Rear aftermarket Air Bags/Hose questions (1 Viewer)

[TimTX]

With anything more than my two daughters in the third row, I hate how the rear of the truck drops down with any additional weight. It seems Air Bags would work perfect when I have additional passengers and/or have the LC loaded up. I'm looking to level out the ride when full of family/junk and people seem please with how it improves handling.

FYI, I have strock Springs and struts. I personally change out all 4 struts with OEM Toyota struts about 5 months ago. I'm not a mechanic by any stretch, but if I feel confident doing it myself, I will.

For the bags, how do you get air in them? Also, are there individual hoses for each side? I have a small digital air compressor that I can hook up to a cigarette lighter that I can use if I get a flat. Will that work to pump up the bags? Set each side to the same PSI? I also read that people run the hose to the back bumper? Does the hose come up through the floorboard?

I don't want a lift and want to keep everything as much stock as possible. I do VERY minor off-roading and its used to take kids to sports, family vacations, etc so I'm not worried about articulation of springs, etc.

Thoughts? TAI

 

[oakback]

You run a hose from the bag to the fill valve your location of choice, I think most people use the rear bumper (myself included). Nothing ends up inside the vehicle, unless you want to get crazy with it for some odd reason.

It comes with hoses for each side. You could get a T and combine the two hoses to run to one valve, but the air could then move from one back to the other when there are side loads (like turning).

A small pump should work find, the psi and volume isn't greater than a small car tire. Yes, each side same PSI.

Working with the hoses (cutting to length, picking a valve location, connecting to valve) is the easy part, IMO. The part that sucks is dropping the axle, removing the bumpstop, and widening the hole. And heaven forbid, if you have a leak at the bag/hose joint, having to do it all again (like I did).

 

[TimTX]

LOL, I did some searches and like what you said, drilling the hole on the top for the valve looks like the scariest part.

What brand did you use? Also, how satisfied are you with the outcome?

Appreciate the insight!

 

[oakback]

I have the Air Lift 1000 bags, as was recommended in many threads here.

But honestly, since I've taken them apart and reinstalled to fix the leak, I haven't had a chance to test them out. At that same time I replaced my old saggy springs and shocks, and they've provided plenty of support for towing my camper, so I haven't inflated the bags yet. I need to test them, but usually I forget once I've got everything hitched up.

 

[TimTX]

Truck does have 273K miles. Maybe I should just start with replacing springs if they aren't that expensive.

Does that mean you should to do all 4, like I did shocks?

 

[oakback]

Hopefully some other folks weigh in, but my understanding is that the front torsion bars don't really wear out like the rear springs, which can sag. The torsion bars can be easily adjusted if more height is needed, and they retain their ability to adequately support the vehicle.

But if you're going to replace the rear springs, the process is easier than installing air bags.

To give my experience, I weigh ~218 lbs. and sitting on the open tailgate would sink the rear 4-5 inches. Unloaded the vehicle sat almost level. Towing my 2,600 lbs. camper make the LC look like it was at its max capacity, with the rear tires at the fender. With the new springs, it sits like a stink bug, and almost levels out when loaded with the camper and a bunch of gear in the cargo area. It handles immensely better now, when loaded.

 

[TimTX]

Where did you get OEM rear springs? I'm gonna go measure when I sit on the tailgate. Mine definitely sags when I sit on the tailgate. I'm thinking maybe new springs in the rear is what I need.

TAI

 

[oakback]

I got the ARB OME 2860 springs (link), which I believe are slightly stronger than the factory springs. I can't recall the thread now, but I saw posts saying these were a good alternative for vehicles that occasionally need to carry heavy loads or light duty towing.

 

[ramangain]

Some folks "wire up" the air line to supply air to both bladders off of one Schrader valve. Why? If you have a bladder pop on the road while towing, your suspension remains symmetrical. This is a VERY important safety consideration and one i experienced myself towing with the Airlift 1000 system.

 

[oakback]

What caused it to pop?

 

[ramangain]

Ambient heat and trivial elevation change.

 

[nissanh]

After you add air bags, make you to check its pressure often. If its pressure drops, the bump stops will be the shockabsorbers and could lead to rip/break, possibly top shock mount off of frame. It happened to me on my 3rd gen 4runner. Glad I caught it soon and was able to fix it right.

You have to remove the factory bump stops located inside the coil spring to make room for the air bag.

 

[phatdragon]

You can see how I routed the lines through the bumper and installed the bags in my build here. I would definitely make the holes in the spring plates bigger and like others have said check the air frequently especially if towing. I did not make the holes large enough so it has popped the line off the bag when wheeling, and have to go in and fix that.

Warning: Harbor fright jack stands in use. {{shudder}}

Builds - Hundo Family Truckster

Laplata Canyon/Columbus Basin. So lucky to have this so close.

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[CBdeJ]

I’ve been running airbags (airlift 1000) for four years now with no leaks to speak of. I have them plumbed together so yes their is the potential for a jacking effect but I haven’t encountered it yet. My air valve sits behind the fuel door. I inflate the bags to about 25psi when carrying the family and all our camping gear and air down to 7 psi when empty and driving around town.

 

[NearJetties]

I installed some this spring and have carried several heavy loads this summer. They have been great. My truck is empty most of the time so I didn’t want to go to heavier s

No towing yet but I think they would do really well.

you’ll loose some articulation and off-roading is probably the time you’re most likely to pull out a line or have other issues. Mine still did great on a few trails I did.

I used the firestone kit from etrailer. you can use a compressor but I actually use a bike pump sometimes lol.

 

[MooseMichaels]

I've installed Airlift 1000 bag, and they have worn very well. I load the rig up with 4 friends + 4 bikes + people worth of gear nearly every weekend and head to the mountains. I also went West this summer with a gross vehicle weight of around 7k lbs, with the bags at about 25 psi. They fared very well with plenty of off road driving.

Towing is much better as well.

I routed the airlines from the bottom of the bags, along the dif breather hose, then to the rear bumper. I would highly recommend installing a valve in between the L and R bags to prevent excessive body lean when taking large sweeping turns on the highway.

Edit: I air the bags up with a bicycle pump. Total time to inflate is about 1 min.