weight capacity

I'm building a moderate rig for expedition type stuff. I'm trying to increase how much gear I can carry in the back and was thinking of air shocks. I've been searching around and a lot of people are saying they suck off road and will tear your shock mounts off.

The plan would be to plumb them together with a T and a valve. On road the valve would be closed for less body roll and off road I could open it to allow more articulation. I'm not looking to use these for lift but just put enough air in them to level out the load.

My questions are.
Do they really suck that bad off road and why? I can put up with some suck for the extra capacity.

Has anyone actually destroyed their shock mounts with air shocks? I can't find anyone who has.

Is there a better way for less than $150?

Hope I'm not beating a dead horse but I seem to have found a lot of speculation when searching and not a lot of facts.

Thanks guys

Have you looked into airbags, or "air helper springs?" They'd probably hold up better than air shocks, won't cause any trouble with the shock mounts (which you could always reinforce if you feel it necessary - probably weld some plate over the hole, and drill/tap to accept a longer screw in the body. The axle-end mounts would take some more doing...) and would have little to no effect on your ride quality unless you want them to (read: "unless and until you inflate them.")

May also be easier to mount - IIRC, they go in between the arch of the leaf spring and the "frame rail" - so you just stick them in place and fix them there using whatever means the kit provides.

It's what I'm planning on doing with my refit as well, if only to increase load capacity and/or not sag the springs when I'm hauling stuff about.

Yea, that's going to be the next thing I look into if I decide to stay away from air shocks. Just checking out my options cause moneys tight right now and air shacks are a lot less than air bags

I ran some Gabriel Hi Jackers back in the 70s-80s, worked well but all my use was on road hauling loads.

We use air bags on our kill trucks and they handle rough off road work just fine--some of the farms and ranches are "Straight down the dirt road for ten miles, then turn right up the creek bed for 3 miles, over the boulders, then just 500 yards ahead on the other side of the plowed field."