Once Reserved for the extreme off-road enthusiast, performance suspension systems are now just as applicable for fullsize rigs as they are for their smaller trail brethren. Now more than ever it's easier to convert your weekday worker into a dirt-gobbling monster that trades in those payloads for dirt roost come the week's end, but until recently there's been an unfair compromise where increased travel resulted in a decreased load capacity. It's time to mix a little business with pleasure. Hearing the cries of fullsize owners across America, Carli Suspension has developed a long-travel airbag system for the late-model 3/4- and 1-ton Dodge and Ford trucks. Sold as an entirely bolt-on system, the off-road-friendly arrangement allows for an impressive 10 inches of rear travel, without any clumsy bag spacers or overly complex brackets. Though fullsize wheeling isn't anything new, the technology in leaf-spring design has greatly improved. So if your truck yearns for the trail, but still needs to stay true to the workhorse that it was intended to be, then Carli's new long-travel airbag system just might be what you've been waiting for. Tech Notes Designed to work with your factory exhaust configuration, the Carli heatshield needed some minor tweaking to clear our 5-inch aftermarket exhaust system. We headed out to the hills to cycle our new setup and see how the bags fared under a little desert abuse. After putting more than 2,000 mixed miles on the entire setup, we are pleased to report that we've had no issues or complaints about our Carli long-travel system. Derived from beefy 1/4-inch steel, the upper airbag bracket uses a total of six bolts to secure it in place. Using the two existing frame holes it's a good idea to first bolt the bracket into place and mark exactly where the new holes need to be drilled.Derived from beefy 1/4-inch steel, the upper airbag bracket uses a total of six bolts to s While relocating the factory axle breather, the lower attachment bracket bolts in a U-fashion, securing its place by using a set of notches designed to keep the bag from rotating under axle torque. This means when you throttle down, the bag doesn't rotate out.While relocating the factory axle breather, the lower attachment bracket bolts in a U-fash All the necessary air plumbing is provided in the kit, including a set of core removers to knock out all that unwanted air when it's time to hit the dirt. Though you can easily mate the system with an aftermarket compressor, we chose to run our lines out the rear of the truck for easy access to an outside air source.All the necessary air plumbing is provided in the kit, including a set of core removers to SOURCES Carli Suspension www.thecarlisuspension.com By Ali Mansour Enjoyed this Post? Subscribe to our RSS Feed, or use your favorite social media to recommend us to friends and colleagues!
