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Pics of my Total Load Control and Wireless One Install

4K views 12 replies 7 participants last post by  ArcticWhite 
#1 · (Edited)
This is my install on a 2012 Sport 1500 4x4 Crew.

The total load control air bags are the easiest I have ever installed. I have installed Firestone air bags on a 2005 Dodge ram 1500 and on a 2012 F150 and they took significantly more effort.

Remove the bump stops. Then one bolt to mount the lower plate to the axle, slide the air bag keeper bolt through the right hole on the lower plate, then 4 bolts to bolt the two plates that sandwich the top of the air bag plate to the part of the frame that used to hold the bump stops. Literally a 10 min job on a lift to moun the air bags.

My two minor complaints: 1. the top plate when bolted tightly still allows the air bag to turn freely. I can't see any reason why they couldn't have used thinner spacers that would allow the plates to tighten down more and not allow the air bag to spin. If the air bag does move a bit, eventually the air line to it could break. 2. I bought the kit because the web site showed the air bag, when deflated, completely disengages from one side. Therefore, not affecting the ride at all. The new design does not seem to allow for this. Having to keep air pressure in the bags at all times (even 5psi) does affect ride a bit (minimally).

Pics of the two bags installed:
Driver's side:



The bolt has to wiggle through the axle locator arm mount. Fairly easy if you use a magnet to hold the bolt.

The next step was to mount the air compressor and air distribution block. I live in a cold climate, so I wanted the air compressor in the cab of the truck. I mounted it behind the rear seat, as it has easy access to the exterior of the truck through a plastic plug. It also is very well hidden.




With the rear seat reinstalled:


Next came routing the air lines to the air bags from the distribution block behind the rear seat. I wanted back up in case the air compressor failed while towing a trailer on a trip, so I installed a T connection after the distribution block allowing me to use an external air hose to fill the bags. I also used cable loom to protect all of the air hose from rocks and rubbing damage.
Picture of the air connections underneath the truck below the rear seat:
 
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#2 ·
I thought the best place for the manual air fill valve was in the gas cap area, so it is out of the elements and is convenient to access if having to fill the air bags at a gas station. The plastic around the gas filler just pops out. I then drilled a hole, mounted the valve and popped the plastic back in:


For the air line going back to the driver air bag, I routed it over the frame, down to the brake lines, and cable tied it to the brake lines all the way to the driver’s side air bag.
Zip tied to brake lines along frame rail:

Above the rear driver’s side air bag, I put in another T fitting, dropped one line down to the air bag, then routed the other over to the passenger air bag:
The passenger air line I routed along the brake line, over the spare tire.

 
#3 ·
I then slipped it over the frame rail to stay away from the exhaust. The exhaust is very close to the air bag connector on the passenger side. I brought the line in from the far side of the frame rail, and cable tied it to the bump stop mount:



This gave lots of clearance to the exhaust pipe.

Finally, all that was left was to route the ignition power wire for the airless one system to the front fuse box and tap a fuse. Again, I routed the wire down the brake lines along the frame rail and right up to the brake ABS solenoid in the engine compartment. By the engine ECU, you can route the able into the fender behind the battery and have it come out at the fuse box. I drilled a hole in the side of the fuse box, as to not wreck the lid seal. I routed the cable through the hole and sealed it with black silicone. You can see in the picture below the fuse I tapped. This fuse is meant for heated rear seats, which 2012 sport’s do not have. If you tap the left side of the fuse, you do not need to use an in-line fuse, as you will already be feeding through the 20A fuse, which will protect the line to the back of the truck. The real clean way to do this would be to tap the wire coming off of this fuse under the fuse box. However, this gives me the ability to quickly unplug the air compressor if I ever want to disable the air bags without affecting anything else in the truck.
 
#5 ·
The wireless unit works well. Very convenient for swaping back and forth between towing and not towing. Also nice in that you never have to worry about air pressure. Set & forget, as it maintains the pressure. Love that I don't have to mount gauges & controls in the cab.

I had my first chance to try them out today. Night and day difference when towing a larger trailer. This is the only way to tow a 5000lb+ trailer with a 1500.
 
#7 ·
Nice writeup! Just a suggestion though, You might want to run a wire from the secondary fill to a ground just in the off chance of some static buildup occurs. Dont want it to discharge while you're filling up! Other than that I think thats a great place to hide it.
 
#9 ·
The TLC kit I installed on 2012 Ram Express did not rotate after I tightened down the top 4 mount bolts. Did the kit you received have the 2 studs that go in the bottom of the bag then pass through 2 holes in the lower mount plate to hold them in place ? I think it is a update to stop the bag from slipping off to the side on the bottom ? It was a update on my kit that I read about in the TLC vendor spot on this forum. Sent out free of charge along with replacement air fittings as my originals were leaking. Great bags and great product support. I had some sway when I was towing my camper so I removed the T and inflate the bags separately, no more sway. Firestone Ride Rite and Sport Rite air lines are installed the same way.
 
#13 · (Edited)
Well, not so happy finding this today:



The stud has slipped out of the bottom plate on my passenger air bag. I hate the fact that I bought this kit a few weeks ago and it does not have the updates that have been talked about on the forum.

I sent TLC a nasty email at 6pm tonight when I saw this. I had a call back to me within 10mins of sending the email. I'll give it to them, their customer service is excellent. However, I think it is crazy that I have to pull my air bags off and replace mounting plates with updated ones a week after doing the install. They said the wrong washers were shipped with some kits and that is why my top mount is moving. I need to remove one washer from each stud on top. They then told me that Canadian trucks appear to be different and that is where most of the problems have been and they have to ship me new bottom mounting plates that move the air bag away from the springs, and have two studs instead of one.

To top if off, likely because of the air bag movement, my air lines are leaking at the air bags now too.

Very, very, very disappointed that after all this work last weekend, I will be spending another weeked pulling the bags off to fix issues.

This sure seems like beta testing to me, as they started off with quite an eleborate mounting system when they were first introduced and have gone through quite a few progressions after that.

At least I caught it, thanks to this forum, before the air bag was destroyed.
 
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