Adding Air Lift Bags

navajochief · 04-04-2016, 07:11 PM

I recently purchased a '16 Fuzion 325 and getting an 18k pullrite superglide ISR hitch installed. My truck is an '05 F350 SRW 6.0 PSD, shortbed. I do not have the air bags installed yet. My question is once the hitch and rails are installed I imagine the height will be adjusted to fit my set up. My truck is lifted with Donahoe Racing 4.5" lift with 35" tires. Will adding the air bags after the initial install and set up of the hitch cause issues? In other words, will I need to have the hitch readjusted after installing air bags to the rear end?

Thank you.

M

PerryB · 04-04-2016, 07:28 PM

The airbags prevent excess squat but shouldn't require changing the hitch height. Are you having the trailer lifted to match the height of the truck? You need to do this or your breakover angle will be very limited and the rear axle of the trailer will be very heavily loaded.

bobbecky · 04-04-2016, 08:21 PM

We have the 18K ISR 2900 hitch, and there is no adjustment for height with this hitch. The only thing you might be able to do is adjust the pin box.

CWSWine · 04-05-2016, 08:13 AM

i think you are going to have trouble with a lifted truck. I have stock 2015 F350 and I have my B&W set at the lowest setting it can go and the pin box has two holes left on my 5er pin box or about 2 inches of adjustment left and my 5er sets slightly nose high. I don't think there will be enough adjustment to take the 4 1/2 inch lift and the larger tires to get even close to level. If the 5er isn't level it will put excessive weight on the rear axle and tires. You also need to check the load rating on those over size tires to make sure they can carry the pin weight of load toy hauler. Good Luck.

Kirro1000 · 04-06-2016, 07:30 PM

I would have to agree.
I have a stock 2015 GMC 2500 diesel with the Firestone Bags and the exact
Pullrite hitch that you're looking at. With 35-38 lbs in the bags (which levels the truck with the TH on it) and our Fuzion 325's hitch all the way up, the front of the trailer sits about 4 to 6 inches higher than the tail.
As mentioned before, the Pullright height is NOT adjustable. It's a great hitch other than that.

Good luck.

navajochief · 04-07-2016, 10:45 AM

Although I have a SRW F350, the load "E" tires I currently run are rated at 3750lbs/tire at 65 psi. My rear axle rating is 7000 and front axle 5200. My max cargo is 4200 lbs. I believe the axles on the trailer are flipped. The trailer sits pretty high (2016 Keystone Fuzion 325). So am I safe to assume that my concern should be the clearance of the bed rails and tailgate as it relates to the height of the kingpin when hitched to the truck? My concern is that after the initial hitch set up is done and clearance between the truck rails and tailgate are spec, adding aig bags after the fact would affect the height of the attached kingpin causing clearance issues as someone brought up concerning not having enough clearance. How does it feel towing that Fuzion you have, Kirro1000? I'm going to upgrade my 3.73's to 4.30's as soon as I bring it home as well.

Kirro1000 · 04-09-2016, 05:58 AM

Fudge .
I just typed this long reply and it didn't post.
PM me with your phone number if you'd like and we'll talk trucks and 325s.

Kirro.

Mutt · 04-10-2016, 08:07 AM

I have air bags on my 2011 Ram 2500. They don't really make any noticeable changes in the bumper height. I've measured and at max PSI, my bumper only sits about an inch or so higher than it normally does. However, once it's all loaded out, the weight of the camper evens it all out. The air bags shouldn't actually lift your truck .... especially under load.

If you are worried about clearance while connecting the trailer to the truck .... then leave the air bags at minimum PSI while loading. Then, pump them up to driving PSI after the trailer is connected.

slow · 04-10-2016, 09:45 AM

My observations of two different air bag set ups:

If the bags are cylindrical as I had on my F150, it will not lift the unloaded truck very much if installed per the instructions and supplied top bracket placement tool. But if your air bag is shaped like a "bellow" (corrugated) as I have on my F250, it will lift the unloaded truck with more air pressure. I recently checked and going from 0 to 100 psi lifted my bumper/receiver 3 1/4 inches when unloaded.

PerryB · 04-11-2016, 05:18 PM

You'll like the 4.30 gears. Do you have a tuner so you can correct the tire size and axle ratio in the PCM ? The speedo will read higher than actual because the 4.30 gear ratio actually over compensates for the 35" tires.

navajochief · 04-19-2016, 06:59 AM

My truck is stock other than an air intake. I'm running a dieselsite coolant filter with ELC, upgraded powerstop slotted/drilled brake kit along with the blue spring upgrade to protect my injectors. These 6.0 motors from what I've read and seen first hand do not take tuners and electronic modules well. They tend to blow up and blow head gaskets and oil coolers along with EGR's. I have over 148K on my motor/tranny and no problems. It's been quite reliable. And now with the re-gearing which it's in the process of having done, should help alleviate some of the strain off the tranny/motor for those potential 6% or higher mountain grades I will come across in my travels. Will be installing those air bags next weekend. Hopefully I'll have no problems.

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