Air bags vs helper springs

Yup.

Thanks good to know

 

It wasn’t bad when I had c-rated 31s on, but I currently have e-rated 32s and I think the combination is harsher than either aspect alone. It’s not unbearable, but with all the roads being so torn up here right now after all the freeze-thaw cycles we’ve had, it’s definitely a little tiring. Like I said, they do the job as a stop-gap, but I can’t wait to get new springs back there and have it done right.

 

I have timbrens but I bought them for a great deal off of here. However I bought a utility trailer and Tundra to haul my loads.....never really used them for their purpose.

 

When I was looking at supplementing my Dakars for offroading with a heavy load I looked at the Ride-Rite kit. The problem I saw with the kit was the bags are rated for only 6.5" of travel. My truck has 9" of rear suspension travel. Add the shear movement from articulation on rocky off road trails I did not think they would last in my application.

If you primarily drive paved roads and dirt fire roads these air bags maybe okay.

 

They do have kits for lifted vehicles, at least that is what I read on Firestonre ride rite site.

 

There is a solution, Daystar Cradles.

 

It looks to me that instead of over extending, the bag will get over compressed instead. The problem is the bags only have 6.5" of available travel not 9". A spacer does not solve this problem. I have searched Ride-Rites master catalog and I did not find an airbag with enough travel.

 

So basically helper springs can work but give a rough ride unloaded, while air bags are adjustable and give a stock ride when aired down and are more adjustable to the load weight than helper springs would be. Got it. Thanks for the help and tips.

 

Seems the options are:

• New leaf pack
• Add-A-Leaf
• Timbrens or SumoSpring
• Airbags/Air shocks

Not sure what I'm going to do on my truck yet.

 

I went with sumo springs. I actually just bought the foam spring itself and made a custom perch, so that I could make it exactly how I wanted with my AAL. However, they make spacers and were working to send me a spacer kit with their stock perch but for the money it was easier to just weld one up myself.

 

Those foam bags look really interesting. Could I ask you a favor. Next time you have a big load of logs in your truck, jack up one side of the rear axle and take a picture of how the bag contacts the frame stop.

Something like this. Here I used a tarp to fill the bed with water.

 

I have a picture in the previous post. It's the one where my truck frame is covered with all the damn salt they throw on the roads here every time snow is even a remote possibility. I installed them so they sit off the frame about 1.5''. I find that with this, on normal roads they basically never contact and it's like they are not even there. Only with a big load do they contact, and the way they are designed they progressively load the foam springs so lighter loads are less stiff...obviously. I can vouch they help out tremendously with heavy loads. Feel much more in control, bed doesn't sag, truck doesn't roll as much.

 

what part #? the site doesnt list avail for 1st gens

 

I had AAL’s on my 2006 and currently have ride rites on my 2016. Airbags have not been so straightforward for me. My rear suspension is otherwise stock FYI. I have not had any problems with them- they don’t leak or anything, and a cheap bicycle pump fills them up no problem. On cradles; I initially got them from the start. I did some testing with an improvised RTI ramp and found they had no affect at all on droop, but they did cause the rebound of the rear end to be much less controlled, and since the bag sits down in the cradle, they could theoretically contact the frame. I left them off permanently. For me, the factory ride quality has not been achievable at lower psi. I initially tried 5psi and found that it caused the rear to bottom out very easily. The stock suspension setup contacted the bumpstops way more often than I first though. Some people say the bags have internal bumpstops but I have not seen anything from Firestone that says that, and it sure doesn’t feel like they do when it bottoms out. With my RTT on now (~210 lbs), it needs 12-15 psi to keep from bottoming out. This causes a harsher than stock ride since they effectively increase the spring rate. They did end up lifting the rear maybe 1.5”, and I have had 750lbs of shingles in the bed (+ the RTT) and it felt great.

 

I e-mailed them all my dimensions just to be sure, and they were going to send me a "custom" kit. they only part that was custom was going to be a spacer to raise up the foam piece because my truck had an AAL.

https://www.supersprings.com/shop/ssr-610-40/

This is the part they were sending me. It is the one for the second gen. Really the bump stop/ U bolt configuration for the 1st and 2nd gens are the same. I am 99% sure you can just slap this on a 1st gen and it would work right out of the box.

https://www.supersprings.com/shop/ssr-601-40/

I just bought these bad boys and made the bracket myself. Was almost going to just drill a hole through the stop piece that contacts the stock bump stock on the bottom of the truck frame and just mount it there, and then take a sawzaw and cut the stock bump stop rubber flat.

And FYI all of these are listed on Amazon for a lot cheaper. And if you search tacomaworld there are tons of posts with a lot of information on these (they are just hidden in the 2nd/3rd gen forums).

 

I was wondering how the spring lined up with frame stop when the rear suspension is articulated like in SDFM32 post. Probably not enough shift sideways to matter but would be interesting to see...no biggie.

 

I kinda figured part #ssr-610-40 had to be the one to use but wasn't sure. Thanks.

 

Sumosprings!!! My truck is used as a truck. I haul loads and pull trailers. The stock 2015 OR rode like a Pogo-stick compared to my F-250 Super Duty. The first time I pulled my enclosed 8x12 foot trailer, my bumper was nearly dragging. Solution...Sumosprings. Simple 20 minute in-expensive fix that improved the ride and load/pulling abilities. Empty, it raised the rear end about 3/4 of an inch.

 

Full stuff

 

That does not look bad at all. Not too much shear...thanks for taking the time