Airbag PSI - Montana Owners Club

Montana Sky · 04-22-2009, 04:01 PM

I just had the Firestone airbags installed this afternoon on the truck. What PSI are you inflating the bags to before hooking up the coach?

ols1932 · 04-22-2009, 04:22 PM

I normally air up to a minimum of 35 psi. I use a little bit more if not quite level. Not everyone carries that much pressure, but I have extra heavy batteries in the front, making my pin weight greater than normal.

Orv

LonnieB · 04-22-2009, 04:31 PM

Quote:

quote: I normally air up to a minimum of 35 psi. I use a little bit more if not quite level. Not everyone carries that much pressure, but I have extra heavy batteries in the front, making my pin weight greater than normal.

Orv

Same here, 35 min, more if needed. Depends on how many tools or other "supplies" I may be loaded with.

Art-n-Marge · 04-22-2009, 06:23 PM

I keep the air at about 15-20 when I have no load (minimum is 6-8 but that's too low for me). I then load up the truck with stuff I don't want to put in the trailer like Honda generators, compressor, bicycles,20# tanks, dog pen, stuff like that. Then I back the truck up, and hitch up the trailer and this will cause the back end of the truck to drop a bit. Then I inflate the air bags to about 60-65 lbs by inflating one side by 5 lbs, the other by 10, then back the other way by 10, etc. For me this gets the truck to a little less of what the same aspect of the truck was, prior putting the trailer on it. Your lbs will vary because of what you are carrying in the truck or in the trailer.

Using this method means that you don't need the landing gear as high prior to clearing the hitch to connect.

Someone once told me this method. With the load of just gear in the truck bed, measure the distance of the top of the rear wheels of the truck to the bottom of each exterior fender (not the wheel well - no sense working that hard). Then hitch up the trailer. Then air up until you get the same distance. When I used this method the airbags were 75-80, but I was not happy with the ride and the trailer rear end sagged lower. My Firestone airbags support up to 120 lbs (uh I think) but I do know I am well within specification.

The point of the airbags is to increase the rear end height of the truck and to raise the load off the rear suspension (get rid of droop). But be careful not to put so much air that the front of your trailer runs a risk of contacting your trucks bed on a severely angled driveway or hill, or the trailer's back end gets too close to the ground.

I love the airbags. It has been a big improvement in my case. Even my wife noticed the smoother ride and she has only ever been a passenger.

I hope this helps,

indy roadrunner · 04-22-2009, 11:59 PM

Dave, with a lightly loaded TV and same with Monty, I put 15PSI prior to hooking, then I have found that adjusting to 30 PSI is just about right for my ride and ride height of TV. But I think you will find that different combinations will prevail for just about everybody depending on equipment and preferences. Just remember that your pressure will increase when you hook up.

RickW · 04-23-2009, 02:42 AM

I run 5# when empty.

With the Monty I have been running 60#. I have only had the air bags a few months so I am still looking for sweet spot for my setup. Very happy with the ride at 60#.

nunya · 04-23-2009, 02:52 AM

I run 30 in mine when loaded,note this is in a dually, and 5 empty. seems to work for me

Searchers · 04-23-2009, 05:24 AM

18#-22# depending on how heavily loaded at 1850#-2000# pin weight. I've run them completely empty when not loaded for the past 14 years without any problems.

MuddyPaws · 04-23-2009, 06:48 AM

I fiddled with mine for months and figured out that 75# works best for us.

When not towing I drop it to to 5#, otherwise 'she' complains.

simonsrf · 04-25-2009, 05:07 AM

After hooking up, we air up to about 50#. When unhooking, by releasing the air pressure, we don't have to extend the landing gear height so far.

Montana Sky · 04-25-2009, 01:54 PM

After the first trip with the coach I think that 30 PSI in the bags before hooking up might not have been enough. I checked the bag pressure after the coach was hooked and found the bags to have 45 PSI in them. Will run them up to 55 PSI on the next trip to see if that helps. I am extremely happy with the unloaded ride of the truck and wish I would have had them added ot the truck 4 years ago.

HughM · 04-25-2009, 02:23 PM

5lb empty and 35 loaded. Anything more than 5 lb unloaded is a rought ride.

Art-n-Marge · 04-25-2009, 05:36 PM

I use Firestone air bags on my Ford F-250 trucks. I have seen many posts in this topic that run at 5# or even 0#. The minimum specification for my bags is 7# (I stated 6-8 prior, but it's 7# according to my specs). I run at 15# to stay away from the minimum and higher when loaded with the trailer or cargo.

I recommend you verify your minimums so you don't risk the bags being cut because they are "too flat", but may be okay depending on your brand and configuration. I just thought I would bring this up in case one didn't realize a potential problem.

Trailer Trash 2 · 04-25-2009, 06:49 PM

I had them on my Ford and I used between 30 and 35 with the trailer loaded, and 5 lbs with nothing on the truck

Dean A Van Peursem · 04-27-2009, 09:00 PM

On our late 2006 3400RL and 2003 Ford F250 combination, I typically run at about 40 psi. But I had to do some experimenting to find the sweet spot. 25 to 50 psi. My biggest problem has been finding the right psi to minimize what I call "bobbing" on certain types of roads. First, I thought I had bad rear shocks and installed new Bilsteins which reduced the "bobbing" somewhat but too low a pressure in the Firestones is also a contributer. The reason I don't like to go to a higher psi is because then the truck is a little too high in the rear end even with the 3400RL fully loaded. I was unable to get the Firrstone mounting brackets one hole lower, which I thought would help, because of an interference on the axle. I don't know if that is unique to a 4 x 4.

rubble express · 04-29-2009, 06:05 PM

I run 5 lbs unloaded and 30 lbs before I hook up which usually translates to about 45 lbs loaded. On my 2004 F250 I ran about 60 lbs loaded, but the dually doesn't need that much help.

ols1932 · 04-30-2009, 04:18 AM

My truck rides like a truck. I don't reduce the pressure in the airbags when unhooked from the rig. It's too much bother. We have gotten so used to riding in the truck that we don't notice any rougher ride with the airbags pressured up than we once reduced the pressure to seven (7) psi.

Orv

chandy · 08-02-2019, 11:40 AM

along those lines, my Air bags are leaking and the dealer can't find the problem even after a soap test. Air lift 5000 on 2017 Ram 3500. any ideas? Chandy

ChuckS · 08-03-2019, 08:22 AM

Running Firestone 5000. 29 psi empty and 60 to 65 psi with fifth wheel hitched.

penra · 08-03-2019, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by indy roadrunner

Dave, with a lightly loaded TV and same with Monty, I put 15PSI prior to hooking, then I have found that adjusting to 30 PSI is just about right for my ride and ride height of TV. But I think you will find that different combinations will prevail for just about everybody depending on equipment and preferences. Just remember that your pressure will increase when you hook up.

I have a new truck and new monty, first trip is coming up end of September. Question, should I install airbags? How do I know I need them prior to being on the road? My truck has off-road suspension for what that's worth.
thanks!

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