Review: Air Lift 1000 Air Bag Spring Kit For Hybrid FWD

[Dean S]

The 60911 kit I used is a 4"x10" universal kit, I don't think I would want anything taller, the top and bottom of the torque vectoring springs are tapered so I didn't want the bag full height and interfering. From manufacturer info they also don't need to be full height, work by squishing between the coils to make them stiffer. Just my $.02.

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[Maverick_Innovation_Designs]

The 60911 kit I used is a 4"x10" universal kit, I don't think I would want anything taller, the top and bottom of the torque vectoring springs are tapered so I didn't want the bag full height and interfering. From manufacturer info they also don't need to be full height, work by squishing between the coils to make them stiffer. Just my $.02.

That's a good point. The force vectoring does throw some of it off, so 4"x10" is probably a safe bet.

 

[TimeOutside]

With 400 lb Tongue Wt and air springs at 25 psi.

With 250 lb in the bed at the time.

So, I really can't tell from the image. (I'm assuming this is a FWD Maverick with the 60911 Air Lift 1000 installed.) How much sag was prevented?

The reason I ask is because I won't be loading up my 2024 Lariat hybrid that heavily. I may only have 250 to 300 lbs of tongue weight and a hundred or so pounds in the bed. Will the 60911 give me, in my case, any meaningful reduced sag or better handling? Would I be better off to see if I can find the 60912 (11") model?

Thanks,
Andrew

 

[Maverick_Innovation_Designs]

So, I really can't tell from the image. (I'm assuming this is a FWD Maverick with the 60911 Air Lift 1000 installed.) How much sag was prevented?

The reason I ask is because I won't be loading up my 2024 Lariat hybrid that heavily. I may only have 250 to 300 lbs of tongue weight and a hundred or so pounds in the bed. Will the 60911 give me, in my case, any meaningful reduced sag or better handling? Would I be better off to see if I can find the 60912 (11") model?

Thanks,
Andrew

In my case, it saved about 2-3" of sag with 900lbs in the bed. The most notable effect was that my headlight wasn't beaming about 1.5' above where it should be, I also noticed improved handling in turns and bumpier sections of the road. The travel of the suspension was smoother and more controlled, so it was a nicer ride. I'd suspect it was better in terms of traction as well.

 

[Hot Runr Guy]

So, I really can't tell from the image. (I'm assuming this is a FWD Maverick with the 60911 Air Lift 1000 installed.) How much sag was prevented?

The reason I ask is because I won't be loading up my 2024 Lariat hybrid that heavily. I may only have 250 to 300 lbs of tongue weight and a hundred or so pounds in the bed. Will the 60911 give me, in my case, any meaningful reduced sag or better handling? Would I be better off to see if I can find the 60912 (11") model?

Thanks,
Andrew

Andrew,
In recent conversations with AirLift, they remind me that that the length of the bag does not do the work, it's the "squeezing" of the bag between the coils. I'd stay w/the 10" for the FWD.

HRG

 

[TimeOutside]

In my case...

...I'd stay w/the 10" for the FWD.

Thank you for that input. I've ordered the 10" version. I'll post back once installed. Now I just need to remember to get the 'before' measurements, including headlight focus. (Thanks for that heads up.)

 

[capecruiser]

The 60911 kit I used is a 4"x10" universal kit, I don't think I would want anything taller, the top and bottom of the torque vectoring springs are tapered so I didn't want the bag full height and interfering. From manufacturer info they also don't need to be full height, work by squishing between the coils to make them stiffer. Just my $.02.

Dean, looks like you have a bad shock. Leaking for awhile unless it was sprayed with corrosion protector

 

[Dean S]

Dean, looks like you have a bad shock. Leaking for awhile unless it was sprayed with corrosion protector Sponsored

Sprayed underside with Surface Shield, it's a mess under there but no rust yet.

 

[capecruiser]

Sprayed underside with Surface Shield, it's a mess under there but no rust yet.

Cool,I wasnt sure

 

[Maverick_Innovation_Designs]

Thank you for that input. I've ordered the 10" version. I'll post back once installed. Now I just need to remember to get the 'before' measurements, including headlight focus. (Thanks for that heads up.)

Let us know how it goes! It is a little deceptive because it mostly makes a difference at higher weights (400lbs+) so you might not notice a difference immediately. Unless you're doing some serious offroad... in which case I'd DEFINITELY be interested to hear what difference it made.

 

[dls235]

I ordered the 4"x10" Universal Kit (60911) - which is DIFFERENT than the AWD kit which uses 3.5"x8" airbags - and the overall process took about 30-60min. Unlike the AWD kit, we had minimal issues squeezing the bags in-between the springs (once we jacked up the wheel) which saved considerable time and energy. Since the spring distance is actually 11", we had to use both of the 1/4" spacers provided. I ended up making a small adapter to help keep the bottom spacer aligned, otherwise it was ready to come off when there was no load in the truck. I also recommended cutting the spacers to reduce the outer diameter by 0.25-0.5inch to keep them from interfering with the vector springs.

We ran two "test loads" of ~600lbs and ~1000lbs in the bed which equated to 20mm and 40-45mm of rear sag without the airbags. The airbags improved sag by about 15mm and 30-35mm respectively. When actually hauling those loads, there was a notable improvement in how the truck handled in terms of bumps in the road and cornering.

I would HIGHLY recommend this for other Hybrid FWD owners since the utility is well worth the ($150) investment. If I were to do it again, I'd order the 60912 kit since it's slightly longer, I just wasn't aware of it at the time.

Edit: I called and it turns out the longer 60912 and 60913 kits are discontinued. That would also make sense why they discontinued support for the FWD in general since it would require kits that they are no longer making due to low demand.

Fitment Based on 60911 airbag. The inner spring distance measured about 11-11.5"

View when inflated to 35 PSI. The spacer/protector on top just slightly interferes/touches the vector spring so it's not perfectly concentric with the airbag. That can be avoided by cutting a notch for the spring or reducing the OD of the spacer/protector before install.

Adapters used to help keep the bottom spacer/protector aligned underneath the airbag.

Top view of spring before adding airbag. Taking the wheel off wasn't necessary but helpful in getting access to install the airbag.

When uninflated and unloaded, the 60911 airbag had ~3" of extra headroom space. Going to 60912 or 60913 probably would have worked better.

~600 lbs test load with ~20mm of sag prior to inflating airbags.

What’s the installation difficulty on this? Especially for a not so auto mechanic savvy person such as myself.

 

[Maverick_Innovation_Designs]

What’s the installation difficulty on this? Especially for a not so auto mechanic savvy person such as myself.

Much easier than people previously mentioned, especially if you get the proper version/size for your truck. We took the wheel off to make access a little bit easier, but it wasn't entirely necessary. As long as you can jack the truck up on one side (to unload the spring), it just takes time and patience.

For safety, please make sure parking brakes are engaged, you're using a jack stand, and a wheel chock so nothing moves around while you're underneath the truck.

 

[TimeOutside]

What’s the installation difficulty on this? Especially for a not so auto mechanic savvy person such as myself.

Pretty much what @Maverick_Innovation_Designs just said above.

For me, who is not a motor head by any stretch of the imagination, it wasn't difficult. It was just time consuming. I'm sure it took me a good three hours. Maybe more. But I've now hauled a full bed (by volume, not weight) several times, and a full bed plus an overweight trailer twice (550 miles each way). The ride was significantly improved and the trailer also pulled better. I'm glad I took the time to do the installation.

Note: After a bit of experimenting, I found the sweet spot on pressure to be about twenty five pounds.

 

[Dean S]

What’s the installation difficulty on this? Especially for a not so auto mechanic savvy person such as myself

Easy install, I think it took an hour or so, I did already have the truck on stands and spare tire dropped for rustproofing which made things easier.

 

[The Real Maverick]

Pretty much what @Maverick_Innovation_Designs just said above.

For me, who is not a motor head by any stretch of the imagination, it wasn't difficult. It was just time consuming. I'm sure it took me a good three hours. Maybe more. But I've now hauled a full bed (by volume, not weight) several times, and a full bed plus an overweight trailer twice (550 miles each way). The ride was significantly improved and the trailer also pulled better. I'm glad I took the time to do the installation.

Note: After a bit of experimenting, I found the sweet spot on pressure to be about twenty five pounds.

25 lbs is what I use too.

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