite + Lift Thread

I just came back from a mineral exploration job on forestry roads. Logged about 1000 miles with my DCLB with dakars and airbag carrying my ATV and about 400 lbs of rocks and gear on dirt roads (probably overloaded by 300 lbs). I did weld my own airbag spacer (see pick, a pair of 1 1/4 inch square tubing just below bag) to compensate for the height of the Dakars. I added 45 PSI, the ride was stiff but good when hitting washboard and ruts at 50-60 mph. Not too bouncy in washed-out trails either and flex seemed good. Small changes in PSI makes a big difference in how the Taco handles the load, it takes a few tries to get it perfect.





As a side note, my truck deck has now handled over 2000 miles of rough dirt roads with an ATV or snowmobile on top. It's great not having to worry about a trailer in the back, especially when entering really tight roads.

 

I ordered a set as well. I really like the idea and after seeing my bags when my truck was on the lift for new tires, I would really like to have something different.

 

The more I think about it I am really liking the looks of that thing.

For both of you that bought them please report back on the fit and how you like them.

I really like the bags for towing and whatnot. But always worry about ripping them offroad.

 

Got the Daystar Airbag Cradles installed today. So far they are AWESOME. Removed the spacers completely, the cradles do rise up a bit.

They only slight problem so far is that the cradle is not 100% centered so the bags are just touching the lip of the cradle. The material of the cradle is very smooth but I'm still worried about wear. I might try adding a strip of inner tube or figure another way to move the cradle a bit, not sure how I will do that though as the bottom of the cradle is vented (not ideal for drilling).

At rest, no load, 5psi.



Testing droop - 5psi





Loaded boat - 0 psi



Loaded boat 25 psi



Loaded boat - 25 psi



Before



After

 

I should also add that the rear suspension is MUCH smoother now that it's not bottoming itself out.

 

Nice looks great.

What do you mean not bottoming out? Do you not keep the minimum 5 psi in them?

Maybe the bracket that it is bolted to make the hole oval so you can get some side to side movement to center it under the bag?

So I can't even remember how the bag mounted on the bottom. Was there a stud on the bottom of the bag you had to cut?

 

It bottomed out with the 2" spacer that was on previously. The spacer was too much and it didn't allow the suspension to compress.

I don't think I can. The hole is countersunk to make the bolt that holds it in flush.

Bolt goes to the bottom of the bag, in the center. You can see the mounting hole in the picture of the bag suspended.

 

URL=http://s7.photobucket.com/user/Triton_38/media/2013%20Tacoma/IMG_1282_zps36148229.jpg.html]

Thats right the hole in the bottom of the bag does not go through into the bag.

No I was talking about the bottom original metal bracket that is on the axle/spring. Make that hole bigger (not anything on the new puck) or oval so you can move the puck around a little. Then use one of those washers that are huge in diameter but with a regular hole in the middle.

I guess I still don't understand the bottoming out? If you keep the minimum 5 psi that they recommend in them it would be impossible to bottom it out unless the bags pop. And its bad to run 0 psi just for that reason. It will damage the bag itself.


I think as soon as I get new shocks/springs for the front I will be getting some of these.

 

Ahh, I see what you mean. That might actually work, I'll have to take a look.

Re: bottoming out. If you look at the original pic with the spacer and the truck at rest, look at the bag. It's already compressed and there is not much room for it to compress any more when the wheel travels up. That is what I mean by "bottoming out", there is just not any more room for the suspension to give.

I could have removed the spacer and that would have eliminated that problem but then the bag would have been stretched more than it should have with the truck at rest because of the lift and I would have then lost 2 inches of droop.

Because the bag is designed for stock suspension travel range, and even then some say it limits some articulation, it's not possible to get 100% travel when you increase your travel in any way, in my case travel increasing by 1.5 inches.

Hope that makes sense.

 

I'm thinking the Daystar with Firestone would be a nice combo for my rig, especially tugging the Centurion

 

Just a thought here though, there ARE larger or taller versions of our bags. So you could build your own kit for the most part. Or once you get the appropriate height measured, email or call firestone and ask them for the proper mounting hardware for our trucks, then just a larger bag tossed instead of the smaller one.

What was the cost of the Daystar cup?

 

I wanted to keep the kit I had, but after the EXPO's installed, there was no hope for them in my application. Went from stock to ~4" - now I have my full Icon shocks and coil overs.

My back end is still a little negative rake due to the weight in the bed. I wanted to add the bags to the equasion for towing too. Then sold them after I got frustrated with the idea of spacers.

Next thing I want is the Hydro Bumps - So if I get them, it's going to kill the airbag idea for sure since the mounts and position where BOTH solutions is the same and the stock mounts need to be chopped.

Maybe I could look at a full custom solution for the towing too. have a weld on mount slightly over a few inches and even a larger bag. Then a plate or similar under the bed as the mounting point. You know, similar to the way a dump truck has it's bags mounted in the rear.

Still use the cups too.

 

Well, I emailed them and they never mentioned using a larger bag. In any case, why have them attached when they can be free floating?

Edit: The cradles are around $80.

 

Most of the time people DO NOT mention other alternatives. But they DO make the larger bags. Tundra has one version of them already.

 

Its a clearance thing. I don't see bigger bags working.

 

Yeah, unless they just didn't think of it, you would think they would prefer me to buy something from them as opposed to recommending something from another company.

 

Let me clarify, by Larger, I meant LONGER

Also, on the company aspect. You cant buy direct from most companys. Thats why there are retailers. From a liability standpoint, they probably CANT recommend anything else for legal reasons.

 

going to try to get my cradles put on this weekend. Work has been crazy with all the storms we have had here...

 

Nice. Should be very simple.

I'm probably going to be working on mine, either elongating the mounting hole or drilling a new one if there is enough space.

You might want to line everything up and see the bag is centered in the cradle before tightening everything up. I'm guessing it will be off center a touch like mine are.

 

I like the pics on this thread. I tackled this problem like many others, free-floating the bag. I didn't want the bags to effect the ride or travel. I, more or less, want them out of the way when I'm not carrying a load. I placed a valve in the air line, removed the valve core temporarily, and evacuated the air from the bags.