Proper use of air bags on pickup truck

[woodlandfarms]

I inherited a 99 Dodge Ram 2500 - 4 door, 8ft bed diesel. Its a monster, my FIL had chipped it, changed the exhaust, a bunch of performance upgrades. He used it to haul around a bed camper that was way too big for the truck in my opinion. Anyway, it is now mine (100K miles on it btw). It has airbags and honestly I don't know how to properly use them. We hauled and towed a bunch of stuff this week, I let them sit at around 8lbs. I was told by my BIL to just leave it alone. Make sure there is air in them but not too much. Didn't want hte bags collapsing.

Any further thoughts you guys can share for a bag newbie?

 

[Renze]

Deflate them till it sits on the leafs. Then inflate till it lifts the truck an inch, so when empty it sits on the air bags for smoothest ride. When loaded the leafs will help carry.

 

[Egon]

Truck empty & air bags deflated measure the height of the rear fender wells. When the truck is loaded inflate air bags so the fenders are at the previously measured height.

Air bags keep the truck level.

 

[ddbackhoe]

Ive got firestone air bags. Empty they have 10 lbs of air, with my large gooseneck on I use 70lbs of air. The instructions said never run 0 and not run unloaded at higher pressure because it can/will create a harsher ride. The idea is to shift the level of the load to keep steering control (kinda like a wd hitch)

https://riderite.com/Ride-Rite Product Detail?csrt=15376605049975070662

If you dont decide to keep it, its probably worth more than you think. The crew over at DTR may be of use for other questions/problems.
Dodge Diesel - Diesel Truck Resource Forums

 

[RandyT]

Ive got firestone air bags. Empty they have 10 lbs of air, with my large gooseneck on I use 70lbs of air. The instructions said never run 0 and not run unloaded at higher pressure because it can/will create a harsher ride. The idea is to shift the level of the load to keep steering control (kinda like a wd hitch)

https://riderite.com/Ride-Rite Product Detail?csrt=15376605049975070662

If you dont decide to keep it, its probably worth more than you think. The crew over at DTR may be of use for other questions/problems.
Dodge Diesel - Diesel Truck Resource Forums

There has been experiments with air bags and it has been found that not only does the air bags not transfer weight back to the front wheels it actually transfers even more weight to the rear axle.

 

[jwstewar]

I install air bags on our 2008 Suburban. They are a little bit different type of air bag then is being discussed here since it is a coil spring suspension. The bags actually go inside the rear springs. They've been on now for almost 2 years. They helped when pulling our loaded stock trailer. It helps pick the back end up. In the directions for these, they explicitly state don't run the bags empty. They want at least 5 PSI in them. Then loaded, they get no more than 25. Loaded I run about 28 (or most of the summer because I get tired of changing the pressure twice a week) then empty I end up running them between 5 and 8 lbs. I have them tied together so both bags are the same PSI and have the connection at the coming out the rear of the hatch. It is hidden when the hatch is closed. I can either use a small pump plugged into the rear power port or use the normal shop compressor.

 

[Egon]

Air bags change the height of the vehicle they are on. Having a vehicle at the unloaded level helps with steering as that is the condition the steering parameters are set at. They do not move weight around.