Air bags for towing?

frieed

Jeepless in Draper
Supporting Member
Location
Draper, UT
I have Firestone Ride Rites and they just work. Loaded or unloaded. I have them on two separate valves.
 

Hickey

Burn-barrel enthusiast
Supporting Member
Following - I need to do the same. With the RTT and towing I'm sagging a little lower than I like. Are the firestone airbags legit?

Firestone airbags are very reliable. Firestone makes most of the airbags you see on heavy trucks. They've been making them for several decades, and I've only had 1 failure in 22 years of trucking. That failure was a rock that was stuck in the bottom plate of the bag, and the bag rubbed against it until it wore a hole in it.
 

moab_cj5

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
Cool info here. I just bought a Tundra with airbags, and not to hijack, but how do I tell the brand? The fill Schroeder valves run out to behind the bumper, and I assume I just use a pressure gauge to check how much air is in them?
 

Caleb

Well-Known Member
Location
Riverton
Cool info here. I just bought a Tundra with airbags, and not to hijack, but how do I tell the brand? The fill Schroeder valves run out to behind the bumper, and I assume I just use a pressure gauge to check how much air is in them?

Correct. At least all of the ones I've installed and used were just your normal schrader valve.
 

kts532

New Member
I used Timbrine Years ago for the front of trucks with snow plows and did not have good luck with them. I know they have changed there line so things may be better now. I use Air bags on my truck and have very good luck with them. I do not Tee them but on a van I think it would be fine. I haul a 40 foot goose neck that always is way overloaded and I have never had a problem with the Bags. I put the Schrader valves next to the gas cap inside the door. When I had them on the back of the truck they corroded bad. In the gas door they stay clean. I have onboard air but I just fill them with a air hose because I don't have any more room in the cab for any more switches or gauges.
 

Herzog

somewhat damaged
Admin
Location
Wyoming
So I have 80+ normal miles on the Timbrens but no towing yet.

I will say, I'm a tad disappointed in the kit itself. For the price I would have expected some better quality bolts. The bolts that came with it look like something you'd get from walmart. The bumpstop cup adapter was useless on my setup because the OEM bumps are fused to it... so I used the rubber spacer pads that came with it and just mounted it to that. I ended up using better bolts that I had laying around too. They rubber 'springs' themselves are pretty heavy and seem well constructed, but I guarantee their margins on this product are quite high. ;)

As for the unloaded ride, I've noticed them a few times and it's not bad. It's more of a firm bump than anything when I hit a large dip or bump in the highway. Not bad at all. I'll report back after towing, might be after labor day weekend.
 

04F150

New Member
my last F150 i put Firestones on it and wasn't impressed with the mounting like herzog said about Timbrens. so on my F350 I went with Amp Pacbrake and they were built so much better. They are built like they should be!
 
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