Considering Air lift on 1500 Suburban. Thoughts?

[SubWarrior]

Looking back, I should have bought a 3/4 ton suburban considering how this vehicle is used. It takes many weekend trips to the mountains with 8 people all their gear and a full 44 gallon tank. The back squats some. Definitely feel the extra weight in ride and stability. During the summer, 8 people + full tank + ski boat = even more squat. Tow about 3000 miles a year. Long term goal for the truck is a people hauler / off road adventure rig, so a suspension lift is likely in the future.

Saw this on amazon, caught my interest

http://www.amazon.com/LIFT-59518-Co...r=1999|1999&carId=002&n=15684181&s=automotive

Ive heard good things about these from buddies on heavy duty pickups, any word on a 1500 gmt400 suburban?

Whats the install look like? Cannot find any pictures of these installed on a gmt400 anywhere.

How well do these work for any off road lift capabilities or future suspension upgrades?

Probably wouldn't go with an on board compressor right away.

Enlighten me! thanks

 

[eric.s.t]

My dad put some in his Sequoia, its coils in the back of the truck so basicly its a bag that sits inside the coil... and all you do is add air by a tire valve or you could be an on board compressor. Im planning on putting this same setup your showing here on my Dually, since im going to lower it 5/8 so I cant have it squate at all since their is no room for that lol

My dads works good, I would say do it.

 

[eric.s.t]

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Isnt a suburban, but its the same ideer, top on the frame bottom on top of the leaf. This is made by Air lift, which is what I plan on getting

 

[SubWarrior]

Thanks for the picture and the input.

Seems like these kits are pretty easy to install.

They claim the air lift not only levels, but improves ride and stability. Any thoughts on that?

 

[6.5-k3500]

It will actually raise the back about 2 inches unloaded at about 50 psi but I found the ride improved quite a bit, at least it did on a 97 f 150. I hauled a full 200 gal water tank with it and before the truck squatted a lot and after it just squatted to almost level with a 2 inch crank up front. Hope this helps you.

 

[SubWarrior]

I went ahead and installed the kit. Did exactly what I hoped it would do. Loaded down with 8 people, full tank, and all gear, burb drove great. Ride was level and felt more stable. Might have been a little more bouncy, but hard to know for sure. Overall a worthwhile upgrade.

Install took more time than expected. I had to cut the fender on the body to get them to fit. Otherwise very simple.

I was curious how they would function in off road situations. The rotation of the rear axle during a good flex might put a lot of stress on these bags, what I found was they seem to extend pretty far. For stock suspension these will be 100% fine off road, but if used with a lift kit there could be issues.

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Not the best shot in the world, but you can see the cut I had to make in the body fender and also how the bags extend with the axle.

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[GMRedline]

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Keep us posted on your long term results.

 

[1989GMCSIERRA]

I installed a Set made by Firestone on my 2000 C3500 work truck with a service body. 14 years of carrying the bed loaded with electrical fittings conduit and wire pretty much flattened the springs. It took me about 4 hrs to install it. Lots of that time was used figuring out how to securely bring the truck up so it doesn't fall on me when I was under it. I also installed a compressor and air tank inside one of the bins.

The kit I got had a upper bracket that sandwiched the frame and the bottom bracket went on top of the axle where the spring perch mount was. The bag sat between the bottom of the frame and the top of the spring. At full 80 psi it brought the truck up two inches. It would of probably been more like 3 inches but the service bed and parts were heavy. I estimated average was 1700 pounds at any given time.

Probably the best "mod" I ever did to a work truck. I emptied the bed out and carried I kid you not one full pallet and another half pallet of 20x20 tile for a remodel of mine, I had serious doubts I could do it but I couldn't believe it it hauled it without any problems. At 40 psi it was comfortable. At 80 psi it had a bit of see saw because the front suspension was softer. It firmed up the ride and really helped the wallow it had due to the weight combo of the bed and material.

If you plan on off road the bags can get damaged if you have a flexible suspension.

Pic of the truck for reference.

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[Biggershaft96]

Be carful with the rims and tires you choose too, my buddy has a 99 NBS with a set of Firestone bags and when he got 16x10 dick cepek rims with 305 courser c/t tires he rubbed a hole in one of his airbags.

 

[Birchyboy]

I had purchased a set of Airlift bag's for my '99 Yukon in anticipation of buying a camper. I never installed them, and the camper tech said I wouldn't need them because the weight distributing hitch would solve the issue. It does help tremendously, but I wish I would have kept them and installed them anyway, even if it only helped a little.