Ride-rite air bags

lakeside

Active Member
Hi Folks,

I have a new 2011 Ford F-350 SWD and am wondering if I will need to add ride-rite air bags to the rear suspension to make the Bighorn 3650RL model I am looking at be level when connected. Thanks in advance for your input.

Lakeside
 

wdk450

Well-known member
Have you looked at adjusting your pinbox highth and/or 5th wheel truck hitch highth? Both have a series of bolt holes to enable adjustment.
 

jpdoggett

Well-known member
lakeside
I have a 2005 F-350 four door dulley rear wheel drive and I have a 2011 Landmark Augusta and I think it is as level as I can get it

P4010014a.JPG
 

ihsolutions

Well-known member
It shouldn't be too bad. I have a 2500HD series Chevy truck and I did have to add the airbags. Your truck should have more load carrying ability. Still, I like the airbags as it rides much nicer than without them.
 

lwmcguir

Well-known member
Ours set level with the Augusta attached. We do have the overload spring and the heavier GVW package along with 20 inch tires. Was very happy to see it hitched up and the nose settled down to about 1/2 inch high.
 

brianharrison

Well-known member
I have installed the Ride Rite airbags on 2008 F350 SRW (with camper package) towing my Landmark Grand Canyon. The pin weight is about 3000 lbs loaded.

The camper package includes Extra heavy service front springs; Rear suspension with stabilizer bar; Slide-in camper certification; Rear auxiliary springs.

I found the truck backend drop when hitched to be about 3 to 4 inches without air bags - I was well into the overload springs and the front end was up (headlights would shoot skyward in the dark).

The Ride Rite air bags allowed me to raise the backend back up to just into the overloads (about 2 inches). THis helped a lot with drive line angle and offloaded my leaf springs to prevent axle wrap under high load conditions - I think it helped remove my driveline shudder, in addition to leveling me up. I have adjusted my pin box (trail-air) to have the trailer level with the air bags.

Hope this helps.

Brian
 

caissiel

Senior Member
I have possibly the same springs on my F250.
With 2 more ply added to my rear I go down just enough not to be supported by the bottom plate and the helpers are just touching,
Before adding the second ply I was supporting to heavy on the bottom plate and the ride was a little stiff so I added the additional short ply to keep the springs away from the plate. This setup was on the truck when I bought it and pulled the previous lighter trailer with it and the ride was OK. But I though the ride would be better with the short ply removed, but then the BC made the springs ride on the bottom plate and I figured no improvement on the ride.
Just mesured the drop at 2.5" and the truck now rides perfectly level. With the one additional ply it was riding 3" low and the truck realy looked good also.
 

mmomega

AnyTimer
on my 2011 F350 Dually, I'm going to need to get some bags to level it up. I get flashed constantly at night and I don't with the 2007 f350 SRW. The new leaf springs on the '11 are longer and tend to sag more.
 

Birchwood

Well-known member
If you don't exceed the GVWR of your truck you shouldn't require air bags to run level.
Your Fords GVWR should be almost 12000lb so I can't see why you would need airbags.
 

lmcclure

1st Tennessee Member#1084
Airbags are used just as MC9 says, they do not increase your load limit but will level your rig, and keep your headlights on the load instead of looking for Space Debris. I run about 45lbs in mine when loaded and keep 10-15 lbs in them when unloaded. They do seem to help the ride even when unloaded.
 

lwmcguir

Well-known member
We have had air bags on all of our previous 3/4 ton trucks. Had Ride Rite and some others and they all did very well. Install the on board compressor and control in under the console. Then you can adjust the air based on towing and empty.
 
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TGLBWH

North Central Region Directors-Retired
i too have the airbags and would highly recommend them for any SRW model reegardless of mfgr. just feels more stable whether empty or with load
 

bdb2047

Well-known member
I put them on my truck.I did it to help with shudder on starting out with a load.I have about 35# in when loaded trailer is level truck is down about 1" in rear just staring to ride on helper.Headlites are O.K. I found if I level truck trailer rides nose high and affects towing.
 

caissiel

Senior Member
Like I said ealier the springs will be against the bottom plate and Its not a spring but an anti roll plate for ride comfort.
I have mine setup to just sit on the helper spring and it goes down by 2.5" so 4" will sit on the bars and the ride will be very stiff.
I figured that these trucks are designed to load the springs to the bottom bar and the helper is actualy an added stabilizer for campers.

P.S. There is no difference on the springs plies for a F250 and F350SRW, and the taller spacer allows more load or spring travels while keeping the drive shaft angled properly, so there might be more travel allowed on the F350 SRW then my F250.
 

mmomega

AnyTimer
If you don't exceed the GVWR of your truck you shouldn't require air bags to run level.
Your Fords GVWR should be almost 12000lb so I can't see why you would need airbags.

Well my truck has a GVWR of 13,300 lbs. A payload capacity of 5,990 lbs. A GCWR of 30,000lbs. Tow a fifth wheel weighing up to 21,500lbs and my leaf springs are rated at 9,000lbs.
My trailer has pin weight of 2,460, dry weight of 12,972 and a GVWR of 16,250. Even at it's max it is still 5,750lb less than what I'm rated to carry. When I hook up it is very noticeable that the rear end is sagging.

I have no doubt in my mind that the springs can carry the weight they are rated at, saying that I definitely do not believe they will carry that weight and keep at the exact same height it is when empty. There are bags on my other F350 SRW for the same reason as my friend has bags on his Chevrolet 2500HD.
 
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