do air bags (for towing, not for a drop) affect bounciness of a ride??

[aggiedave98]

I have a post here about the bouncy ride on my '89 suburban 1/2ton 2wd w/ my 2" lifted leaf spring in the back:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=205061


What I didn't mention there was that I have heavy duty air bags installed for towing our 25' church trailers 1/4 mile each way with my 1/2 ton suburban. I actually don't need them that much now because we have a church truck, but I still have them on. I'd like to keep them on because sometimes I need them in a pinch (the church truck doesn't start, etc....). But, I haven't ruled out their effect on my ride.

Does anybody have air bags for towing (they're the heavy duty air lift ones...) and if so, how did that affect your rear suspension?? I put my new leaf springs and the air bags on at the same time...

I will probably go ahead and take them off to check, but am curious if anybody has experience w/ this...

[TravisH]

If you empty them they won't have any effect on your ride

[bodydropped]

i got 2500 firestone bags on the rear of my truck i have them for drop and for towin and i run about 40 lbs or so with no load at all and it rides like a caddy

[aggiedave98]

wow, 40psi?? that gives me a pretty rough ride....

although that was before I just put on the new rancho 9000's, so I'm interested to see now...

to many variables now... air bag pressure and rancho setting.... how do I figure it all out?!?

[TravisH]

Hes running 40 psi with just airbags, he doesn't have leaves like you.

Empty the bags and run unloaded like that. You use them when you have excess weight, not for running around empty

[bodydropped]

i do have leaves i have 2 of them im not rully bagged its a similair setup to kens truck but im runnin reg bags not sleeve bags and i also have air shocks

[N2TRUX]

bodydropped you are talking about something totally different than what aggiedave98 is. Read his original post again.

Dave the helper bags could be part of the problem is they are inflated. They can add to the stiffness a little when deflated as well, but not much.

I will repost my reponse from your other thread in here too-
lets get a little more detailed with your description before we try to diagnois the problem. You say you have a "very bouncy ride". Does that mean that the rear bounces a lot, or continues to bounce after you hit a bump? Or does it mean that the suspension is so stiff that when you hit a bump the springs have no give?

Please try to break it down a little more because your problem could be too stiff of a spring, or too soft of a shock.

[aggiedave98]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

bodydropped you are talking about something totally different than what aggiedave98 is. Read his original post again.

Dave the helper bags could be part of the problem is they are inflated. They can add to the stiffness a little when deflated as well, but not much.

I will repost my reponse from your other thread in here too-
lets get a little more detailed with your description before we try to diagnois the problem. You say you have a "very bouncy ride". Does that mean that the rear bounces a lot, or continues to bounce after you hit a bump? Or does it mean that the suspension is so stiff that when you hit a bump the springs have no give?

Please try to break it down a little more because your problem could be too stiff of a spring, or too soft of a shock.

Well, I wasn't sure how to describe my problem... but I put on Rancho 9000's (first on the back then on the front also). But, now I can tell you, I had both stiff springs and too soft of a shock. I say too soft because what was happening was after the first bounce, it would continue way too long afterward. But, I say too stiff because that initial bounce is pretty "bouncy" (for lack of a better word) and even with the rancho's it's better than before but still a big bounce going over a big dip in the road. Does that make sense?

So, the rancho's made a huge difference and imrproved my ride 80% let's say but there's still 20% that I think is because my 2" lifted springs are more "springy" than stock. What do you think??

[TravisH]

probably true, you might have gave up some ride quality for the lift