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Air Lift Suspension

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 8:56 pm
by silverloaf
I haven't seen much written here about after-market air-lift suspension kits.

Air-lift is a clever way to compensate for high tongue weights. I purchased a 5000 lb. kit on clearance for my 2005 Ford Ranger. With only the minimum 10 lbs. of air in the bags, they leveled the vehicle and had a huge impact on sway control.

The only downside was the kit installation required drilling the vehicle's frame to attach the brackets. This might be OK for some. But others might get a little nervous about drilling holes through a newer (or maybe leased) vehicle.

I ran across an air-lift kit that requires no drilling. They are made by Air Lift Co. in Michigan. The kits are available in 2000# and 5000# capacity. The kits run $275 and up depending upon the features chosen. Their website is:
https://www.airliftcompany.com/

I'll be looking at a new pick-up early next year to pull our Avion. The no-drill air-lift kit makes sense whether I lease or buy. The 2000# kit might be all I need with a 650# tongue weight. Best of all, it gets me out of a weight distribution hitch.

Bob

Re: Air Lift Suspension

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 10:41 pm
by Rostam
My understanding is (I could be wrong, of course) that even with airbags, you'd still need a weight distribution hitch. See the video below

https://youtu.be/XBZu39pQ8Gg

Re: Air Lift Suspension

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 11:38 pm
by silverloaf
Rostam wrote:My understanding is (I could be wrong, of course) that even with airbags, you'd still need a weight distribution hitch. See the video below

https://youtu.be/XBZu39pQ8Gg
Thank you for the video. Although the video did not address this, I was not aware that equalizing hitches were mandated by the vehicle manufacturers when tongue and/or trailer weight exceeds their specifications.

I actually watched the video 3 times to understand the correlation between tongue and distributed weight. I'm going to do further study on this...something I should have done before starting this topic.

Thanks.

Bob

Re: Air Lift Suspension

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 5:26 pm
by Rostam
You are very welcome!