Must have air bags for towing - Ram 1500

[Mike Clark]

So for those of you that have a Ram 1500 with coil spring rear end, you already know how much squat and bounce you get with hooking up boat,running down the road, especially 24 ft with heavy tongue weight. I purchased an air bag kit from Timber Grove Enterprises. They specialize in kits for the Ram . Super easy to install, no cutting, welding, modification to anything. Took me about 2 hours to do by myself in garage with nothing more than floor jacks and jack stands. High quality system comes with eveything you need. I purchased the manual system. They have fully automatic system that includes every thing, but price jumps to about $900.00. About $450.00 for manual kit. It made a night / day difference, leveled out truck , no more bouncing and is much more stable towing, drug boat over 3000 miles this year, worked flawlessly I run about 25lbs PSI, will handle over 10o PSI. We load up rear bed of truck with stuff to be gone for several weeks, just add more air to compensated for any weight you add. Will put that smile back on your face when towing.

 

[0627Devildog]

What year/model do you have? "Ram 1500" is kind broad. . . The "need" for this will depends on the year/options as the later models can be equipped from the factory with self leveling suspension and trailer breaks if you have a tow package.

 

[mrmeaniemeateaterman]

I have same "manual" system in my 2015 Ram 1500. Highly recommend them and have on this forum. The big difference between the timber grove system is the fact that you can fill them after you add heavy load to bring truck back up to where you want it. With the Airlift brand bags you have to fill them before adding load. I usually run mine with about 10psi all the time and will bring them up to 20psi for boat, 25 for heavier stuff.

 

[bronze_10]

I put a air bag system under my 05 durango... it didnt squat much.. only about 2 inches but that was enough to blind people at night.. the bags made a huge difference... i think my brand is firestone.. the only thong i dont like is there is a spacer on top of the bag that rasies the back of the truck even when deflated. But i just got use to it. Towing id a dream with them inflated. I normally run about 20 psi when towing.. now i have a f250 so i dont tow much with it any more

 

[Mike Clark]

Yea, left out some important information, my Ram is 2016 with tow package. I run about 5-7 PSIwhen the bed is empty and not towing, It did make the rear sit a bit higher, so it gave me the excuse to add to 2.0”” leveling kit to the front, made the truck level when unloaded and I really like the look of with this setup.

 

[SamCF]

I had those on my 17 ram. Loved them for towing, but had to take them off. I run really rough roads at work, and they were limiting suspension travel. Great on road, a little stiff off road. I'll sell mine if anyone is interested.

 

[OCMD]

Is this a reason to not buy a Ram? I am leaning towards a new Ram 1500 Hemi. Will this pull my SX230 with ease? For the idiot on here, what is this air bag kit and where does it install? I really don't want to be buying add ons after the fact to tow my boat 20 miles to the river on a flat road, most times. Or should I be looking for a different manufacturer of trucks? It seems they are giving Rams away currently. I know everyone is mod crazy on this site, but are air bags a necessity?

 

[YamahaForMe]

Is this a reason to not buy a Ram? I am leaning towards a new Ram 1500 Hemi. Will this pull my SX230 with ease? For the idiot on here, what is this air bag kit and where does it install? I really don't want to be buying add ons after the fact to tow my boat 20 miles to the river on a flat road, most times. Or should I be looking for a different manufacturer of trucks? It seems they are giving Rams away currently. I know everyone is mod crazy on this site, but are air bags a necessity?

I tow my SX230 with with a 2015 RAM. I have never felt the need for airbags.

 

[Neutron]

Any 1/2 ton truck or larger shouldn't need suspension upgrades for a 24 foot yamaha or smaller. If it is squatting your truck to much then the tounge weight is way off.
Need to start there. Its been well documented here that most newer boats are set up too heavy in the front.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Is this a reason to not buy a Ram? I am leaning towards a new Ram 1500 Hemi. Will this pull my SX230 with ease? For the idiot on here, what is this air bag kit and where does it install? I really don't want to be buying add ons after the fact to tow my boat 20 miles to the river on a flat road, most times. Or should I be looking for a different manufacturer of trucks? It seems they are giving Rams away currently. I know everyone is mod crazy on this site, but are air bags a necessity?

On my 3rd 1500 Ram (2000,2004,2014) and never needed nor wanted air bags other than the cool factor. Stock Ram suspension is built plenty good enough for any Yamaha sized boat....dont let this deter you from a Ram.

 

[mrmeaniemeateaterman]

The Ram trucks squat really bad once loaded heavy. The coil suspension is more for comfort and less for hauling in my opinion. Most people (me included) use the truck as a daily driver with occasional light hauling and light towing. It does that well. I personally think my 4wd ram rides much nicer than my dads 2wd Ford F150 (my opinion but my mother agrees so it must be true).

I put the airbags on mine mostly for pulling a camper a few times a year. The tongue weight for the boat is pretty light and airbags not needed but nice since I already have them. I guessing that of the 1000’s of 1000’s of ram trucks on the road only a VERY small percentage have airbags. It will tow a 230 no problem.

As an owner of a 2015 Ram Laramie 4wd V8 my biggest gripe is the “theoretical “ payload. I took some stuff to the dump the other day and got weighed. Just me and 1/4 tank of fuel. My empty weight was 6260lbs! Now i do have the laramie (more options) & 4wd and a topper (on the 6’4” bed) but my Gvwr is 6900. So 640 more lbs and I’m overweight? So essentially anytime I put wife/kids and a few suitcases/coolers and a full tank of gas on a trip I’m legally overweight? “Sorry honey we cant take the dog, truck cant handle the extra 30lbs.” Also every time I hook to my boat with wife/kids I’m exceeding my gvwr. But yet it’s rated to tow 10000lbs? Seems like some ridiculous lawyer math got involved. Like the rest of the population, I pay the gvwr no mind.

Cue the safety police!

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

I never had an issue with squatting or bouncing in my 2013 Laramie even with 60k + miles. It towed the boat great.

I won't say I am against airbags though because my '19 has air suspension and its like floating on air. I rode in a friends Silverado the other day and it felt like riding in a dump truck, especially when going over bumps.

What is your mileage at? May want to have the suspension checked out.

Either way there is no question the Ram is nicest riding truck out there. Do you sacrifice a little payload? Yeah - but nothing any normal driver will ever concern them selves with.

 

[Betik]

Is this a reason to not buy a Ram? I am leaning towards a new Ram 1500 Hemi. Will this pull my SX230 with ease? For the idiot on here, what is this air bag kit and where does it install? I really don't want to be buying add ons after the fact to tow my boat 20 miles to the river on a flat road, most times. Or should I be looking for a different manufacturer of trucks? It seems they are giving Rams away currently. I know everyone is mod crazy on this site, but are air bags a necessity?

If trailer is weighted properly, you can pull a 24@ with a Tacoma.
There is a traveling scale but you can use to make your trailer balanced

 

[swatski]

Towing capacity and squatting are not always related. If the rear of a truck squats, the two issues (unrelated to legal load limits) are: 1. blinding the incoming traffic with headlights, 2. leveling/uneven load distribution in dual axle trailers.

With any truck used to tow and launch a boat I would pay premium for good traction control, before creature comforts. Few things suck worse than running into trouble on a slippery ramp.

--

 

[mrmeaniemeateaterman]

Another option I considered when I purchased my was the Timbren bump stops. These just replace the stock POS bump stops on the ram with something more substantial and functional. https://www.etrailer.com/Vehicle-Suspension/Timbren/TDR1500DQ.html
These seem to be highly rated, super simple to install, cheaper than the airbags, and no real thought/settings/adjustments involved. And because they don't touch until loaded heavy they shouldn't effect the comfortable ride of the Ram.

 

[Betik]

@mrmeaniemeateaterman I have those on my F150. easy to install

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

Towing capacity and squatting are not always related. If the rear of a truck squats, the two issues (unrelated to legal load limits) are: 1. blinding the incoming traffic with headlights, 2. leveling/uneven load distribution in dual axle trailers.

With any truck used to tow and launch a boat I would pay premium for good traction control, before creature comforts. Few things suck worse than running into trouble on a slippery ramp.

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Most trucks now (if factory) have a 2" rake, so headlights, or front end won't change unless you really overdoing it.

Totally agree on traction. Limited Slip is great basic option most trucks offer. Tires are the most important part there though - and why I swapped to A/Ts immediately on my new truck.