Click for more info and reviews of this Firestone Vehicle Suspension:
www.etrailer.com/Vehicle-Susp...
www.etrailer.com
Don’t forget to subscribe!
/ etrailertv
Full transcript: www.etrailer.com/tv-install-f...
Today in our 2013 Ford F-150, we'll be having a look at and installing the Firestone Ride-Right Air Helper Springs for the rear axle. Part number F2525. Here's what our airbags look like, installed. These airbags can operate anywhere between 5 and 100 PSI of air pressure. These airbags have a load-leveling capacity of up to 4,800 pounds. You still are limited by what the factory specifications for gross vehicle weight rating are. We're towing a trailer that has a very high tongue weight, and is bringing down the back end of our truck. This will help raise it back up to a factory ride height.
The reason we want our truck at a factory ride height when we have a heavy load in the bed of it - or towing a heavy trailer - is that it does improve the handling characteristics of our truck. We have increased steering ability, and increased breaking ability. Also, will cause less tire wear on your vehicle, as well. Okay. The first thing we're going to do is determine what our factory ride height is on our truck, with no weight in the bed of it. This will give us an idea where to compare to.
We want the ride height to be at the factory levels once we have the airbags installed. So we'll measure from the center line of our wheel up to our wheel molding, here. See, we're right about 40". So we'll record this measurement and compare it after we have the weight in the bed of the truck. We'll do the same for the front, right now. Okay. We're about 40" here, too.
So our truck is sitting perfectly level, right now. So we'll record these measurements. And now we're going to put our weight in the bed and see how the truck changes. Okay, now we have about 1,400 pounds of weight in the bed of our truck, to simulate having a heavy load in the bed - or towing a heavy trailer that has a high tongue weight. Take our measurements again - we're about 36-1/2" in the rear, now. So that means we fell down about 3-1/2", which is a significant drop from the factory ride height.
Now we'll go measure the front, and see how that changed as well. The front's about 40-1/2". So that came up about a half of an inch. Now, this is important, because when our back end comes down, our front end raises, as well. When our front end raises, we have less weight over the front tires, which means we have less steering, and less braking ability. Also, our headlight angle is going to change, too. Instead of pointing down towards the road where they need to be, they'll be aimed up more towards the trees, and can potentially blind oncoming drivers. Also, our alignment on our front tires changes a little bit, too. When the front end raises, they start angling out like this, giving us more positive camber. This positive camber will cause more tire wear on the outside edge of our tires - right here - not giving us a full contact patch all the way across the tread. This affects our steering, our braking, and our tire wear, overall. Something we don't want to have when we're towing our heavy trailer, or have a heavy load in our bed on a consistent basis. We want to be at the factory ride height, so we have the factory braking, steering, and handling abilities on the truck. All right. Now that we have our airbags installed - our weight still in the bed of our truck - we'll double-check our measurements and see if we're back at factory ride height. All right. So we're at 40" in the rear, which is exactly where we we're for factory ride height, with no weight in the bed of a truck. Now we're going to check the front, and see where we're at, there. Okay, we're back at 40" in the front, too. So that means we're exactly level. Factory ride height. So our handling characteristics have been returned to our vehicle. Now we'll take a truck out on our test course. On the left side of the screen, you'll see without the airbags installed - once we have a heavy load in the bed of a truck - how poorly the suspension works as we are going around corners, doing evasive maneuvering, and going over bumps. You see how unsettled the suspension is, and how it's not really working how it's supposed to. On the right side of the screen you'll see - with the airbags installed - how much smoother it is going around corners and doing evasive maneuvers. We have a lot less body roll in the vehicle now. And when we go over bumps, you'll notice how much more travel the suspension is actually able to do. We're not hitting our bump stops anymore. The suspension's doing its job in absorbing all the bumps and uneven terrain that we encounter. And I can tell you, just as riding as a passenger in a vehicle, you can feel a dramatic difference as far as ride qu
27 дек 2017
