Steer axle air ride assist. NOT LOW RIDER.

Jesus, you people act as if the OP wants to drive 700 miles at 70 mph with a seriously overloaded axle. He's on a jobsite going maybe 30mph at best when he has the lift axle up. I see tri axle dumps driving around with the lift axle up while loaded quite often. And nobody is crying about it. So he breaks something on the jobsite, big deal. He's likely not gonna kill a family in a minivan.

 

In the Op's initial post he states "somewhat overload front axle on a regular basis", "12,000 lb front", "with them up it has around 18,000 on the front", "doing a lot of back and forth and turning around", and to finish with"the front suspension is like a mm from bottomed out". You all read that, right?
No one has even told him that all those add on kits are for ride enhancement not weight capacity enhancement.
No one (well, ok, a couple have hinted) that he has to look at the BIG PICTURE. You guys that think any damage that is done to an overloaded axle/suspension will only show up when it's in the overloaded condition, think that any cracks that occur when the steel is overloaded go away when the lift axle is down and traveling at highway speeds, all I can say is that it's you guys that drank the kool-aid.
The OP can drink with you, or he can buck up and build the truck to do the job.
Professionals, huh?

 

Lose the attitude here and you will get much better results.

 

My triaxle had a 20k steer axle though...

If your dead set on keeping your 12k steer axle I wouldn't change much other than going as slow as possible with your tag up...

I wouldn't waste my money on any kind of add on air bags.

 

Folks just gotta learn to use their heads for more than just a hat rack.

 

Personally I would stick a heavier axle in and add the air ride to the existing springs. That way you've got good ride quality and an axle that isn't going to eventually get screwed up from being overloaded by 50%.

 

My international has rubber helpers. They are only rated for like 2k I think. So probably wouldn't help much. Air ride assist will be a waste of coin. You'd be better off to add a leaf or two. Even then you'll still be over loading everything else. ie: tires, hubs and bearings, axle, drag links and tie rods, and steering gear box. Plus the weight and force is increased when off road. That's why a true 20k axle runs two steering gear boxes and my front hub seal is as big as most people's rear seal.