SuperSprings

[Jack90]

Hi everyone,

I have a 2021, Ram 3500, diesel, single wheel, leaf springs, stock suspension, with a 3,000 wet weight slide in truck camper.

I do have aftermarket firestone air bags installed along with a aftermarket sway bar.

I am nit picking a bit, but I find the firestone air bags a bit bouncy, so I hit a bump and and the back bounces, then that make the fronts bounce and gets in a porpoising motion for a few seconds. I could go and get a pair of custom leaf packs made, but was wondering if any of you have the SuperSprings additional leaf installed and...

1. Do you like them?

2. What size do you recommend? I called and they recommended the SSA15 a load level capacity of 3,000 lb, but wasn't convinced of the answer. I wonder though if the SSA23 with a 2,300 lb capacity would be a better dampening ride?

 

[MontySquareo]

the stiffer springs will make for a harsher (possibly less bouncy) ride, and will handle more abuse. i'm no expert though

 

[CFMGarage]

What are your bags set at (psi)? How do you have them plumbed? Separate lines or are they connected?

 

[Jack90]

I have tried all psi's on the air bags, but I have settled on 26 psi being the best, but I have gone from 0 up to 154. They are plumbed through a air compressor so I can change them on the fly going down the road with the remote that firestone provides. I can also change each side individually.

 

[Mike W.]

With a 3000 lbs camper why are you running airbags at all? Unless I'm carrying over 6000lbs I run my airbags at 3 to 5 psi..

 

[Jack90]

I find running the airbags helps a ton keeping the truck stable overall. When I get down around 5 psi the corners become very unstable even with the aftermarket sway bar.

 

[NatersXJ6]

How fast are you going in cornering to feel unstable? What are you used to driving that feels more stable? Have you followed your rig while someone else drives it to see if your porpoise action is visible from the outside. If it isn’t, I would personally guess that the better answer is “get used to it”. If you really are getting multiple spring compressions with each bump, that sounds more like a shock absorber deficiency than a spring deficiency to me.

 

[Mike W.]

It sounds like the poster above is probably right. Possibly a shock issue. With a load of brick in the bed, about 5800lbs and a 16ft hydraulic dump trailer with a bobcat in it I run 25 to 28lbs in my bags and don't have any issues with sway. Check your swaybar installation also.

 

[Jack90]

yeah, I may just have to "get used to it", I do have great shocks installed as well - 3.0 king shocks tuned for the weight. I am for sure nitpicking on the ride a bit, but always curious if those supersprings would help

 

[1stDeuce]

I found the same with airbags... They tended to "pogo" the rear of the truck when the suspension compresses over a bump or dip. I ended up adding a leaf and going to overload springs that engage sooner. This did make the empty ride more harsh, but my with-camper ride is way better than it was with airbags. If you are running factory shocks, you may also find that replacing the rear shocks with a heavier duty shock also controls the rebound better. My factory shocks had almost no rebound damping, and a set of aftermarket shocks greatly reduced the pogo effect...

If your truck doesn't have the aux pack over the top of the main pack, the superspring can be added and does the same thing as adding more leaves to the pack, which is that it corrects the spring rate to compensate for the weight of the camper. When you take the camper off for a longer time, you can pull the super springs if the ride is too rough...

I say give it a try. You can likely sell the airbags to recoup most of your money.

 

[Jack90]

Thank you, 1stDeuce...I also have a Hallmark a Guenella...love it!

 

[sourdoughben]

I had a 2013 ram3500hd 4x4 diesel and put on a set of King 3.0 shocks. shocking night and day difference.

 

[IdaSHO]

Sounds like a dampening issue. We run bags with stiff Mono-Max shocks on a 2011 superduty and dont experience anything like described.

2011 F250 SRW, typically rolling down the road at 11,000 to 12,000lbs, bags set to 65psi. Custom flatbed, large crossbody box, and 3k wet custom camper. Has a bit of sway on turns, but otherwise incredibly stable and predictable.