Air Springs for 5th Wheel

[Tigerstro]

I am in the market for a set of air springs for my 2022 Ram 2500 CC CTD. I have been going back and forth with the Air Lifter 5000’s either with or without the internal jounce bumper being I will also be buying an on board compressor or the Timber Grove bags with on board compressor.

The question I have is Timber Grove and Kelderman also make bags that replace the coil springs. Which setup would offer the best ride and most dependability? I don’t want to trash the ride of my truck but also want what will work.

 

[jetrinka]

I have the airlift kit on my truck and it works great. I got the kit that has the stainless lines and has the internal bump stops. The ones with the internal bump stops are nice as they can be run with zero air pressure in them during unloaded conditions thereby retaining the nice factory ride. I ran the air fittings to the two square holes under the tail gate and fill them from there. Really easy to level the truck out and rides nice with a load.

Personally I wouldn't like a kit that replaced the springs with air bags. Seems like a pretty serious failure point if something went wrong or leaked. I'd rather have a set of bags along with the springs - at least if one blew I could drag the trailer back (albeit squatting a bit) on the stock springs fine.

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

Airlift 5000s with internal bumps they are the better option, running spring replacement bags are not a great idea because you still have the stability issue with the bags being to inboard

 

[Tigerstro]

I don’t know anyone that has had the coil replacements but didn’t know how similar a setup it was to factory air ride.

H3lzsn1p3r, you are actually the one that got me to looking at the Airlift 5000’s.

 

[Jnrcarson]

I have the airlift 5000 with internal bump stops as well. Also have the onboard compressor. Pretty sweet setup in my opinion. Hauled a ton of wood pellets today, hit the button and bags went to
40 psi and truck drove like it was empty.

 

[UglyViking]

As @H3LZSN1P3R already mentioned, the add on kits are likely going to be a vastly better setup for you than the replacement kits as they add more lateral stability. I went with the coil sprung truck without the air suspension primarily so that I could add bags if necessary down the line to get both the additional "payload/leveling" and for off road performance.

I would also look into the Daystar cradles, even if the truck is used only on road. While not strictly necessary, they do make for a better ride. My buddy has functionally the same truck as me (crew cab short bed with factory coils) and he installed a kit from pacbrake, first without the cradles, then with them, and he mentioned how the cradles improved the on-road feel of the truck when not loaded.

 

[Tigerstro]

I will definitely be going with Daystar cradles with the air bags. For the cost it doesn’t make sense not to. Thanks for your reply!

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

As @H3LZSN1P3R already mentioned, the add on kits are likely going to be a vastly better setup for you than the replacement kits as they add more lateral stability. I went with the coil sprung truck without the air suspension primarily so that I could add bags if necessary down the line to get both the additional "payload/leveling" and for off road performance.

I would also look into the Daystar cradles, even if the truck is used only on road. While not strictly necessary, they do make for a better ride. My buddy has functionally the same truck as me (crew cab short bed with factory coils) and he installed a kit from pacbrake, first without the cradles, then with them, and he mentioned how the cradles improved the on-road feel of the truck when not loaded.

The other big thing with the daystars when you (dealer) put the truck on the hoist there is less chance of ripping the bottom plate off the bag as the suspension hangs

 

[TW720HVY]

The other big thing with the daystars when you (dealer) put the truck on the hoist there is less chance of ripping the bottom plate off the bag as the suspension hangs

Thanks for this great information.

I was watching a video of someone installing a cradle (off amazon) that did not line up with the holes on the AirLift lower bracket assembly. Does the Daystar cradle line up with the holes, or will I also need to drill a new hole in the bracket?

 

[Rzrbrn]

Thanks to the original poster and all those who responded. Just exactly the information I need.

 

[jetrinka]

Thanks for this great information.

I was watching a video of someone installing a cradle (off amazon) that did not line up with the holes on the AirLift lower bracket assembly. Does the Daystar cradle line up with the holes, or will I also need to drill a new hole in the bracket?

The Daystar cradles bolt to a hole you will drill through the bump stop pad on the top side of the axle. They replace the lower airbag bracket - it is not used. The process involves mounting the airbag using the supplied upper brackets to the frame of the truck and then centering the Daystar cradle underneath it - mark the hole that needs to be drilled and drill the hole to mount the cradle.

 

[DesertRacer]

I used an angle grinder with a cutoff wheel to cut a slot in the lower bag mount between the two mounting holes which allowed me to mount the Daystar cradle, and then slid it forward and back within the slot until it was perfectly centered, and then I tightened it down fully to lock it in place.

I recommend against the internal jounce bumper. It limited compression significantly making me ride on the internal jounce constantly when loaded towing and unloaded ride quality suffered a lot with only about 2” of rear compression before bottoming out. The Daystar cradles aren’t designed for a factory height truck with bags either so I’d consider a 1” lift block to get increased travel and run bags without jounces. If you don’t off-road hard enough to cycle your suspension this may be unnecessary.

I suck my bags into a vacuum when unloaded so they don’t interfere with the rear suspension at all using cradles and it performs very well off-road.

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

I used an angle grinder with a cutoff wheel to cut a slot in the lower bag mount between the two mounting holes which allowed me to mount the Daystar cradle, and then slid it forward and back within the slot until it was perfectly centered, and then I tightened it down fully to lock it in place.

I recommend against the internal jounce bumper. It limited compression significantly making me ride on the internal jounce constantly when loaded towing and unloaded ride quality suffered a lot with only about 2” of rear compression before bottoming out. The Daystar cradles aren’t designed for a factory height truck with bags either so I’d consider a 1” lift block to get increased travel and run bags without jounces. If you don’t off-road hard enough to cycle your suspension this may be unnecessary.

I suck my bags into a vacuum when unloaded so they don’t interfere with the rear suspension at all using cradles and it performs very well off-road.

One reason i decided to go with the pac brake bags as the airlifts had less room on compression and i also made my own cradle's to gain another 1/2 travel. But if you just mount the cradle on the blocks on the rear axle you dont need the lower bag mount at all.

Or do you have a 3500?

 

[DesertRacer]

One reason i decided to go with the pac brake bags as the airlifts had less room on compression and i also made my own cradle's to gain another 1/2 travel. But if you just mount the cradle on the blocks on the rear axle you dont need the lower bag mount at all.

Or do you have a 3500?

I have a 3500 so I needed the lower bag mount, I missed that OP was asking about a 2500.