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Old 06-25-2015, 02:59 PM   #1
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Educate me on Firestone Ride Rite

When I did my PDI I was shown the two air valves for the Ride Rite system and told never go over 100PSI and never below 20PSI. I was told I would need to figure out myself how much air to use.

Well...I figure you all have a lot more experience with this than I do so I'd rather pick your brains and see what you recommend.

Forester 2301 - 24' class C on a Chevy cutaway chassis.

When I picked it up and drove home on the highway I thought I was going to lose a couple fillings in my teeth every time I hit an expansion joint, bridge joint or pothole. When I got home I checked the pressure in the Ride Rites and they are right about 50PSI on both sides. It's just my wife and I in the camper so we're not towing anything or carrying a family of 6.

What Ride Rite PSI's have you been running to make the ride more comfortable? Should I go higher than 50PSI or lower? I'm trying to avoid stopping every 100 miles and either airing up or airing down.

Thanks
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Old 06-25-2015, 03:20 PM   #2
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Start at (20PSI) and go up from there! as Needed! Youroo!!
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Old 06-25-2015, 03:53 PM   #3
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I read from others here that 60 -65 is pretty much a sweet spot. So far I have to agree.

We have a 2300. Ride quality has improved with much less sway as well.

Top them off every few weeks or trips.
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Old 06-25-2015, 06:17 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DocsDad View Post
I read from others here that 60 -65 is pretty much a sweet spot. So far I have to agree.

We have a 2300. Ride quality has improved with much less sway as well.

Top them off every few weeks or trips.
So I should go higher (currently 50PSI), not lower?
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Old 06-26-2015, 09:13 AM   #5
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I would, but you might prefer a different psi.

More than not, I travel with a full fresh water tank. I think the higher pressure helps in my case. When I first bought the coach it rode horrible. Come to find out the dealer had hardly any pressure in the bags when they sold it to me. After reading here, I started with 60 psi and was pretty happy. I went to 65 psi and was very happy with handling through the mountains. On the last trip I set them at 68 psi. I think I've found the sweet spot for 2300 and my likes.
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Old 06-26-2015, 09:49 AM   #6
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The air bags will provide a more softer ride than the leaf springs. What that means is, put 60 - 70 psi in the bags and they will be supporting more of the weight and should provide a softer ride.
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Old 06-26-2015, 12:04 PM   #7
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That reminds me of the old ('70s) when we put air bags on our cars to jack the back up. It was like being drug down the road in a cardboard box. On your ride home you were empty and there wasn't enough weight to counter the air bags thus the jarring ride. Do as Yooroo suggested and start out at 20lbs with a typical load and work your way up. We found our 32' class C loaded up is best at about 40lbs. More than that and the ride is too rough. Less, and you might hit the suspension stops on a bump. As a bonus they do reduce the sway.
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Old 06-26-2015, 12:17 PM   #8
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http://riderite.com/-/media/www/ride...lManual_EN.pdf

i never let ours below 10 lbs unloaded and will only infate to about 45 when loaded.

i then use it to do the last bit of leveling before hauling which is at about 45lbs pressure.
any more than that and i'm lifting the back bumber and the nose of the trailer.
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Old 06-26-2015, 01:09 PM   #9
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We have a 2013 Sunseeker 2300 Chevy with those air bags. If yours too is a Chevy 4500 chassis, you have a LOT of GVWR to work with. Our road rough until we got it loaded - water tank full, outdoor gear in compartments, and bike racks on the rear, and got about 5k miles on it. Just needed breaking in. I run about 40# + in the air bags and try to keep a full load. Not a Cadillac, but rides reasonable. We've had several motorhomes over our 40 years of RVing and all had some reaction to pavement joints.
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Old 06-26-2015, 01:46 PM   #10
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I made up a stick to show stock height of the rear end as measured from the bottom of the hitch receiver on the TV.
Under non-towing conditions, I keep it at around 5-7 psi (manual say no less than 5) and that is what I have done on all my previous vehicles with the Firestone bags. When I attach the trailer, popup but with 515-530 tongue weight, I inflate the bags to 30 psi and that, per my stick, takes it to stock height.
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Old 06-26-2015, 08:15 PM   #11
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Thanks for all your responses. I put about 300 miles on today with the fresh water tank full and most of our camping gear in the camper. It rode much smoother than when empty but was still a bit squirrely on the highway with side to side motion. My tires were about 10psi under what the label says on the doorframe so I'm going to make sure they are set to specification then I'm going to try bumping the air bags to 60 or 65psi and see how that rides. I remember when I was a kid I had a 67 Ford Fairlane with air shocks on it. Used to pump em way up to raise the rear of the car so I know what you mean about ride height!
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Old 06-26-2015, 08:25 PM   #12
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What I would say to you is get a small 12v air compressor and play with different pressures as you are out camping. Find out what works best at the load level you have at that time, for me 65 psi works good for the weight I carry in my 3051s any higher and ride becomes very hard.Good luck .
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Old 06-27-2015, 06:53 AM   #13
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60 seams about right for us,,, 2013 Sunseeker 2500TS,,, Ford V10,,,
You might want to start high,,, and work your way down,,, it is a lot easer to let some air out,,, than to increase it,,, unless you carry an air compressor !!!
I have found you will have to check them often,,,
they seam to loose pressure a lot !!!
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Old 06-27-2015, 07:45 AM   #14
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Thanks again! I just bought a lightweight portable 3 gal/100psi compressor from Harbor Freight....$39 with a coupon! I tried it out around the house with a small air nailer for a couple jobs and it works great. It weighs about 20 lbs so it's easy to carry but big enough that it's got decent enough pressure to take care of the tires as well as the air bags.
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