Sagging rear - Airlift 1000 system versus stiffer coils and Bilstien B6.

Hi -

I periodically go camping and load up the car.
I have a cargo hitch and noticed rear start to sag.

I’m looking into an airlift system. Has anyone ever used that or an alternative?

I don’t mind also putting on stiffer coils and shocks but don’t want to lower the rear.

Price point is under maybe 500-600 or so depending on the payoff: i.e. How much sag it takes away over stock springs.

if anyone has a good coil setup please let me know. I’m decent at wrenching just have not done anything to that car yet. About 40k miles on it.

Any info would be great!

You are not alone in wondering how a system like this could be used for load leveling on a Fiesta. I live pretty close to the Airlift company and consulted with them about the best configuration of their product for the Fiesta.
I measured my coils and assessed how much room would be needed to make a functional setup for the Fiesta and got this combination of components from Airlift company.
The first box was the 60904 air spring kit. It doesn’t include a control kit or gauge.
The second box is the Airlift 25804 control kit, aka the onboard compressor.
The third box is the 25804 load controller which allows you to add or remove pressure from the bags as needed from the driver seat.
The last two images are a of a spring bag being stuffed into a rear coil for a Fiesta. “Stuffed” is the best description of what it takes to get the bag into place in the spring.You could just install the Airlift spring bags and save the expense of getting easy adjustment. But I don’t like not being able to see what the air pressure is when I am using the Airlift system. My brother and I have installed and used similar air spring load leveling systems on other vehicles in the past.
Knowing what pressure the bags are at is really important to know if you expect to get the full benefits of having them. You could also get a highly accurate dial pressure tire gauge like is used in motorsports to check the pressure levels. I prefer the ease of having an onboard compressor and being able to adjust it accordingly from the driver seat at any time or place.
The Covid lockdown and restrictions at the time I was working on this put this project on the back burner. And when the company I worked for decided to shut down our office due to the lockdown, I had to leave it alone until my situation improved. Things are getting better now and at some point this summer I will be able to get this done along with four other projects or installs that I had in process at the time of the international debacle.

As far as comparing air springs to a pair of Bilstien B6 dampers and higher rate coils, I would say that you would end up with a much harder ride with the B6 and high rate coils during normal use. The great advantage of the air springs is the ride can be returned to normal when you are not carrying the load of camping gear. One of the nicer features of the Fiesta is the very compliant ride quality of the stock suspension.
There’s a discussion thread in the suspension section of the forum that specifically looks at the Bilstien for the Fiesta. The heavy duty construction of the B6 is what separates it from the all the other high quality dampers on the market. I have been enjoying the B6 on my 2011 hatchback.
If you actually go ahead with the air springs I would recommend getting a new pair of rear shocks because if the current ones are not working properly you will notice a much harsher ride with the springs under pressure and the load in the back. Just be sure to adjust your tire pressure to something in between what the tire pressure label on the door jamb says and the what the maximum inflation pressure is on the tire sidewall.