Big Blue's Transformation

[Gary Lewis]

.... But articulation brings up an issue you might want to look into before doing anything that's hard to un-do. At least the bags I had (also Firestone Ride-Rite) didn't have as much travel as my leaf springs. I hit the bump stops in the air bags before I hit the stock stops on my (lifted) truck. And the air bags also functioned as limiting straps....

... and then right after posting that I watched

(starting around 1:00) showing a close-up view of Trail Mater's rear suspension as he bombed into one of the trails near Moab. If you aren't familiar with Trail Mater, it's a rock buggy / tow truck. He does some incredible 'wheeling with it, sometimes with a Jeep hanging off the back! In this video you can see him stretch out his air bags pretty far, and he does have limiting straps to prevent them going too far. But he does have pretty good articulation.

Bob - I've watched that video and the suspension does get a workout!

 

But three years ago we discussed the idea of the bags constraining the articulation, and it appears we started close to this post. In that post I included the video, below, which shows use of the Daystar cradle for the lower mount.

I think it works pretty well, and despite the disclaimer from Firestone I included a few posts later, I'm thinking this might be the way to go. Buy the upper & lower mounts from Firestone and the Daystar cradles and it should work.

 

But I want to do some more measuring as the Firestone catalog gives the max and min measurements for the bags, so I can figure out from that if the bag is going to be the limiting factor.

[Gary Lewis]

Bob - I've watched that video and the suspension does get a workout!

 

But three years ago we discussed the idea of the bags constraining the articulation, and it appears we started close to this post. In that post I included the video, below, which shows use of the Daystar cradle for the lower mount.

I think it works pretty well, and despite the disclaimer from Firestone I included a few posts later, I'm thinking this might be the way to go. Buy the upper & lower mounts from Firestone and the Daystar cradles and it should work.

 

But I want to do some more measuring as the Firestone catalog gives the max and min measurements for the bags, so I can figure out from that if the bag is going to be the limiting factor.

Did a bit more research. The 6781 air springs, the ones that supposedly replaced the 6957's that I have, are said to have an 8.3" extended length and a 2.8" fully-compressed length. That says that they have a 5 1/2" range of travel.But Big Blue has 8 3/4" between the bump stops and the lift blocks at full droop. So assuming that the shocks would allow full compression to the bump stops the air bags would decrease travel by 3 1/4" or 37%. I don't want to do that, so the Daystar cradles look like the way to go.But first I need the hardware to mount them, and there appear to be two approaches to doing that - directly through Firestone or via an aftermarket supplier. On the latter, I'd stopped in last week and talked to the manager of the 4WP store in Tulsa and he was interested in providing some support for the show. And since they sell the Ride-Rite air bags I called to see if they might be able to get the parts. Unfortunately they are taking inventory at the moment and he's to call back today or maybe tomorrow.Meanwhile I checked with Firestone. I sent them the following via both email as well as their "contact us" form. We shall see.

I was given a brand new pair of your 6957 air springs. And although I cannot find them in your catalog I see on this eTrailer post that the 6957's were replaced by the 6781's. As it turns out those air springs are the correct ones for the #2071 kit for the rear of my '85 4wd F250 w/an 8600 GVWR.So I'd like to buy most of the rest of the 2071 kit. Specifically I'm looking for:2 upper brackets: #53762 lower brackets: #50924 bracket strap/shim 1/2": #50864 bracket strap/shim 1": #50861 air line tubing2 push to connect inflation valves2 push to connect elbow fittingsI can source the hardware locally, but if you have it available at a reasonable price I'd be interested in it as well. In that case, maybe you could sell the 2071 kit w/o the air springs?Thanks in advance,Gary Lewis

[Bruce moose4x4]

Did a bit more research. The 6781 air springs, the ones that supposedly replaced the 6957's that I have, are said to have an 8.3" extended length and a 2.8" fully-compressed length. That says that they have a 5 1/2" range of travel.

But Big Blue has 8 3/4" between the bump stops and the lift blocks at full droop. So assuming that the shocks would allow full compression to the bump stops the air bags would decrease travel by 3 1/4" or 37%. I don't want to do that, so the Daystar cradles look like the way to go.

But first I need the hardware to mount them, and there appear to be two approaches to doing that - directly through Firestone or via an aftermarket supplier. On the latter, I'd stopped in last week and talked to the manager of the 4WP store in Tulsa and he was interested in providing some support for the show. And since they sell the Ride-Rite air bags I called to see if they might be able to get the parts. Unfortunately they are taking inventory at the moment and he's to call back today or maybe tomorrow.

Meanwhile I checked with Firestone. I sent them the following via both email as well as their "contact us" form. We shall see.

I was given a brand new pair of your 6957 air springs. And although I cannot find them in your catalog I see on this eTrailer post that the 6957's were replaced by the 6781's. As it turns out those air springs are the correct ones for the #2071 kit for the rear of my '85 4wd F250 w/an 8600 GVWR.

So I'd like to buy most of the rest of the 2071 kit. Specifically I'm looking for:

2 upper brackets: #5376

2 lower brackets: #5092

4 bracket strap/shim 1/2": #5086

4 bracket strap/shim 1": #5086

1 air line tubing

2 push to connect inflation valves

2 push to connect elbow fittings

I can source the hardware locally, but if you have it available at a reasonable price I'd be interested in it as well. In that case, maybe you could sell the 2071 kit w/o the air springs?

Thanks in advance,

Gary Lewis

Disclaimer:::

This is personal preference and personal experience.

I would not use push to connect fittings an any air system. Back when I was building Firetrucks from frame to finished product. We tried the push to connect fittings hoping to cut down on production time. But they would leak and not pass the UL testing that each truck had to go through after it was finished. Had to hold air for a certain amount of time without engine running. We had to go back to the compression fittings to stop the leaks. I would think an off road rig would leak also.

Truck is looking good Gary.

All you fellow Ford guys have a great week!

[Gary Lewis]

Disclaimer:::

This is personal preference and personal experience.

I would not use push to connect fittings an any air system. Back when I was building Firetrucks from frame to finished product. We tried the push to connect fittings hoping to cut down on production time. But they would leak and not pass the UL testing that each truck had to go through after it was finished. Had to hold air for a certain amount of time without engine running. We had to go back to the compression fittings to stop the leaks. I would think an off road rig would leak also.

Truck is looking good Gary.

All you fellow Ford guys have a great week!

Bruce - I was wondering about that. Thanks, I’ll use compression fittings!

[Nothing Special]

Bruce - I was wondering about that. Thanks, I’ll use compression fittings!

For what it's worth, I had push-to-connect fittings on my air bags and was happy with them. I never noticed any significant loss of air over the day or two max that I tended to have them inflated. I'm not saying that they're as good as compression fittings, but I found them to be good enough. And if you do have to hit them with another shot of air in a day or two, you have the technology! (as I did on my F-150)

[Gary Lewis]

For what it's worth, I had push-to-connect fittings on my air bags and was happy with them. I never noticed any significant loss of air over the day or two max that I tended to have them inflated. I'm not saying that they're as good as compression fittings, but I found them to be good enough. And if you do have to hit them with another shot of air in a day or two, you have the technology! (as I did on my F-150)

Thanks, Bob. But if I were to remove a leaf like Bill suggested I'd probably want to run 10 or 15 psi in the bags all the time to level the truck back up, so I wouldn't want the connections to leak. I think I'll plan on using compression fittings.

And toward that end I got this email back from Firestone today:

Hi Gary,

Thank you for your email. To purchase the parts you have mentioned below, you will need to reach out to one of our distributors.

You can reach out to distributors like Summit Racing, Etrailer, Keystone Automotive and Four Wheel Parts to a name a few.

Once you reach out to a distributor, they will be able to provide you with availability and pricing.

So I'll hit the 4WP's guy up for them if he calls today.

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, Bob. But if I were to remove a leaf like Bill suggested I'd probably want to run 10 or 15 psi in the bags all the time to level the truck back up, so I wouldn't want the connections to leak. I think I'll plan on using compression fittings.

And toward that end I got this email back from Firestone today:

Hi Gary,

Thank you for your email. To purchase the parts you have mentioned below, you will need to reach out to one of our distributors.

You can reach out to distributors like Summit Racing, Etrailer, Keystone Automotive and Four Wheel Parts to a name a few.

Once you reach out to a distributor, they will be able to provide you with availability and pricing.

So I'll hit the 4WP's guy up for them if he calls today. http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/uploads/6/5/8/7/65879365/crossed-fingers-20-pixel_orig.png

The guy from 4WP hasn't returned my call so the plan is to take the truck down there on Wednesday as Janey wants to go shopping. Perhaps showing up at the store will help him remember?

But, before we go I'll have to fix this:

[ArdWrknTrk]

The guy from 4WP hasn't returned my call so the plan is to take the truck down there on Wednesday as Janey wants to go shopping. Perhaps showing up at the store will help him remember?

But, before we go I'll have to fix this:

Bummer!

Is it just the button?

Do you have a UV flashlight???

[Gary Lewis]

Bummer!

Is it just the button?

Do you have a UV flashlight???

Yes, it is just the button. And I have a UV flashlight, but what do I do with it? I need to buy more glue in the morning, so is there a special glue to use w/the flashlight?

[ArdWrknTrk]

Yes, it is just the button. And I have a UV flashlight, but what do I do with it? I need to buy more glue in the morning, so is there a special glue to use w/the flashlight?

I think those glues are all UV curing.

At least the ones I've used.

Obviously YMMV and things may have changed.