Gotta get some airbags installed, as the tongue weight of my trailers is just enough to drop the rear the 1-1.5in that causes EVERYBODY driving past me to flash their high beams. (I could simply flash them back, and "light up their world", but would rather restore the ride to its natural angle.)

Reading through various threads, there seem to be advocates for each make of airbags. But there also seem to be a number of comments about Firestones that leak air after a while. And not so many similar stories posted for Airlift 1000's. Is it just that more folks have the Firestones and therefore post more comments about something that is really equal between the brands ??

Price is a big differentiator, as Firestones only seem to be available in the 2x pricier kit than the Airlift 1000 kit. (I don't need a fancy air tank or an inline compressor or console gauge. I carry a small compressor in the RamBox most all the time, and I can readily use a tire gauge to check on pressure.)

Is there anything that I'm missing ?? Any reason to not go with the less expensive Airlift 1000's ??

 

Airlift uses barbed fittings to secure the airlines to the bags instead of the press fittings on the Firestone bags. I never had my firestones leak but they did break on me over the winter since they got cold and brittle. I put the airlift bags on this spring to try them out and they work equally as well as the Firestone bags did but the real test will be this winter to see how they handle the cold here

 

The firestone ones suck, the first set lasted around 6 months. The dealer replaced them, that was around 5 months ago, anyways loaded my trailer this weekend and the passenger side bag has failed, again. The hose failed right at the fitting to the bag, your suppose to be able to pull the ring up to release the hose. Well no, the hose failed inside the fitting so now the bag is no good. Removed the fitting, it's one of those made to spec parts. I'll never find that part. So guess I'm getting the new firestone air-spring kit that replaces the coil spring with bags. Comes with compressor, bags, tank, self-leveling sensors and controls. The kits start around $1500 but it's the only other way to add airbags to this truck. My 05 had firestone 5000 bags that mounted to the bump-stop mount, those bags never gave me any issues. And they had threaded fittings that were very common parts. So bought firestone again for the new truck. Anyways I would stay away from the Firestone Ride-Rite 1000 bags, they are crap. 2/5
They do have them at suspension connection for $240 and they always have specials.

 

My Firestone coil bags didn't survive the cold Canadian winter either. I called Firestone and they said they had lots of winter failures due to the cold and sent me the new kit they have out, which is the same bags but comes with the overload rubbers. They were good to deal with but I wonder if they will send new bags every spring. Will be interesting to see how the new air spring kit performs for you, at that price it better be good, and last more than a few months even in the winter.

 

I have the firestone I think its called Coil Rite, but they were cheaper than the Airlift. Mine was just bags and hardware no compressor and all that cause like you I have a small compressor with me and I like being able to change each individually. If you go to Firestone's site you can search for what fits and I think its part number 4985 or something similar. There are a couple of other post here talking about the bags so you may want to search those. By the way I do know last year when I was looking for them the firestones were not available. I contacted Firestone and they said they just did a redesign and had not rolled out the new design yet so I had to wait to get them. I'm not sure if it was a redesign for the probs others have talk about.

 

Installed the Air Lift 1000's a couple weeks ago, the install was easy, no leaks all the way up to 35psi. Took 800lbs to the dump with about 15psi in them and they kept the truck level. Towed the boat (5000lbs) on the weekend and found the truck didn't float or bounce as much just felt more stable, again with about 15psi. I have my own little pump that is part of a battery booster that I carry in the truck so I can inflate whenever I want. I paid about $95, well worth the money. I tried to order the Firestone's but the company stop stocking them....?

 

have had firestone coil rite in my truck for about a year with no problem. i got just the kit with two bags, tubing, and shrader valve for about 80 or 90 bucks i think on a sale. so far so good, no notable leaking or problems and i pull a 24 foot enclosed car trailer (which i also used equalizing hitch with) and hauled full bed of material much better and with drastically reduced sagging. i love the fact that i can haul that weight then let air out and still have factory quality ride. even aired up ride isnt terrible but definatly noticable.

 

I have had the Air-Lift 1000's in my truck for 3 New England winter's now and no problems with them at all. I would recommend them as a good way to handle tow and bed loads.

 

It seems to me from reading all these threads about this subject - more people do have the Firestones than have the Airlifts, but even so, there have been a significantly larger percentage of people with problems with the Firestones. I have also heard that the Firsetone bags have undergone a re-design, though.

Personally, I bought the Airlifts when they had one of their rebates going on. They cost something like $65 and then a $25 dollar rebate equals about $40. So, the Firestones would have to have been WAY better than the Airlifts to make it worth buying them. And, at best, they are both equal. At worst (according to some people), the Airlifts are better anyway.

 

I bought the Airlifts installed by the local 4-Wheel Parts store (for a good price and 1-day delivery/install).

The passenger bag is fine, holding its 7-10 lb "standby" pressure as well as its 35-40lb "load hauling" pressure for the past two weeks. But the driver-side bag only held its "standby" pressure for about 48hrs (800 miles into roadtrip to collect trailer), and won't hold a "load hauling" pressure for more than 1-2hrs.

I'm reaching out to the installer, but should I expect they will deal with the fix/replacement ?? Or foist me off as needing to go the Manufacturer Warrantee route ??