Adding air bags?

[lindel]

It occurs to me that the bump stop for the rear axle is on the bottom of the frame. If I put my air bag between the axle and the frame there won't be a bump stop and that can be "bad". With the lift I probably need to extend the bump stop a bit anyway.

I think I'm going to end up with the extended bump stops and I'll put the air bags in board of the frame.

I don't remember if the frame is fully boxed back there. If not, it's a good excuse to box the frame to add some strength to a point that wasn't intended to hold extra weight and then weld the upper bracket to the plate I weld in to box the frame.

I don't believe the frame is boxed in that area. IIRC, the only place the frame is boxed is all north of the crossmember.

[localfiend]

I've been planning on doing this on my gladiator, and it sounds like you've come to the same conclusions I have. I plan on boxing in the section of frame above the axle, and then installing a set of air bags inboard. I'm keeping half ton springs for ride quality, and installing a 14-bolt to handle heavy loads. The springs are so wide on these old trucks that putting the bags inboard will not be a problem, in fact, it's probably pretty close to normal distance for any other rig.