Helper Airbags or something equivalent

[Jack90]

Hi everyone,

I have a 2021, Ram 3500, diesel, single wheel, leaf springs, stock suspension, with a 2,500 wet weight slide into the bed fourwheel pop up style camper

I am going to start flat towing a four door jeep and I am looking for any advice on what kind of setup I should get for Helper Airbags or something equivalent.

I have never added a helper add on to a suspension before and figured I would see if you all could get me on the right path.

Not sure if this is possible, but I will also being installing an ARB type air compressor, and maybe the Helper Airbags and the ARB air compressor can work together.

The road conditions will be many hours of payment roads and then many miles of washboard roads.

Thanks a ton!

 

[dustinbriq]

I think your 3500 will be fine without airbags with a 2,500 lb. camper and flat towing a Jeep. You have a 7,000+ lb. payload capacity. I have airbags on my F250 to keep my truck level with a 3k lb. Lance camper.

 

[CFMGarage]

Is the truck stock height? Any plans to lift it? I would just get one of the off the shelf aftermarket kits like the Airlift 5000 series or the Firestone bags. They both have kits for the 3500, well maybe not the 2021 yet, but I don't think much changed in the rear end of the 3500s.

If you plan to lift the truck and start "flexing" the truck some, get the daystar cradles to add to the lower mount so the bag isn't attached to the axle. Lots of example pictures online.

Don't tee the bags together, run them on separate fill lines.

 

[roving1]

These are a good alternative to air bags.

New video by Chris Lanctot

photos.app.goo.gl

RAS® Leaf Spring Helper | Made in America

Since 1998 RoadActive Suspension(RAS) has perfected a rear leaf spring suspension upgrade that provides a perfect balance of reduced squat, improved load handling, safety, stability, unloaded ride quality and complete simplicity. Master The Road!

activesuspension.com

 

[Betarocker]

I run the Firestone Ride Rite bags on Daystar cradles. Allows me to have softer springs for empty driving and maintain a level ride stance when loads increase.

 

[Mongoloveshammer]

I run firestone air bags as well.You reall should consoder a Helwig "Big Wig" rear sway bar as well.! would not run without them.

 

[ITTOG]

These are a good alternative to air bags.

New video by Chris Lanctot

photos.app.goo.gl

RAS® Leaf Spring Helper | Made in America

Since 1998 RoadActive Suspension(RAS) has perfected a rear leaf spring suspension upgrade that provides a perfect balance of reduced squat, improved load handling, safety, stability, unloaded ride quality and complete simplicity. Master The Road!

activesuspension.com

Do you have this product. If yes, what are your thoughts on them.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

 

[mightymike]

I have a 2018 Ram 3500 diesel, 4x4, SRW, crew cab short bed. Payload by Ram is 3771. When my 2014 Lance 865 is loaded (full water and propane, food, camping gear and two passengers) I have 2,920 lbs. on the truck. There is a leveling kit on the front end of the truck. When the camper with gear is loaded, the truck was about 2" low in the back (might have been level w/o the front leveling kit, I never loaded the camper before I leveled the truck). I put on airbags to level the truck and it sits level now when its loaded and I think it made the ride a bit better. You can plumb airbags into a compressor, just look around. The airbags were very easy to install.

 

[MTVR]

I am going to start flat towing a four door jeep and I am looking for any advice on what kind of setup I should get for Helper Airbags or something equivalent.

Why?

You shouldn't need to add air bags to flat tow- flat towing adds virtually zero tongue weight.

 

[twodollars]

I have a set of bags on my 1500 sierra, and on board compressor to inflate. Works fantastic for heavier loads. If your taking a truck to near max frequently, and it squats a lot, air bags can fix that. But on my 1500 I'm using it hard. Real hard.

 

[Trikebubble]

Firestone airbags on cradles on my Tundra, with a Four Wheel Camper. I've upgraded the leaf springs so I just have the airbags at lower psi's to assist with heavier loads. Run the airbags separately, so you can use them to fine tune your camper level when camping.

 

[roving1]

Do you have this product. If yes, what are your thoughts on them.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

New video by Chris Lanctot

photos.app.goo.gl

Yeah that's my vehicle they are in. I really like them and they work well. I have transferred them from the stock suspension to the lifted suspension I have after it sagged more then I was expecting.

Very simple to install and adjust. Not as easy to adjust as air bags but more simple to install and reliable. Can be adjusted with a simple socket or wrench with the vehicle on the ground. Rides way better then traditional add a leaf type cargo leafs.

I called the company to ask some questions and the owner was a good guy and recommended a spring rate one up from the stock application. An XX model spring if I remember correctly. The nice thing about these is since the spring is in tension you can get a higher rated model and then not tension it as much and the ride will still not suffer. Also after a certain amount of extension the rate falls off so if you overload it or over tension it it won't offer anymore real resistance in a rapidly rising spring rate sense which makes the ride really good.

They don't effect droop at all like add a leafs can so the suspension droops very well and works great off road.

I added traditional cargo leafs and took them off immediately as the ride was unbearable.

I was interested in airbags but knew I was going to get rid of the stock suspension in a year so wanted something I could install on the stock truck and transfer to the lifted truck if I needed it.

This worked perfect for me for my needs and well enough where I would consider them even if I was not swapping suspension and using them in place of airbags.

I have put 25K on them between two suspensions and a couple of trips between MI and Mexico with no issues and hundreds of miles of hard 1st/2nd lo range use. No complaints.

 

[billiebob]

I think your 3500 will be fine without airbags with a 2,500 lb. camper and flat towing a Jeep. You have a 7,000+ lb. payload capacity. I have airbags on my F250 to keep my truck level with a 3k lb. Lance camper.

This ^^^ but if you want airbags to levelthings out they are incredibly simple and inexpensive. Have a friend who plumbed the fill valves to the rear bumper and uses a bicycle pump to air up. Works like a charm.