Firestone Ride Rite

[StumpXJ]

Tried to get a good shot of the rear suspension set-up, but the screen on my digital camera is broken, and there is no view finder, so all of these shots were just "point, shoot and hope for the best". You can kind of make out the bags here though.... pretty straight forward installation.

~James

 

[fbksurferjoe]

Oh you know what, that is a mistype in my signature. I have 31's not 32's. At any rate I like your ride, it actually looks like you get quite a bit of flex out of those bags I am really suprised, and I think with my shocks extending a little bit more I may even get a few more inches out of them. Thank you so much for those pictures they help out a lot. I was wondering where they would go when I looked in my wheel well and saw that big metal bump stop on the frame but now I see it just bends out of the way.
Oh this morning I also removed my front stabalizer on my truck and llllloooovvveeee it! If you havent given that a try I highly suggest it. That is if you dont mind a little body roll.

 

[fbksurferjoe]

Im sure once you throw those 5100's on you will be suprised at how much more droop you will get. The question is though, once you get that much then you have to worry about the bag ripping or breaking which is why I think I will throw on some limit straps to prevent that from happening.

 

[StumpXJ]

Well, my bilsteins showed up today, so i will know very soon how much difference they make, and if the bags will hold up.

I thought I was ordering 5100's, but I was sent 5125's.... Are these the same thing? I assume that wheelers knows what they are doing when they sent them to me, I gave them my truck info, so time will tell.

When I get them on, I will take some more flex pics, mostly for my curiosity, but will post them up here as well when I do it.

I have considered removing the sway bar, but have not tried it yet. Just how much body roll do you have? Its not like im road racing my truck, but the roads here in Germany are prety twisty. Was a it a HUGE noticable difference on the street when cornering? Im sure it has to help offroad.... I may pull it off when I install the shocks. Might as well take advantage of the autolift if I can.

~James

 

[fbksurferjoe]

I think the 5125's have a longer shaft than the 5100's so more flex.....? not 100% on that. As far as the sway bar honestly I drive 80mph on the freeway and drive in a rural area with curvy roads and barely notice any body roll, but most of those noises you hear when you go over speed bumps vanish once you remove it so that was nice. The best part is you do not have to remove any skids it took me 15 minutes to remove mine with some powered tools a total of 6 nuts . If all else fails and you dont like it, spend another 15 minutes putting it back on. You will see when you get around to doing it.

 

[StumpXJ]

yeah, I have decided to try the truck without a sway bar. Like you said, worst case scenario is I have to put it back on.

I looked up the Bilstein info, apparently the 5100, 5125, and 5150 all can be purchased in different lengths, but the higher the number, the heavier the valving is the best I can tell. I suppose the 5125 is a little better for my application, due to the extra weight. Kudos to Wheelers.com for providing the extra larger size bushing with the shocks, they are required on my truck and I didnt know it.

Anyway, I am going to put them on the truck this Friday. Thanks for the sway bar info, and let me know how the airbags work for your application.

~James

 

[StumpXJ]

Why didnt I do this sooner?

Holy cow. I got finished putting the bilsteins on, and also removed the sway bar. I noticed very little body roll over what I normally had, but damn the suspension works so much better now. I am kicking myself for not doing this sooner. Thanks for the extra nudge to do this, I cant wait to go wheeling and try it out. The biggest difference I have noticed with the swaybar gone and new rear shocks is when I back out of my drive way.... I used to actually lift a rear wheel becasue the drive is off cambered (hard to explain, but now everything stays planted... Its great!

The rear flexes soooo much better with the new shock, and now the bags are whats keeping it from flexing more. They held up ok, but im not sure how much more they will take. I know the shocks had another inch or so of travel left, and I still had room on the other side to stuff the tire. I may end up taking the bags off...

I think this is about all we can expect out of the beg set-up as far flex is concerned. Here are the pics:

~James

 

[StumpXJ]

Before new shocks and with the sway bar.

After new shock and removed sway bar.

Big difference, easily a couple inches. Now I have to learn how to wheel all over again...LOL

~James

 

[fbksurferjoe]

Good to hear that the sway bar worked out for you. Looking at your set up you look as close to as much droop as I get without bags. I say if it rides well I would keep them seeing as new leaf springs cost in the range of 800+ dollars and even then you would maybe only get 1 or 2 more inches. With my current setup of downey shackles, stock springs, fox 10" travel 2.0 resevoir shocks, I am bottoming out my fox shocks and my springs are making an n shape, i dont know if yours will due the same if you take the bags out. I really just dont want to ruin a good pair of shocks. Here is a pic of my springs and shocks as of right now sitting flat on my driveway

 

[StumpXJ]

Wow, yeah your springs are almost as bad as mine were before I put the bags on and then replaced the springs...(in fact, since you have the shackles, they may be just as bad) Ill leave em on for now. They arent eating anything, and I do like the ability to put air in them if I am hauling something. If they stay in one piece, great, if not oh well...

~James

PS, I am really loving this non sway bar thing. Got a chance to drive it more today and the truck feels great!

 

[fbksurferjoe]

Yah my springs are hurting. But worse off are my shocks, as you can see in the picture they only have 2 inches of shaft showing I dont know if it is a design flaw on my part or if I am just sitting so low that they are bottoming out.

 

[articulate]

The rear flexes soooo much better with the new shock, and now the bags are whats keeping it from flexing more. They held up ok, but im not sure how much more they will take. I know the shocks had another inch or so of travel left, and I still had room on the other side to stuff the tire. I may end up taking the bags off...

I think this is about all we can expect out of the beg set-up as far flex is concerned.
~James

Just as an FYI, I recently installed the Ride Rites on my Frontier and had the same impressions about the rear articulation. So I purchased a urethane bumpstop . . . my plan is to unbolt the bag from the lower bracket, screw on the bumpstop to the bottom of the bag. Strictly to test out the viability of leaving the bag disconnected from the axle to allow it drop as much as it can. Catch my drift?

I'm in the theory stages still, but I think I'm going to give it a test run and see what happens. So far, I believe the bag will be able to hold the load and the axle might be able to "flex" around all she needs. 100% theory still . . .

 

[RHINO]

I dont know if it is a design flaw on my part or if I am just sitting so low that they are bottoming out.

yes its a design flaw on your part,,,, yuour shocks are too long, you have more travel to the bump stop than the shock will allow, so your shock is acting as the bump stop,,, not good.
either get the lift,,,, raise the bumpstops, or reconfigure the angle of the shocks to get more uptravel,,,, your most likely not using all the downtravel the shocks offer anyway. keep in mind with more angle= less damping of the shock but your mounted on the shackle side so that will give you some back.

 

[p1michaud]

Air bags

Strictly to test out the viability of leaving the bag disconnected from the axle to allow it drop as much as it can. Catch my drift?

I was just about to ask why both sides of the bag have to be connected. I'm currious to hear how this works out. You may have to devise some method of "guiding" the bag back in place once the suspension compresses.

Cheers :beer:,
P

 

[Willman]

Just as an FYI, I recently installed the Ride Rites on my Frontier and had the same impressions about the rear articulation. So I purchased a urethane bumpstop . . . my plan is to unbolt the bag from the lower bracket, screw on the bumpstop to the bottom of the bag. Strictly to test out the viability of leaving the bag disconnected from the axle to allow it drop as much as it can. Catch my drift?

I'm in the theory stages still, but I think I'm going to give it a test run and see what happens. So far, I believe the bag will be able to hold the load and the axle might be able to "flex" around all she needs. 100% theory still . . .

Sounds like a great plan! Let us know what you find!