I thought about posting this over in a Ford or GM forum, but I don't visit those sites much and TS is my home, so I'll post my question here...
I have an '03 F-250 work truck. Between the the steel industrial shell on it and a lot of gear I keep in the bed, it's constantly weighted down and has been long enough now that the rear suspension is sagging a good 3". I need to install either an add-a-leaf or air bags, but I'm not sure which one. I don't understand what strengths each of the systems have. The weight in the bed of the truck is weight that is ALWAYS there. I never take it out. Additionaly , when I do hook up a trailer it's either a 4 horse or an 18ft deck-over. Any suggestions?
The steel industrial shell itself weighs about 450 lbs, as I called the manufacturer earlier and asked. I probably keep an additional 800 lbs on top of that in the bed when you consider my auxillary in-bed 45 gallon fuel tank, an extra spare (2 total), and all my regular work gear. So, that would mean I'm packing around about 1,250 lbs continuously.
Any indications as to the differences between air-bags and add-a-leafs would be appreciated.
I have that style Firestone Ride-rite airbags on my '03 Tundra 4wd. They are really well engineered as they have a convoluted design so they can roll/unroll, no wrinkling. My truck has leaves removed, there are just 2 per side now plus the airbags. I did this on an experimental basis to be able to lower the truck for loading elderly people and dogs. It works. It can also go higher than stock if needed, or keep the headlights aimed right if my motorcycle is on board. When pulling the trailer around 5500 pounds the airbags, while not to be mistaken or substituted for proper weight distribution, they do aid with fine tuning. The bags have an in-cab conrol panel with separate guages and inflate/deflate controls so each side can be independently adjusted too. Highly recommend!
I have that style Firestone Ride-rite airbags on my '03 Tundra 4wd. They are really well engineered as they have a convoluted design so they can roll/unroll, no wrinkling. My truck has leaves removed, there are just 2 per side now plus the airbags. I did this on an experimental basis to be able to lower the truck for loading elderly people and dogs. It works. It can also go higher than stock if needed, or keep the headlights aimed right if my motorcycle is on board. When pulling the trailer around 5500 pounds the airbags, while not to be mistaken or substituted for proper weight distribution, they do aid with fine tuning. The bags have an in-cab conrol panel with separate guages and inflate/deflate controls so each side can be independently adjusted too. Highly recommend!
Do you axle wrap problem braking/acclerating with missing leaves?
Maybe just a little issue if launching hard, not all the time. Not so much axle hop, but sometimes the slightest feeling of possible delay back there. It does have upgraded tires/shocks/brakes, less excessive wheelspin now (Had to stop blasting up my Mom's driveway, to preserve her concrete). I don't baby my truck and it does a pretty good job of running strong. Just in case, when it gets its 4.56s it will also get a traction bar. Braking problems, none yet apparent. They work very well from the simple upgrade to TRD front pads. Of course the stickier tires help with this too. Originals felt a bit weaker but they did go 30,000+.
I think of the air bags as someting for occassional heavy loads, when you want to temporarily stiffen your suspension. What you are talking about is a continual heavy load, that may have cause your existing springs to fatigue. If it were me, I'd go to my local spring dealer (Acme Spring in Dayton, Ohio) and let them make up a new spring package that matches your routine weight. That is exactly what I did for by 1990 Ford box truck. That way you are correcting for any dmage that may have occurred to the original springs, restoring the "ride height" of the chassis, and allowing for proper suspension travel.
If your springs have been so overloaded that they are sagging 3" with no load I would buy new springs and add a set of super springs to them. I have supersprings on my 07 Tacoma and they are rated a 2,000 lb load leveling and make a huge difference with a heavy load. I am pretty sure for an F-250 they are available at 3,000 and 4,000 lb. They do not have any adverse affects on the ride either.
Air bags or add-a-leaf???
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