Quote:
Originally Posted by Scorp979
Rob, you must be in the trades. The bed slide is perfect for getting at your tools. I did loose some payload with the deavers so I am curious about your air ride system. Any chance you can throw up some pics and give me an idea of the overall system and how it functions?
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Hey Scorp,
Yes, been in the trades for just over 30 years and just now installing a bed slide. It was something I thought about doing 10 or so years ago and never did. Feeling my age some now so I decided it would be well worth the price. I love the thing. I did the top with plywood so that I could modify and build onto it as needed.
I just loaded some pictures up in my albums title Air Lift. I really like the system. I went with Air Lift because they have a lifetime warranty on the bags, Firestone offers two years. You can keep the price down by just installing the air bags and then filling them as needed with any compressor, even a little tire inflator will work fine. I think they are still around $200.00. Seeing what you are working on you could install them way easily.
If you are like me and the load/weight changes pretty regularly then the compressor might be the way to go because it is really convenient.
Each time I have installed them (prior to my current truck) I installed the mini compressor "Air Ride Control" that only inflates the bags. I think that one is about $150.00 or so. I always wanted to figure out a way to make one of those work with some type of on board air but never took the time. Probably just as well because the low end compressors don't have a very high duty rating, you know they are not made to fill up tires etc. This time around I went with the Quick Shot (spendy... $400.00 +) but you have to be careful because the Quick Shot throws air in there pretty fast and can go up to almost 200 PSI. The bags are rated for 100 PSI so you don't want to over fill them. The tank holds the air and you just push the lever button up and the bag fills, you push it down and it lets out air. I believe the Quick Shot was made for people who like to "slam" their rides. Not into any of that. I ran a regular 1/4" NPT fitting out on the back of my truck under the bumper so I can hook up an air line for any of my air hoses.
The compressor and gauges are what take most of the time to install. They come with a bracket that you can mount somewhere but I did not like it so I went the custom route. It was a total pain to bring in 3 air tubes and wire to the location I chose. Not such easy access because behind that little spot where my gauges are mounted is part of the vehicle air bag wiring system.
I mounted the compressor under the truck because I could not find a place that I liked under the hood, that was my first choice. Hopefully I won't regret placement on that one.
They do make a newer system that is wireless, way easy to install. I can't remember exactly why I chose not to use that one... I think it was limited because on board air was not an option with that system unless you modified it.
If you have any other questions etc... just ask.
Think I am going out to do my AAL today but not sure I can muster the energy. Been a long couple of weeks and a rest day sure does sound good.
