Air suspension

[yay.]

Why is air suspension so unpopular?

[RobertM]

From what I have seen the biggest problem has been reliability and cost of repairs.

[cuttin loose]

but what sort of repairs would you be up for??

the only thing i can think of is wear and tear on the bags from the springs rubbing together...

[RobertM]

Well if it is a factory one they are usually electronic so you have air compressor all air lines and conections and the valve block or what ever to control air flow. If you are out bush and something fails it is a lot harder to bodge a repair than for leaf or coil springs.

[camo]

My brother in law runs air bags in his patrol ute to supplement his coils when on trips towing his van. He swears it made a big differance. The big promblem offroad i heard was that the suspension drop was less and possible puntures.

[RobertM]

They sound like poly air bags.
With them be care full that you get all dirt small rocks etc that work there way around the bottom and under the air bag as it will slowly put a hole in them. Happened to me recently.

[yay.]

I'm just interested as airbags have been used in trucks for years. The system is relatively simple, and from a competition perspective, with a motor driven pump, the vehicle could be raised and lower to suit terrain, plus there would be many systems that could be tried to equal out axle load.

There would also be advantages of shock absorption (ever driven an airbag suspended sedan?), plus the ability to carry compact spares (if designed well).

I'm thinking of getting a design together and need to assess if there is any demand around, if there are existing systems available, and what issues to consider. Any input ideas or suggestions would be highly valued.

[RobertM]

Have a look at the Air Bag man. he is in queensland somewhere. He has a website just do a search and you should find him

[fourbyphil]

i think it is a great idea but the price needs to be competetive and reliability

[cuttin loose]

what about the air bags that are like the one's that Pat had on the 100 series in "Big red to the beach"...were they the TJM version??

are those one's any good?? they're a different shape to the airbag man ones.. do they work just as well??

could you cover them with something to stop punctures??

[chopper]

The TJM ones are "bellows" I heard from the horses mouth, as it were, that they made an amazing difference to TJMs Red 79 series ute, and have stood up to all sorts of punishment.

[luxute]

The Airbag Man is at Brendale on the northside of brisbane

[hux]

Airbags would be fantastic if you didn't have to go through the massive task of engineering approvals for a complete replacement of existing springs. A 79 Series troopie would be fantastic with air bags on the rear...a real comfortable LR tourer!

[DrTCM]

truck airbags are very different to polyairs truck airbags operate at about 70psi and polyairs or ok with 5psi.
truck airbags far outdo polyairs when underload though the problem seems to be cost and knowledge and problems with punture in the air lines ow every they are very good. remeber for a good convienet sstem you will need regulators for the air

[Humpy]

There are a few comp guys using air springs now.

At the woodpecker there were these two I noticed
The Christie brothers
Snake racing hilux

Truck pressures would have to be higher, trucks carry 40 ton loads plus the truck, not just a 2 ton vehicle

[grumpy221]

years ago i used to use air shockers....Hijackers they were called.....worked great on cars to lift the rear when towing etc i believe monroe had some too these replaced standard shocks mmmm i wonder if they would work on a 4b front and rear....with onboard compressor & equiliser........mmmm

[Mick015]

Dear all,

I've fitted both to a few vehicles and I have found that the biggest difference between them is that the airbag man appears to have a better 'bump stop' inside the air bellows.

The coil right (blue bag that goes inside the coil spring) is also alittle different to the polyair (red bag inside coil) The predominent difference is the way that the air lines are connected to the bag. With a polyair they use a small spring loaded clamp arrangement, where as the airbag man use a fitting that the air line slides into and is locked into place.

Air bellows are installed into leaf sprung vehicles, and are positioned between the axle and the chassis, basically the standard bump stop is removed and the bellows are installed in their place.

If you are using the coil rites or the polyairs, be sure to order the spacers suitable to the lift you have eg 2" etc.

Full air suspension is apparently excellent as it can be tailored for individual applaications. I have not used this system however those that have will either hate it ot love it, usually the latter. The problem here is cost.

As for the good ol' air shocks, they were effective in their time, but many unitswere installed using the 1 air line with a T peice feeding each shock. This system has inheirent problems in that when cornering you will get air transfer between the shocks and the inner shock will surge upwards when cornering, therefore pushing that side of the vehicle up and possible contributing to a roll over. For this reason airbags of all kinds are installed using individual air lines.


hope this helps alittle

mick015!