My 06' 1500 4x4 short bed Quad Cab has about 95,000 miles on it and i'm about to do new shocks all around. Untill now, i have never hauled almost anything. Less then 100 lbs at most. But starting soon, ill be hauling as much as 1,400lbs of gear in the bed a few times a month at most. Likeley only once a month. And typically not more then 100 miles or so.

Having never hauled anywhere near that kind of weight, is their anything else i should be worrying about? Do i need to upgrade the rear springs? Some people have told me Airbags would be nice, but i really do not want to get involved with installing that system.

Thoughts?

 

1700+ lbs, carried 120 miles with no problem. In fact, it drove very smoothly with only slightly longer braking distance. Zero suspension mods.

 

It won't be bad, but if I was doing this on any type of regular basis, I'd invest $200 in a set of air bags.

I've been running Air Lift Ride Control bags since early '06 and they've been great. I run them with 5 lbs. of air normally and have put as much as 40 lbs. of air in them when hauling heavy or towing upwards of 7700 lbs. I paid like $180 for the kit and installed it in about 2 hours in the driveway.

The advantage of bags over add-a-leafs is when you aren't hauling or towing, the ride stays normal where leafs harshen the ride up a good bit when not weighed down...

 

Thank a lot for not only reassuring me through just telling me, but by SHOWING me. I really appreciate it.

Now i just need to decide if i should go with Monroe or are Billstein's really worth the extra cost. Hmm....

 

Do you have to install a compressor system? Or are you just filling them as needed from shop air?

 

I have airbags as well. I fill them up with shop air. I was gonna go all out with an onboard compressor but decided not to because of the cost. At this point, I wouldn't put onboard air even if I won the lotto. It takes literally 2 sec to fill the bags up with air...and if you know exactly what your putting back there, you'll know how much air to fill everytime. When your done with the load, drop the air pressure down to 10psi manually.
I keep an electronic guage in my truck so I know exactly how much air is in the bags, plus it's got a valve relief on the backside to let the air out.

My Arnott bags are rated at 5,000lbs. They don't sell them anymore for the 1500's but they are the identical bag as the 2500/3500's. Another company Hellwig, sells the identical bags(prob buys them from Arnott) tagged with thier name on the box and rates them at 2,000lbs(just over manufacturers recc'd weight) Tells me they are obiding by the law rather than properly marking them as such, so you should have no problem running that kind of weight on them. The bags are Goodyears and rest over the axle rather then on the leafspring like Airlift does.
I would make sure your brakes are up to snuff though and change your rear diff fluid. 2.25qts 75w-140 Synthetic regularly. That's alot of weight on the axles/bearings.

 

Thanks for that detailed info, ill look them up. Are the Arnott/Hellwig bags easy to install with basic hand tools (I no longer have a garage or the mountain of tools i used to) and can it they be installed with the truck on the ground? or does it have to be on a lift? Just want to know if ill have to have these installed or if i can do it in my driveway.

Roger on the 75w-140. I don't have the limited slip to worry about either. While i would love to add a Mag-Hytec rear diff cover at some point, for now, what is your take on doing a rear diff fluid change with a suction gun maybe every other time you pull the cover? Just to speed things up and not have to deal with gaskets every time?

 

Just checked the Arnott page, no mention at all of anything for Dodge. Bummer.

The best price i am finding is on the AirLift kit at $223.00 delivered. But like you said, it mounts on top of the leaf spring. Is that an issue? It does say 6" of clearence is needed between the frame and tire. But even with my factory 20" wheels, i doubt their will be an issue.

 

You do NOT need to install the optional compressor or the automatic load leveling system. I didn't. I find for the amount of time I use them it's nothing to hook a compressor up to the valve and add air. It literally takes seconds to bring the bags from 5 lbs. to the 30-40 I run them at when hauling/towing (max is 100 PSI).

With a lift of any kind (suspension or body) the Ride Control mounting system is the only one I found that you can mount without any modification, which is why I have them. They give 2000 lbs of leveling (not weight or tow maximum mind you, but leveling weight) which I find is still way overkill on a 1500.

The heavier model (5000 lbs) Air Lifts are also an option.

I'm not surprised the Air Lifts cost a bit more, it's been close to six years since I bought mine.



Now I welded my brackets in, but you don't have to, note the bolt holes. The instructions call for you to drill a hole and bolt them in.

This is where I mounted my valve:



I've done helper springs before, after having bags, I'll never do springs again, the ride is that much better!!!

 

Thats pretty trick how you mounted your valve, but why oh why did you weld your frame instead of drilling a couple of holes? I've never welded anything to my frame because it loses flex where it gets hardened from welding.