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 Husband Spoiler
Posts: 4151
  
Location: North Dakota | How much does it cost to have air bags put in your truck? I have an 04 Dodge 3500. Our 4H 12' LQ Bloomer pulls great but our flatbed could definitely use some extra cushion. We were thinking about an air ride hitch. Is the Cody Cushion a good choice? It doesn't seem too expensive compared to some others we have seen.
Edited by Just Bring It 2015-03-25 11:53 AM
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 380
Location: Princeton, Minnesota | I have airbags on my F350 dually and they do help keep your truck from squatting too much, but was shocked how rough my trailer hauled at first. Opened the back doors and everything had shifted to the back of the trailer. I found that raising the gooseneck one notch to put a little more weight on the trailer wheels made the biggest and best difference. Barely noticeable that it isn't perfectly level. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 964
Location: Alberta, Canada | You will notice a HUGE difference with airbags. |
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  Texas Lone Star
Posts: 5318
Location: where ever my L/Q trl is parked | battlebrook - 2015-03-25 12:27 PM I have airbags on my F350 dually and they do help keep your truck from squatting too much, but was shocked how rough my trailer hauled at first. Opened the back doors and everything had shifted to the back of the trailer. I found that raising the gooseneck one notch to put a little more weight on the trailer wheels made the biggest and best difference. Barely noticeable that it isn't perfectly level.
depending on how much tilt your trailer is can make a big difference in your horses body being sore or not. If you have a big degree of tilt your horse will have to adjust his stance and long distance trailering could cause stiffness when you unload. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 705
Location: Weatherford, TX | We have a 2008 4H 4Star with 17.5ft Outlaw LQ. We pull with a 2007 Chevy Duramax 3500HD Dually. We have air bags on the truck and air ride on the trailer. It has no issue pulling or stopping. This truck pulls better than our old GMC Kodiac 4500. I think our air bags were around $3.000.00.
Edited by Gator Bug 2015-03-25 4:36 PM
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 Chin Hairs
Posts: 1028
Location: Indiana | Have you hauled your trailer with it loaded yet? With bigger axels it may pull rough if you don't have enough of a load in it.
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 Party Girl
Posts: 12293
Location: Buffalo, Wyoming | Just Bring It - 2015-03-25 10:47 AM How much does it cost to have air bags put in your truck? I have an 04 Dodge 3500. Our 4H 12' LQ Bloomer pulls great but our flatbed could definitely use some extra cushion. We were thinking about an air ride hitch. Is the Cody Cushion a good choice? It doesn't seem too expensive compared to some others we have seen.
I want to say ours where around $2500. |
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Blessed 
Location: Here | Gator Bug - 2015-03-25 4:33 PM We have a 2008 4H 4Star with 17.5ft Outlaw LQ. We pull with a 2007 Chevy Duramax 3500HD Dually. We have air bags on the truck and air ride on the trailer. It has no issue pulling or stopping. This truck pulls better than our old GMC Kodiac 4500. I think our air bags were around $3.000.00.
Say WHAT???
I have these and I just put air hose to them I didn't do the fancy control thing but I got mine installed and bought for $600...
http://riderite.com/Air-Rite%20Product%20Detail |
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 Damn Yankee
Posts: 12390
Location: Somewhere between raising hell and Amazing Grace | cheryl makofka - 2015-03-24 11:53 PM 5500 do have good suspension for pulling, much better then a 3500, they are rougher then everything else if you are not pulling anything. Research the airbags, as I know people who have had airbags pop, brackets bend, and brackets bust off due to weight.
Ditto...a 5500 with an 11 foot flat bed will rattle your teeth out of your skull, unless it's pulling something.
When we went truck shopping we were looking for a 3500. We ended up with a 5500 and there are NO regrets (even with the stupid dodge recalls). 4 horse dreamcoach with LQ and fully loaded you have to remind yourself there's a trailer behind the truck :) |
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 Ms. Poutability
Posts: 2362
Location: In my own world | TT's - 2015-03-25 4:37 PM Have you hauled your trailer with it loaded yet? With bigger axels it may pull rough if you don't have enough of a load in it.
I haven't yet. That is one thing my husband is curios to see if there is a difference. In concerned about the horses having a smooth ride. I didn't get air on my trailer. |
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Ms. Poutability
Posts: 2362
Location: In my own world | missroselee - 2015-03-25 6:15 PM
cheryl makofka - 2015-03-24 11:53 PM 5500 do have good suspension for pulling, much better then a 3500, they are rougher then everything else if you are not pulling anything. Research the airbags, as I know people who have had airbags pop, brackets bend, and brackets bust off due to weight.
Ditto...a 5500 with an 11 foot flat bed will rattle your teeth out of your skull, unless it's pulling something.
When we went truck shopping we were looking for a 3500. We ended up with a 5500 and there are NO regrets (even with the stupid dodge recalls). 4 horse dreamcoach with LQ and fully loaded you have to remind yourself there's a trailer behind the truck :)
I don't have to drive this truck on a daily basis unless I'm feeling froggy. Which means it stays hooked up. I have a big SUV I drive daily. I even take it to get feed |
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I Really Love Jeans
Posts: 3173
Location: North Dakota | We had our trailer raised because the newer GMC trucks tend to have a higher back area and I was afraid of bumping the truck bed! After that the trailer pulled better, I guess the angle change made the difference?! We do have air bags in another truck but they are extremely expensive and we have burned one "generator" that keeps the air shocks raised!! I would go to the trailer dealer and see what they think. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1257
Location: Colorado plains standing on a goat head! | UTAHCANCHASER - 2015-03-25 4:16 PM Just Bring It - 2015-03-25 10:47 AM How much does it cost to have air bags put in your truck? I have an 04 Dodge 3500. Our 4H 12' LQ Bloomer pulls great but our flatbed could definitely use some extra cushion. We were thinking about an air ride hitch. Is the Cody Cushion a good choice? It doesn't seem too expensive compared to some others we have seen. I want to say ours where around $2500.
I think my Firestone setup was about $1K installed. |
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Sock Snob
Posts: 3021
| Rough country has a leveling kit for the dodge diesels that sit up high in the rear, my 06 ram 4x4, did one for a customer and he said it made big diference in the way the truck handled. Also, couple years ago installed am air bag kit on a dodge truck that hauled cars on a wedge trailer those air bags did not last 2 months but i dont know how heavy he had the trailer loaded. Wondered about those air hitches as i have a 14 foot short wall 3 horse. Does not drop my trailer a whole lot just wondered if would ride better on horses part. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 629
Location: Roping pen | Appears to be a lot of different, apple vs. oranges conversations. First, look at your overload springs that I believe your truck has. These are the top spring on the spring pack and the ends would not be connected. As weight is applied, they hit a stop and increase the stiffness of the springs. IF these are just about to touch, when you hit a bump, they than touch with very little give and a "slap" to the suspension is felt. Overload springs either need to never touch the stop or always touch the stop for the best ride. Hope that makes sense. Only way to change is to add or remove weight on the truck.
Second, there are air bag gooseneck trailer hitches available. I have no experience with these, but, like any air system, they are only as good as the maintenance.
Third, there are 3 difference types of ride assist options that I know of.
Timbrens are the most budget friendly and they are a rubber stop that just bolts on your truck. Should be around $200-$400 and anyone can install if you can run a wrench. They are very well received.
Air bags assist-these assist the springs in limiting the "give" in the spring. Less "give", less sag. In my experience they do help a little in ride, but mostly made to eliminate sag. You can either get them with manual air (like putting air in a tire), or an on board compressor that can either be manually or automatically controlled. Costs from $300-$1200 depending on options, model, etc. Most popular option.
The true air ride system is complete replacement of the spring pack and shocks on the truck. All linkages are replaced, and air bags replace the springs. This is what most semi trucks have. You need an on board compressor and most are automatically controlled. These are the Cadillac of the air systems. We have one on our 4500 and it rides like a 1/2 ton truck-loaded or unloaded. Costs are from 3-5000. There is some maintenance involved in keeping this system operating.
One thing nobody mentioned is that it could be a shock issue on the truck. If your shocks are worn, you will have more "bounce reverberation" from the rear axle when you hit a bump. Stock shocks on the Chevy 3500 are not that good IMO. We replaced ours with Blistens and it is like night and day difference.
One other thing you might check is air pressure in the truck and trailer tires. Over inflation could lead to these symptoms.
You might experiment with where you place the load in the trailer. I know our old Hart trailer rode better with the stalls used 1-2-3-4 in order when hauling a partial load. Our new Hart, with bigger LQ, it rides better with 2-3-4-1 load.
Good luck! |
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