Tommy R
Active Member
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2019
- Messages
- 139
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Hey y'all,
Last week I installed a set of Air Lift 5000 Ultimate air bags on my Rebel. This is the kit I purchased, along with the wireless remote that can fill each bag individually:
https://www.airliftcompany.com/shop/88375/
I noticed two issues with the kit. Let me explain......
First of all, the PN listed in the manual for the bags is different. Ignore that. The PN in the manual is for the "kit" of two bags. This is the PN you want to see on your bags:
FYI, the install isn't as simple as their install video makes it seem. Cutting off the upper bumpstop mounts was very tight, but a die grinder did the trick. I cut off one side and was able to bend/pry the upper mount off without too much hassle. The rest of the install went smoothly except for one thing....it was here I ran into my first problem. On the driver's side, the lower Air Lift bracket mounts to the axle's bumpstop pad. Well, one of the holes lined up....the inner one. Here's a pic:
And the rear bracket "tangs" were properly placed, as well:
The problem was that the holes didn't line up for the bolt on the outside of the bracket. Here's a view from the top. The slot is where the carriage bolt is supposed to go. The yellow image that I so cleverly added is approximately where the slot would need to be in order to work with my truck:
It's tough to really see it, but this is where the slot should be located. This is looking up from the bottom through the axle's lower control arm bracket.
And another shot where the problem lies:
Air Lift did not know this (nor did I), but evidently the bump stop pads on the axle are a bit different on a Rebel compared to a non-Rebel. They told me it would be just fine running only the 1 bolt, but that doesn't sit too well with me. I bought a long drill bit and will try to add the 2nd bolt before I tow with it. So that's issue #1.
I noticed issue #2 after a couple days of driving. I only run 5-8 psi in the bags under normal driving conditions. 5 psi is the minimum the controller will allow you to run, FYI. What I've noticed is that the truck bottoms out more easily now. I have some large speed bumps near my house I frequently drive over. At a given speed the truck would just soak them up nicely. Now, however, the truck will bottom the rear coming down from the speed bumps. My guess is that the bumpstop in the air bags is quite a bit taller than the OEM bumpstop. Maybe this is isolated to the Rebel? Maybe it's all 5th Gen Rams? I don't know. But Air Lift offered to send me brand new air bags without the integrated bump stop to try out. I took them up on the offer.
That's all I have to say for now. I'll update once I get around to installing the 2nd bolt and if I decide to install the air bags with no bumpstops. I'm concerned about running no bumpstops consider I actually plan to take this thing offroad so not sure what I'll do about that. But I wanted to take them up on the offer of free bags just in case.
Thanks,
Tommy
Last week I installed a set of Air Lift 5000 Ultimate air bags on my Rebel. This is the kit I purchased, along with the wireless remote that can fill each bag individually:
https://www.airliftcompany.com/shop/88375/
I noticed two issues with the kit. Let me explain......
First of all, the PN listed in the manual for the bags is different. Ignore that. The PN in the manual is for the "kit" of two bags. This is the PN you want to see on your bags:
FYI, the install isn't as simple as their install video makes it seem. Cutting off the upper bumpstop mounts was very tight, but a die grinder did the trick. I cut off one side and was able to bend/pry the upper mount off without too much hassle. The rest of the install went smoothly except for one thing....it was here I ran into my first problem. On the driver's side, the lower Air Lift bracket mounts to the axle's bumpstop pad. Well, one of the holes lined up....the inner one. Here's a pic:
And the rear bracket "tangs" were properly placed, as well:
The problem was that the holes didn't line up for the bolt on the outside of the bracket. Here's a view from the top. The slot is where the carriage bolt is supposed to go. The yellow image that I so cleverly added is approximately where the slot would need to be in order to work with my truck:
It's tough to really see it, but this is where the slot should be located. This is looking up from the bottom through the axle's lower control arm bracket.
And another shot where the problem lies:
Air Lift did not know this (nor did I), but evidently the bump stop pads on the axle are a bit different on a Rebel compared to a non-Rebel. They told me it would be just fine running only the 1 bolt, but that doesn't sit too well with me. I bought a long drill bit and will try to add the 2nd bolt before I tow with it. So that's issue #1.
I noticed issue #2 after a couple days of driving. I only run 5-8 psi in the bags under normal driving conditions. 5 psi is the minimum the controller will allow you to run, FYI. What I've noticed is that the truck bottoms out more easily now. I have some large speed bumps near my house I frequently drive over. At a given speed the truck would just soak them up nicely. Now, however, the truck will bottom the rear coming down from the speed bumps. My guess is that the bumpstop in the air bags is quite a bit taller than the OEM bumpstop. Maybe this is isolated to the Rebel? Maybe it's all 5th Gen Rams? I don't know. But Air Lift offered to send me brand new air bags without the integrated bump stop to try out. I took them up on the offer.
That's all I have to say for now. I'll update once I get around to installing the 2nd bolt and if I decide to install the air bags with no bumpstops. I'm concerned about running no bumpstops consider I actually plan to take this thing offroad so not sure what I'll do about that. But I wanted to take them up on the offer of free bags just in case.
Thanks,
Tommy
But it would likely be fine, in all honesty, since the pad takes the vertical load and I don't think the fore/aft forces would be all that great.
