I had never heard of these before my mechanic mentioned them today (my shocks are going to have to be replaced soon). I have an 05 Chevy 2500 diesel and pull a 2H bumper pull usually with one horse in it. Any of you have them. How do you know if you "need" them?
Posted 2015-12-02 6:29 AM (#165477 - in reply to #165476) Subject: RE: Suspension Airbags
Expert
Posts: 1989 Location: South Central OK
My first question is are you the original owner of the truck? I'm guessing not, because that load on a 3/4 ton truck should be well within the weight limits and shouldn't harm your suspension. (Put a 14' LQ in there and it's another ball of wax!) With your truck being 10 years old and you living in a colder state where you might encounter salted roads, maybe the (coiled) springs or leaf springs are needing to be replaced to do rusting? I'm hoping some of our better posters come on here and give you definitive answers, I'm just speculating and hoping your mechanic isn't taking you to the bank.
Posted 2015-12-02 9:16 AM (#165478 - in reply to #165476) Subject: RE: Suspension Airbags
Veteran
Posts: 113 Location: Wi
My first question would be why does your mechanic think you need air bags? If it is because your shocks are bad. Just replace your shocks, as that would be less expensive than air bags and you don't have to fill up shocks with air like you would air bags. It is possible that you have a little sag in your leaf springs but on a 2500 that is 10 years old that is not a problem with the load you are pulling and shouldn't be an issue unless one is broken.Unless there is more to the story, I think it is time to get a new mechanic.
Posted 2015-12-02 10:31 AM (#165479 - in reply to #165476) Subject: RE: Suspension Airbags
Expert
Posts: 3802 Location: Rocky Mount N.C.
Originally written by mkenngen on 2015-12-01 9:34 PM
I had never heard of these before my mechanic mentioned them today (my shocks are going to have to be replaced soon). I have an 05 Chevy 2500 diesel and pull a 2H bumper pull usually with one horse in it. Any of you have them. How do you know if you "need" them?
Did your mechanic quote you a price for installing air bags? What is he charging to do the shocks? This may answer everyone's questions......
Posted 2015-12-02 2:09 PM (#165481 - in reply to #165476) Subject: RE: Suspension Airbags
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 430 Location: TN
You "need" them if your trailer is not sitting level or the trailer weight is causing your truck to squat. They help make the back end of the truck more stable when pulling the trailer. I am doubtful you would need them with a 3/4 ton truck pulling an average 2 horse bumper pull. Just for example, I pull a 13' LQ 3 horse trailer with 28' on the floor with a 2001 F350 SRW truck. While I never had any issues pulling the horse trailer, I pulled a 5th wheel camper that made the truck squat so we added a set of Timbrens. Unlike air bags, once they are installed, you do not need to do anything to them like add or empty air. http://timbren.com/timbren-ses/
Posted 2015-12-02 11:37 PM (#165488 - in reply to #165476) Subject: RE: Suspension Airbags
Expert
Posts: 5870 Location: western PA
Ditto Paul. If your truck has anything close to 50k miles, the OEM shocks are worn out. If the loading on your truck is over 2k lbs, an addition of Timbrens will greatly help at a lower cost of airbags, without the need of maintenance or routine adjustments. They can be installed so the original ride is unaltered. Most 2H trailers have a tongue weight of less than 1K lbs, which is child's play for your truck.
Posted 2015-12-03 10:10 PM (#165498 - in reply to #165476) Subject: RE: Suspension Airbags
Member
Posts: 16
Location: UT
Thanks all! To be fair, I'm not being told that I need them. He just mentioned them and I hadn't heard of him. Truck has 230K miles; who knows when shocks were done last.
Suspension Airbags
