Do Firestone air bags lift the rear?

I've searched and I wanted to know if the Firestone a Air bags lift the truck when run at low psi? I am also installing 5100's up front and would like to only set them to .85". I've heard when set at 1.75 the ride is rough on OR springs.

 

If they are run low enough, no they will not raise the rear end. But if you increase the pressure the rear will go up.

It will be something you will have to play with to see where you like it.

 

If you put to much air in them, yes. It (the ride) gets rougher as psi goes up. I love my Firestone bags, but I carry a lot of weight.

 

I believe you're supposed to run a minimum of 5psi in them. At that pressure you won't have any "lift". If you decide to get them look into the Daystar Cradles, well worth it. I can't remember if it was Daystar or a different vendor that offering a package deal on the bags and cradles.

 

I plan to run them low unless I'm carrying a load. I am hoping at like 10psi the back isn't lifted so my truck will sit close to level with the bilsteins set at .85" up front.

 

Why the cradles?

 

cradles allow full drop without stretching on the bag. Well worth it. I am happy with mine.

 

Is there a real concern? Does putting the truck on a lift for new tires or work bad on the airbags without the cradle? I've never heard of the cradles up till now.

 

10 psi will lift the truck a bit, I have firestone bags on my truck and im running 10 psi at the moment.

 

What are you running up front?

 

I have Bilstein 5100s on the front (currently set at 1.75"; thinking about going up to 2.5") and the Firestone ride rite airbags in the rear. I usually run about 10-15psi in the rear, and the tuck sits level. However, when I'm towing, I usually inflate the bags up to 20-25psi.

I'm thinking about setting my Bilsteins up to 2.5" in the front and the adjusting the bags in the rear accordingly. Just not quite sure how to adjust the Bilsteins and what is involved.

 

On my 2005 DC I added Ride Rites and ran them at 10-15 psi to be level and prevent the 'harsh ride' (bottoming-out) condition. When I loaded the truck for a Baja trip, then I would run them up to 35 psi. They were great, the truck raised up to the height it was unloaded and drove nice and level.

 

I had them on my '06 DCLB, loved them. I always kept 5 psi in them, even when towing. They take out a lot of body roll too, yet you will lose flex. I had lifted a rear wheel off the ground a time or too. You can put up to 100 psi in them. If you did you would probably fall out through the windshield and bulge a vertebrae when hitting a pothole.

There is a new bag out now made by AirRide that you can run zero air in it, they have internal snubbers. RideRites must have 5 psi to keep from pinching them. I have no experience with the AirRide brand, I can however vouch for the RideRite quality and durability.

 

A Toyota tech told me he had seen cracked axles from kids who put 100 psi in them. The most I ever did as I recall was 45 psi... but the ride was real firm and 35 psi was enough to level the truck with a real heavy load.

 

That alone will not crack anything, except maybe a leaf spring.

That being said if Over Inflated (Like a Hard Tail Harley) and the truck was also Over Loaded it could happen. Also blow out a kidney!

 

I'd say at 5# they might lift the rear a quarter to a half inch if they behave like the bags on the Tundra.

A little air goes a LONG way. Not that I condone doing it (tried to talk them into a 3/4 ton) but at 35# of pressure with the pin weight of a fifth wheel trailer the truck has more rake than stock.

 

I've never put more than 45# in mine and that was with a 1/2 yard of crushed rock in the bed. They work really good!
You can definatly raise up the rear end of your truck with them but the ride will be pretty rough. They're best used to take extra weight while maintaining the existing ride height to prevent sagging.

 

I understand how the airbags work. My only real question was do they raise the rear end when at very low pressure. I don't want to lift the rear for daily driving, only add air to keep from sagging when carrying heavy loads.

 

No

 

I gathered that, which is good news.