Airlift Loadlifter 5000 Questions

[SmittyCorp]

I'm sure tons of guys have installed the single inlet with no problems, and that's good. I was just pointing out that it can have downsides, and I think I understand the reason they ship with separate valves.

I had my airlift 2000s teed together at 70 psi for one trip as an experiment. I usually use 30 or 40. I didn't notice anything unusual for the trip with the trailer, but when driving around after unhooking, the truck handled weird, especially at highway speed, and felt tippy on curves. Isolating the bags stopped that.

Adding a valve like I did isn't the greatest fix, but I'd already chopped the lines to tee them the first time, so it was an easy fix for that. In my case, I'd have been best served by installing the dual inlets the bags came with.

[Comanchecreek]

One thing to watch for when plumbing a single inlet.... there can be
cross talk between the bags when cornering. The bag on the outside will
try to compress, and will pump some of its air to the inside bag, making
the inside want to raise. It might not be noticeable on a truck with a
stiff ride like a dually, but with high-ish bag pressure on a softer
truck likean F150, you'll notice it. Particularly when empty.

Originally Posted by AlaskaErik

I've got a single point inflation valve on my 2016 Silverado 1500 with Air Lift 2000 bags and I've never noticed anything like that. With separate inflation valves the risk is one bag going flat. I'd rather have both bags go flat if a leak develops. Most people aren't going to put in an isolation valve. And if someone does, they're right back to a leak leaving them with an imbalance.

I've been running mine for ten years without ever noticing "cross talk". I can see where it might be an issue say when carrying a bed mounted camper, or an overloaded lightly sprung vehicle. My thought is, you'd have to be cornering pretty hard to cause that effect, and that's not really what normal circumstance provides when pulling a trailer. I must say, your solution is a pretty good idea. Seems like it would work for those situations where it might be a problem.

I also do not run more than the five pounds recommended when empty as the bags ruin the ride. I also am more concerned about uneven inflation in the bags, or deflation of one bag. That would really mess up the ride.

[Jim34RL]

I would recommend the additional cost of an on-board air compressor with a controller for the air bags. I have used both methods on two different trucks where I had to inflate the bags manually and with an on-board air compressor.

My on-board air compressor will compensate for the ride with the trailer attached, maintaining the pressure I set for the air bags. I will hook-up my 5er setting the proper amount of air I need to level the truck and camper. The compressor will inflate the air bags and maintain this pressure until I dump the air pressure to un-hook the trailer. I never have to manually inflate the air bags; I just use the on-board air compressor.

Just my $0.02

[DouglasReid]

Originally Posted by SmittyCorp

I'm sure tons of guys have installed the single inlet with no problems, and that's good. I was just pointing out that it can have downsides, and I think I understand the reason they ship with separate valves.

I had my airlift 2000s teed together at 70 psi for one trip as an experiment. I usually use 30 or 40. I didn't notice anything unusual for the trip with the trailer, but when driving around after unhooking, the truck handled weird, especially at highway speed, and felt tippy on curves. Isolating the bags stopped that.

Adding a valve like I did isn't the greatest fix, but I'd already chopped the lines to tee them the first time, so it was an easy fix for that. In my case, I'd have been best served by installing the dual inlets the bags came with.

I added a Tee, one Schrader valve to do both sides because my only load is always centered a 5er.

I air them up after hitching and deflate them just before unhitching.

Never caused any problems at all for me when running connected or not.

[atkbike]

I have the air lift 2000 on my 1500 Silverado for my other trailers with the standard hitch. I just got a Wild Wilderness toy hauler and it came with a Blue ox WD hitch. The instructions on it read to put the air bags at the min psi and set up the WD hitch like normal and the truck and trailer should be level.

[DouglasReid]

Originally Posted by atkbike

I have the air lift 2000 on my 1500 Silverado for my other trailers with the standard hitch. I just got a Wild Wilderness toy hauler and it came with a Blue ox WD hitch. The instructions on it read to put the air bags at the min psi and set up the WD hitch like normal and the truck and trailer should be level.

In which case Id follow their instructions if they take into consideration the airbags.