Truck suspension air bags

[davidsimmonds]

I have installed the Firestone Air Bag system on my Dodge 2500. Should I fill them up so that the trailer is level when towing? I have done that which required about 25-30 PSI on each side (before hitching up the trailer). When driving on the highways, the ride is quite smooth. When hitting dips in the road or driving in town and hitting the usual street conditions, the trailer seems to take more of a hit than it did before the air bags. Some things seem to move around in the trailer more than they used to. Is this normal and to be expected?

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

By stiffening up the rear suspension, you are likely causing the traler to absorb more of the shock & jar of poyholes & dips. If your trailer doesn't have shock absorbers (most do not), consider adding them. They help a lot.

Is this a travel trailer or fifth wheel?  If a travel trailer, do you have a weight distributing [WD] hitch?  A WD hitch is the way to level up the truck/traler for towing, not air bags.  On a fifth wheel, air bags may be your only option, but one has to wonder why the truck is sagging in the first place. Overloaded, perhaps?

 

[davidsimmonds]

It is a fifth wheel. The truck is not sagging. It runs perfectly level without the airbags when hooked to the trailer. It drops two inches when I put the trailer on it compared to when there is no trailer on it. I asked a few people including those at a well respected suspension company here in Calgary. They all said that air bags will help relieve the stress on the suspension since it drops two inches. I have take the truck and trailer to a weigh scale and I am well below the GCWR.