Bouncing

[wrvond]

Late to the party here. I have the same issue on mine, porpoising. 850lb tongue weight and 100% weight distro. I've reduced distro but makes no difference. Trailer tows perfectly otherwise and this hasn't been a big deal until the recent trip over the worst road I've ever been on, enough of that! I'm putting on air bags, just gotta figure out which ones.

I prefer the Loadlifter 5000 Ultimate because they have an integrated jounce bumper. On the 2500, with even just 5 psi in the bags, your unloaded ride is going to be more harsh. With the load lifters you can run zero psi and retain the factory unloaded ride.

 

[2500ltd]

OP here. Ended up putting in Bilsteins front and back, and Sumos in the back. Huge difference when towing. Super noticeable. Truck doesn’t bounce all over the road when hitting potholes or bad expansion joints.

That said, it is for sure making the ride harsher unloaded, like right now. Trailer is stored for the winter and truck bed emptied of camping gear. If I hit a big hole, the sumos hit the axle hard. You feel it. Upside is no maintenance.

 

[AH64ID]

OP here. Ended up putting in Bilsteins front and back, and Sumos in the back. Huge difference when towing. Super noticeable. Truck doesn’t bounce all over the road when hitting potholes or bad expansion joints.

That said, it is for sure making the ride harsher unloaded, like right now. Trailer is stored for the winter and truck bed emptied of camping gear. If I hit a big hole, the sumos hit the axle hard. You feel it. Upside is no maintenance.

Glad to hear it helped towing.

How hard are the sumo’s to remove for the winter?

 

[DougB]

I prefer the Loadlifter 5000 Ultimate because they have an integrated jounce bumper. On the 2500, with even just 5 psi in the bags, your unloaded ride is going to be more harsh. With the load lifters you can run zero psi and retain the factory unloaded ride.

I thought they required 5 psi min for warranty. I have the same kit in the all stainless Plus version, AirLift PN 89289, which seems they don’t list on their website any longer.

Found this in their website. AirLift doesn’t want you to run 0 psi except in “emergency situations”.

LoadLifter 5000 ULTIMATE vs. LoadLifter 5000 | Air Lift Workshop | Air Lift Company - Tow and Haul with Safety and Comfort | Air Lift Company

Air Lift offers two similar add-on air adjustable suspension kits: LoadLifter 5000™ and the new LoadLifter 5000 ULTIMATE™. Find out which is right for you.

www.airliftcompany.com

I’m going to bleed mine tomorrow to 0 psi

 

[whitexc]

I have Timber Grove bags installed and am pretty sure he said to keep 3-5 psi minimum to prevent damage to the bags. I love them and would go that route again if needed. Top notch stuff and simple install.


Sent from me

 

[DougB]

I have Timber Grove bags installed and am pretty sure he said to keep 3-5 psi minimum to prevent damage to the bags. I love them and would go that route again if needed. Top notch stuff and simple install.


Sent from me

Those have internal bump stops, too, I thought?

 

[G Mcpherson]

There are no bump stops in the Timber Grove Bags. Recommended 5-7 psi.

 

[flan]

What damage is possible anyhow? I run daystar cradles. Is abrasion a problem at 0 psi? I ran it through my head and couldn’t come up with anything concrete.

 

[2500ltd]

Glad to hear it helped towing.

How hard are the sumo’s to remove for the winter?

Not that hard but enough that I’m willing to tolerate some harshness at times. Also thinking of loading the bed enough so that the sumos sit on the axles. Sand bags or something. I think the issue in my case is that unloaded is not truly unloaded. I‘ve got a Bed Slide, Retrax tonneau cover and a Thule box in the back there. Without all of these, the sumos would likely sit high enough unloaded to not hit the axles over bumps.

 

[DougB]

What damage is possible anyhow? I run daystar cradles. Is abrasion a problem at 0 psi? I ran it through my head and couldn’t come up with anything concrete.

My take on the min 5psi requirement is otherwise bags without bumps stops can get crushed under full compression since there is no longer a bump stop.

 

[wrvond]

I thought they required 5 psi min for warranty. I have the same kit in the all stainless Plus version, AirLift PN 89289, which seems they don’t list on their website any longer.

Found this in their website. AirLift doesn’t want you to run 0 psi except in “emergency situations”.

LoadLifter 5000 ULTIMATE vs. LoadLifter 5000 | Air Lift Workshop | Air Lift Company - Tow and Haul with Safety and Comfort | Air Lift Company

Air Lift offers two similar add-on air adjustable suspension kits: LoadLifter 5000™ and the new LoadLifter 5000 ULTIMATE™. Find out which is right for you.

www.airliftcompany.com

I’m going to bleed mine tomorrow to 0 psi

I've reviewed the warranty and it has enough exclusions that they could probably refuse to honor any warranty other than failure immediately upon installation by a professional installer. I don't see an exclusion for running 0 psi.

Just got off the phone with LoadLifter tech support and was informed that the airbags can be safely run at zero psi at any time. It won't void the warranty and doesn't have to be an emergency.

 

[flan]

My take on the min 5psi requirement is otherwise bags without bumps stops can get crushed under full compression since there is no longer a bump stop.

Ok seems reasonable.

 

[wrvond]

What damage is possible anyhow? I run daystar cradles. Is abrasion a problem at 0 psi? I ran it through my head and couldn’t come up with anything concrete.

The construction of virtually every air bag out there includes metal cups top and bottom that are a smaller diameter than the air bags themselves. Press the bags down far enough and these metal end caps are going to get pressed into the rubber part of the bag and likely cut into it.

 

[Razzman]

I'm probably going with Timber Grove, their stuff is all stainless steel and made to factory specs or exceeds. The kit is made specifically for the RAM 2500 and looks it, not a universal mount kit like the Airlift. I had reached out to SuperSprings about Sumo's a week ago and guess they can't be bothered to respond so that's out.

 

[whitexc]

I'm probably going with Timber Grove, their stuff is all stainless steel and made to factory specs or exceeds. The kit is made specifically for the RAM 2500 and looks it, not a universal mount kit like the Airlift. I had reached out to SuperSprings about Sumo's a week ago and guess they can't be bothered to respond so that's out.

You will not be disappointed.


Sent from me

 

[henrys]

I'm contemplating two mods to improve this based on my readings:

-Change the shocks. My local guy installs Napa shocks. He says they're Monoes and would be more firm than the OEMs.

I can chime in on shocks. I carry a 3700# slide-in camper in the bed of my '22 3500 SRW and at 40k miles I switched from the stock shocks to bilstein 5100 and the difference was negligible. It rode a tiny bit better but not enough to justify the cost so unless your oem shocks are shot I wouldn't bother.