Firestone air ride bags

[Smk]

So I had the firestone bags put on my truck and there is 5 lbs in the bags, when I tow my travel trailer how many lbs should be in the bags though I thought I saw a previous post that somebody used 50 lbs ? not sure and I have to take the trailer to dealer for yearly inspection on Wednesday, any idea?

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by Smk

So I had the firestone bags put on my truck and there is 5 lbs in the bags, when I tow my travel trailer how many lbs should be in the bags though I thought I saw a previous post that somebody used 50 lbs ? not sure and I have to take the trailer to dealer for yearly inspection on Wednesday, any idea?

I can't tell from your description which truck you have nor which trailer nor what it weighs. You'll have to use trial and error. I put 22-24 pounds in my bags when I tow. The weight of my trailer seems to drive the pressure up to about 40 lbs.

[rickndebi]

I am running about 38. You just have to play with it to find the sweet spot. You want enough to dampen any chucking .

[Smk]

Thanks for the help

[Smk]

I have a 2008 toyota tundra and a forest river wildwood travel trailer that weighs 7700 dry, so I will have a good starting pointthanks

[Roberte52]

My sweet spot is 25 lbs pressure on my 2014 Ram 1500 with around 800 lbs of tongue weight.

[Filterman]

I keep 5 to 10 lbs in mine when I’m not towing just to keep the bags intact. When towing it’s all about the tongue weight ( full French water or not etc). Never more than 25lbs does it for me with our F150 and 28RKS Wildcat.

[18CrewDually]

Originally Posted by Smk

So I had the firestone bags put on my truck and there is 5 lbs in the bags, when I tow my travel trailer how many lbs should be in the bags though I thought I saw a previous post that somebody used 50 lbs ? not sure and I have to take the trailer to dealer for yearly inspection on Wednesday, any idea?

5 lb. minimum is recommended by manufacturers when not in use.
Take a measurement of your truck's wheel well to ground unloaded. Now load it. Then re-measure while you inflate the system. When it is close to near level OR close to your original measurement it should be fine. Anywhere in between level and the unloaded measurement is acceptable and really is a personal preference.
I don't even bother recording air pressure and just go by looks & feel since I tow different loads all the time.

[TGR]

I've used air bags for many years when carrying a slide-in pickup camper. I now have a 5th wheel and still use a little air in the air bags to level out the truck.

If your trailer "squats" your truck, adding air can bring it back to near normal riding position to ensure your headlights aren't blinding oncoming traffic and to keep your truck's suspension in its best performing range. In my trucks, I always sought an amount of air that brought my truck's suspension off the overload springs about 1/2". I recommend trying to eliminate any excessive squat and go from there. If the amount of inflation is very critical for a good ride, consider a heaver-duty truck your next purchase.

[primo20]

Originally Posted by rickndebi

I am running about 38. You just have to play with it to find the sweet spot. You want enough to dampen any chucking .

good advice here - it is experimental honestly until dialled in.

i run between 17 and 25 pounds on my 5er with a 2300 pin. Airlift 5000 not firestone

[jimmoore13]

I have them, and with my PUP, which has just under 500 lb tongue weight, almost 4000 lb GVWR, and no WDH (weight distributing hitch). I put 30 PSI in the bags. There's no magic number...just level the TV by trial and error. I basically return the ride height to the same position as when there is nothing on the hitch and nothing in the bed. Measure from the ground to a convenient point, say the bottom of the hitch or some other spot and replicate that with the air bags when fully loaded.

I'm also loaded with 28 gallons of fresh water, a generator, fuel, a canoe, firewood, two 60 quart coolers, a propane fire pit, 2 spare propane tanks, a couple of dogs, a fully-loaded aluminum bed tool box (ideal "trunk" on a pickup), and so on. Yet, 30 PSI does it.

You don't say what you're towing or what you're towing with, but 50 PSI is a lot. First time I towed my PUP home from the dealer, I put 50 PSI in the bags, and the rig looked like a humpbacked whale (high at the hitch) and rode like a Flintstone car.

Note that with a WDH, you may need considerably less pressure in the bags, because the WDH will "lift" the rear of the TV and move some weight to the front axle of the TV.

You may wish to add some air if you get some porpoising when going through whoop-de-doos on the road. Even with a WDH, you may experience some wallowing, and firming up the rear spring rate with the bags might help. 30 PSI might be too much in this case. My RAM is pretty soft riding, and even with a much smaller PUP, the back end wallowed, and the nose pointed to the sky (blinding oncoming drivers at night). The air bags solve that completely, and the handling is far more secure fully loaded.

For what it's worth, they warned me to never run the bags empty. Always keep 5 to 10 PSI in them to keep them from losing their shape and distorting...and possibly being damaged.

With no WDH, I also increase the tire pressure in the rear tires on my TV. Just driving around empty, they call for 35 PSI. When towing, I raise the rears to 40 - 45 PSI. I'm running 275/60/20's, so they run a bit softer than a typical truck tire.

I love the air bags! They are also wonderful for a trip home from the home improvement center with 1500 pounds of concrete and so on.

[allegra3201]

Originally Posted by Smk

So I had the firestone bags put on my truck and there is 5 lbs in the bags, when I tow my travel trailer how many lbs should be in the bags though I thought I saw a previous post that somebody used 50 lbs ? not sure and I have to take the trailer to dealer for yearly inspection on Wednesday, any idea?

Originally Posted by 05CrewDually

5 lb. minimum is recommended by manufacturers when not in use.
Take a measurement of your truck's wheel well to ground unloaded. Now load it. Then re-measure while you inflate the system. When it is close to near level OR close to your original measurement it should be fine. Anywhere in between level and the unloaded measurement is acceptable and really is a personal preference.
I don't even bother recording air pressure and just go by looks & feel since I tow different loads all the time.

And if you don't keep the minimum pressure as required by OEM you could ruin the air bags. Your set should have come with installation and operating manuals.

[rickndebi]

Originally Posted by rickndebi

I am running about 38. You just have to play with it to find the sweet spot. You want enough to dampen any chucking .

I should have added my pin weight is around 2500 and I have the airlift instead of Firestone.

[jtesta1]

Put in whatever it takes to make vehicles level. Adjust to your preferred ride comfort.

[PenJoe]

We have had Firestone Ride-Rite air bags on our last 3 trucks in a 12 year period. First, the air bags should be kept a minimum of 10 lbs to prevent damage to the bladders. It will have little effect when driving empty. The first truck was a 2001 Ram 1500 quad cab carrying an 8.5 Lance slide-in. The dealer recommended 60 lbs bladder pressure.

We towed a fully loaded 16' cargo trailer cross country with a 2008 Sierra 1500 and then a 2013 Silverado HD half ton. Depending on the load of up to 7,000 lbs on the trailer and a fully loaded bed, we were comfortable with 40 to 50 lbs. If we had a lighter load, we were comfortable at 30 lbs. You may have to experiment a little with air pressure with your load to find the sweet spot. If you are not overloading the truck or trailer, bringing it level with air pressure would be a good guide. Having the right air pressure according to the load will be stable and comfortable.

[DouglasReid]

Originally Posted by jtesta1

Put in whatever it takes to make vehicles level. Adjust to your preferred ride comfort.

There is the definitive answer. air then until the truck sits level, as it does without the trailer or 5er connected.

for mine that is about 60 lbs.

Since I pull a 5er and the load is always centered in the bed I simply connected both bags air lines together with a "T" so I can air them both at the same time, and they both are always equal pressure.

[Smk]

Is that before the weight on the hitch ?