air shocks, who is using them?

[theAntihero]

Im considering getting some air shocks for the back of my ranger, my shocks are shot and the springs arent much better plus i use this to haul stuff in for work.

How is the ride of these things with moderate pressure in them? Which ones are you guys using? Are you happy with them?

 

[Doofy]

Been using a pair of monroe air shocks for 2 years, now. Will lift the rear end up 4 or 5 inches and the ride is great. They are a great aid to wimpy or sagging springs.

The ones I purchased were Monroe MA770 Max-Air. Got them from Amazon for $ 54.31 per pair. NAPA carried them, also.

 

[doorgunner]

I use adjustable rear air shocks....BUT....I made the mistake of buying light-duty shocks...

I can't haul more than 600 pounds with em without bottoming out (I removed the thick overload spring from each side to get a smoother ride when riding empty)

I'm going to get a new pair of heavy-duty airshocks next time....

The insturctions say to keep only 20 to 25 pounds of air in them to make the truck ride smooth when your not carrying heavy loads...my truck rides good when I do it that way...

(I also put adjustable air shocks up front...but that's another story---don't splash hot coffee all over my cab anymore either!)

 

[pjtoledo]

I installed a set of NAPA air shocks on the rear last spring. Ranger is a 2005 reg cab 2.3 with about 190,000 miles, has a fiberglass cap and always has about 400 lbs in the bed. Stock front 1-1/16" bar, rear bar is 3/4". At 40-45 lbs it only lifts 3/4 to 1". I also have some fairly heavy wheels on it now, 16x8 aluminum Outlaws, 245-70/16 Goodyear triple treads at about 30 PSI. The air shocks don't dampen rebound much, actually seems to make it worse. Another unpleasant issue is a result of the shocks being mounted so close to the center of the truck, its like the rear is supported by a single point in the middle and as such rocks side to side. In hindsight I feel it would be better with larger capacity rear springs and regular, but stiffer, shocks.
Never goes off road, 75% freeway or fast country roads.

 

[4x4mike2004]

Not that its gonna help, but I'm running ballistic 18 inch travel shocks in mine. work pretty good, but would benifit from a sway bar.

 

[theAntihero]

Hmm, im almost thinking of putting an add a leaf or something to stiffen up the rear springs and just getting normal shocks now.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I just went the way of custom building a set of leaf springs using Ranger and Explorer leafs. Built a 5 leaf pack for the Ranger using the longest leafs I could. Lifted it about 2" in the rear over stock, rode smooth empty, and I could put 1,200 lbs in the bed without it sitting on the bump stops.

I was always under the impression that air shocks were not ment to be really load carrying. Look at the mounts for the shocks, they're pretty light. They can help handle a heavier load, to help reduce sway, but they're not really a load-carrying device. Air bags are more of a load carrying device, but tend to be a little more expensive.

My F-150 is now my regular workhorse and I built a custom pack using F-250 and F-150 leafs in the same method as I did with my Ranger.