Truck air bags and load support in Arvada

Maybe. Some squat under load is normal; the rear suspension is doing its job. The question is where the weight comes from and how often it changes: trailer tongue weight, fifth-wheel or gooseneck pin weight, a slide-in camper, a bed full of tools, or all of those on different days.

So we ask first. What truck is it, and is it stock, leveled or lifted? What do you tow, and what is its tongue or pin weight? What rides in the bed? What does the payload sticker in the door jamb say? Does the trailer already have a weight distribution hitch? Sometimes the answer is Air Lift or Firestone air springs. Sometimes it is an airless system, a weight distribution hitch, or both. And sometimes the truck is simply carrying more than it is rated for, and the answer is a lighter load or a bigger truck.

Air helper springs sit between the frame and the axle, next to the factory leaf springs, and add support you can change. More air when the camper is on, less when the bed is empty. That is their advantage for a truck that carries tools on Monday, nothing on Friday and a trailer on Saturday.

Air Lift's LoadLifter 5000 adds up to 5,000 pounds of load-leveling capacity on half-ton, three-quarter-ton and one-ton pickups and vans with leaf springs. Air Lift says most popular kits install with no drilling, and roll plates protect the springs from rubbing. The air springs carry a limited lifetime warranty. Firestone's Ride-Rite kits also offer up to 5,000 pounds of load-leveling capacity and run up to 100 PSI, using existing factory holes on half-ton to one-ton leaf-spring trucks, SUVs and RVs. Firestone's RED Label kits go to 7,500 pounds and 150 PSI for heavier trucks. Air Lift is usually our first recommendation, in the kit made for your truck and your load.

Not everyone wants air lines, valves and pressure to check. Timbren's SES kits replace the bump stops with Aeon rubber springs, which push back harder the more they compress. There is nothing to inflate, and Timbren says the kits need no maintenance after installation. On many trucks there is a small gap between the rubber spring and the axle when the truck is empty (Timbren's FAQ puts the ideal at about an inch), so the spring comes into play as the load compresses the suspension. Timbren backs SES with a lifetime warranty. We sell and install Timbren SES.

Neither is better for every truck. How often the load changes decides it.

Air springs work without a compressor: you fill them at a valve like a tire. An onboard compressor saves the trip to a gas station hose, which is worth it for anyone who hooks up often or changes trailers.

The choice is single path or dual path. Air Lift describes single path as inflating both springs at the same rate to the same pressure; its WirelessOne works that way, with a handheld remote and a free phone app. Dual path lets each side run its own pressure, which Air Lift recommends for pickup campers, uneven loads and top-heavy hauls; its WirelessAir does that, with a remote or the WirelessAir app. We install Air Lift's WirelessOne, and both single and dual path systems are available.

Air spring brackets and an under-bed hitch mount attach near the same part of the frame. On some trucks the two kits fit together as they come; on others one needs a different bracket. Tell us about the hitch before we order air springs, or the air springs before we order the hitch, and we check both against your truck.

Air springs support the truck's rear suspension. A weight distribution hitch moves part of a bumper-pull trailer's tongue weight forward to the front axle. Adding bags does not remove the need for weight distribution when the truck maker calls for it, and a weight distribution hitch does not mean the truck would not benefit from support. On some travel-trailer setups we fit both.

A lift or leveling kit changes the distance between the frame and the axle, and that is exactly where air springs and bump-stop springs mount. Some trucks need different brackets or spacers; some are better served by another kind of support. If we are building the suspension and you tow or haul, we plan the load support at the same time.