Air Suspension
10-06-2003, 07:23 PM
#3
Senior Member
SL Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 841
Yeah but I had some questions... Hopefully eric can hop in here and answer some too.
Does it hurt the suspension at all?
Hows the ride?
I drive almost 100 miles a day, do you recommend it for a daily driver?
What kinda price am I looking at?
Can you adjust the height? and how hard is it to do that?
How loud is the compressor?
How long will the install take?
Lastly, for VAN.. can you do the airbag set up? Seeing how you dropped the s14 motor in Eds car, maybe you can do the bags.. All depepnding of course..
:D
Does it hurt the suspension at all?
Hows the ride?
I drive almost 100 miles a day, do you recommend it for a daily driver?
What kinda price am I looking at?
Can you adjust the height? and how hard is it to do that?
How loud is the compressor?
How long will the install take?
Lastly, for VAN.. can you do the airbag set up? Seeing how you dropped the s14 motor in Eds car, maybe you can do the bags.. All depepnding of course..
:D
10-06-2003, 08:08 PM
#5
Senior Member
SL Member
Scion Evolution
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 618
van can help you do it. i will help answer questions, but keep in mind there are varying opinions on this matter. for instance, van doesn't like to use cylinders, which is what i used for my front suspension.
Does it hurt the suspension at all?
Hows the ride?
I drive almost 100 miles a day, do you recommend it for a daily driver?
What kinda price am I looking at?
Can you adjust the height? and how hard is it to do that?
How loud is the compressor?
How long will the install take?
it will not hurt the suspension if done properly. handling will still be good but you are going to want to go easy on the car in hard corners since you don't want to risk anything breaking. so far i haven't had anything major happen since i've done my setup...about 8000 miles or so.
the ride is fine, except when it's all the way up or down; in those positions it rides like a stagecoach.
i drive about 100 miles a day too. no problems.
you are looking at around $1000-$2000 for part depending on quality of parts used, and what kind of valves, compressors and tank(s) are use; and anywhere from free to $3000 for labor, depending who does it and how much fabrication is required.
height can be setup when the air is being installed. you have a set amount of travel so you can either make it go from kind of low to pretty high, or stock height to super low, like mine is, or anywhere in between. after it's all installed, it's hard to raise and lower the height of the car outside of the parameters of the airbags/cylinders/etc.
compressors are different as far as size and loudness. i have 2 small thomas compressors that work well and are pretty quiet. they are under the car in the back so they aren't too loud, but you can hear them when driving. they aren't on all the time. there is a cutoff switch that turns the compressors on when the air pressure gets too low and off when it reaches a set psi. without that, you can install a manual switch but that sucks because you don't want to deal with shutting it on and off by hand.
the install will take from 3 days to 3 weeks, depending if you have all the parts and if you have a qualified person doing the install. i did it with my friend and it took 2 1/5 days, but he said at his old shop they required 7-10 days to install and do all the testing, and it cost about $4000 for a complete system for a civic or s-10 on average. the place was called LSD in south orange county.
Does it hurt the suspension at all?
Hows the ride?
I drive almost 100 miles a day, do you recommend it for a daily driver?
What kinda price am I looking at?
Can you adjust the height? and how hard is it to do that?
How loud is the compressor?
How long will the install take?
it will not hurt the suspension if done properly. handling will still be good but you are going to want to go easy on the car in hard corners since you don't want to risk anything breaking. so far i haven't had anything major happen since i've done my setup...about 8000 miles or so.
the ride is fine, except when it's all the way up or down; in those positions it rides like a stagecoach.
i drive about 100 miles a day too. no problems.
you are looking at around $1000-$2000 for part depending on quality of parts used, and what kind of valves, compressors and tank(s) are use; and anywhere from free to $3000 for labor, depending who does it and how much fabrication is required.
height can be setup when the air is being installed. you have a set amount of travel so you can either make it go from kind of low to pretty high, or stock height to super low, like mine is, or anywhere in between. after it's all installed, it's hard to raise and lower the height of the car outside of the parameters of the airbags/cylinders/etc.
compressors are different as far as size and loudness. i have 2 small thomas compressors that work well and are pretty quiet. they are under the car in the back so they aren't too loud, but you can hear them when driving. they aren't on all the time. there is a cutoff switch that turns the compressors on when the air pressure gets too low and off when it reaches a set psi. without that, you can install a manual switch but that sucks because you don't want to deal with shutting it on and off by hand.
the install will take from 3 days to 3 weeks, depending if you have all the parts and if you have a qualified person doing the install. i did it with my friend and it took 2 1/5 days, but he said at his old shop they required 7-10 days to install and do all the testing, and it cost about $4000 for a complete system for a civic or s-10 on average. the place was called LSD in south orange county.
10-06-2003, 08:37 PM
#6
Senior Member
Wagonistas
SL Member
iTrader: (-2)
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Holding the detonator
Posts: 3,353
if you are going to do it DONT CHEAP OUT!
do not buy cheap valves, fittings, etc.
I recommend Parker valves and fittings and only D.O.T. aproved tubing.
anything that you can get at home depot does not belong on your suspension.
also, solder all wires. crimp on connectors can fail, leaving you stranded.
and do not buy anything from AIM!
do not buy cheap valves, fittings, etc.
I recommend Parker valves and fittings and only D.O.T. aproved tubing.
anything that you can get at home depot does not belong on your suspension.
also, solder all wires. crimp on connectors can fail, leaving you stranded.
and do not buy anything from AIM!
10-06-2003, 08:43 PM
#7
Senior Member
SL Member
Scion Evolution
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 618
Originally Posted by ikonXone
if you drive a 100 miles a day i wouldn't do it. it will put a big strain the suspension and give you a lot of problems
10-06-2003, 09:24 PM
#8
Senior Member
SL Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 841
Hey guys thanks for all the info. I'm still debating on what to do. There are no coilovers here yet, and I don't want to wait. Yenno how that goes tho. If I can find a place that will do really good work. Or if Van will answer *cough*cough* :D Then I'll make up my mind.
BTW.. I think I just finally realized that the box isn't a racecar..
BTW.. I think I just finally realized that the box isn't a racecar..
10-06-2003, 09:54 PM
#9
Senior Member
SL Member
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Bay Area, CA
Posts: 338
I gotta admit that I have no prior experience to running an air suspension setup on an automotive application. I have an understanding of the principles involved, and am still going to run it on my roadster (which will be requiring way more custom work to get it all in!!), but like I said... I'm still an air suspension newbie. It does seem simple enough in theory, and after all is said and done, it is just a simple mechanical and electrical upgrade. Need....shop....space....soon....!
10-06-2003, 10:09 PM
#10
Senior Member
SL Member
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Henderson, NV (was 909)
Posts: 4,128
Originally Posted by eric m.
Originally Posted by ikonXone
if you drive a 100 miles a day i wouldn't do it. it will put a big strain the suspension and give you a lot of problems
10-06-2003, 10:12 PM
#11
Senior Member
SL Member
Scion Evolution
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 618
don't overlook the work required to mount all the parts. without proper understanding of welding and strength of certain types of metals, you could have not only a difficult time with the install, but a very dangerous vehicle if any should go wrong and break under stress. i used 4" cylinders. i was going to use 3" but i wanted to go the extra mile to make sure they could handle several times the load i was going to be putting on the car. cylinders are cool because they use 1/3 the air of bags and they are fast!
please ask questions if you have them. i am happy to help. i'm sure randy is too. in fact, i heard randy is installing free airbags for TSW members! $40 if you are not a member. PM him for more info.
i really just want to make sure that you guys are safe. safety comes way before looks, especially on a daily driver. if you make sure the car is safe, you can worry about the other stuff later.
please ask questions if you have them. i am happy to help. i'm sure randy is too. in fact, i heard randy is installing free airbags for TSW members! $40 if you are not a member. PM him for more info.
i really just want to make sure that you guys are safe. safety comes way before looks, especially on a daily driver. if you make sure the car is safe, you can worry about the other stuff later.
10-06-2003, 10:20 PM
#12
Senior Member
SL Member
Scion Evolution
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 618
good air bags will not break if nothing rubs them. they should last years if not abused. the problem is that most people with bags severly abuse them, and on truck applications they often rub on things, which will cause them to break prematurely.
also, SMC makes good fittings. they are expensive but they will last if you use the new metal ones. why someone would want to save a few bucks by using cheap plastic or metal fittings is beyond me. your life is basically riding on the air suspension. why risk it?
still, it would not hurt to have an extra bag in your car for long trips. extra fittings would be a good idea as well. cylinders rarely go out, bit it can happen.
i've had to drive home all the way down one time when i had a fitting go bad on me. it was my fault though. the fitting was up against the bottom of the car and when i bottomed out the tank a few times, it pushed the fitting up on the car and eventually it wore out and started leaking. i have changed the design and now it's working fine. i also had another incident where i had a hose too close to my exhaust and it melted a hole in the line. i had extra tubing with me so it was not a big deal. plus, my car is designed so i can ride all the way down if i have to, so even if everything breaks at once, i can still drive the car. i feel this is important and is one of the reasons i switched from 19s to 16s. for safety reasons, not just looks or lowness.
the only other problem i had was a wire breaking, but that was also my fault for not connecting it properly. it has since been fixed, although i think i am going to go under my car in the next couple days to check everything and make sure all the wiring is up to spec and doing ok. you have to maintain these kinds of things before something goes wrong.
also, SMC makes good fittings. they are expensive but they will last if you use the new metal ones. why someone would want to save a few bucks by using cheap plastic or metal fittings is beyond me. your life is basically riding on the air suspension. why risk it?
still, it would not hurt to have an extra bag in your car for long trips. extra fittings would be a good idea as well. cylinders rarely go out, bit it can happen.
i've had to drive home all the way down one time when i had a fitting go bad on me. it was my fault though. the fitting was up against the bottom of the car and when i bottomed out the tank a few times, it pushed the fitting up on the car and eventually it wore out and started leaking. i have changed the design and now it's working fine. i also had another incident where i had a hose too close to my exhaust and it melted a hole in the line. i had extra tubing with me so it was not a big deal. plus, my car is designed so i can ride all the way down if i have to, so even if everything breaks at once, i can still drive the car. i feel this is important and is one of the reasons i switched from 19s to 16s. for safety reasons, not just looks or lowness.
the only other problem i had was a wire breaking, but that was also my fault for not connecting it properly. it has since been fixed, although i think i am going to go under my car in the next couple days to check everything and make sure all the wiring is up to spec and doing ok. you have to maintain these kinds of things before something goes wrong.
10-10-2003, 12:24 AM
#13
Senior Member
SL Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 841
I still haven't found a good air bag shop around here. I met some guy that did bags on his..check this out.. F350 dully. 
... He doesn't work for a shop or anything and he doesn't want to do bags for me either 
.. But it's still an option... ____ I might even just say whatever and do the springs like everyone else.
How are your bags holding up? Anything else go wrong *knock on wood*? What kind of maintanance is associated with the suspension?
Thanks,
Daniel
... He doesn't work for a shop or anything and he doesn't want to do bags for me either .. But it's still an option... ____ I might even just say whatever and do the springs like everyone else. How are your bags holding up? Anything else go wrong *knock on wood*? What kind of maintanance is associated with the suspension?
Thanks,
Daniel
10-10-2003, 05:12 PM
#16
Senior Member
SL Member
Scion Evolution
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 618
there you go. complete kits. finally.
as long as you wire it up right and use good quality parts and put them together tightly and the right way, it will be fine. i have just had minor things but it's all stuff that was my fault.
as long as you wire it up right and use good quality parts and put them together tightly and the right way, it will be fine. i have just had minor things but it's all stuff that was my fault.
10-13-2003, 10:34 PM
#19
Member
SL Member
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 55
there is a shop in san jose that does bags this guy makes the mounts for anything we will make the car hop what ever you want it to do he is the best at that
the name of the shop is sic motorsports he is on sunset and alum rock in san jose
the name of the shop is sic motorsports he is on sunset and alum rock in san jose
