Air Bags

[TimR58]

I am new to this forum and I am looking forward to see how it works. I am also new to camping so I am sure I will have many questions. My first one is, has anyone installed air bags on an F150 Ecoboost? I have installed the 5th wheel hitch and am wondering how it will work. The new Ecoboost has plenty of power for my camper but there is some bounce when towing it. Any advice would be great.

[fast murray]

I'm going to get hammered for this but I put them on my Ram 1500 after towing a few times with our 30' 5th wheel. It has plenty of power as well but was a little squishy on bumps and rolls. Now it sets like it does withour a camper on it and handles great. Someday I'll get a bigger truck (mainly for a crew cab and long box) but for now this works good.

[fajitas21]

The new Ecoboost has plenty of power for my camper but there is some bounce when towing it.

This is likely because you are wayyy over your payload of the truck. That's just a guess but a 5th wheel on a 1/2 ton is a bad idea unless it's a really light one. That's a very different number than the EcoBoosts tow rating. The truck will move that weight, but safely is completely another question.

But to answer your question, airbags will allow you to "level" out your load, and should help with the bounce some. But in truth, it's gonna bounce some, it simply won't ride like it will when not loaded. I had bags on my last truck and they helped some, but I am also bumper pull, so that's a different problem altogether

[Dave_Monica]

Originally Posted by fajitas21

This is likely because you are wayyy over your payload of the truck. That's just a guess but a 5th wheel on a 1/2 ton is a bad idea unless it's a really light one. That's a very different number than the EcoBoosts tow rating. The truck will move that weight, but safely is completely another question.

The OP hasn't indicated what he's pulling or any details of the ratings on the truck.

F150 ecoboost can be ordered with a GVWR package of 8500 lbs which will give it a true payload equal or greater than anybody's 3/4 T diesel! We need a little more information.

Air bags will allow you to level the ride height and may help to eliminate the incidence of 'chucking'.

Dave

[fajitas21]

I agree Dave. I mentioned that I was taking a guess.

The F150's can sport a pretty beefy payload indeed, we need more details.

[seatosea]

Put air bags on our '04 Dodge 3500 and the 5ver tows much better. Lots of power but the ride was quite jerky without the air bags.

[1Texan]

I just bought a GMC 1/2 ton. But, I got it with the 6.2 engine, max tow package. Rated at 1900 payload and 10500 tow rating. Planning to hitch it up to my 2012 Sabre 5th wheel. With a dry weight of 7500 and pin weight of 1300 I should be within tolerance.

[BiigDaddy]

I've got a 2007 GMC 1500 Crew with the MAX package (love that 6.0!). I tow a 2011 30kfbds. The tongue weight is high with the front kitchen and front bunks being bumper towed, so I bagged mine for the leveling aspect. It also smoothed out the ride as well. They were a great investment!