Air bags for towing?

[smokinjoe]

Anyone can recommend a cheap but good air bag setup for occasional towing or loading with a link to see where to get it? Thanks.

[Coaster]

having gone down this route, i can say better leafs are a better option.

i tossed my bags after i changed out the rear axle housing that had bent at the points the air bags were mounted.

i have the heavy duty springs and they droop 2" with #3500 trailer

[petema]

[quote="Coaster"]
i tossed my bags after i changed out the rear axle housing that had bent at the points the air bags were mounted.

Are you thinking Air shocks?. I mean Air bags are usually mounted on top of or close to leaf springs, and that would normally not lead to any deformation of the axle, or? P

[smokinjoe]

Yeah I have air shocks but think airbags are a better solution. I really don't want heavier leafs since I use the van mostly to drive my wife & 5yr old who don't want a spine crunching ride.

Yeah air bags ride at the bump stop location (I have timbrens there now)

[AstroWill]

I have a set that came off of a van with composite springs, I upgraded to steel leaf springs. They would need a new fitting and line kit like https://amzn.to/2MfQH0r but I wonder if they would mount up to your van. Trade for Timbrens?

Might have been a picture or two in my Tiger GTv8 thread.



Edit: Mounts to the frame and directly to the axle. https://www.astrosafari.com/viewtopic.p ... 29#p125867

There might be more pictures showing the air bags.

[smokinjoe]

Will do you have pics of what you have? Do they hold air?

[AstroWill]

Will do you have pics of what you have? Do they hold air?

Check out the last picture in the link I posted. The bags themselves hold air, but the fittings and hose need to be replaced with something like the kit I linked above. The line had rubbed through because of how they routed the lines.

[smokinjoe]

OH so you mean the very last pic in that thread? You think those plus the air lines you linked would equal smokinjoe and family towing happily?

[Coaster]

composite springs and steel springs use completely different bags and mounts.

buy 1195 springs. problem solved

[AstroWill]

OH so you mean the very last pic in that thread? You think those plus the air lines you linked would equal smokinjoe and family towing happily?

The last picture in that particular post.



I'm sure that the bags would be the same for both composite and steel leaf springs, the lower mount might be a little different. Pretty sure it would be simple to modify it to work if needed.
Would definitely be something that would have to be looked into.

[Mmusicman]

Helper springs are REALLY worth considering...

* Easily installed
* Not too expensive
* Firm and effective when loaded
* Ride is stock, standard, and unaffected when unloaded

I've seen high-end towing trucks equipped this way.
They ride easy without a load.. but firm up as needed with a load.
Best of BOTH worlds.

[smokinjoe]

Helper leafs? I think the air bags would be less involved in installation which is desired. Do you have a link to what kind of helper you mean?

[The Drummer]

My first van had 2 extra leafs each side added and to my surprise after taking off the top lather rack ,inside shelfs etc the ride was still pretty smooth , the van stance was like a 70 s muscle car but still had the butt higher than the front with all my drums in it , my 00 as the air shocks wich i like as well , between the two tho i d go for more leafs i think
, both probly be the best , the leafs on mine now are shot pretty much , dunno just sayin.

[AstroWill]

So I removed the passenger side Timbren from my 03, just to see how the air bags would match up. Granted I'm not going to do a full install or anything, but just wanted to get an idea if they could work. I'm obviously not going to drill the top hole through the reinforced part of the frame and adjust my brake lines to fit the u-bolt that attaches to the axle. But from looking at this I'm almost certain that it would work with the steel leaf springs as well.

Note that the top mount goes farther up until it touches, then gets 1 bolt through the top. The bottom mount attaches to the existing clamshell mount and also with a u-bolt on the other side, but requires tweaking the brake lines just a little bit. There is no air in the bag in this picture and it's not fully installed(obviously).




As far as 'helper' leaf springs, I would say avoid the type where they attach to the front/rear of the existing springs like this: https://amzn.to/2IiImng


But an additional leaf that goes in the pack would be my preference on those.
Something like: https://amzn.to/2XrSoc7
Edit: their picture above is messed up. This has a better picture: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/exp-13120/overview/

Now I'm not recommending that model, as I haven't done the research, but just giving you an example.


Edit: figured it would only take 5min to check out the drivers side as well, here are some more pictures: