Concerns with Fifth Wheel hitch
There have been several posts on the forums regarding concerns with interference between the hitch brackets and airbag brackets particularly with the short bed truck.  I wanted so share my findings and experiences with others and if they choose to install AirLift(R) airbags, perhaps their installation will go more smoothly.

My son (the ugly ass Reindeer pictured below) and I installed the Reese(R) 16K slider hitch according to the instructions provided by Reese(R).  Actually, he is a lot of fun to work with and we laugh more than we should be allowed.  Perhaps I should rent him out. The hitch has been installed and operational for about 9 months.

The Reese(R)Rails Instructions for the Reese(R) Hitch indicate using the front hole of the rear hitch rail for the bracket that attaches to the truck frame.  This caused interference with the upper airbag bracket and overlapped almost the whole flange of the airbag bracket.  The simple solution was to move the hitch bracket from the front hole of the rear rail to the rear hole of the rail.  To do this, I had to drill 2 new holes in the bracket and redrill 2 holes in the frame on both sides.  The reason for the 2 new holes in the bracket is there is a cross member right where the bolts would have landed using the predrilled bracket holes.  After this was done, there was plenty of room for the airbag brackets.

 

Preparation
The first thing to do is jack up the truck and remove both rear wheels.  You need to support the rear axle of the truck so the suspension is in the normal load position.  The truck should be near level.  Measure the distance from the center of the hub to the highest point in the wheel well cutout - both sides should be equal - adjust as needed.  I jacked up the truck with a floor jack, used 2 ramps and 4x4 blocks to support the axles, did my measurements and had to raise the right side about 1/2" to fine tune the height - probably a result of a sloping driveway.
 

U-bolts too long
I loosely assembled the airbags with the brackets and attempted to put them in place - quickly discovered all the U-bolts for the axle had to be cut off to accommodate the lower airbag bracket which straddles the truck U-bolts.  Just used a hacksaw and a little work - done.

 

Emergency cable bracket
The emergency brake cable runs along the truck frame on the drivers side.  The AirLift(R) instructions indicate removing the retainer bolt and put it in from the outside inward to avoid contact with the airbag.  After doing this I bent the tab that holds the assembly from rotating into the hole below the bolt hole.

 

The upper right corner of the upper airbag bracket on the drivers side could scrub the emergency cable so I ground the corner round and smooth just in case.

 

Marking and Drilling with temporary airbag assembly
The AirLift(R) instructions indicate the proper installation height range for the airbag should be 5-8".  Then the statement was slightly modified stating - you should place the upper bracket up as high as possible.  When in place, I could extend the airbag to just shy of 7" without conflicts.  Any more than that, the upper bracket flange would hit the truck bed flange.  So I settled for 6 3/4" and thought this was acceptable.

Working with the assembled bags, they would bend, compress and extend.  Trying to hold them in place, measure for the proper height, mark and drill was difficult.  I wanted to keep them as equal as possible, so I cut 2 pieces of 4X4X6 3/4" lumber with a cutoff saw to assure flat and square.  Then used the wood in place of the airbag itself using large screws to hold the bracket to the block of wood.  This gave me a good rigid assembly to use for the template for marking and drilling.

I placed the assembly (with the wood block) and lower bracket over the U-bolt bracket on the truck springs and pressed the upper bracket toward the frame...it was perfect.  I marked the hole using a 3/8" bit just to keep the hole centered in the bracket hole and to get the hole started, then changed bits to a 1/4" for a pilot hole, then back to the 3/8" to finish.  I pushed a bolt through the hole to hold the bracket in place, marked and drilled the remaining holes.  Other than the emergency brake cable, both sides were exactly the same, so there is not right/left issues.

Airbag and Airhose assembly
Once the holes were drilled into the frame, I reassembled the airbags completely using all the appropriate hardware.  The air line hose was about 12' feet long and both ends were terminated with a valve stem.  The notion here is to cut the air line in the middle and making  2 equal length pieces and one end terminated with the valve stem.  The unterminted end just presses into an elbow fitting that screws into an insert in the top of the airbag.  The elbow fitting has a red insert - this stays in the fitting.  This is used to release the air hose in the event it has to be removed.

Note: Put the fitting into the airbag before attaching the air hose to the fitting.  We did one each way.  With the air hose attached it was difficult to get the fitting started into the airbag insert.

We continued with the final installation of the brackets with the airbags and air hoses attached.  The final bracket installation was a two man job as they use lock nuts rather than lock washers and knurled shoulders (like the hitch bolts) and did require a socket wrench on both sides.

I laced the air hose from the passenger side to the drivers side as I wanted all the control items on the drivers side.  I had a couple coils of air hose held out of the way with a wire ties provided with the airbag package.  The fuel tank fill access, hitch latch and slider lever, 7 pin plug and airbag stems are all on the drivers side - just my preference.

Air stems
We located a hole (like a double ended keyhole) in the truck frame and that one hole worked for both stems.  We placed a nut, washer and the rubber washer on the stem, pressed them both through the hole, then another washer and tighten the nut.  There turned out to be a problem with all the material thickness as the stem didnt extend beyond the outer nut far enough to get air gauge to take the reading.  They had to be moved.

I remount the stems on a small thin bracket that I attached to the upper airbag bracket which worked very well..voila - done!

Final View
 

The test
I didnt want to tote my compressor to the storage of the 5er so I guessed at how much the truck sagged.  I laid a board across the bed over the side walls and placed another board on the ground leaning against the this board and truck.  I inflated the bags until they had lifted each side about 1".  After our last trip March 8, it seemed pretty close.  I will fine tune when I can find a good level area to measure the truck by itself then hooked up as well making the necessary air adjustments.

Final conclusion
Overall it wasnt too bad of project, but seemed a little more difficult having to move the hitch brackets.  This did require 2 holes per hitch bracket and 2 holes per side in the truck frame.

The quality of the AirLift(R) is superb.  The brackets are extremely heavy duty.  Everything went together as planned...and most importantly they DO work.

Where to buy
I bought my AirLift(R) airbags at Jegs or contact The Airlift(R) Company
The price at Jegs was the best I could find of about 3 locations.

I installed the Reese(R) 16K slider hitch, Jordan Ultima 2020(R) brake controller and AirLift(R) airbags.  If you have any questions or comments about any of these, please feel free to contact me.

Truck and Trailer before Airlift(R) airbags installed

AirLiftAirbagInstallation.htm
Reese16KSliderInstallation.htm
ExtendedPinSliderHitch.htm
BrakeControllers.htm

2001 Ford F250 PSD, Ext cab, Short bed, Island Blue/Silver, 4X4 Off-road, SOF Auto, 3.73, Alum Wheels,Chrome Step, Line-X(R), bedliner, Reese(R) 16K slider, AirLift(R) Airbags, Jordan Ultima 2020(R), Sunnybrook(R) 30RKFS