Firestone Ride-Rite Air Helper Springs - Double Convoluted - Rear Axle
This item does not fit your vehicle
2007 Ford Escape
These items fit your vehicle
2007 Ford Escape
To see if this custom-fit item will work for you please tell us what vehicle you'll use it with.
Thank you! Your comment has been submitted successfully. You should be able to view your question/comment here within a few days.
Error submitting comment. Please try again momentarily.
Heavy trailers, campers, and bed loads can make the rear of your truck sag and throw off steering and braking. The Firestone Ride-Rite Air Helper Springs add up to 5,000 lbs of load-leveling capacity to keep things balanced. Mounted between the frame and rear suspension, they help distribute weight evenly, improve steering control, and maintain level headlight aim so you stay stable even when the truck is working hard.
Load sizes change from day to day, and these air springs adjust right along with them. Each side can be inflated separately using manual valves, letting you fine-tune pressure from 5 psi up to 100 psi to handle off-center or uneven loads. Add air when towing or hauling a heavy payload to level things out, then drop it down when running empty for a smoother, more comfortable ride.
Rough roads and heavy bumps don’t have to mean harsh jolts. The Ride-Rite’s double-convoluted rubber construction with a braided wire girdle cushions contact between the axle and frame to prevent bottoming out. Four layers of reinforced rubber absorb road shock and steady the truck over uneven pavement or washboard surfaces. The design also helps reduce wear on tires and suspension components by keeping everything working within its proper range.
Each kit comes complete with custom brackets, hardware, air line tubing, and separate inflation valves for manual setup. The corrosion-resistant metal end plates are sealed with a rolled crimp that locks the bags firmly in place for long-term durability. Once mounted, no drilling is required—just a solid fit that adds serious rear suspension support without complicating your setup.
The construction material of the fittings may vary.
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Hi, everybody. Andy here with etrailer.com. Let's take a real quick look at these Firestone Ride-Rite double-convoluted air helper springs for your rear axle. Now, these have been designed to fit your 2024 and newer Toyota Tacoma, and on custom fit parts such as these air springs I do recommend taking advantage of our vehicle fit guide here at etrailer.com. Simply input the year, make, and model of your vehicle and our pick guide will confirm if these will work for you or if we have something comparable that will work for you. Now, these springs have a load leveling capacity of 5,000 pounds, and these have been designed to install between your Tacoma's frame and its rear suspension to help increase safety and reduce strain on your Tacoma when you're hauling heavier loads or towing a heavy trailer.
These springs are going to work with your existing rear suspension system to help keep your vehicle level, maintain even load distribution and increase stability. As you know, hauling heavier loads or towing a heavy trailer can make the rear of your vehicle sag while at the same time making the front end rise a little bit. So that's gonna put more strain on your rear axle. It's going to reduce contact between your front tires and the road, and that's gonna all cause problems with braking, your steering control, your traction, your headlight aim. So by adding these springs to your rear suspension, you're gonna actually be able to help level your Tacoma and improve braking and handling.
And these air springs are also gonna help level your headlight aim, headlight beams, or rather the aiming of your headlight beams, and reduce wear on your tires. Now, the air pressure in these springs can be adjusted manually side to side to compensate for off-center loads. As you know, a center load is going to improve the stability of your Tacoma by reducing body roll, and these air springs are also gonna help absorb road shock and soften the contact between your axle and frame. This is gonna prevent bottoming out and at the same time improve your ride comfort. You're gonna route the airline tubing for the springs to your vehicle's bumper to give you easy access to the manual inflation valves.
And these double-convoluted air springs are made here in the USA. These are designed to give you maximum load support and enhance the performance and ride comfort of your truck. These rubber springs provide cushioning between your suspension components. They operate from five to 100 psi, and these springs have four layers of reinforced rubber to ensure durability and enhanced load support. The braided wire girdle around the center here creates this double-convoluted shape of each air spring, increasing the burst pressure of the spring.
And the rubber springs are attached to corrosion-resistant metal end plates, which I think you can see here. I do have these kind of loosely put together to give you an idea of what these are gonna look like installed. But these end plates have a time-proven rolled crimp seal that's gonna keep the bags securely anchored. So this includes everything that you need here for installation. You're gonna get the custom fit brackets that you see here for your Tacoma. Obviously, the air springs, the hardware and the airline, and then the valves for manual inflation, and, of course, instructions to guide you through the installation process. I do wanna point out that the construction material of the fittings may vary from what you see here in my video or on our photos. Now, switches and gauges, and compressors, and air tanks are all sold separately, but they are available for quick and easy air spring inflation or deflation from inside of your vehicle. You can find those items under the related products tab of this product page. Again, the load leveling capacity of these are 5,000 pounds, but it is important to note that these Ride-Rite springs do not actually increase your Tacoma's weight capacity, weight carrying capacity, so you wanna make sure that you don't exceed Toyota's recommended weight limit or weight capacity. Well, I think it's gonna wrap up our look today. I do hope that our time together has been helpful for you. Again, my name is Andy. Thank you for joining me.
Customer Satisfaction Score:
91% were satisfied with this product
9% of customers were not satisfied
Ratings & Reviews
This is my second set from etrailer. They lasted 3years. I do rv transport towing heavy fithwheels to tiny travel trailers. They keep the truck level and rides great. I had to go a week without them while waiting to get home to install. Definitely a huge difference
Researched and found predominantly, Firestone Ride-Rite are top tier. Installation was a little tougher not having a lift, but I got it done and can't believe I didn't do sooner; the ride is better trailering heavy loads and even better just around town.
Install easy. Except running air lines PITA, but seem fine just installed so don’t know about longevity
After reading the commenters before I bought the Ride-Rite Air Helpers. I specifically ran into at least 3 of 4 items I saw people call out from their installs.
#1 Open the package and verify you have the correct nuts and bolts quantities and sizes. Mine was missing one of the flange nuts, 12 needed in that 3/8" size, which I thankfully had in my surplus bolt bin. Also note that the 4 carriage bolts (2 per side) for the bottom bracket to clips will be short on one side of the bracket, both sides of the truck. So have 2 longer carriage bolts in case. The front facing side of the brackets with the clips and brackets flush in position were allowing barely a thread to start the tightening process. So I had some carriage bolts just a 1/2" longer that worked perfectly.
#2 Verify the large nuts that fit the airbag are correct thread. Mine were correct, one commenter had course which didn't work. A 1 1/8" wrench would be perfect for that nut size, but limited area to work around.
#3 Expect the emergency brake cable WILL interfere with the airbag locations on both sides. Expect you will need to reroute to create no rub or pinch points.
Someone mentioned an hour job. Expect many more than that if you're not working on a lift. Jack stands and wheels removed worked well. And the airbag install was easy and quick, 30 minutes for both sides. The extra rerouting and messing with things in your way will be the hardest time consuming part of the whole install. It took me 4 hours start to driving, with MANY neighbor interruptions during the process. I would consider myself better than average 70 year old mechanic and very particular how the airlines and brake cables were routed and realigned. Unless you have lift and nothing in your way, 1 hour could be a stretch.
#4 The instructions worked well, someone mentioned they were tough. I found them easy to follow and the flow worked well. Start on the passenger side to get an easier start point, and remember the heat shield on that side where the exhaust runs. Driver side will have a gas tank cover to hinder wrench access. Wrenches will be the majority of your tools needed. Socket wrench only fit on 4 locations.
As far as the ride. So far I love the solid feel without my trailer installed at 20# PSI level, I might lower it and raise it a little and see what works best unloaded. Leaving on a long road trip soon, so I will be able to see the improvements with a 14000 5th wheel trailer.
Hope this information adds to the other commenters. So far I love the way they feel.
Had to enlarge the holes in the upper brackets plates in order to clear the height of the frame, also the forward facing lower brackets interfere with the suspension stops. The heat shield is right against the muffler and the air bag.will see if the heat melts the air bag
I returned the air helper springs (air bags). These did not fit my early 1999 F250 Super-Duty. The airbag alignment pin did not seat properly into the alignment hole due to contact with the jounce bracket. The upper and lower brackets would contact my shock mount and the manufacturer would not approve modifying them. In addition, the manufacturer changed the brackets to more of a universal style where, rather than bolt "holes", there were elongated "slots" where the upper and lower brackets fit together. I was concerned that over time the brackets would not stay tight in position and would contact the axle mounted hard brake lines. I spoke with the technical engineers at Firestone and they stated they did not have a solution.
Definitely help level the truck back out with the camper, and bed full of firewood cooler. Installed very easily, but it did have a clearance issue with a bracket almost touching the gas tank skid plate. Some grinding down and krylon flat black paint fixed that issue. But the little tacoma still needs heavier shocks to slow the travel down when hitting bumps. Especially bridge joints back to blacktop. In all worth the money, just need to set aside more money for better rear shocks to accommodate. May eventually change them to the cradles to keep flex availability. As well as less issues when putting the truck on a lift for service.
These are very well built, and the installation instructions were clear and easy to follow. I run my Tacoma with a camper shell, and the weight always had the back end squatted a little. These air springs require 5 psi minimum, and I've got 7 in there now, and the level is great. I test drove at 80 psi just for fun, and the truck looked and felt silly. But the real reason I got these is so I can handle loads in the bed and/or tongue weight from trailers. The diameter of the upper and lower disks on the springs is about 4.5 inches. Doing the quick math, the pair of springs will compensate for about 320 lb of load (over the axles) for every 10 psi you inflate. Tongue weights are applied farther back on the vehicle so it works out to about 225 lb of tongue weight per 10 psi given the geometry of my Tacoma. At any rate, these springs will compensate for any conceivable load I'd put on this truck. I'm very happy with them.
Oh, I drilled and installed the inflation valves in the bumper, right under the license plate lights where they're unlikely to get stepped on or have loads dropped on them.
Brackets bent in first few months apparently due to not enough air pressure. Warranty department was cooperative with replacement.
Seems to me a better mounting design could be used. Instructions need some work also but product performance is what to be expected.
I recommend this to anyone with a 3/4 ton that wants stability without adding springs. It works well at giving support when I hook up to the 5th wheel. Before adding the airbags the rear suspension would settle 4 inch or more when hitching up to the trailer. Now I can control how much it settles and I get more stability and a better ride. Good system and not too difficult to install. I would have given 5 stars but I had to make three attempts to get the airlines to seal. The airlines are plastic and are a tight coil and are tough to straighten and install. I had a leak that I finally was able to remedy after several attempts at connecting. This was frustrating but I am still a big fan of this system and highly recommend these airbags. I have run with as much as 60 psi in the bags and have decided that around 40 is about right for my setup. The truck settles about 1-2 inches with about 40-60 psi.
Best airbag kit on the market! Going on 10 years and 160k miles on one kit and a year and a half on the other (two different vehicles). Firestone’s quality is excellent, their customer service is exceptional, and the kit design is simple. Quality components means ZERO air leaks in 10 years when installed properly (cut the airlines at 90 degrees with an inexpensive airline cutter or brand new razor blade). Their mounting brackets are simplified, making more room for the airbag between the axle and frame. And the double convoluted bag offers better ride quality and more suspension movement than a single convoluted bag. I’ve run a single convoluted bag setup from another reputable manufacturer and noticed a marked decrease in ride quality and comfort. I also recommend installing cradles such as those from Daystar (also 10 years on a set) to allow 100% downtravel for maintenance or off-road articulation without fear of tearing a bag. Well worth spending a little more for this USA brand kit over the cheap Chinese copy-cat kits. I tow and haul regularly - weekly, if not several times a week - and these have stood up to snowy sub freezing winters, 100 degree summer days, dusty and gravely off-highway adventures, and general use and abuse that comes from working out of a vehicle for a decade. Can’t find a better kit.
The installation was pretty straightforward, and was managed at campsite with basic tools. It is filled with Milwaukee portable air inflator and has been keeping air pressure set at. We have had good use of it to level truck after loading 5th wheel. I elected to not join both lines together so I can keep individual air pressure in case one had leak but has been fine, I might join them with optional part etrailer offered.
After 1 year and 8,000 miles has been great purchase. All bolt on, no holes to drill, I even placed fill valves in license plate to conceal installation.
Alex at etrailer was excellent as helping us find the correct kit and shipping promptly with great communication and follow up.
Really quite easy installation. Honestly, the hardest part was routing the air line. (that coiled up hose!) I ended up covering the lines with cable wrapping to protect them from any rubbing or scuffing. I also don't have a compatable hitch for the mount, and didn't want to mount them through my bumper in the license plate area because I know I would step on them at some point in time. Product had all the correct parts, high quality, and super happy with it. I wish I had gotten them sooner.
I just installed them and put them to work immediately and I am impressed so far! Installation was pretty simple, and they fit great even with an Old Man Emu 3" lift (7 leaf spring stack). It only took about 15 psi to level up the Tacoma even with 1000 Lbs of feed and a steel high rack on it and they handled that load over 50 miles of some very rough west Texas terrain. They seem to be very well made and heavy duty. Time will tell if they hold up but again, I am very impressed thus far!
I’d really love to give these a 5 star as they massively improved the ride and porpoising of my truck with a fairly heavy truck back camper. We were shorted one bit of hardware in the kit that caused a 1 hour RT drive to the hardware store for a stupid bolt. One of the hex head flange/wedge bolts for the upper mount was missing . Simple ‘miss’ by someone but was annoying . That aside everything g was great.. instructions were clear and helpful… I’d give them a 2 of 5 for difficulty installing.. any weekend mechanic can do this. The truck rides better and is safer now so thumbs up all around except for Mr Bolt pack loader!
Just what my Tundra needed to help balance load of bed and trailer.
etrailer.com and the products they offer are 100% in my opinion.
Thank You for your excellent service and follow up.
Installation was really easy except for the lower brackets that attach to a lip of metal. There was another piece of metal on the axle that got in the way but i pried and then hammered the bracket into place, squeezing it in. If I didn’t I’d still be able to get the bolt through but I bet as I tightened it down it would move the base plate and wouldn’t be lined up as well. No air is leaking so far. I didn’t buy the compressor so I might screw on some Bluetooth tire pressure monitors so I’ll get notified if pressures drop below 5psi. I have a 2023 Chevy 2500 and surprisingly with 15psi and no load in the bed it rides much better! Doesn’t hop all over the place
This installation took twice as long as it should have! The top plate had to be modified to clear the leaf spring U bolts and shock absorber bracket.
The Jounce doesn’t allow the installation of the 3/8@ bolts close the leaf spring that holds the brackets together. I’m not sure what to do with this now. I saw in other reviews where other people had similar issues. Not sure if it’s the universal bracket design vs having slotted holes like your video.
Any help would be appreciated.
Also both valve inserts had to be replaced!
I purchased this Firestone Air suspension and installed it myself on my 2017 Toyota Tacoma Access Cab 4x4. Not having a lift, I had to use a creeper and tarps under and beside the truck to do the installation. Installation was pretty straight forward after viewing the video from etrailer a few times and using the provided diagrams. You will need good 3/4" drive hand tools for the installation. An electric or air impact wrench and ratchet also speeds things up. I then installed a mini onboard compressor with remote control for in cab or outside operation. The system has never leaked air but if it did, any time the vehicle is started, the compressor will refill the system. I keep 10 lbs. air pressure in it and raise it to 20 when I haul my dirt bike on my hitch carrier and it compensates nicely and keeps the vehicle level. All good so far.
This the 3rd truck I've used and installed myself of the Firestone 5,000lb rated airbags on, and not one has ever failed on me. I used them on a 2007.5 Chevy LMM 2500 LT Silverado, a 2020 Chevy 2500 LTZ Silverado, and yesterday I put them on my 2025 GMC 2500 Denali. I did pair my new bags with an Airlift wireless compressor, which is an awesome addition to the bags. I like the fact that etrailer did a comparison video on the Firestone and AirLift bags, and they found the Firestone bags are of better quality and can support the weight of the axle if you lift the truck off the ground by the frame. If you have never installed these bags, you do not have to lift the truck off the ground or remove your rear tires. If you're like me, and do not have access to a lift, I suggest removing your spare tire, which will give you more seating area, and you will not bonk your head into it. Two thumbs up on this kit
excellent product, very easy (uncomplicated) install. anyone who is somewhat mechanically inclined can install themselves. It took me about 3.5 hours by myself with simple tools and a jack on my garage floor. Hardest part was me getting up and down from the creeper.
On my truck, (2015 GMC) i had to remove Ebrake cable brackets on both sides and reroute, not a big deal. also, did not find it necessary to remove spare tire heat shield, worked around it just fine. Routed my schrader valves through the plate screw holders for easy access.
These will not fit the 2025 Tacoma Trailhunter! The brackets interfere with the brake sensors. Saying these will fit all Tacomas is absurd given they have different suspensions. There's nothing referenced in the literature about these sensors. What a waste of 3.5 hours at the shop, now I have to re-install everything and wait for
Firestone techs. Etrailer doesn't seem to be understanding that this trim is totally different.
etrailer is very easy to work with. Product shipped quickly and got to my house within a few days. Installation instructions were very easy to follow and the install video was very well-made. The only negative I could find was that there was no packing along with the product inside the box, which did cause some wear and tear on the parts inside, but not enough to cause damage.
I carry heavy and tow about 3,000 pounds when I go camping. These bags make all the difference! I have them set at 28 pounds, but I may be able to go lower.
The install was easy, just follow the instructions as they are well written.
I also bought the T to connect both bags to a single fill source. However. I may revert back to having the ability raise and lower each side individually. This will allow me to level the truck left to right for my roof top tent.
Common tools are all that is needed. The only non-standard tool is a 24mm socket.
One thing I would add to the installation instructions is when you are placing the bags in and out for the markings. It is helpful to compress the bags by hand (like you’re holding a large cheeseburger with both hands).
Do you have a question about this Vehicle Suspension?
Info for this part was:
At etrailer we provide the best information available about the products we sell. We take the quality of our information seriously so that you can get the right part the first time. Let us know if anything is missing or if you have any questions.
Lazer S.
10/28/2025
Sorry about that, John. We get our fitment recommendations directly from Firestone for these and the only exception we were aware of was they will not fit 2 wheel drive models (which is what Firestone is still showing on their website). I do also have to point out that two pieces of the braking system are referenced on page 7 of Firestone's instructions for this kit. Is this wat you are referring to? Or is it something else?
Helpful Links
https://www.firestoneairide.com/rr-kit-install-manuals/w217602599.pdf