Thread: Air Shocks Installation

I am on my second Ford Ranger, and both of them had/have Monroe air shocks. I pump them up hard only when I am hauling wood, and then let the air out to about 60 psi when I don't need the extra lifting power. They have made a huge difference in the amount of wood I can carry, and I haven't had any problems with them for over 14 years. I see nothing wrong with installing them in your Ranger, too.

I'd vote for air bags like everyone else is saying. I have a set under the back of my Jeep and they level out a ton of weight.

Here's a kit made by air lift that will fit your truck

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Air-L...Q5fAccessories


Looks like they are right about 200 bucks. Air bags also do a really nice job of smoothing out the shimmies and vibrations that come with a loaded down truck.

I am not an engineer, so I dont know if this is "structurally sound or not. I am not in anyway advocating to overload your truck either, but here is what I did. I have a 86 ford ranger. At 163,000 miles, the origional factory springs were sagging quite bit. Not knowing how long I was going to keep the truck, or how long the truck was going to last (and not wanting to dump a ton of money into it), I just couldnt justify new leaf springs, or air bags. (I know your problem is worn out shocks, mine was sagging leaf springs, but I think this could help you. I recommend air bags if you got the money, but if you dont, this may work for you. One problem with air bags, if you haul say 20% of the time, you either have to live with a hard ride, or you have to constantly deflate and inflate your air bags when you are carrying a load. I just went to my steel pile and made my own "bump stops". On my truck next to the leaf springs there is a perch. I took 2 flat plates of steel. I mounted one vertically and one horizontally. The truck rides smooth, on the factory leaf springs when it is unloaded. When you put a load on the truck, it rides on the "bump stops" and the factory springs. I have had these "bump stops" on the truck for a few years and the truck has 185k on it now and I see NO damage to the frame or anything. The only thing I see is SLIGHT wear on a rivit that goes through the frame and holds the e brake cable on the top of the frame. I recently a few months ago added a THICK piece of conveyor belting to the top of the bumpstops and that makes it ride even smoother. Like I said if you got the money, air bags might be better, but if you got some steel and a welder its worth a try, worse case cut them back off. If you need more exact measurements, I can get them for you(height steel size)

I was looking at a tow truck accessory catalog at a collision center yesterday, saw the rubber bump stops in a catalog....for thejdman04: Can you post a pic of a wider view of your setup?

Originally Posted by nassin2

I'd vote for air bags like everyone else is saying. I have a set under the back of my Jeep and they level out a ton of weight.

Here's a kit made by air lift that will fit your truck

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Air-L...Q5fAccessories

Looks like they are right about 200 bucks. Air bags also do a really nice job of smoothing out the shimmies and vibrations that come with a loaded down truck.

J.C. Whitney has Firestone Ride-Rite air springs for about the same price. $200 seems to be the going rate for these kits.

I installed a pair of Monroe Sensa Trac, load-adjusting shocks yesterday. That's step 1. Rear end went up at least 3" higher. Quite a difference. The mechanic said the old shocks were very weak. Shucks, I'd be pretty weak too after hauling 300 loads of firewood in 13 years.

So, that may be all that I need. I think I'll try a packed load or two on these and see what happens.

Originally Posted by mtfallsmikey

I was looking at a tow truck accessory catalog at a collision center yesterday, saw the rubber bump stops in a catalog....for thejdman04: Can you post a pic of a wider view of your setup?

Heres some more pictures

thanks....

A landscaper that had an old saggy toyota pickup showed me a trick that lets him haul oversize loads (3rd world style). What he did was he notched 2 6x6 post blocks to go between the frame and leaf spring on each side so that the load stayed level, then he put 90psi into the rear tires.

He said that he had loaded some large boulders in the bed one time for a short haul and it worked although then you have the problem of steering and breaking not to mention the stress that it puts on the rear axle wheel bearings...

But it will work in a pinch, and it is cheap... until you break something

Originally Posted by GPETER

A landscaper that had an old saggy toyota pickup showed me a trick that lets him haul oversize loads (3rd world style). What he did was he notched 2 6x6 post blocks to go between the frame and leaf spring on each side so that the load stayed level, then he put 90psi into the rear tires.

He said that he had loaded some large boulders in the bed one time for a short haul and it worked although then you have the problem of steering and breaking not to mention the stress that it puts on the rear axle wheel bearings...

But it will work in a pinch, and it is cheap... until you break something

90 psi? The P265 tires I have are rated at 50 psi. I usually set them at 48 psi for heavy loads and that's plenty. The load rating on my tires is more than any firewood I could ever drop into the truck bed, even with the sideboards on and stacked cab high.

The average distance I will be carrying a full load is about 35 miles this year.

I put a set of air shocks on my 02 chevy 1500 & I LOVE them. But I might have to try the 6x6 trick for some large loads. LOL

After reading over all the info here I decided to go with the Airlift 5000 system my 67 Ford F100 from Summit Racing http://www.summitracing.com/parts/AIR-57215/ I got the onboard controller as well so I can adjust it on the fly http://www.summitracing.com/parts/AIR-25592/ Summit Racing is local to me so I just drove over to pick it up but I did have to pay sales tax. The entire install time was 2HR & 20 min and I'm pretty happy with it so far but have not put any weight in the back of it yet. The F100 is a 1/4 ton to begin with and now that it's 43 years old I'm hoping it will increase my payload capacity some. I only drive the truck about 6 times a year for a little wood hauling, picking up mulch, Christmas tree duty and such.
Here is a cockpit view and you can see that I like to keep tabs of all the running systems. L to R. Oil Pressure, Temp, Amps, Tach, Air ride controller/PSI, Trans Temp, Oil Temp, Vacuum, Volts, mounted on the cal is a fuel Pres gauge as well.

Originally Posted by KMB

Doc,

I asked for similar opinions a few years ago. Here's the thread: Air shocks vs Air Springs

I ended up with these: http://www.monroe.com/products/sensa...justshocks.asp

I also added these: http://www.timbren.com/

Works for me. Air bags would be ideal if a fella can afford them.

Kevin

Kevin, how many miles do you have on that set-up? I've got a F-250 and like the look's of the Timbren bumpers.

if the shocks were weak, the springs must be wasted as well

Originally Posted by jeeptj19992001

if the shocks were weak, the springs must be wasted as well

Eeek! Are you sure of that? I've heard that leaf springs can stand to go flat dozens of times and come right back. What I worry about most is that air springs (air bags) can withstand so much load that you can bend the truck's frame with an overload. Afrer that, you are toast.

Originally Posted by Wood Doctor

Eeek! Are you sure of that? I've heard that leaf springs can stand to go flat dozens of times and come right back. What I worry about most is that air springs (air bags) can withstand so much load that you can bend the truck's frame with an overload. Afrer that, you are toast.

Well, the shocks can be shot and the springs still be fine, but leaf springs DO fatigue and sag over time if heavily loaded. If the rear is dragging it's the springs that are tired, while if it pogos up and down over bumps the shocks are shot. If both conditions exist, both springs and shocks are shot. Springs can be re-arched. The thing to remember is that, normally, the shocks do not bear any load. Installing air shocks and pressurizing them to bear load removes load from the springs and spring mounts, which is fine so long as it doesn't break the shock mounts. Evidently some guys get away with it.

Jack