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5,000-lb Capacity. Ride-Rite air springs enhance your factory suspension for safety and stability when you are hauling heavy loads. They reduce strain on your rear axle, keep your vehicle level, and adjust to load size for a consistently smooth ride.
Features:
Specs:
Note: The construction material of the fittings may vary.
Firestone Ride-Rite springs are designed to increase safety and reduce the strain on your truck when you are hauling heavy loads or towing a heavy trailer. The springs partner with your existing rear suspension system to help keep your truck level, maintain even load distribution, and increase stability. Hauling heavy loads or towing a heavy trailer can make the rear of your truck sag and the front end rise. This puts more strain on your rear axle and reduces contact between your front tires and the road, causing problems with braking, steering control, and traction. By adding air springs to your rear suspension, you can help to level your truck and improve braking and handling. The air springs also help to level your headlight beams and reduce wear on your tires.
The air pressure in the Ride-Rite springs can be adjusted manually, side to side, to compensate for off-center loads. A centered load improves the stability of your truck by reducing body roll. The air springs will also help to absorb road shock and soften contact between your axle and frame. This prevents bottoming out, thus improving ride comfort. Route the air line tubing for the springs to your truck's bumper to provide easy access to the manual inflation valves.
Firestone's double-convoluted Ride-Rite air springs are designed to give you maximum load support and enhance the performance and ride comfort of your truck. The rubber springs provide cushioning between your suspension components and operate at up to 100 psi. The springs have four layers of reinforced rubber to ensure durability and enhance load support. A braided wire girdle creates the double-convoluted shape of each air spring, increasing the burst pressure of the spring. The rubber springs are attached to corrosion-resistant metal end plates with a time-proven, rolled crimp seal that keeps the bags securely anchored.
Each Ride-Rite kit includes custom-fit brackets that connect to your axle and frame. The brackets provide the mounting points for the air springs. No drilling is required for installation.
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Hi, there. I'm Michael with etrailer.com. Today we're gonna take a quick look at this Firestone Ride-Rite Air Helper Spring Set. So these springs will install between your truck's frame and the rear suspension. These are gonna help to maximize your safe load carrying capacity, increase your stability, and improve your ride quality. So while the helper springs themselves are pretty interchangeable amongst several different kits, these brackets here are custom designed for your 2021 and newer Ford F-150.
So this is gonna be very simple to get installed on your F-150 with these custom brackets. These air helper springs will allow you to adjust the air pressure from five PSI up to a hundred PSI, so you can keep your truck level when you're hauling a heavy load. That's gonna help to improve your steering control and braking, and allow you to have your headlights level and reduce your tire wear. All the issues that come along with having your vehicle squatting under that heavy load. So these will provide up to 5,000 pounds of load leveling capacity.
Keep in mind, that's not going to increase your Ford's weight carrying capacity, so you don't want to exceed the manufacturer's recommended weight limit. Think of it less like a second set of hands, helping you lift more weight. Think of it more like a back brace. So it's there to just kind of help your factory suspension take some of that strain off of it, reduce prolonged sagging and strain on your leaf springs. So it is going to help to take some of that strain off of it.
It's also gonna help to increase your stability. It will absorb road shock for a nice, smooth ride. Soften contact between your axle and frame to prevent bottoming out. So it is going to help give you a much more comfortable ride. These can be inflated individually, so if you have an off center load, something really heavy on one side of your truck, you can air that bag up more, so that you have even load distribution and vice versa, so that you can kind of customize it for your setup.
Like I said, these are adjustable, so you can adjust how much pressure is in there. So if you just need a little bit of support, if you've got a light load, you can go down to that five PSI minimum. Or if you've got a really heavy load and you need a lot of support, you can go up to that 100 PSI. Adjustability is gonna be really nice, giving you that support that you need. These springs are made here in the USA of a nice, solid durable rubber construction. They do have the double convoluted design, and when combined with that rubber construction, it's gonna provide maximum load support and durability for you. These do come with a limited lifetime warranty on the air springs, so you can trust they're gonna hold up well for you. All the materials necessary for installation are included here, as well as instructions to walk you through the installation process step by step, make sure everything's installed properly. A couple things that are not included that you might want to consider. These are going to be kind of a manual inflation, so you will need to find a compressor on the side of the road. Air pump, something like that. There are compressors, air tanks, switches, and gauges available. Those are sold separately, but it's a lot more convenient if you are gonna be switching your air frequently to get something like that installed on your vehicle, as well as the airbags, just so you have that convenience from the cab of your truck, being able to adjust the pressure, monitor the pressure, and that sort of thing, and make sure that it's gonna work out best for you. But definitely not a absolute necessity. You can get by just airing these up at home before you take off on your trip, that sort of thing. But the compressor and air tank is definitely a convenience that I would recommend. So that completes our look for today. Again, I'm Michael with etrailer.com. Thanks for watching.
Average Customer Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars (2546 Customer Reviews)
5,000-lb Capacity. Ride-Rite air springs enhance your factory suspension for safety and stability when you are hauling heavy loads. They reduce strain on your rear axle, keep your vehicle level, and adjust to load size for a consistently smooth ride.I received this kit and it was incomplete. There was a hole in the box in the bag of hardware was open. Not a big deal though, as only a couple of bolts were missing. The problem came upon trying to install this kit on an F150 2023. The left side has the ABS and brake lines along with a breather line for the axle. There is simply not enough clearance to put the product in without cutting up, the clamp that holds the ABS line and brake lines. I’m not sure why they did not make this kit to fit over the spring Shackles instead of the axle? Pretty sure engineers could have figured something out. I installed this on a 2012 Ford and it went great because it went over the shackle bolts. Only took about two hours. I’ll probably return this and just go with a spring helper unless there is a easier kit for installation.
It doesn’t fit my 2024 f150 the lower base on the drive side is hitting the abs and brake line bracket only way is too cut which I won’t be doing what a terrible product and big waste of time
I installed this kit (F59VV) on my new 2023 Ford F-150 PowerBoost Hybrid 4x4 with the onboard scales.
First off- etrailer's service is excellent. 5 stars. Arrived on time and nicely packaged.
This kit, however, was a royal pain to install. Nothing went together as described in the instructions, and some of the hardware was not as described in the manual (socket head versus hex head), making for a lot of confusion and frustration. What could have been (should have been?) a couple hours of installation ended up with 6 hours under my truck. I'm reasonably handy and not afraid of complexity, and this thing was still frustrating.
I ended up having to modify tools and essentially install each piece individually with several installs and removals to make sure everything fit right. I had to trim a bracket on my brand-new truck (never a good feeling) and still don't have the clearance described in the manual and am waiting Firestone's response to my inquiry about this. My truck is otherwise 100% stock so it should have fit without much drama.
The good: Once it's finally installed there are lots of big bolts so there's lots of redundancy in hardware. The air lines are tough and everything was leak free on the first shot. Running with 7psi currently and first drive this afternoon. New camper coming next weekend and hoping for good performance.
I installed these in about 2 hours the night before my wife and I were heading out to Sioux Falls, SD with our 30 foot travel trailer. I aired them up to about 38 P.S.I. and away we went. They worked flawlessly. I love them. I only used one air valve to air them up with a T connector.
Install with 1 person took 4 hours, mostly looking for misplaced tools. I had on for 1 year and have had no problems. I did install a 3 way tee which allows for air to be equal on both air bags from 1 valve stem. What a difference these make while towing. I can actually tow my trailer at level height and get a better ride inside the truck. If you get these bags, you will want to buy a bigger trailer!
I installed this about two weeks ago. I don’t have a lift so spent a lot of time on a crawler. Thank goodness there is sufficient underbelly height on my Silverado 2500HD.
I bought these just to remove a bit of sag when I hook up the fifth wheel. Installation was pretty easy and the instructions were fine. Although I learned from my mistakes doing the first one, which made installing the other much smoother. I haven’t had the fifth wheel hooked up yet, but I don’t think there will be any issues. I have had them inflated to 10 PSI and the haven’t lost any pressure yet. That’s with an empty bed, so we will see how they hold up with a load.
Since I didn’t get an air compressor kit with them, I was able to use two spare TPMS sensors that I had on hand to monitor the PSI of the air bags.
So far so good. etrailer service was great as usual.
The Ride-Rite air helper springs work great. If I'm pulling a heavy trailer or loading my truck with a heavy load, I can add air to adjust the ride and level my truck. They really help the ride.
First off, I was surprised at how soon it arrived. I was also impressed that it truely was a Firestone product, through and through. I have not installed it yet, but all of the items, brackets, hardware, tubing seem first rate. The brackets were heavier duty than what I was expecting. The air bags are smaller versions of what is used on semi-truck and trailers. (I'm a retired fleet mechanic.) I'm excited to begin installing in the morning!
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
After ordering these brackets twice, I still had to make an alteration and cut tabs off of them After doing research on this, I found out that they were for a 2011 to 2016 pick up truck not a 2002. The part number 2550 is the same between the two pick ups. I don’t know how you would differentiate to get the right one for a 2002 F250.
What a difference these helper springs made on my truck!! I have a Chevy 1500 and they were lacking in the suspension department. A friend suggested that I get a set of air bags for my truck and I purchased the Firestone helper springs. Total night and day difference. My camper is 9,800 lbs and I can't even tell it's on when I have these pumped up to about 50 psi. Installation wasn't bad, about an hour and a half to install.
I install this for a customer that I have on the recommendation of etrailer as being the one that was necessary for this vehicle. On receiving the product was having problems as the truck was not set up the way that the illustration showed the truck was bought new by the original owner and had 50,000 miles and have never been modified spoke to fire stone about that at the recommendation of a trailer other parts were necessary, it turned out to be quite a mess. Mini phone calls hours of trying to make something work. The system failed at about 500 miles customer was very upset. I spoke to eat trailer no help at all referred me to fire stone no help at all. It was just to say the way things go sometimes and they were very sorry. I ended up having to give the customer his money back very expensive for me all the way around very poor recommendation on what I should’ve bought for this vehicle very poor product service by a trailer and fire stone both so end result after turning the truck back to stock, I haul the airbag system that I purchased to the dump
The kit I received had mismatched air fittings: one was a 3/8npt elbow instead of the required 1/8npt elbow. etrailer sent a replacement elbow and I was able to source a reducer to complete the install as I await the replacement. Glad i checked my parts before I started.
The install is pretty straight forward and the instructions are clear. The fasteners are difficult to access if you are doing the install by yourself. Must have tools include quality hose cutter and two 1-1/8in sockets.
The bags added 1in of lift to my unladen 2023 Tacoma Trail Edition at 5psi; 1-1/2in at 10psi; and 3in at 70psi.
At the 5psi minimum pressure the ride is firmer than stock. On acceleration the back end no longer “stuffs” wich is fine with me.
Extremely satisfied with purchase, ride is 80% better while towing 42ft 5th wheel with ram dually and also while not towing I drop pressure to 13 psi which takes a lot of the bump shock out of the ride . Satisfied customer.
This is the second set of Firestone Ride-Rites I've owned. They perform perfectly at dampening bucking and chucking once you get the proper air pressure dialed in for your individual tongue weight, which is very simple but requires some experimentation with pressures. They literally take away all suspension bounce from your toe vehicle once your individual pressure is dialed in. I'd recommend these for anyone who tows or carries heavy loads.
They do not fit. The kit claims it bolts right on the 2018 transit 350HD and it does not. First thing I found is you need to drill holes in the frame, even though the packaging says bolts right on. I put the top bracket on the frame with the bouncer bolt to line up to drill the hole and found the bracket is not even the correct size - it extends too far back and hits the cross beam on the frame. see pic. I spoke with e-trailer and they confirmed I have the correct parts according to Firestone. I am sending this back and going with sumo springs .....
Works perfectly! It's so nice not having the truck sag and sway after installing the ride rite air bags. I built my own hard side pop up camper on my flatbed dually and it turned out a little heavier than I wanted but with the airbags I hardly know the camper is there.
I have purchased a few items for my 2020 Fontier e.g. tow package, wiring, electric brake control, fog lights/switch, etc. - it's a 'tweener' year i.e. new power train with old style body. This Firestone Airbag recommended by etrailer.com is NOT a bolt on product for the 2020 Nissan Frontier. The driver's side rear is the issue where with the new power train there is a cannister - not sure exactly what it is...but, it interfears with the hardware. After cutting, fabbing spacers, adjusting brake lines I got it installed - took me two 14 hour days. When it was finally installed after a lot of headsctatching and figuring out how to solve yet another problem - I felt like Firestone should have paid me for all the hassle.
Purchased a set of airbags and a compressor for my truck from Etrailer. Smooth transaction and everything fit perfect. No complaints. Wouldn’t hesitate to deal with them again.
Even after checking for leaks at connections etc., Before leaving on a trip, I’m having to “air up” the bags before I leave.
This being said, I feel they’ve helped the ride, especially in windy conditions.
The installation video is very helpful however, when the tech in the video said there may be some modifications needed he was not kidding.
The level of work is quite a bit and do it yourself people should know it can get a little complicated especially if you do not have a lift.
Thank you for a nice product. Works very well.
I mounted the Firestone airbag system on my 2008 Toyota Tacoma pickup. It was not as easy as the video makes it look (especially on the drivers side) but, it it turned out great. I mounted the compressor in the compartment behind the passenger seat behind the driver (see pic). I mounted the gauge and switch in the compartment between the driver and passenger (see pic). The airbag pictures are when they were holding 70 lbs pressure checking for air leaks. The first picture of the pickup is with 5 lbs air pressure in the bags and the second is with 50 lbs air pressure in the bags. When driving with 5 lbs in the bags it has the normal smooth ride and does a good job at 30 lbs of keeping the back end from sagging when I pull my boat.
etrailer was very helpful with making sure I ordered the right product. As for the product... I love the addition to my 20201 Toyota Tundra TRD PRO. It made towing my 2021 Lance 2285 Travel Trailer a dream. The truck and trailer sit perfectly level now and the truck handles great. Easy install only took a couple of hours. In my pic... the stabilizer jacks are down because I was doing a quick overnighter and didn't want to unhitch. But the stabilizers aren't lifting the camper or truck.. just kissing the ground to keep the camper from rocking when inside. Its the only pic I had handy.
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Condition: Installed
Notes: Item has been previously instaleed/ test fitted and has minor cosmetic scratches and scuffs.
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Heather A.
10/7/2024
This installation is definitely a tricky one compared to the other vehicles. If the air bag bracket interferes with the ABS brake line bracket, it will require you to disconnect the cable. Then you will need to bend or trim the brake line bracket for installation. I understand this is not ideal but the air bag installation location is closer to the brakes on this vehicle, that is why it requires 2" of clearance. I did put in a note to our fit guide team to add a special installation tip for future customers. We appreciate your honest feedback.