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

[Maverick_Innovation_Designs]

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.

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[Maverexic]

I had these on my car's hitch hauler and they worked great. Thinking about something like this for hauling two ADV bikes at once... It's pushing the tailgate to the absolute limit though

 

[zach57x]

Would these be useful for towing?

 

[Maverick2022XL]

Would these be useful for towing?

Yep. Besides reducing squat from the tongue load they will help reduce sway as long as you don't require a weight distribution hitch. They are not a substitute for a WD hitch but do work well in tandem with one as far as fine tuning but is not required.

 

[Old Fart]

Does help with towing, we had an issue with a connection at the top of the right bag but once that was fixed I put the "T" in and use a single Schrader valve instead of trying to tune the suspension.

 

[HTX]

Great write up. Thanks for taking the time to document this.

 

[The Real Maverick]

There can be a gap (empty space) between the air bag and top of spring.

Actually I believe the manufacturer said this is desirable.

Your truck springs are not usually stretched. They are usually compressed.

I use the shorter air bags and they work great. I haul up to 1300# in the bed, and haul 1000# with some regularity and the ride is great.

I also tow a trailer and while the truck is slower with the trailer, you can't really feel it back there. Very little if any bounce or see-saw when going over speed bumps or railroad tracks.

Best (and easiest) Mod I ever did.

 

[The Real Maverick]

Something like this can be desirable.
You allow some normal spring action at the top for normal every-day driving.

Then the bags take some of the load when heavily loaded.

It's somewhat a matter of personal preference. Longer bags may be overkill.

 

[Maverick_Innovation_Designs]

I had these on my car's hitch hauler and they worked great. Thinking about something like this for hauling two ADV bikes at once... It's pushing the tailgate to the absolute limit though

My tailgate has the issue where the cable is too long so it's at 1-2 degrees below horizontal with my bed. I reinforced it two loops of 2mm Dyna X cord on either side to help keep it level and share the load with the cables. Keep in mind that the tailgate itself is rated for 500lbs, so it should be able to handle the dynamic load of two ADV bikes. The reinforcement was just being safe, mostly when we were climbing up and around it to strap the bikes down.

Between that though, we didn't have any issues with 2 sport bikes (I don't have the photo). I chose to leave the rope in place since it was thin enough that it didn't interfere with the tailgate operation so for the most part, I forgot it was even there.

 

[Maverick_Innovation_Designs]

Would these be useful for towing?

Yes, same rules would apply. It helps reduce the amount of squat when towing closer to the upper towing limit, which should improve the geometry and weight/power transfer.

 

[Maverick_Innovation_Designs]

There can be a gap (empty space) between the air bag and top of spring.

Actually I believe the manufacturer said this is desirable.

Your truck springs are not usually stretched. They are usually compressed.

I use the shorter air bags and they work great. I haul up to 1300# in the bed, and haul 1000# with some regularity and the ride is great.

I also tow a trailer and while the truck is slower with the trailer, you can't really feel it back there. Very little if any bounce or see-saw when going over speed bumps or railroad tracks.

Best (and easiest) Mod I ever did.

Steering geometry does improve when the bed of the truck is slightly lower. That's a common design for most vehicles I think, especially true for trucks. Based on my rough testing, it seemed to handle the best with about 300-400lbs in the back of the truck. I was concerned that 2-3" of free sag was a bit much though, my goal was for 1-2".

Just curious based on the photo, is your bag the 4"x10" or the 3.5"x7" (60859) ? It seems smaller and shorter than mine does without load.

Edit:
@The Real Maverick I called and while they don't have a spec for the gap, they ballpark a max 2" gap. A bigger gap is okay, but the truck will still sag until the airbags are engaged.

 

[Dad]

I can see how this would be very helpful and almost necessary for those who tow or haul loads. Great information here. Thanks for your time and effort in documenting.

 

[Maverick_Innovation_Designs]

I can see how this would be very helpful and almost necessary for those who tow or haul loads. Great information here. Thanks for your time and effort in documenting.

Definitely necessary when towing or hauling. When I hauled two motorcycles in the bed with gear, we were about 1200lbs out of the 1500lbs of payload capacity. The truck was able to handle it, but it didn't like going about 65mph. Adding the airbags made a notable difference, I wish I had done it sooner.

 

[The Real Maverick]

@mde-5062 the air bags "engage" from the moment you inflate them. My photo above was with no air pressure.
With pressure the rubber squeezes between the coils and resists their compression.


The top and bottom do not literally need to squish the air bag like an Oreo cookie for them to work. It's not intuitive.

 

[The Real Maverick]

This is my go-to image with 1300 lbs in the bed.

The is the "squat" with the air springs at 25 psi. Totally reasonable.

(I still needed to adjust my headlamps (easy to do) since this was a multi-day trip with a few hours at night.)

Another:

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