Air bag brackets take a lot of abuse with big campers aboard. Mine have died twice. The quarter inch thick steel plate just ripped much as you would tear a card board box.
Raften wrote: Air bag brackets take a lot of abuse with big campers aboard. Mine have died twice. The quarter inch thick steel plate just ripped much as you would tear a card board box.
This is especially true when the air bags end up being running at higher pressure meaning they're carrying a large amount of the weight that would otherwise be carried across the leaf spring mounts.
I managed to damage one on the past Fall Colors Rally because of a bad road section due to the bags being the carrier of the brunt of my truck's load at the time, giving me good reason to do some leaf spring work before installing the replacement bag and going on a far larger trip this fall.
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I was of the opinion when I installed mine that airbags were an assist method .It sounds as of yours were the main support method..It is great they added leafs to now put the suspension back in proper priority of function. Jmho jb
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The leaf springs support the load on 4 very heavy duty spring hanger brackets that the factory designed and riveted to the frame. Many times, they use the same brackets on all the trucks from 3/4-ton through 1-ton dually, so they are over-built for the 3/4-tons.
When you start using air bags to support the load, you're supporting the load at only 2 points on the frame instead of 4 points (or 6 points, in the case of trucks with factory overload springs). That places a lot more concentrated stress on the truck frame, in an area it was not designed to be supporting the load.
There was a member here who actually cracked his truck frame in half from carrying such a heavy camper on a truck that was way too small for the load and using air bags to support the load instead of heavier springs. As I remember it, his truck frame cracked right about where the air bags mount to it.
SoCalDesertRider wrote: The leaf springs support the load on 4 very heavy duty spring hanger brackets that the factory designed and riveted to the frame. Many times, they use the same brackets on all the trucks from 3/4-ton through 1-ton dually, so they are over-built for the 3/4-tons.
When you start using air bags to support the load, you're supporting the load at only 2 points on the frame instead of 4 points (or 6 points, in the case of trucks with factory overload springs). That places a lot more concentrated stress on the truck frame, in an area it was not designed to be supporting the load.
There was a member here who actually cracked his truck frame in half from carrying such a heavy camper on a truck that was way too small for the load and using air bags to support the load instead of heavier springs. As I remember it, his truck frame cracked right about where the air bags mount to it.
I have seen more than one dually dump using AB or Timbrens crack the frame for this very reason , the load was never meant to be concentrated directly over the axle , most of the older pickup frames were actually narrower over the axle . The old chevy's with the rear
coil springs had additional support in that area .
You're right. The frames on both my trucks have shorter web height of the channel as the frame curves over the axle. The frame is much heavier at the front spring hanger.
* This post was
edited 06/21/12 02:00pm by SoCalDesertRider *
Yep, the last post on page 1 and all the posts above here on page 2 are correct.
Elgin Spring told us we can carry 2,000 more lbs than before with the added leafs. I think we were carrying too much to begin with...that's why the air bag bracket & 3 of the 4 bolts broke. We have much less air in the air bags... only 40 lbs of air in the air bags. Just enough to stabilize the sway. It rides like a dream now.
See, we knew nothing about TC's when we bought this truck/camper duo off a consignment lot two years ago except that it was an exceptional good deal. We drove it off the lot and 24 hrs later drove it 500 miles. Actually hubby drove the MH and i drove the TC the 500 miles from Eugene OR to Ukiah CA. I liked the way it drove right away. It was equipped for I5 driving but not for this trip.
Hey, I saw a Ford carrying a Host yesterday (Thursday), in the Elgin area at about 4:15 ish. That wouldn't have been you guys, would it? I was so excited, I didn't bother to note what street the TC was on, maybe Highland or Big Timber (I am not really familiar with the area, I was trying out a new route to my new work location).
I always get so giddy when I see a truck camper in action, as it were.
A couple of years ago, I talked myself into adding a leaf to each of my rear springs. They worked well when the TC is loaded. It rides like a ping-pong ball with an empty truck. It is compounded by my 19.5 tires. Makes very little difference with only 5 psi when the TC is off the truck.
I went through this over twenty-five years ago, and should have known better. For me, the best setup is stock typical leaf springs, with overloads that can have blocks installed when hauling the TC, and a set of airbags. If I were to buy a new truck, that is what it would have. I would not use the blocks or airbags with the empty truck.
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