Air Bags / Helper Springs 101

Helper springs are used in conjunction with your vehicle’s stock leaf springs to reinforce the rear suspension of a vehicle for oversized loads.  There are three main types of helper springs.

•  Type 1 is basically an oversized bump stop that is installed on the bottom of your frame that will make contact with the axel if your stock leaf springs compress far enough.  This will prevent bottoming out, help prevent spring fatigue, and help support the rear suspension when maxed out.  These kits are fairly inexpensive and usually easy to install but are not your best choice because they will not increase your leaf spring’s capacity and in most cases do not improve the ride quality of a loaded vehicle.
• Type 2 is an actual spring that installs over the top of your leaf pack that has very little pressure applied to it at normal right height.  As extra pressure is applied from a load and the stock springs start to compress these helper springs kick in providing the stock leaf pack with extra support that will help keep your vehicle level even with the extra weight of a large load.  This is a better choice than type 1 because they improve your spring’s capacity and because your ride quality is changed very little with or without the load but the amount of support they provide is limited by the strength of the helper spring.
• Type 3 is an air bag.  Air bag helper springs come in come in a complete kit with bags for both sides and vehicle specific mounting brackets that in most cases will attach the bags to your truck with no drilling or modification required.  Air Bags are the most popular type of helper spring because they are the most adjustable.  They are made out of the same type of rubber you would find on a tire and fill / empty basically just like a tire would.  This allows you to fine tune the extra support provided by these bags with a simple pressure change giving you the best possible ride quality for any size load size.

Do you need helper springs on your truck, van, or SUV?  Most vehicles are designed with a slight rake (back end of the vehicle is higher than the front) which is done on purpose so that when loaded the rear of the vehicle does not become lower than the front.  When loaded if the rear of your vehicle is lower than the front you need helper springs!  This means that the extra weight being applied by the load has maxed out your rear suspension and it is actually using your frame as a lever to lift the front of your vehicle off the ground.  Best case scenario being overloaded like this will only cause your tires to wear funny.  Worst case your will lose front end traction making steering virtually impossible (especially during bumps).

Frequently asked questions

1. Will air bags work with a gooseneck or 5^th wheel hitch installed?  Yes in most cases the manufacture of the air bags anticipates that you will have an in bed hitch installed and designs their kit to work with it.  There are a few exceptions like 69-96 Ford's, 69-01 Dodge's, 99-06 Chevy/GMC 1500's.  Air bags can still be installed on these vehicles also even if you have a hitch installed but it may not be a simple no drill bolt on install.
2. Will air bag helper springs lift or lower my truck?  There are other types of air ride suspensions available that are designed to adjust the ride height of your vehicle but the kits you see listed on this sight are designed to pick your vehicle back up to stock ride height when loaded (NOT lift or lower).
3. Do I need a control kit?  The short answer is no but you will have to fill the bags with air before driving off with a load or the extra weight will compress the bags so that they are rubbing against them self which will eventually rub a hole in the air bag making it useless. So no, you do not have to have a built in on board air compressor but it is easy to see how much more convenient it would be if you did.

Control Kits

Control kits work in conjunction with a set of air bags.  Control kits are made up of an air compressor, a switch used to adjust the pressure, usually a gauge to monitor the amount of pressure, and sometimes a tank to store air. 

For pulling trailers you will want a single fill kit that will fill both bags evenly (like Ride Rite part # 2158 or 2097).  If you have an uneven load (like a generator mounted to one side of your bed) you may want to upgrade to a dual fill kit which will allow you to adjust the pressure in each bag individually (like Ride Rite part # 2178 or 2219).  For normal loads under 12K without excessive tongue weight a standard duty compressor like comes in the 2158 or 2178 kit usually works fine.  For larger loads you may consider upgrading to the 2097 or  2219 kit which comes with a stronger compressor that will have no trouble filling the bags (even when loaded).  The only reason you would want an air tank is if you need a reserve amount of on demand air that would instantly fill the bags instead of waiting a few minutes for the compressor to pump them up.

Got-Chrome.com sells several brands of helper springs like SuperSprings, Hellwing, Timbren, and Air Lift but we recommend the Firestone Rite Ride kits over the rest. Ride Rite kits may not be your least expensive choice but their pricing is very completive with the others and their kits are made out of noticeable higher quality material with better designed brackets that make for an easier and stronger installation.  If by reading this you learned that you need helper springs on your vehicle a Firestone Ride Rite kit is your best choice to correct the problem.