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2,000-lb Capacity. Convert your vehicle's leaf springs into a mechanically active suspension system. RAS adjusts to your load to level your ride. The system also increases stability, handling, and control by improving traction and reducing sway.
Features:
Specs:
All-In-One Suspension System
When towing or hauling a heavy load, you may encounter a number of problems that can make your driving experience difficult or dangerous, such as sway, body roll, or bottoming out. When your vehicle is weighted down, your factory leaf springs can't counteract these problems to the extent that they are supposed to. The weight will overpower the leaf springs and cause them to twist or flatten out. When that happens, they cannot support, level, or stabilize your vehicle effectively. Additionally, because your factory leaf springs are passive, they won't begin to tackle problems such as sway until those problems have already started.
Roadmaster Active Suspension (RAS) kits enhance those passive leaf springs by converting them into a mechanically active, all-in-one suspension system. RAS kits have variable-rated coil tension springs that automatically adjust to your heavy load. Other suspension systems only solve a few problems and usually at the expense of other improvements your factory leaf springs may need. RAS, on the other hand, is a unique kit that provides everything you want in a suspension system without any trade-offs. It eliminates bottoming out like air springs, reduces sway and body roll like sway bars, keeps your ride level like helper springs, and improves traction and braking control like traction bars. This improves your vehicle's stability, handling, and control while you are towing or hauling, as well as when your vehicle is unloaded. RAS also makes your overall driving and towing experience safer and more comfortable, which greatly lessens driver fatigue.
Each RAS unit has a powerful variable-rated coil tension spring that converts your passive leaf spring into a mechanically-active system. Once your vehicle is loaded, the tension springs immediately activate to absorb and support the weight. This allows your leaf springs to maintain their bowed position and keeps them from flattening out or flipping over, which greatly hinders their ability to bear a heavy load. The tension springs are variable-rated, which means that the heavier your load is, the more assistance they provide to your leaf springs. Because of this design, RAS reacts instantaneously, whereas hydraulics, air springs, and other suspension systems take time to react. And unlike your factory leaf springs, RAS stops sway and sag before they even start to happen. Additionally, when your vehicle is unloaded, the tension springs disengage, allowing your leaf springs to perform as intended without hardening your ride. RAS won't hinder your leaf springs' movement, nor will it cause any friction between any of the brackets.
When under a heavy load, leaf springs are especially susceptible to axle wrap, which can cause wheel hop. Wheel hop is when the tires lose their grip on the road, causing a jarring, up-and-down movement. Axle wrap occurs when the circular motion of the tires cause the leaf springs to twist or rotate. If the leaf springs twist far enough, wheel hop can occur. RAS stabilizes your leaf springs by absorbing the force of the load they're trying to support. This eliminates axle wrap and wheel hop, as well as prevents your vehicle from bottoming out. Because of this, less strain is put on your vehicle. And by reducing some of this wear and tear, RAS helps extend the life of your leaf springs, shock absorbers, shackles, and even tires.
When driving along a curve while towing or hauling a heavy load, the back end of your vehicle or trailer can start to shift with that weight. If your factory leaf springs have flattened or twisted under this load, they won't be able to prevent it from shifting. Because of this, your trailer will sway away from your vehicle. This makes driving challenging and dangerous, as it increases the risk of body roll, which is when your vehicle drastically leans to one side. This can often cause you to completely lose control of your vehicle. Body roll is especially prevalent with multi-passenger vans and vehicles towing long campers, trailers, or boats. RAS provides a much safer ride by reinforcing your factory leaf springs and stabilizing your load. This helps prevent sway from occurring and reduces the chance of body roll while cornering, turning, and swerving. RAS also lessens the rocking motion that happens during windy conditions or when a semi passes by on the road.
When your vehicle is overloaded, the bulk of the weight transfers to the rear axle. Your factory leaf springs then become overwhelmed by this weight, as they are not strong enough to support it. This causes the back end of your vehicle to sag and the front end to rise, which means that the front tires have lost some of the grip they need with the road. In addition to loss of traction, it can also cause poor headlight aim, unintentional swerving, and an extremely bumpy and uncomfortable ride. RAS bolsters your factory leaf springs and enables them to provide support for your load without compromising ride quality or comfort. This keeps your ride level from front to back whether you are hauling a load in the bed or towing a boat, trailer, or camper. RAS also ensures that your tires have the traction they require while braking and accelerating, which improves the overall driving experience.
RAS is also customizable. During installation, the coil tension springs can be adjusted to 2 different tension settings or anywhere in between for improved road handling and support. To do this, rotate the springs while keeping the threaded rod still. As you turn the spring, use one of the 2 included spacers as a gauge to measure the widening gaps between the coils. In order for the RAS units to work as intended, you must tension the coils to a minimum of 25 percent with the 1mm white spacer and no more than 40 percent with the 2mm spacer. The springs can also be independently adjusted to compensate for off-center loads such as a handicap lift.
This custom-fit kit comes fully assembled and is easy to install. Each RAS unit simply bolts onto your factory leaf spring with the included hardware, and drilling, welding, and cutting aren't required. First, position the eye hook bracket so that it wraps around the top of the factory leaf spring eye. Then the axle bracket secures under the leaf spring and around the factory U-bolts on the other side of the leaf spring pack. Once the maintenance-free RAS units are fully installed, you won't need to monitor them as you would with air springs.
RAS is extremely durable and corrosion-resistant. The units are constructed of high-grade alloy steel, and they have an epoxy e-coat on the coil springs to provide extreme corrosion resistance. The brackets on the ends of each unit resist the effects of water and other elements, and they have a salt spray rating of more than 800 hours.
Average Customer Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars (164 Customer Reviews)
2,000-lb Capacity. Convert your vehicle's leaf springs into a mechanically active suspension system. RAS adjusts to your load to level your ride. The system also increases stability, handling, and control by improving traction and reducing sway.I like the way that I can track the order status from the person preparing my order to the time it is delivered. It feels like it is very personalized. Thanks for getting my order delivered earlier than I expected. With RAS, My ride feels stable and more planted to the ground.
I installed them on a 2015 F150 2WD. Pulling a trailer with about 750 ponds tongue weight. Before the RAS my truck dropped 3 1/2 inches in the back and raised 3/4" in the front. With the RAS the back still dropped 3 1/4" and the front raised 3/8". They say it doesn't affect the ride without a trailer hooked up. I would strongly disagree with that statement. The ride and handling are affected and not in a good way. Much stiffer. With the trailer hooked up the truck does seem to be more stable, although I have not pulled it a long distance. I am mainly disappointed that it basically did nothing to help the rear end sag. I tried both wafers for adjustment. Not much difference.
After going back and forth with your install techs before purchasing they said what product to buy. I order it and doesn't fit my truck due to flipped rear axle I gave them pics so product was returned
Sarah H - 08/02/2017
Really great product. Install on 2017 f150. The truck bounced because it was lite from aluminum frame. It's suspension was weak. My trailer with my small tractor seem to over load rear suspension. Load was for below truck tow rating. Caused problems loading and unloading tractor. Roadmaster really changed the suspension for the better. Truck is very stable and much smoother with and without trailer. A GREAT PRODUCT!!!
I received my order a day earlier than estimated. That was nice. But, when I started the installation the next day, I immediately encountered a problem when installing the enclosed bracket for the emergency brake cable. The instructions state the O.E. bolt is 10mm. On my 2017 F-150 the bolt is 13mm and does not fit in the recessed hole on the supplied bracket. I'll unfortunately be making a trip to the local hardware store to find a bolt that will work in order to complete the installation.
Rachael H - 07/13/20182018 F150 4x4 owners pay attention to this review. I received the order today and unfortunately it was the wrong kit for my vehicle. Even though etrailer confirmed that a RAS3611-B is correct for my truck, it is actually for a F150 4x2. I contacted etrailer and costumer service rep was great and verified that initially the same part number came up for my vehicle, causing the confusion. My mistake, etrailer mistake. The correct kit for a 2018 Ford F150 4x4 is RAS3611-Y. etrailer is splitting the cost of return shipping and my correct kit has been ordered. etrailer has great costumer service.
After debating whether to go with these or airbags for a year I’m very happy with my decision to purchase these for my 2015 F150. Installation was simple, the difference in ride and towing is great, and there’s no maintenance. With 1,000lbs of trailer tongue weight and improved stability, I’m a happy camper!
everything works fine
good instructions and made a difference in towing trailer
Installed on my 2015 F-150. Great product. Easy installation, took longer to get the wheels off than it did to put the springs in. Adjusted to the 2mm spacing and it raised rear fender well height by 1". Improved unloaded handling and towing. Have recommended to friends and will have on any of my future vehicles
product came very fast! all was packaged extremely well and no damage to any of the items I ordered. I have not installed them yet but I am excited to get them on and hopefully see that they take that little extra sag out of my truck while pulling my travel trailer! watched many video's on the installation process and seems to be very simple and straight forward... thanks etrailer
This is the second time I have ordered from etrailer . Great service and fair prices. The Roadmasters were not as easy as I expected. A call to support got me straightened out. The job Roadmaster says is about an hour took me four.
I installed the product easily within less than an hour. On the test drive after, my truck rode smoother and more precise than prior to the install. I gained about 1-2 inches in lift on the back end, but have not towed with the setup yet. I would recommend this product. Very satisfied so far.
Easy to install. Performed install start to finish in about 1 hour.
Easy to install. Ride is good with out a trailer. Etrailer was great fast shipping
I already have this on my 2018 f150. I am so satisfied with this I got it for my 2020 f150.
Review from a similar RAS in Vehicle Suspension
I don’t normally post about items I have purchased, but in this case, I had to make an exception. I did a lot of research on helper springs and ways to insure my truck gave me my maximum rating. We purchased this kit and it actually arrived a day early and best of all, the day before we were going to get our new 5th-wheel trailer. My son-in-law helped me install them in under an hour. Unfortunately, I did not measure my height before the install, but it did look like it raised the truck a small amount but that was fine with me. I didn’t notice any difference in the ride. The next day we picked up our new Reflection 150 - 278BH trailer. When we first connected the trailer, the maintenance manager commented “Wow, I really expected to see the back end of the truck drop more”. I told him I had installed this kit and he was very impressed. We had a cold front pushing through and had a 20-25 mph crosswind hitting our new rig as we drove home. Since I had not pulled this rig before, I was a little concerned about how the truck would handle. All-in-all, it handled great and the truck felt secure on the road. You could still feel the wind at times, but I did not feel like the truck swayed as much as I remembered our old truck and trailer. Overall, I am quite happy with this kit. My wife said she didn’t really notice any difference in the ride but she did say she thought our truck now looked a little jacked up without the trailer, but as I said, that’s fine with me.
Review from a similar RAS in Vehicle Suspension
Roadmaster active suspension seems to be built very well. I look forward to towing my travel trailer very soon to see if it improves the towing experience.
Review from a similar RAS in Vehicle Suspension
This system is amazing. Installed on a Ford F-150 2019. Very easy to install in my driveway with basic tools. Instant improvement in handling around the town, way more planted feel and cornering improvement. Main reason I installed was to improve towing a boat and travel trailer. Wow this thing really worked and truck rode higher in the suspension. Overall great product. Only limitation is really heavy load, took them off and installed airbags to level for heavy loads. Very bummed this would not work with the airbags installed.
Review from a similar RAS in Vehicle Suspension
The bed of the truck measured 37.5" with a tool box weighing 200 lbs. The truck felt weighed down with passengers weighing 600lbs. Total weight 800lbs with a tank full of gas. After the install the truck rides smoother and certainly " like new". The stopping distance and acceleration distance have shortened drastically. I'm planning on loading up the bed and the Roadmaster Active Suspension RAS4611. My wife even drive it and she could feel the difference. "It drives like a muscle car." Buy it. Install time at a reputable mechanic shop was a 30 min. Install. I received them today at 1 pm and got it installed at 3:00 pm and finished the install at 3:30pm. It's an investment worth the price over traditional air bag system. Mechanic installed this on 2011 Nissan Titan SV.
Review from a similar RAS in Vehicle Suspension
2016 Ford F-150 XLT 4x2 - We would get a gallop when we would be towing our travel trailer and after reading several reviews for the Roadmaster Active Suspension System we decided to purchase the system. Just like most of the reviews it took more time to jack up the truck and remove the wheels then it was to install the system. It did raise the bed of the truck about an inch. Anyone who owns a late model F-150 will tell you that it rides just like a sedan. It was no different after the installation. I did take a short drive with the trailer attached and it was a smooth ride (no gallop). At this point I would consider this a success. The one thing that I would like to point out is if you have the same F-150 model that I have I would purchase RAS3611-B not RAS3611-Y. The “B” model has a block that covers the emergency brake bracket on the passenger side install.
Review from a similar RAS in Vehicle Suspension
Installed this evening on my 2019 F150 FX4 Crew Cab 5.5 ft bed. On level-ish ground before install the fender well was 39.5 inches from the ground (unloaded). Installed these and set the tension for a 2mm gap with the black spacer in the kit for a 40% increase..... This kit removed a little squat and the fender is now 40.25 inches from the ground (unloaded). Truck rides good unloaded, have not yet pulled the travel trailer with them installed. I will update the next time I tow something heavy that I've towed with this truck before installing these. To set the tension use a 9/16 wrench or socket. The bolt is actuall made for an allen wrench but roadmaster uses silicon to glue what apears to be part of an allen wrench into the bolt. I understand this makes it easier for us to install, but they should use something stronger than silicon as one of mine fell out as soon as I started turning it. See pictures.
Review from a similar RAS in Vehicle Suspension
I was looking for something to prevent my 2014 Raptor from squatting from pulling my 24' boat. New leaf springs were $1500+. Airbags would have worked, however I didn't want to lose suspension travel when unloaded. Then I came across the Roadmaster Active suspension system. I watched lots of videos, and was convinced this is what I needed. Installation instructions were written well, and followed step by step. The only thing I did that wasn't noted in the instructions was file the burs off of the u-bolt bracket, then repainted each bracket to prevent rust. I haven't had a chance to run with the boat attached yet, but unloaded, the truck seems the same. It is slightly firmer ride, but not stiff. (I set them at 40%). Cornering is much better and less body roll. Bumps and dips have less bounce, and more control. I wonder why this isn't a standard option on all trucks...
Review from a similar RAS in Vehicle Suspension
Easy install 2011 Tacoma crewcab long bed. Helped with sag when towing microlite travel trailer. Keeps the rear end raised in the rear a little when unloaded, but I like that look. Only complaint and its nothing big when truck is unhooked and empty when i get out I can hear alittle noise from RAS. Sort of like a bedspring coil. Night pic is with RAS installed daylight pic is with out installed
Review from a similar RAS in Vehicle Suspension
Great product, super easy install. got an xtra almost 2" in rear stance but im ok with that. Ive had timbrens for a while now and with the near 10k lb boat i pull(short distances) i need something to stop the bottoming out feeling of timbrens when im hooked up.
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