Pimped up Air Suspension

[Kerunk]

I finished fitting my new Air Suspension today, so I thought I would give the springs a rest overnight by pumping it up a bit higher than needed!



Having said that, I think the springs may be knackered as I expected them to return up at the ends, but the bottom leaf just stayed where it was, I will search to see if I can find a picture of a set of new springs or ones on an unloaded pick-up.

Cheers,

Rob

[dachre]

Hey Kerunk, looks like a good job.

I've been looking into getting a set for the back of my camper. This set cant re-inflate as it doesnt come with a compressor, just bellows and a few fittings. I know some have gauges as well. The set i was looking at fit in place of the rubber bump stops. Did you have to install any brackets, ect?


What air suspension type/company did you buy from and how much were they, if you dont mind me asking?.

Do you have any photos/details of the new suspension set up?

Sorry for the loads of questions.... ...

[Kerunk]

No problems with the questions! Just hope my answers help

I bought it from this guy: http://www.airide.co.uk I chose it because the price was right and it came with the gauges which other people make you pay extra for. I explained exactly which van I had and he sent me a kit which I fitted myself, not too difficult but..... I wish I had gone there and paid the £45 extra for him to fit it as it's awkward crawling underneath the van (remember mine is always fully loaded!) and also I found that the kit was not quite as he described in his instructions, meaning that I had to cut away part of his bracket to accommodate the LSV and also part of the LSV valve bracket itself to stop it fouling the bellows on the N/S. I also had to take the O/S upper bracket back off and drill another hole in it as it was not quite in the right place which made the bellows slightly off centre, probably wouldn't have made any difference, but I would know it was there and it would annoy me. The brake lines also need to be unclipped from the axle and I am going to need new ones made to form around the brackets.

I paid £455 which includes delivery and despite my previous comments I am very pleased with it, the gauges are in the garage out of the way and are easily pumped up with a little 12Volt tyre compressor. In the picture they are at 40PSI (takes around 1 minute to get there) but that is way too high and I think 20PSI will be about right.

Here are some pictures:






You can see where I have put some protective rubber sleeve over the brake line as a temporary fix to stop chaffing. And yes, the top bracket goes in place of the bump stops.

If you want I can take more pictures.

Cheers,

Rob

[Luke]

looks a nice bit of kit

[dachre]

Thanks Rob, the pictures are great. I was thinking of how it would all go into the tight spaces around the rear leaf springs and shocks.

Is there any work (re-calibration) needed on the LSV or will it be good left as standard, because now that the rear of the van is higher the LSV thinks there isnt much weight in the van and as you say, there is a lot of weight still in the back. So will you have enough rear braking now...

Perhaps with 20psi there isnt much difference with height so it doesnt matter?.

Does she drive/feel any better now... how about roundabouts?..

You've done a neat and tidy conversion there Rob. Thanks for the photos.

[Kerunk]

No problem, I will have to get the LSV set up as I have actually moved it a little so I will get the guy who does my MOT to set it up for me, but for the moment I just put it back in the same place. But you are correct, altering the ride height does affect it.

Only finished it this afternoon so haven't had a test yet, but taking it back to storage in the morning and I will report back tomorrow.

My main reason for doing this was to give the springs a bit of help as I think fully loaded 100% of the time can't do them any good.

By the way, I can (if I was so inclined) put the pressure up to 100PSI I guess it would be like a pram!!

Cheers,

Rob

[dachre]

Great stuff, Cheers Kerunk. Looking forward to hear about the road test...

[Kerunk]

OK, road test completed!

I dropped the pressure down to 30PSI and could tell the difference straight away, a bit too hard still. So down to 20PSI and that was much better less roll on corners and less "bounce"

But as I was going along I thought about how the system is configured and realised that I had left both the air taps open (no big deal, it just means that the individual units can equalise through the valve block) But I closed them both anyway and went down to a roundabout that I can usually take at 15MPH and hit it at 25MPH, no problem! Much less roll and it felt like driving a standard van!

So, in my opinion I think it was worth the investment, but don't forget, I wanted it to work!

In case anyone is interested, I bought this one: http://www.airide.co.uk and thought this one was too expensive: http://www.marcleleisure.co.uk/store/du ... 20068ddecf as you have to buy the gauge as an extra.

Cheers,

Rob

[dachre]

Great road test and its good to hear its money well spent.

From 15mph to 25mph at roundabouts...wow... thats actually a big difference.
And it now handles like a standard van, that should make a much better drive around those lanes too.

Cheers Rob, great info.