I've been playing with this thought also. Been thinking about replacing the rear springs with air springs, not air bags. Airbags go inside existing springs, air SPRINGS replace the coil springs. Air springs are also very height adjustable, unlike airbags, which are really just for increasing load capacity. From what I understand, brackets would have to be fabbed for the front , due to the torsion bar suspension. I have seen front airspring kits available for other trucks with front torsion bar suspension. In-cab Independent corner control is available for the springs/bags/shocks. I don't know how handling would be affected if kept at stock height with stock shock absorbers, but I would think it should be minimal. I would also think that some ride/ stiffness control could be achieved with a relief valve or two (on-road and off-road settings, manually activated through solenoids) combined with a supplemental reserve tank, which would cause the on-board air compressor to cycle less often after larger bumps and also to "dampen" the springrate of the airbags. Unfortunately, I know very little about springrate comparison between coil springs and airsprings, other than the fact that airsprings are used on the rear of semi-tractor- trucks.
As far as front and/or rear airshocks go, I would think that it's feasible to fabricate brackets to tandem-mount the airshocks with our stock shocks and springs and also incorporate the above mentioned relief system to allow for some damping, so that the ride is not so bouncy at higher inflation levels.
I am really intrigued by the thought of having on-road and off-road ride height profiles available to minimize the cv-joint and other wear problems associated with full-time lifts.
Overcoming the front suspension mounting is the major obstacle for either of the choices.
It seems doable, who's gonna be the guinea pig?
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