Air bags or WD hitch?

I am debating whether to buy air bags for my 2017 Taco with double cab and 6ft box or to purchase a light duty weight distribution hitch. I had air bags on my earlier 07 Colorado which stiffened the rear suspension also when not towing, which was not a bad thing for that particular truck. However the Taco's ride is already quite stiff for my 60+ back and I do not want to make it any stiffer.
I am wondering if anyone can speak to ride issues when unloaded and with a minimum air pressure of 5-10lbs.
I do not have a cap, only a Bakflip tonneau cover, so the back is quite light.

We tow a 2,300 lb Aliner pop-up trailer which has a (loaded) tongue weight of about 200 lbs.

I have towed this trailer last summer and the back end of the Taco is down a bit with the trailer not handling bumps nearly as well as with the air bag equipped Colorado. As we are off to Death Valley and northern Arizona (from Vancouver, Canada) in April, now is the time to figure out what we need.

Note that I do not need air bags for any other reason. We are not hauling a motorcycle or anything of that nature.

What would you recommend? Air bags or WD hitch?

 

Based on what you said about your back, I would get the WD hitch.

 

Both. We have a Wd hitch and a 4300lb trailer, airbags are going on next.

 

I would probably suggest a add a leaf maybe and a set of bilstein 5100's for the rear.
My stock sr5 suspension was extremely harsh on my back for the first few months. I wanted to lift my truck..... so I got a set of 5100's for the corners and a add a leaf. I didn't end up installing the leaf, as I wasnt sure which one it was in the entire leaf pack i picked up (rookie mistake). I did install the shortest leaf from the new pack, one above the overload (very bottom leaf). This improved the ride and my back no longer ached from driving around hitting all the pot holes we have here in California.
Just my .02

 

2300 lbs isn’t all that much honestly

I ran sumosprings on my 2016 and it was great while towing but firmer then I’d like all other times

My 2017 I swapped the rear socks to Fox 2.0. My biggest complaint while towing was the oscillation or bottoming out that would happen when you hit a bump on the highway. Swapping the shocks took care of all that for me.

If you are squatting a lot, then you probably need airbags or wdh, but you shouldn’t be squatting much at all with the weights you mentioned.

 

Thanks for your replies and sorry for not getting back to you sooner. I have installed Firestone Ride Rite air bags but the ride is too stiff now and I will be removing the air bags. The stiffness is not necessarily the result of the air bags themselves (at min 5 lbs) but the way they are designed. The bottom plate clamps around the leaf springs on either side of the axle and with the springs tightly held together some distance from the axle, the springs lose some flexibility. The quality of the Firestone air bags appears better than the Air Lift bags I had on my 07 Colorado (they were a bit porous, as evidenced by tiny air bubbles visible when dunked in a bucket of water) but the Air lift bags attached in a way that did not stiffen the suspension as much.

 

I take it you already took these bags off. I’m making a mount that fixes this and a number of other problems with Firestone’s design for our trucks.Will post photos and a description once it comes further along. Maybe I’ll make more if I think people want them and I can figure out an efficient fabrication method.

 

i used Firestonw Air Bags

iv observed when others use WD hitch not unusual the tail is still heavy
drops down a few inches

U already have positive experience with the bags
EZ install & adjustble for most scenarios
trailer or not

aired up properly they are Not Stiff/Choppy
they dont ride harsh

 

I think you are right that the bolts that secure the mounts to the springs fore and aft of the axle u-bolts are likely to be limiting the travel of the springs, including downtravel even with something like the daystar cradles. The Firestone mount basically prohibits the center eight inches of spring from arching, by tying the center of the pack tightly to the overload leaf.

There is the compression problem too. The OEM bumpstops are 3 inches tall. The Firestone bags are 2.8 inches tall at full compression, but they sit on a .9 inch tall platform. So you lose about .7 inches of compression travel at the airbags, which probably translates to a full inch or more at the wheel. Throw on a Daystar cradle that is another .7 inches tall, and you’ve probably lost more than 2 inches of compression at the wheel, on top of whatever droop is lost with the stock mount. I’m going to take measurements of compression and droop with several configurations to confirm, but that’s what I am expecting to find. I think my new mount design will solve all these problems.

 

Also, if you are on OE suspension and you use enough pressure in the bags to smooth out the ride (seems like 10psi is about right?) you now are running with a rake, which means the front tires are not going to be in alignment, the front brakes have to take on even more of the braking burden, your braking distances increase, you get more oversteer in emergency maneuvers, and so on. I think the firestone bags are a good start and add a lot versatility to our trucks but they can be improved.

 

never had to use 10psi (lots assumptions)
recommend only to bring rear back to level

folks rarely take in consideration passengers
camping equiptment loaded into bed o pickup centered over rear axle
simply alwaystalk about printed empty weight on the ball

while there are few disadvantages WD hitches set the front end up rear down
altering orig empty alignments off

1 or both are not a straight cure poured in concrete
no less braking is never a burden
emergency manuevers between home & camp site are covered by focus
adaptation and adjustment

 

By “assumptions” do you mean my observations from driving my truck, which has Firestone air bags?

I am not arguing in favor of WD hitches. I like the air bags. But their stock mounts are a compromise.

When Firestone designed them they deliberately avoided requiring the user to remove the axle u-bolts, because that would open up a big can of liability worms. It also made sense because the improvements to handling and ride quality under load still far outweigh the sacrifices of handling and ride when not loaded.

Firestone knows the typical Tacoma driver does not often challenge their truck’s suspension offroad, and does not expect (nor is even very sensitive to) sporty performance.

My comments about rake and alignment are based on my truck (the rear sits perhaps 5/8 of an inch higher than it should in comparison to the front on an average day), and observed front tire wear after 25K miles. The coils have undoubtedly settled some in the 25K miles since the factory, and the airbags have not let the leaves do the same, and running enough pressure in the bags to make the ride smooth has not helped.

For reference, I have a mid-height fiberglass top and a shelf in the bed (+ ~200 lbs) but I don’t carry a spare for daily driving. (- ~65 lbs).

Also, if you are running stock leaves in rear, you will see the firestone mounts will tend to make The slightest W in the leaves because they force the ends of the leaves to do the flexing.

The point is not that WD hitches are better. Firestone air bags are better IMO. The point is there is room for improvement for a driver who wants to get the most out of their Tacoma.

 

Under 4000lbs and rare towing I would sumo springs, it's passive and only works when needed.

 

1st person anecdotal for many is gospel
yet doent always speak to the masses
as the gospel doesnt

wouldnt recommend bags for ANY vehicle other than stock

yet helper leaf springs
coil sumos
other variants
all have disadvantages.................... few can be used across the board for EVERY iteration

not unusual WD hitch combos still tend to be tail heavy
steering that wanders
a bit o wallowing

I'll stay close to stock not push the limits

 

one thing I have come to appreciate about air bags is the independent leveling of each side. And when we camp in the back I park facing up a slight grade, then boost the psi in the bags, and it keeps the truck from rocking in a strong wind, or when one of us moves around.

The air bags can technically be converted to “passive” as you say, like with the Daystar cradle, but that tends to work better for vehicles with lifts and extended travel shocks, since it makes the entire assembly pretty tall. I’m working on a solution now that works similarly for trucks still running stock length shocks, and it improves some other things in the process.

 

I would also consider Timbren, not expensive and they are maintenance free...for life. They work only when something is hooked on the hitch maintaining a level otherwise you don't even know you have them. Also easy to install yourself save some $.

 

Our SES kit will accomplish everything you are looking for and more! They have recently been put through a torture test to see just how durable they really are and after the test we used them on a Tundra with no issues. Like mentioned above they are simple to install and maintenance free for life as well, making them a great alternative to expensive air bag systems.

Check them out here: https://timbren.com/p-35851-timbren-ses.html

 

I have a similarly sized trailer and use SumoSprings. The Timbren option is good too. Airbags are more complicated than you need, IMO. Also, someone correct me if I'm wrong but I think a WD hitch for such a light trailer is a mistake. I think you'll wind up distributing some of the truck's weight to the trailer and it may not have the axle, tires, etc. to handle it.

 

That's a baby trailer! A WDH would be a huge hassle for that little weight. They're creaky, pop, and can make it difficult to back up.

If your stock springs are sagging with only 200lbs on the hitch, I'd say your springs are shot. The real fix is to get a stronger leaf pack. I run Dakars and they're great - make sure you upgrade your shocks at the same time or you're going to be bouncy.

Sumosprings would be a good band-aid and less work / cost than springs. I run them on my Dakar pack. You do lose some travel and get a bit of harshness with them, but they keep the truck more level under load.

Ironically, if I could do it again, I would get airbags (which you've tried) - but I have a lift so that loss of travel isn't as big of a deal. If you're wanting to try Sumosprings next, PM me, maybe we can figure out a trade since I'm interested in airbags.

 

Some years ago we were looking for something to help with the rear sag on our 2004 Honda Pilot. Before the Tacoma that's the vehicle we took out camping and pulling a fishing boat. After install no more sag, no more blinding other drivers . Then we got a set of Timbren for our 1989 Ford E350 based motorhome. This time we were happy to know that Timbren makes a front and rear set and we purchased that too. Now we need to look a set for our Tacoma...front and rear, thanks Timbren for a great product!...I'm your ambassador