Air bag problems

[rpkittle1]

I had Firestone air bags installed on my 2011 Ford F250. They worked great for 2 years then one blew out. When I removed the air bags I saw the cheep construction of the units. One new air bag from Amazon was $145. If one is bad then the other must be close. For the price I installed SumoSprings (I had to make custom parts for installation even though I bought the kit my truck called for). No more a chance of a blowout while I am driving.

[Ram Montana High Country]

What was cheap about the construction?

[RMcNeal]

That's what made me choose Timbrens over the air bags. No leaks. No maintenance.

[rpkittle1]

The bolts were grade 3 and no locking nuts. Should have been grade 5 with locking nuts. Bolts were bent and loose when I removed them. I use the axle saddles when I installed the SumoSprings but used grade 5 blots and locking nuts.

[WeBeFulltime]

I've had Firestone and Air Lift bags and found the Air Lift brand to be better quality. One of my Firestone bags went bad while over 1500 miles from home.

[jsb5717]

Not to add salt to the wound but the blown bag could have been faulty...but there was a lot being asked of it.

Loaded pin weight on the trailer is ~3500 lbs. Add people, hitch, and gear and there is in excess of 4100 lbs being loaded on a truck with a payload of maybe 2100-2500lbs. The truck is woefully overloaded so the air bags are being asked to not only carry the extra dead weight, but are being considerably stressed under that load while managing the exaggerated weight applied as the trailer porpoises down the road.

Bottom line is that the air bags are being asked to bear all the extra stress that a properly rated truck should be carrying. I know that these bags are supposed to be able to carry a lot of weight so whether or not that caused the failure, I don't know. Just a thought...

[Cat320]

Originally Posted by jsb5717

...Loaded pin weight on the trailer is ~3500 lbs. Add people, hitch, and gear and there is in excess of 4100 lbs being loaded on a truck with a payload of maybe 2100-2500lbs. The truck is woefully overloaded ...

There's the bottom line. Any of these diesels can "pull" the load and be within limits, but as noted here, the 250/2500 series cannot carry the payload weight.

[Ram Montana High Country]

Originally Posted by rpkittle1

The bolts were grade 3 and no locking nuts. Should have been grade 5 with locking nuts. Bolts were bent and loose when I removed them. I use the axle saddles when I installed the SumoSprings but used grade 5 blots and locking nuts.

Thanks, that will give others a chance to do some minor mods for better results.

[hookseter]

I have an 07 Dodge 3500, with Firestone airbags. Had them on since new, never had a problem.

[Ttman]

I watched an episode of Keep Your Daydream on Youtube and the installer put the top bracket airbag bracket in backwards which caused rubbing on the airbag under load and during operation and almost caused a failure. It looked fine without the load. Not sure of your exact problem that caused it to fail. I have been looking to getting them and came across that video while doing my pre-purchase research. I am also considering the Sumo’s

[bcrvman]

Originally Posted by jsb5717

Not to add salt to the wound but the blown bag could have been faulty...but there was a lot being asked of it.

Loaded pin weight on the trailer is ~3500 lbs. Add people, hitch, and gear and there is in excess of 4100 lbs being loaded on a truck with a payload of maybe 2100-2500lbs. The truck is woefully overloaded so the air bags are being asked to not only carry the extra dead weight, but are being considerably stressed under that load while managing the exaggerated weight applied as the trailer porpoises down the road.

Bottom line is that the air bags are being asked to bear all the extra stress that a properly rated truck should be carrying. I know that these bags are supposed to be able to carry a lot of weight so whether or not that caused the failure, I don't know. Just a thought...

There are still some people who do not understand that adding air bags does NOT increase the load bearing capacity (most air bag companies post that on their web site) all they do is make the ride softer.

[hookseter]

Just my opinion, anything you have to pull with or carry weight, you should have bags. It is usually instol error, bad bag, or vehicle problem. Just my opinion!

[Mikelff]

Originally Posted by bcrvman

There are still some people who do not understand that adding air bags does NOT increase the load bearing capacity (most air bag companies post that on their web site) all they do is make the ride softer.

I disagree. They obviously do carry load and increase actual load capacity , however should not be used to calculate load capacity for the tow vehicle, as they can and do fail. Should not be used to compensate for grossly overweight vehicles. Can they carry the load? Probably, until they fail. Then you are in trouble. I went for the 7000 pound air ride with remote compressor. Never a problem. They take some weight, level the truck, and do make the ride softer. I still have the load capacity should one fail. My pin weight varies depending my load so the air bags level my truck and pick up some load if I am loaded heavy. Glad I have them 4 years now.

[bcrvman]

Originally Posted by Mikelff

I disagree. They obviously do carry load and increase actual load capacity , however should not be used to calculate load capacity for the tow vehicle, as they can and do fail. Should not be used to compensate for grossly overweight vehicles. Can they carry the load? Probably, until they fail. Then you are in trouble. I went for the 7000 pound air ride with remote compressor. Never a problem. They take some weight, level the truck, and do make the ride softer. I still have the load capacity should one fail. My pin weight varies depending my load so the air bags level my truck and pick up some load if I am loaded heavy. Glad I have them 4 years now.

You can disagree all you want, even the air bag companies disagree with you. Here is one company, the FAQ page and I am supplying the screen grab as well as the link. You can test yourself, get a can of beans or similar, weigh on your bathroom scales, now make an airbag, maybe zip lock bag, blow in it and seal it. now put the can of beans on the air bag that is on the scales. Is the weight the same?
https://www.firestoneip.com/ride-rite/faq/

[Sparatacus]

I had Air lift 5000 Plus on my last 3500 and I had air bag on my 2017 2500 so I said that I didn't want to mess with air bag this time on my new 2022 Laramie 3500 CCLB so I went with Timbrens this time, I haven't tow with them yet, but I know that I will love it.