Adding air to 2500 factory air suspension

[Rabbo]

Some pics

What psi do you run when loaded not to upset the auto level? Judging from the image the stand-offs for the sensors look to be about 1"? I'm considering doing this, the fifth wheel I am looking to purchase would put me 500 lbs over the payload capacity of my megacab, the secondary airbags should easily compensate for 500 lbs to not go into overload warning.

 

[Ramsomair]

around 40psi

 

[Rabbo]

Thank You for the reply.... what are you towing or hauling? Does the axillary bags cause your truck to ride rougher when empty? My previous truck, the rear end would bottom sooner with bags than the bump stop. So when camping season was over I would remove the bags.

 

[AH64ID]

What psi do you run when loaded not to upset the auto level? Judging from the image the stand-offs for the sensors look to be about 1"? I'm considering doing this, the fifth wheel I am looking to purchase would put me 500 lbs over the payload capacity of my megacab, the secondary airbags should easily compensate for 500 lbs to not go into overload warning.

The great thing about the OEM auto-level is it maintains the same ride height all the time, either normal or alternate.

If you have the aftermarket airbags supporting weight the OEM system will only inflate the OEM bags enough to obtain the desired ride height. As long as you don’t add too much air to the aftermarket bags the OEM setup will just think your lighter.

The empty ride should not be effected with minimum pressure in the aftermarket bags.

 

[Ramsomair]

I keep the LoadLifter 5000 bags at 5-8psi when not towing my 5th wheel. They have built in bump stops and I dont find any difference in the total drop when I dump the air in the factory bags to lower ball under my conventional tow trailers.

 

[BigTim]

I keep the LoadLifter 5000 bags at 5-8psi when not towing my 5th wheel. They have built in bump stops and I dont find any difference in the total drop when I dump the air in the factory bags to lower ball under my conventional tow trailers.

How is the swaying now with the new bags? I am having the same issue with the swaying. Did this improve things? Which set up did you install? All of them say not compatible with factory air ride...

 

[Raston]

Ransomair... Can you specify the exact Airlift 5000 kit you put on, and any modification you had to do. I have looked at the Airlift site and all say 'Not Compatible with Factory Air Suspension.'
Now that doesn't surprise me, but I'm very interested in doing this on my truck (2022 Ram 2500, 4WD), but I'm not sure what to ask for / order.
Thanks very much.

 

[Adventure RVing]

Ransomair... Can you specify the exact Airlift 5000 kit you put on, and any modification you had to do. I have looked at the Airlift site and all say 'Not Compatible with Factory Air Suspension.'
Now that doesn't surprise me, but I'm very interested in doing this on my truck (2022 Ram 2500, 4WD), but I'm not sure what to ask for / order.
Thanks very much.

I’ve installed full air suspension - no added bs bags and I highly recommend it to every 2500 owner. Price tag on brackets and air bags for rear is $900, which is very affordable.

 

[Raston]

I’ve installed full air suspension - no added bs bags and I highly recommend it to every 2500 owner. Price tag on brackets and air bags for rear is $900, which is very affordable.

Hey, thx for replying AdvRV
Could you expand on what you did/installed.
I already have the factory air suspension so I'm not clear on what you're recommending.
Thx very much.

 

[Adventure RVing]

View attachment 79000

what I’m saying: ditch factory bars and install these heavy duty bags and brackets. Your truck has air management already so it would be pretty easy.

 

[Rabbo]

what I’m saying: ditch factory bars and install these heavy duty bags and brackets. Your truck has air management already so it would be pretty easy.

Can you provide a resource, part#. Looks like they are in the stock location. I was looking at the Kelderman Manufacturing bags that install more outward in the bump stop location that would help sway. In talking with them the stock air management is not compatible.

 

[Adventure RVing]

Can you provide a resource, part#. Looks like they are in the stock location. I was looking at the Kelderman Manufacturing bags that install more outward in the bump stop location that would help sway. In talking with them the stock air management is not compatible.

You might need to change or alternate height sensor but everything else should be compatible- btw the ones I’ve send you are using same bags as kelderman - I design and tested mine - this suspension raises your payload to about 2750-3000lbs

Can you provide a resource, part#. Looks like they are in the stock location. I was looking at the Kelderman Manufacturing bags that install more outward in the bump stop location that would help sway. In talking with them the stock air management is not compatible.

kelderman’s as well as ours are install in place of factory coils - we design and tested ours - additionally your payload limit will go up to about 2750-3000lbs

 

[Rabbo]

I had a closer look on the Kelderman Manufacturing site, you are correct the bags are in the same location as stock. There would be no interference with the stock sensor and there are aftermarket adjustable rods available for ride height adjustment. My only question is, the computer obviously uses the height sensor but does it also monitor psi in the bags to determine when the truck is overloaded to trigger the warning? I imagine the different bags would operate differently with the same psi. It would be very interesting to see a real-world trial with the stock air management as this would be a simple solution if it were compatible. Is my understanding correct you offer your own version of this setup?
thanks...

 

[ammdrew]

Here is the original thread on adding air bags to air ride.

Thread 'I did it. I added air bags to my 2500 with Air Ride'

May 7, 2023

Yup. I did it. From what I’ve read, most said it’s not possible and others will probably call me crazy. But I added additional air bags to my 2500 with air ride.

There was numerous reasons why I wanted to do this. Main reason being the redundancy in case I have a failure of the OEM bag while on a trip pulling my trailer.
Other reasons to help get rid of sway and also additional support to take some load off of the OEM bags.

Most will probably chime in and say I’m overloaded if I need a second set of bags.
Per my sticker 10k GWVR, yes I’m overloaded. But not my axle or tire ratings. And...

• Matty Rich
• Replies: 56
• Forum: Suspension

• 

I do not think you will change the sway by changing existing airbag to a different brand of air bag, adding the outboard load lifters will help reduce the side to side as you will support the truck better on the axle. Sumo's would do the same thing but they will get you a error if you try to drop the bags to the bed load height.

The only part that is any different about adding load level bags to the air suspension truck is having to space the height/level monitors out from the frame to clear he bags. Simple hardware store parts can be used as shown in the attached thread.

 

[Brutal_HO]

I’ve installed full air suspension - no added bs bags and I highly recommend it to every 2500 owner. Price tag on brackets and air bags for rear is $900, which is very affordable.

what I’m saying: ditch factory bars and install these heavy duty bags and brackets. Your truck has air management already so it would be pretty easy.

You might need to change or alternate height sensor but everything else should be compatible- btw the ones I’ve send you are using same bags as kelderman - I design and tested mine - this suspension raises your payload to about 2750-3000lbs

kelderman’s as well as ours are install in place of factory coils - we design and tested ours - additionally your payload limit will go up to about 2750-3000lbs

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