R4Tech ?
Moderate User
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 17,003
Likes: 21
From: Albany, NY
That's alot of money for a little engineering.
What I would suggest is looking at a set of basic airbags. They cost ~$200. I put airbags on my 1500 and when there is enough air in the bags to lift the rear some, your riding on the airbags. It's smoother than stock until you get to the point of PSI where the bags have to give to them and then the ride becomes hard. If you keep the air where it needs to be, your ride should be smoother than stock and increase hauling and increase firmness in corners and when towing heavy loads. The airbags at say 50% give are just starting to compress your leafsprings which are at the leafsprings softest period.
Airbags tend to be slightly bouncy, but overall they are much smoother with them when driving down the road. Much stiffer in the turns with less body roll.
HERE's the kind I got which are bolt-on and no drill or welding req'd. Now, they seem to have changed their description. They were 5,000lb rated but they use the same brand bag as before and they are some beefy bags. Not sure why they would pull the weight rating unless it was because of a overcapacity on a vehicle issue?
Definately without a doubt replace the rear shocks. I'm ordering up some myself.
What I would suggest is looking at a set of basic airbags. They cost ~$200. I put airbags on my 1500 and when there is enough air in the bags to lift the rear some, your riding on the airbags. It's smoother than stock until you get to the point of PSI where the bags have to give to them and then the ride becomes hard. If you keep the air where it needs to be, your ride should be smoother than stock and increase hauling and increase firmness in corners and when towing heavy loads. The airbags at say 50% give are just starting to compress your leafsprings which are at the leafsprings softest period.
Airbags tend to be slightly bouncy, but overall they are much smoother with them when driving down the road. Much stiffer in the turns with less body roll.
HERE's the kind I got which are bolt-on and no drill or welding req'd. Now, they seem to have changed their description. They were 5,000lb rated but they use the same brand bag as before and they are some beefy bags. Not sure why they would pull the weight rating unless it was because of a overcapacity on a vehicle issue?
Definately without a doubt replace the rear shocks. I'm ordering up some myself.
Thread Starter
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Registered User
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 9
Likes: 0
Thanks Dirty Dog,
My original thought had been to remove the load leaf, install liners between the main leafs at the mounting saddles to eliminate inter leaf friction, and install the Firestone Ride Rite Air springs with an on board controller for loads. The air springs you are using look like an exact copy of the these. I had also planned on running Bilsteins. While I was looking through the Firestone catalog I saw the R4Tech system and thought it made sense, but the price tag was a little steep. I think I'll go back to my original plan.
Thanks again.
My original thought had been to remove the load leaf, install liners between the main leafs at the mounting saddles to eliminate inter leaf friction, and install the Firestone Ride Rite Air springs with an on board controller for loads. The air springs you are using look like an exact copy of the these. I had also planned on running Bilsteins. While I was looking through the Firestone catalog I saw the R4Tech system and thought it made sense, but the price tag was a little steep. I think I'll go back to my original plan.
Thanks again.
