Howdy all. I have a Sun Valley Popup TC on an F250 (1700 lbs). Everything rides OK, but after as cross country trip from VA to AK have decided to purchase some air bags and shocks to lift some and steady the ride. Looking for suggestions from the worthy forum participants as to what brands have worked best and are quality/reliable.

Firestones or air rides. both will eventually leak in time... mostly at hose connection points with age. I use a small portable air unit to add air. You may only require 35lbs is all for that particular load.

Experiment.

Never tried them myself, but supposedly Rancho 9000 air adjustable shocks are very good. If you wish to go fancy they offer an air pump built in allowing you to adjust shocks according to road conditions.

Biggest problem noted is user's over inflating them causing the seals to blow. Not a good thing I suppose.

I've used both the Air-Lift and Firestone air bags. Both were easy to install and work equally well. I'd let price dictate my choice not the name.

My pick for the best truck camper shock would be the Rancho RS9000XL series. I've used them on 3 different trucks and they can't be beat, in my opinion. These shocks are not "air" shocks, but are adjustable via a control knob on the shock that changes the dampening in the shocks via valving. You can buy an in-cab adjustment feature from Rancho called "MyRide", which uses air pressure to change the shock dampening in lieu of manually turning the control knob. I don't believe (and I may be wrong) that the MyRide is actually "airing-up" the shocks. I bought this system for my 2008 Ford Super Duty diesel and there is not a place in the engine compartment (super crowded) to mount the air compressor or wireless receiver that comes with the MyRide. Plus, I got to thinking about more hoses and fittings (possibility of air leaks) and sold the thing on Ebay. I decided I wasn't too old or lazy to get under the truck and turn the knobs.

My current rig is a 2008 F350 4x4 dually with an Arctic Fox 1150. The air bags were a must considering my camper weighs 4,500#s, but the truck would sway in cross winds or when an oncoming 18 wheeler passed, due to the factory shocks, which are almost new (only 15k miles on the truck) not properly controlling the load. On went the Rancho RS9000XL's, set the rears to 8 and the fronts to 7 and the sway is gone and the ride is much more controlled.

The Cheapest place for Ranchos = www.tsetruckstuff.com

You'll have to shop around for the best price on the airbags.

I have an even smaller Sun Valley Pop-up which I'm going to put on something about the size of an F150. I was told I could just attach something called a leaf assist over the existing leaf springs and that would give me the added strength I wanted. Has anyone used these?