Storing a vehicle with AHC (1 Viewer)

[David*BJ70]

This winter, I will store my HDJ100 equipped with an AHC suspension.

I would like your opinion on my intentions to «relieve» my suspension component during the winter storage which should last about 4 months.

I will set my suspension at the highest position. Then, I will put stands (supports) at the 4 corners, under the frame. Then, I will set the suspension to «LOW». During the lowering, the vehicle will take place on the stand. While the suspension light still blink, I will shut down the engine.

Is it OK to believe, this way, all (or almost all) the weight of the vehicle will rest on the stands and not in the components of the suspension even if the wheels still touch the ground?

 

[suprarx7nut]

I don't think you'll be saving much by doing that. The components in the AHC system last a decade or more with continual use and no notable wear. If it's just sitting you're not going to introduce unusual wear to any component.

If it were me, I'd just park it as is and disconnect the battery.

 

[Das Shtig]

This winter, I will store my HDJ100 equipped with an AHC suspension.

I would like your opinion on my intentions to «relieve» my suspension component during the winter storage which should last about 4 months.

I will set my suspension at the highest position. Then, I will put stands (supports) at the 4 corners, under the frame. Then, I will set the suspension to «LOW». During the lowering, the vehicle will take place on the stand. While the suspension light still blink, I will shut down the engine.

Is it OK to believe, this way, all (or almost all) the weight of the vehicle will rest on the stands and not in the components of the suspension even if the wheels still touch the ground?

Report back if this works. I saw a Jay Leno vid where he jacked an old Citroen by raising the suspension and putting a jack stand under one wheel, then lowering the suspension, which effectively jacked the one wheel. I was sadly unable to recreate this with my Cruiser.

EDIT: I also thought this would make a great way to get out of a stuck situation off road. For example, there was a time I was beached, and afterwards, I thought that if I had lowered my suspension, it would’ve raised the tires, allowing me to put sticks and rock etc underneath, then I could’ve raised the vehicle again to become unbeached. If this works it would be a neat trick for the AHC guys.

 

[David*BJ70]

I am convinced that the tires will not lift off the ground... at least I would be extremely surprised by this.

This is not how the AHC work, this system only moves fluids from a place to another and does not work like the cylinders for articulating arms of an excavator for example

 

[CivicFerio]

I leave my LX470 park for months at a time as well. I start by fillinh up the tank to full, air up the tires to 44 psi, then set the suspension to LOW and disconnect the battery. As a side note, It has been a habit of mine since new to park the vehicle at low, my hypothesis is to get the AHC pressures as low as possible when not driving and having the springs and torsion bars carry the majority of the weight of the vehicle. Hopefully this will extend the life of the accumulators, only time will tell.

 

[nukegoat]

Waste of time/effort

 

[Kabanstva]

I wouldn’t even bother.

 

[whitenoise]

I've done this each winter for 5 winters now. I'm not sure if it actually slows the process of nitrogen diffusion across the accumulator (globe) rubber membrane, but I don't mind spending the 10 minutes to do this - it can't hurt. It eliminates chances of flat spotting the tires at a minimum even if AHC is unaffected. Also your suspension bushings will thank you. There will still be a little bit of load on the tires but can't imagine it's more than a couple of hundred pounds each. The tires won't actually lift off like a Citroen though.

 

[suprarx7nut]

I've done this each winter for 5 winters now. I'm not sure if it actually slows the process of nitrogen diffusion across the accumulator (globe) rubber membrane, but I don't mind spending the 10 minutes to do this - it can't hurt. It eliminates chances of flat spotting the tires at a minimum even if AHC is unaffected. Also your suspension bushings will thank you. There will still be a little bit of load on the tires but can't imagine it's more than a couple of hundred pounds each. The tires won't actually lift off like a Citroen though.

Good call on flat-spotting tires. That's the best argument I've heard for this sort of short term storage idea.

 

[hoser]

I usually just hyper-inflate my tires to their maximum recommended pressure. And then adjust when I actually drive it.