cleoent
San Jose
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Joined: 10/03/2009
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For a couple years know I've been towing my Weekend Warrior Fk1900 with no airbags, just a WD hitch and sway. Today I installed firestone airbags and am looking for the proper procedure to two my rig.
Do I put in air first (say 40 pounds?) hook it up and then adjust with WD hitch? Do i attach with wd hitch and then add air? How much air do I add?
Thank you!
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christopherglenn
a little over an hour from Yosemite
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Joined: 02/16/2009
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measure unloaded from top of RIM to up to fender well in front and back of truck. Hook up and adjust WD till front axle is the same or slightly lower then unloaded. Air up bags till rear is same (shoot for close) as unloaded. Check front for changes and adjust as needed (dump air, adjust hitch, reinflate bags). When you air up the bags, the front should raise a little.
2007 Chevrolet 3500 CC/LB Duramax/Dually 4X4 Mine
2008 Chevrolet 2500 CC/SB Duramax 4X4 Hers
2011 Keystone Fuzion 405
2005 Chevrolet 2500 CC/SB Duramax 4X4 Hers (sold)
2006 Jayco Jay Flight 31BHS (sold)
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jerem0621
SE Tennessee
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Joined: 05/17/2009
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sounds like a lot of air... Over on TundraSolutions a lot of those guys use Firestone airbags when they tow fivers...IIRC they air up the rear bags to about 5-10 PSI.
40 PSI sounds like it would be brutal on my back..
Thanks!
TT: 1995 Layton 2910
Tow Vehicle: 1999 F-350, v10, , 2wd, Crew Cab, Dually
Hitch: Draw-Tite Trunnion WD Hitch with Reese Dual-Cam sway control
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cleoent
San Jose
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perfect. So the idea then is to install WD hitch, then air up bags until they are level. Easy peasy.
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goducks10
Keizer OR
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Joined: 02/22/2010
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The right way to do it is to leave them at the factory recomended 5psi when empty. Measure the rear of the TV, add whatever your putting in the bed, measure again, add enough air to bring back the rear to it's unloaded number. Your done with the bags, now hitch up the TH and adjust the bars to your liking. The bags shouldn't be used to help raise the TV if the bars aren't heavy enough to raise on their own. If you hook up the bars then add air your losing the sway control factor from the hitch. 40psi will raise the back of an empty 1/2 ton 3-5". I had some bags on our last F150 and ran them at 20-25psi. We had a canopy on plus a bunch of stuff in the truck. Once loaded up I aired up the bags to bring the truck back to it's unloaded height, then hitched up and used the WD bars to carry the TT's tongue weight. Those guys airing up with 40psi don't have WD bars with their 5'er and need the bags to do all the work.
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cleoent
San Jose
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got it. 40 was just a number thrown out of thin air.
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cleoent
San Jose
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btw - the reason i got the bags was because the bars would never level the truck on their own.
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jerem0621
SE Tennessee
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cleoent wrote:btw - the reason i got the bags was because the bars would never level the truck on their own.
Friend, remember that the goal of a WD hitch is not to bring the rear of the truck back to empty ride height. The goal is to return the front fenders back to factory ride height.
If you can't get the front fenders to settle at the unloaded ride height then you have too much tongue weight for your WD bars and may need new spring bars.
A lot of times a dealer will sell 750 lb WD bars on these TT that have a 700 ish lb dry tongue weight. The problem is that once loaded for camping the tongue weight could be 900-1200 lbs.
Or, you need more hitch head angle so the WD bars can get more weight to move forward.
Thanks!
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93Cobra2771
East Tennessee
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Joined: 06/09/2011
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The most important thing to remember is to NOT get the rear of the truck higher than unloaded height.
Basically, I measured unloaded height front/rear at fenderwells. Then I hooked up with WDH bars on and fully loaded (using my previous setup prior to the bags).
I then aired up till my rear ride height was back to stock level (35psi). Then I measured the front height and adjusted my hitch accordingly.
I have 1/4" rise in the front, and stock height in the rear.
The amount in the bags will be determined by the tongue weight/WDH setup. There is no blanket number to shoot for as far as psi. What you shoot for is to get the rear ride height back up to stock.
My friend with an older model F150 but less tongue weight has to run 45psi due to softer suspension on his truck.
2011 F150 Ecoboost SCREW 145" 4x4
Firestone Ride-Rite Air Springs/Air Lift Wireless Controller
2006 Sportsmen by KZ 2604P (30')
Eaz-lift, 1000# bars with Reese Dual Cam
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PCronin68
RI
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I have added a longer shank on my hitch in order to lower bars to proper hight off of ground and also tilted the head a little more by adding washers. It seems about right now but I am also think of adding some airbags to my Yukon Xl Denali.
2010 Passport 2910BHS w/ 2007 Yukon XL Denali
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