Custom Self Leveling Kit
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Joined: Oct 2015
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Custom Self Leveling Kit
Hey all, just thought I would show what I ended up doing for rear air bags. I mainly wanted them for when I tow or have dirt bikes in my truck, would sit on the helper springs and that drove me nuts.
Anyways, I work at a truck dealer and I was given the idea to use the air bags that support the rear of the sleeper cab as suspension bags for a pickup. My cost they are about $30 a piece which will be nice when they need replaced and they snap in and out. Also made by Firestone. So I made some brackets, fabbed up a few things, got them mounted. Installed a Hadley 500C Leveling Valve so theoretically any amount of weigh that is put on the back of the truck it will self level and air up the bags. I then spliced in a airline between the leveling valve and air bags, ran it up to the dash where I installed a air guage out of a Freightliner where one of the cigarette lighter plugs was.
It tells me how much air my leveling valve is giving the air bags. So then I have an idea how much weight is in my truck and also pay attention to make sure I don't go over the max 100 psi on the bags. My air compressor airs up to 150.
Anyways, I work at a truck dealer and I was given the idea to use the air bags that support the rear of the sleeper cab as suspension bags for a pickup. My cost they are about $30 a piece which will be nice when they need replaced and they snap in and out. Also made by Firestone. So I made some brackets, fabbed up a few things, got them mounted. Installed a Hadley 500C Leveling Valve so theoretically any amount of weigh that is put on the back of the truck it will self level and air up the bags. I then spliced in a airline between the leveling valve and air bags, ran it up to the dash where I installed a air guage out of a Freightliner where one of the cigarette lighter plugs was.
It tells me how much air my leveling valve is giving the air bags. So then I have an idea how much weight is in my truck and also pay attention to make sure I don't go over the max 100 psi on the bags. My air compressor airs up to 150.
Last edited by Planetwister; Feb 8, 2016 at 10:15 PM.
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From: The City of Oranges,FL
Great idea for a custom airbag setup. But is the top of the air bag mounted against the underside of the bed of your truck, or do you have some sort of bracket tied into the frame? If you are mounting the top of the air bag only to the bed of you are asking for trouble.
Last edited by Bruski; Feb 8, 2016 at 10:25 PM.
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From: Chico, Ca.
Cool. You got that done pretty quickly. I like the gauge installation, very sanitary. I have a couple ideas to think about.
1) The upper mounting bracket: You might want to take a piece of flat stock and tie the inboard edge of the bracket to the upper flange of the frame. My concern is the lower flange may crack along the weld over time depending on how much load it routinely carries and how hard it gets 'wheeled.
2) Lower bracket: I'd do something to prevent it from rotating under heavy load or high axle torque. I've had that happen. My simple solution was to take 2 pieces of 1/2" key stock, the width of the bracket, and weld them to the axle tube so they are just touching the bracket on each side. If they were to slip forward its not such a big deal, but if they rotated rearward it could take out the brake line. You did a really good job of building your own system and I imagine you're not done tweaking it yet so I hope you don't take offense at my suggestions. I've been building and modifying all kinds of crazy crap for the last 35 years and appreciate it when I see somebody use their brain and some readily available pieces to make something new/different /unique. Is that air valve slow enough that its not immediately reacting to changes in suspension height? Obviously it responds to changes in load, but it wants to be slow enough to allow normal suspension travel. I'm asking because I'm thinking of doing something like this on my 350 which often hauls a heavy 5th wheel. Ideally I would use two valves next to each other (right in the middle of the axle) so I would have a dual circuit system.
1) The upper mounting bracket: You might want to take a piece of flat stock and tie the inboard edge of the bracket to the upper flange of the frame. My concern is the lower flange may crack along the weld over time depending on how much load it routinely carries and how hard it gets 'wheeled.
2) Lower bracket: I'd do something to prevent it from rotating under heavy load or high axle torque. I've had that happen. My simple solution was to take 2 pieces of 1/2" key stock, the width of the bracket, and weld them to the axle tube so they are just touching the bracket on each side. If they were to slip forward its not such a big deal, but if they rotated rearward it could take out the brake line. You did a really good job of building your own system and I imagine you're not done tweaking it yet so I hope you don't take offense at my suggestions. I've been building and modifying all kinds of crazy crap for the last 35 years and appreciate it when I see somebody use their brain and some readily available pieces to make something new/different /unique. Is that air valve slow enough that its not immediately reacting to changes in suspension height? Obviously it responds to changes in load, but it wants to be slow enough to allow normal suspension travel. I'm asking because I'm thinking of doing something like this on my 350 which often hauls a heavy 5th wheel. Ideally I would use two valves next to each other (right in the middle of the axle) so I would have a dual circuit system.
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Joined: Oct 2015
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Cool. You got that done pretty quickly. I like the gauge installation, very sanitary. I have a couple ideas to think about.
1) The upper mounting bracket: You might want to take a piece of flat stock and tie the inboard edge of the bracket to the upper flange of the frame. My concern is the lower flange may crack along the weld over time depending on how much load it routinely carries and how hard it gets 'wheeled.
2) Lower bracket: I'd do something to prevent it from rotating under heavy load or high axle torque. I've had that happen. My simple solution was to take 2 pieces of 1/2" key stock, the width of the bracket, and weld them to the axle tube so they are just touching the bracket on each side. If they were to slip forward its not such a big deal, but if they rotated rearward it could take out the brake line. You did a really good job of building your own system and I imagine you're not done tweaking it yet so I hope you don't take offense at my suggestions. I've been building and modifying all kinds of crazy crap for the last 35 years and appreciate it when I see somebody use their brain and some readily available pieces to make something new/different /unique. Is that air valve slow enough that its not immediately reacting to changes in suspension height? Obviously it responds to changes in load, but it wants to be slow enough to allow normal suspension travel. I'm asking because I'm thinking of doing something like this on my 350 which often hauls a heavy 5th wheel. Ideally I would use two valves next to each other (right in the middle of the axle) so I would have a dual circuit system.
1) The upper mounting bracket: You might want to take a piece of flat stock and tie the inboard edge of the bracket to the upper flange of the frame. My concern is the lower flange may crack along the weld over time depending on how much load it routinely carries and how hard it gets 'wheeled.
2) Lower bracket: I'd do something to prevent it from rotating under heavy load or high axle torque. I've had that happen. My simple solution was to take 2 pieces of 1/2" key stock, the width of the bracket, and weld them to the axle tube so they are just touching the bracket on each side. If they were to slip forward its not such a big deal, but if they rotated rearward it could take out the brake line. You did a really good job of building your own system and I imagine you're not done tweaking it yet so I hope you don't take offense at my suggestions. I've been building and modifying all kinds of crazy crap for the last 35 years and appreciate it when I see somebody use their brain and some readily available pieces to make something new/different /unique. Is that air valve slow enough that its not immediately reacting to changes in suspension height? Obviously it responds to changes in load, but it wants to be slow enough to allow normal suspension travel. I'm asking because I'm thinking of doing something like this on my 350 which often hauls a heavy 5th wheel. Ideally I would use two valves next to each other (right in the middle of the axle) so I would have a dual circuit system.
I thought about the upper bracket and I am a bit concerned about it but I think it will be ok. I may fab up something like what you said just for peace of mind.
For the lower bracket I also thought about it and I don't think they will rotate, the u-bolt is pulling pretty hard both ways so I don't think it will spin. I would like it to be semi-easily removed and trying not to weld on the axle.
This leveling valve in particular is known for being sensitive and adjusting quickly. Which makes it ride really nice! You hit a bump and the upward rebound it dumps a bit of air and as its coming down it gets more air. It may be in my head but it sure seems like its a better ride. My compressor does run more, over small normal bumps it doesn't do anything. So to answer your question I would say yes, normal suspension travel it does add and release air. Other options are out there for slower reacting leveling valves.
Off-road wise if I were to get it flexing much I would pull them off. But I don't plan on doing anything like that. I learned a while back its hard on the machine!
I appreciate the kind words and feedback.
