Load leveling air bags for '12 AC 4X4 V-6

I am thinking about putting load leveling airbags on my '12 access cab 4X4 V-6 to help out when pulling my 25' pontoon boat. What is the best manufacturer and source for a no-drill, bolt on install of a quality product? I am leaning toward not installing a compressor since I pull the boat only occasionally

 

firestone rite ride air bags FTW. I keep a simple bike pump in the truck, it takes about 5-10 pumps to go from 10psi up to 40psi. i posted a link here somewhere think it was sdtrucksprings.com. they are $259 with free shipping. much cheaper than anywhere else. took about 3 hours to install. no drilling no cutting

here ya go...http://www.sdtrucksprings.com/firestone-2407-ride-rite-air-bag-kit-toyota-tacoma-4wd-2005-2011

i got them this summer for $259 but they have them listed for $289 now.

you can also look into "Air Lift" brand, they are $40-60 cheaper but just dont look as tough and i have not seen any reviews

 

+1 Firestone ride rite air bags

 

Amazon may have it cheaper. I bought mine this morning for $270 w/ free shipping. I have a first gen but it is worth looking into.

 

Very happy with my Firestone bags.

 

is it recommended to add another leaf with the airbags?

 

I also like my Firestone bags. The other brand (Can't remember which) requires drilling I believe.

I just posted this in the other thread in fact:

 

My 2011 double cab TRD Off Road is running 1 inch blocks with the stock rear springs and OME shocks. I prefer not to remove the blocks. Does anyone know if the Firestone air bags will fit with my current set-up?

 

Bump for ^^^
I've got 2" rear blocks on the 2011 DCLB TRD 4x4 I just bought. Gonna slap some Firestone bags on the rear for hauling/towing. I want to know if there's enough room for the bags, too.

Equara11, lemme know if you find out anything.

 

You guys should be OK to install them with stock springs and lift blocks since the distance from the frame to the center of the spring has not changed. The only concern I'd have is that the shocks do not extend more than factory, as in, 2" block should have a 2" longer shock (fully extended compared to stock fully extended). The shocks are what prevent over-extension and damage to the bags.

 

Thanks, landphil. The stock TRD Bilsteins do look a little extended. I"ll probably get a set of 5100's for the rear to make sure I'm not pullin' things apart over time.

 

Sorry for the delayed response to your question. Anyhow, I installed the Firestones last weekend and I am more than pleased with the outcome. The truck rides great and is more stable than I imagined it would be. Rough/bouncy type of ride though at times inflated to 15 lbs. You want to maintain at least 5lbs of air in the bags, as they will act as your new bump jousts. So, I will incrementally decrease to 12, 10, and so on....just to see how it rides and to keep the slight lift.
As landphil said, you will not have a problem with the install based on the center of the springs and the frame distance always being constant. The bolts that accompany the kit are long enough to install on a leaf pack of 4.
FYI - It took longer than I planned to install, so plan on more than half a day if you will be flying solo. Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the info, Equara. I'll be doing my install in a week or two. You firmed up my choice to go with the Firestones. Good to know about figuring out the best pressure to ride with, I'm mostly going to be using them as a booster for towing/hauling. Just curious, you mentioned some extra lift. How much height did you gain at the highest pressure you filled?

 

Tyaker - The Firestones will perform great for towing/hauling. Pretty much the main reason I bought and installed them.
The rear of the truck raised about 3/4 of an inch at 15 lbs. (Total of 3 inch rear lift on my truck) Unfortunately, I am noticing a very slight take off shudder a this height. Nothing serious, though.........
Good luck with the install.

 

Yeah the ride rites for the 4x4 are a pain in the ass to install. You need small kid hands. The ones for the 2x4 are way easier to install.

But they work great.

 

Maybe you guys did, but dropping the spare tire helps a lot when installing.

 

I have had the Airlift bags on my frontier before, the ones you need to drill through the frame, and while they were better then no airbags at all - quality wise the riderites are WAY better engineered (no drilling), and the rubber bags are also much thicker and higher quality.

 

does anyone feel the firestone air bags help with taco lean? I'm getting rid of my 10 and picking up 12 sport dcsb thinking of putting these in.

 

Personally I've never noticed the infamous "Taco Lean", until recently it never got parked on a flat surface, so that might be part of the reason.

That said, there are two ways you can plumb the air lines. The kit comes with two separate schrader valves to allow setting the pressures individually, so you could put a few more psi in one side if you wanted, which should correct lean. Optional is to tee the bags together so both get equal pressure, and would have no effect on lean. The tee is not inluded in the kit.

 

Did you say you tee-bagged your Taco?