air bag mounting, which leaf to pull

[RLDSL]

I';m getting ready to mount some helper bags on the rear of my truck, not using a kit, couldn't with mine because of the bed on there so having to use some mix and match parts, butI've read that it is best to remove one leaf to soften the ride and then let the airbag take up the slack. Question is, which leaf is best to remove? Should I yank the top factory overload spring , which it rides just touching on anyway with that heavy bed I have, or should I yank one of the other ones?
Thanks------Robert

 

[DragRag]

I have firestones on my 92' F350. There is no leafs removed on mine. I run with and without them inflated depending on the load. Usually if I have a heavy load and I want a better ride I add air and keep the overload spring from hitting the stop. I would not remove a spring myself, you would be effectively reducing your trucks carrying capacity, and it's not really necessary is it? Think about it, you remove one non over load spring, and without enough air in your bags your truck can still ride the over loads on the stops, and get a bad ride. If you have the load to justify air in the bags, put the air in and keep it from bumping on the stops. Your truck will glide up and down in the back with kind of load no matter if you have a spring removed in the back or not. This is just my experience and observation.

 

[Chevyboy_0]

I have firestones on my 92' F350. There is no leafs removed on mine. I run with and without them inflated depending on the load. Usually if I have a heavy load and I want a better ride I add air and keep the overload spring from hitting the stop. I would not remove a spring myself, you would be effectively reducing your trucks carrying capacity, and it's not really necessary is it? Think about it, you remove one non over load spring, and without enough air in your bags your truck can still ride the over loads on the stops, and get a bad ride. If you have the load to justify air in the bags, put the air in and keep it from bumping on the stops. Your truck will glide up and down in the back with kind of load no matter if you have a spring removed in the back or not. This is just my experience and observation.

I agree with DragRag, a few of my buddies have bags on their trucks to help with the campers an boats and such and i dont think they removed any leafs from their spring packs at all. couldnt you try it with and without and see which one you like best? or would that be to much work?

 

[RLDSL]

I want to smooth the ride out . The bags will carry 2500 ea by themselves without pushing to overload and I don't tend to overload so removing a leaf on ea side wouldn't reduce capacity with that much overkill at my disposal If I have to I'll weld up more brackets and run 4 bags, I just want to soften up the ride

 

[timothyr1014]

for someone normal, if you spend a decent amount of time running empty you can remove a regular leaf and let the spring pick up the slack...however with what looks like such a heavy a$$ bed on your rig I would leave all the leafs, and use the air to lift the load off the springs a bit....if your air bag size is correct you should be able to do this and see a noticable ride improvement without losing capacity.

Keep in mind, with airbags size and position are key....any idea what your bed weighs (with all the crap you normally keep in it) in comparison to a stocker?

 

[bike-maker]

Mine has air bags in the rear. The pack of overloads were removed, and the stock spring pack remains unmolested. The air bag is essentially an adjustable overload. This means it rides just the same as stock - like a Conestoga wagon - until you put a sizeable amount of weight in the bed. I'm curious to find out if there is a way to make these trucks ride a lil better. Which would require some kind of surgery on the front suspension as well.

 

[sootman73]

you could do away with the leaves and setup like a semi air suspension with the bags like post # 10 on this thead!

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Rob, your harsh ride comes from the overload slamming onto its pads every time you hit a pothole - essentially you already have a decent ride from the main springs with that bed, but the overloads are messing it up for you. The way you describe the overloads current position it seems to me that it's the main springs alone that carry the weight of the bed empty, so if your current ride height is acceptable then I'd remove the overload leafs and install the air bags in their place - this way you lose the jarring the overloads cause when empty, but when you load up you can still lift the ass end of the truck to normal ride height with the air bags. If you remove a main leaf you will weaken the main pack, causing the ride height to drop some resulting in the overloads to ride firmly on their pads all the time with no air in the bags, which will make for okay ride but the moment you put air in the bags to restore ride height the overloads will be right back where they started - barely touching the pads and jarring the truck every time you hit a pothole. You see, it's more of a geometric issue at this point, the overloads are just not where you want them for a decent ride.

Now, if your current ride height is a bit low, you have a few other options:
a) install air bags on top of overloads, pump airbags some - takes the overloads off their pads so jarring is gone, but the overall ride is somewhat stiffer all the time
b) remove overloads, install air bags in their place, pump the bags up some - no jarring will ever occur, but overall ride will be somewhat stiffer all the time again.
c) remove overloads, move their 1" spacer blocks between the main springs and the axle perches, and run the air bags with no air in them - no jarring will ever occur cause no overloads, you gain an inch of ride height from the spacer blocks (now acting as lift blocks), and your ride is as soft as it can get cause no air in the bags. What you gotta watch out for this is if the air bags require some pressure to be kept in them at all times, cause if they do and you go with this option you may end up with the rear end higher than you wanted it...

 

[timothyr1014]

Arch pretty much hit it dead on. From all of my experience playing with bags, measure from the ground to the fender lip....install the bag as described in option 3, and inflate till you are about an inch higher than you are currently sitting. If the bag is fully extended doing this it is too small. Drive it around a bit and experiment with pressures...typically somewhere around 40~50 psi will yield decent results...when you are pulling the 5'er bump the pressure to accomodate.