The_Hammer

I agree with everyone else, it’s best to leave them alone if your not replacing them.

This thing is really nice but more importantly it’s build VERY well with great insulation.

We are now the owners of a 2015 Grand Design Solitude 369RL! We will be able to pick it up today or tomorrow depending on when our neighbor is free since he’s towing it for us. This is going to be our new home since our old one was damaged beyond repair during last summers flood. In case anyone is wondering why my neighbor is hauling it for us I don’t have a 5th wheel hitch or brake controller installed in my truck yet.

It was nuts.

I bolted mine to the radiator support.

Is there any particular RV forum that you would recommend? The marketing stuff doesn’t work on me. I’m more of a “show me the details” rather than a “oh shiny! I’ll take it!” kind of person lol. I have a 12’x20’ Morgan building that is used as a workshop and storage building. There are a lot of things that will be kept in it rather than in the RV. Luckily my fiancé doesn’t have a massive wardrobe and shoe collection either lol. I hadn’t thought of that, thanks! That seems to be the single biggest issue with buying an RV that I’ve found, crappy service from the dealer. All the ones in my area seem to be hit or miss according to the reviews I’ve seen so I definitely want to make sure everything is right before I leave the lot with it. I’m going to use 3/4 ton springs and let the airbags take care of the rest. The tongue weight of this particular RV is ~2k lbs and the airbags are rated for 5k lbs so it should be ok. We also won’t be hauling it all over the country or anything. This is looking down my driveway, that’s my shop on the right. This is looking to the right of the driveway towards the river. This is looking back down the driveway, my dad’s house is on the left. We live at the dead end of the road. This is looking up towards my neighbor’s house. That’s the back way out of River Valley that I have mentioned before. Obviously this is behind the cabin next to the river lol. The river is actually about 40’ straight down from the top of the bank. The pin is where the cabin is. Hopefully this will give y’all a better understanding of things. There is ZERO chance of a flash flood and we have 3 or so days advance notice before the main road floods.

Nothing is set in stone at this point and any advise is greatly appreciated! I am completely new to the world of RVs and can use all the help I can get lol.

I’ll take some pics when I go out there later.

The airbags are rated for 5k lbs and the hitch weight for the RV we’re looking at is ~2100 so it should be ok. When I replace the springs I’ll go with a standard 3/4 ton pack without an overload. I’m also not sure what the deal is with 5th wheel vs gooseneck hitches. I’ve towed a 40’ gooseneck lowboy around a LOT with my friend’s F450 so I’m use to that tuggung feeling now. We won’t be doing any traveling with this camper right now as we’re ready to finally be back home on our property at the river.

It’s definitely a step up from the bumper pull we were looking at. The people up at the entrance of River Valley have a really nice 5th wheel camper they’re living in now. It was over $100k!

Current setup is working great. I still need to install the top plates but I’ve been busy getting things ready for the new RV. Looks like I’m going to be installing a 5th wheel since our original RV choice has changed. https://www.funtownrv.com/product/new-2018-heartland-sundance-2890cc-767722-5

I never knew this sight even existed! This will save me a LOT of time hunting down various small fasteners. Thanks for sharing!

@Mopar1973Man No apology needed man. Merry Christmas everyone!

Lol. It actually drives me nuts when I know something isn’t right on my truck.

I managed to scrounge up a couple of top plates so there’s that lol.

I’m also going to be using the lock-n-lift airbag spacers instead of a regular add-a-leaf for the extra lift.

I have a DOR track bar that’s good for up to 3” of lift. I also have a pair of the 0-2.5” lift Bilstein 5100’s and extended end links. So this 3/4 ton leaf pack has 3 main leaves, an overload on the bottom and an overload on top. My leaf pack also has three main leaves but there is a gap in the spring alignment clamp like it’s missing one. In the end I’ll probably just buy new 3/4 ton packs and be done with it. I’m done with all of the “WTF” mods that have been done to this truck.

Thanks for the info! I’m going to either buy or build a pair of traction bars later on. The end goal for this truck (suspension wise) is to replace my current 2” coil spacers with a pair of 3” lift progressive rate springs and install some extended control arms to properly center the axle. For the rear I’m planning to use the air bags as an add-leaf.

I’m never selling this truck so that’s not a concern. I bought it to keep for the long haul, othwise I wouldn’t have sunk so much time and money into it lol. It currently doesn’t have a dash and is painted with black bed liner. No one besides me would want this truck anyway lol.

After seeing what all is missing your probably right. These air bags do ride VERY smoothly though. I’m going to throw an idea out that might sound stupid (not unusual for me) and let me know what y’all think. I don’t tow/haul heavy loads with my truck that often. So, I was thinking about putting new 1/2 ton springs on my truck and using the airbags when I tow/haul heavy things. Any real reason why this wouldn’t work?

I can’t believe I didn’t notice the top plates are missing. One of these days I’ll have this truck squared away.

I think I’m going to do a tankless setup and just keep a cordless impact in my tool box. I’ll be installing an inverter later on anyway.

It definitely looks like there should be another spring in the pack itself along with an overload on the bottom. I see a new pair of springs in my future. I noticed that too. I left the inner fenders out so I can easily re-torque them. Air Lift says the same thing for the same reason. I didn’t install a compressor but I want to later on when funds allow. I didn’t think about using a bicycle pump. How well does it work? My end goal is to have a tank and compressor setup that will run an airgun. I’m running 40 PSI in mine to get the rear end up where it should be. A friend of mine has a bunch of the 1” Lock-N-Lift spacers from Air Lift. I’m going to add two to each side so I can drop the pressure without losing ride height. I found out (the hard way lol) a long time ago how important it is to have a smooth, clean cut on hard plastic air lines. Mine are leak free so I’m good to go.

I need to try one of those thermostats in my 12v, the huge temp swings are really annoying.

With the bags aired up the springs looks a lot better.