Airbag Reliability

I have a 2014 Tundra crewcab with a camper top that sags bad when loaded down and with a trailer attached. I am debating 2 options:
Option 1 - Add a leaf to the spring. The drawback to this is it will probably lift the backend of the truck up about 1.5" and will probably make for a rougher ride when no load is on the truck.
Option 2 - add an airbag (either manual inflate or with a built in compressor). I do not know much about the durability or life of airbags. Do they leak? Anyone had any issues?
I am leaning towards option 2 since I would like the same ride I currently have when I am not carrying a load. I am just not sure of the reliability or life of the airbags. I think option 1 would provide a stiffer ride when not loaded down and also might make the tail-end bounce on bumps. I prefer the current smooth ride when not loaded down but I also want to have the support underneath when I am loaded down.
Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.

 

Just bought my truck. Original owner had airbags. The truck has been through 10 years of vermont winters and one bag leaks.

The nice thing about airbags is you can change the psi and the ride. Airbags pumped up with no load is pretty unbearable. Ability to change on the fly, which I don't have, would actually be pretty nice.

 

I had airlifts on a ram work truck for about 4 years and 125000 miles before it was replaced with another truck. Never had a problem with them.

 

I have done some research and have a few questions hopefully someone can help with. My 2014 4x4 Tundra has the original stock rear end suspension (no modifications have been done to date). I recently added a LEER camper top. Currently when I am loaded, I have a trailer that brings the back end of truck down a lot....I recently bottomed out on the bump stop several times on a long haul. So I am leaning towards installing either the Firestone ride rite or Airlift airbags (I would install cradles for which ever one I would pick since I am looking to retain as smooth as possible ride when not loaded). It seems most people prefer Firestone air bags but I am bothered by the fact that they have no jounce bumper. What if your heavily loaded down and an airbag fails and your far from home.....then with Firestone airbags you would have to deal with bottoming out with no bump stock???? Wouldn't this risk really screwing up your springs and other suspension parts?
So here is my questions....
1) If I went with the Airlift bags with daystar cradles, would this make my ride comparable to Firestone airbags with cradles or are Airlift bags naturally stiffer than Firestone airbags?
2) Is it possible to get Airlift with shorter jounce bumpers or is it possible to do your own modification and cut the Airlift jounce bumper down in size? I think someone mentioned that the Airlift internal jounce bumper is longer than the original Toyota stock bumper which makes for a stiffer ride and sometimes hitting the jounce bumper when not loaded down with airbags deflated.
3) Has anyone made their own modifications to include some kind of bump stop with the Firestone airbags?
3) Has anyone had an airbag fail with either brand when your super loaded down and how did you deal with it?
4) Should I just install an extra spring and spring helper and just deal with a rough ride when unloaded????.....this is not my preference since keep in mind that I do a lot more driving around unload than loaded.
I am not looking to spend a lot of money so it is either Firestone airbags, Airlift airbags, or beef up the springs. My goal is to have support for when hauling heavy loads while retaining as smooth of a ride as possible when unloaded but I am worried about airbag failure when loaded down and far from home.
What's the best solution here? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

I have the airlift airbags and compressor and I haven’t had any issues or leaks. It’s nice being able to air up or down with a remote. I don’t think you can disassemble them to cut the bumper, but I didn’t look cause I wasn’t thinking about cutting it down. I have the daystar cradles and wouldn’t install airbags without them.

I have an ARE cap and decked drawers filled with stuff and I don’t sag. It does raise the back a little when I air up with no load. It might add a little lift to your truck.

They are easy to install. Hardest part for me was getting the angle right to cut the factory bump stop off.

 

The Airlift bags are naturally stiffer by design. Those are single convoluted bags and not much flex on those. Firestones uses double convoluted bags which have more flexibility and travel. I still have my Firestone airbags since 2008.

No need for bumpstops for the airbags. When properly inflated they will well exceed the vehicle's axle weight rating. 5 psi required unloaded to prevent them from getting smashed.

You can go with helper springs. Just get the one that suited for your load. Too stiff of springs is not good either. They also limit the downward smooth travel. Look at Supersprings. These are adjustable.

 

So lets assume you have original stock rear end suspension/springs with Firestone Ride Rite airbags. Assume a Firestone airbag breaks or has a major leak/puncture with a super heavy load and you have zero psi in airbag. Lets assume the leak is so bad that it will not hold air even if you tried to inflate the airbag and your 2 hours from home with this huge load.

Under this scenario, would the 0 psi broken airbag provide enough cushion to limp home safely without ruining something with the heavy loaded truck and trailer since there is no bump stop? Would the 0 psi broken Firestone airbag provide enough cushion so a spring or something would not break if your bottoming out when there is occasional bumps in the road under that situation?

Obviously the airbag is ruined and would have to be replaced but I would be curious about getting home without ruining something in the suspension. I am new to learning about these air bags but I don't recall reading anything about a scenario above.

 

I have the Firestone air bags. You pose a good question, I suppose there is always the chance of anything failing on your truck (well not so much on a Tundra) when traveling. Airbags have been around for years and I don't hear about any abnormal failure rate with them. If they work well for the thousands of people using them, I personally don't worry about it.

 

If the airbag got a hole, I don’t think it will do anything for you. But they are pretty thick. They aren’t thin rubber or anything. My airlift ones seem pretty stout.

How much of a load are you talking about? Most tundras actual payload is around 1200 lbs or so. If you are under payload, you should be able to make it home with no problem.

 

If the load is within the limits of the truck as specified by Toyota, you can remove the airbags and the suspension will still be ok. Of course, provided your leaf springs are not worn out or flat and/or you are not off roading i.e. heavy camper. These bags are designed for leveling the truck only and not intended to be the primary load carrying component. Also not designed to increase payload beyond the mfg specs. Although the bags can support 3000lbs at 90 psi.

 

Thanks for all the responses. I do not intend to be loaded down with more weight than truck is rated but it sits very low when loaded.
It sounds like either Airlift or Firestone airbags would be a good choice for me. I am leaning toward Firestone with Daystar cradles.
Any recommendations on a place with the best price. Does Firestone sell a entire kit with airbags that include a wireless compressor?
I am still debating on airbags with manual fill option or airbags with wireless compressor.

 

Amazon. I got the onboard air and like it. But it’s a matter of convenience. It’s not that hard to air it up with a different compressor or even bike pump.

 

Firestone airbags with daystars... rides perfect and level @20lbs when hooked up.... keep 5lbs in them when not towing and that gives me about 1” of rake... Makes towing a breeze

 

Didn’t want to start a new thread but I have a quick question on the Ride Rites by Firestone. I bought my truck barely used and the previous owner had Ride Rites on the truck. I don’t plan on doing any towing or at least anything worthy of needing airbags. Do the airbags naturally lift the truck even when deflated?? Also, would the ride be better if I were to have them removed??

 

@Beerhen you should keep 5psi in the bags all the time regardless to not screw up the bags. This will not be a real noticeable difference. I used to ride my tacoma with bags at 15-20psi and at that point it will pick up the rear and increase rake. The ride will be different but not very noticeable if you're not running more than 5 pounds. Also, if you plan on removing them I will take them off your hands for the price of shipping from the left coast to the east coast.

 

@BGoodiE thanks for advice. I don’t mind having them on my truck I was more concerned with the actual ride of the truck and the height of the rear end of the truck. I’m trying to figure out if having the bags installed on the truck will naturally lift the rear end deflated and if they make the ride bumpy. I understand that if there is air in bags the rear will rise and the ride will be bumpy without any weight in the bed/tow hitch. My truck is currently I little higher in the rear and wanted to level the truck out (running Fox 2.5 coil overs on front). I’ll let you know if I do decide to remove them!

 

Yeah there's no real significant notice when there is only 5psi in there either in bumpyness or lift. If anything I feel like they eat some of the bump and give a stiffer ride. You will ruin them if you don't run at least 5psi in them. And yeah definitely let me know! I have a cap on the way and looking to run a decked system if I can fit my dog kennels in with everything. At which point I'm going to have to get bags, and happy to explain to her the bags are now a 'need' and no longer a want.