Thanks for the reply. When Don Beni, the shop owner in La Paz, saw how the cross member was made he told me that the forged aluminum was strong enough but that the design was bad - it should have been boxed the whole way. I am certain you've remedied that particular weakness in design.
Regarding the airbags - XP installed off the shelf Firestone RideRite airbags spec-ed for F350 (I've since had the upper air bag bracket/mounts modified so the bags are in a much more vertical alignment. It's just a wacked out design by Firestone, I've put the same airbags on my old Tundra and on a T100 the airbag was always directly under the axle - they've just done it strangely for the F350... at least in my experience since I can't find anybody else with an F350 who's installed airbags.
After having one of my airbags come out of the daystar cradle and wedge between the tire and flatbed skirt, I went to Deaver Suspension in Anaheim and had them install a proper spring pack, I kept the airbags to trim the load when I've got a moto on the back. I like it aired up for the road (no sway, handles great) and then I will drop down to 5psi or so when I go offroad. It's worked well so far.
Best of luck with your business, as I said before you're starting with a great design and it sounds like you're making some substantial upgrades. Finally, I'm happy to see you're not on the diesel truck bandwagon. After 40+ years of traveling Baja with both diesel and gas vehicles I am CERTAIN you've made the best choice by going with a gas powered vehicle... for many reasons that I'm sure you already know.
Regarding the airbags - XP installed off the shelf Firestone RideRite airbags spec-ed for F350 (I've since had the upper air bag bracket/mounts modified so the bags are in a much more vertical alignment. It's just a wacked out design by Firestone, I've put the same airbags on my old Tundra and on a T100 the airbag was always directly under the axle - they've just done it strangely for the F350... at least in my experience since I can't find anybody else with an F350 who's installed airbags.
After having one of my airbags come out of the daystar cradle and wedge between the tire and flatbed skirt, I went to Deaver Suspension in Anaheim and had them install a proper spring pack, I kept the airbags to trim the load when I've got a moto on the back. I like it aired up for the road (no sway, handles great) and then I will drop down to 5psi or so when I go offroad. It's worked well so far.
Best of luck with your business, as I said before you're starting with a great design and it sounds like you're making some substantial upgrades. Finally, I'm happy to see you're not on the diesel truck bandwagon. After 40+ years of traveling Baja with both diesel and gas vehicles I am CERTAIN you've made the best choice by going with a gas powered vehicle... for many reasons that I'm sure you already know.