Yeah - if you're shopping for $8-12k trucks, it's almost a deal breaker, unless the rest of the package really adds up.
AG380 is a good suspension, I had that on an 05, that truck has 1.5 million on it now and the rear suspension has never been touched. The only downside to that suspension is its only rated for 38,000lbs. Not a concern for the vast majority though.
those wish bones on the ag200 were a pain. but if you don't want to spend the $$$ for the flat bars. just have a spring shop weld the pins to the wishbones(providing the wishbones are the steel ones). did that to a few trucks and as far as I know they are still running like that.
I have AG380 with 1,300,000 miles and the bushings are all still in good shape. Never had anything done to it and it rides good, I like it. The air bags are quick and easy to change out if you need to. I have a buddy with AG200 and his air bags were not so quickly swapped out as mine.
The AG 380 seems like a sweetly simple design. Since my loads are light, I don't mind the lighter weight rating, 38,000 max on the tandems, and 100,000 max GCW. One drawback is that I could not switch the truck to a lift axle, as that is not approved for the AG380. Don't think that will be a deal breaker for me though. I found the attached PDF from Kenworth that details the AG200 Vs. AG400 Vs. AG380. I attach it here for whomever finds this thread useful in the future. It of course does not contain the most useful bit of info in this thread.... the fact (opinion born from experience) that the AG200 is to be avoided. That knowledge you don't get from a brochure.
