Air Lift air spring install - advice needed

[kevgentile]

Did mine yesterday, just the standard kit for 80/100 series. I used a unibit and made the holes in the lower perch about 1.25". So far they have been ok with about 8psi around town. I would like to get some of the red spacers that come in some of the other kits because I'm lifted with heavy springs and would like the bags to have a little more height. I can post pictures of my install later.

Keep an eye on those fittings hitting the perch. A perfectly centered hole, even enlarged, is going to rub as the bags shift and settle.
Ideally, the hole needs to run off center. My fittings have gotten caught up 2 or 3 times and still hitting even after shifting the hole back and out

 

[bmwjnky]

Keep an eye on those fittings hitting the perch. A perfectly centered hole, even enlarged, is going to rub as the bags shift and settle.
Ideally, the hole needs to run off center. My fittings have gotten caught up 2 or 3 times and still hitting even after shifting the hole back and out

Yeah I made the holes off center. What I did for my friend on his 80 series years ago was cut out about 1.5" squares with my angle grinder but I was out of cutting discs when I did mine the other day. If I have line issues I'll probably get some more discs and do squares again.

 

[cbbr]

I will be adding bags soon. Looking at Air Lift 1000 Air Suspension Kit 60728 to keep the rear end from squatting with a heavy trailer & gear. So a couple of questions 1) where do you get a spacer? 2) and kits better than the one that I am looking at?

 

[NearJetties]

No spacer included or needed. The air lift and firestone kits are nearly identical and are proven. I chose Firestone because I preferred blue to red

 

[MongooseGA]

I will be adding bags soon. Looking at Air Lift 1000 Air Suspension Kit 60728 to keep the rear end from squatting with a heavy trailer & gear. So a couple of questions 1) where do you get a spacer? 2) and kits better than the one that I am looking at?

I don't recall the kit# I used, but what spacer are you referring to? When I did my install, I just made sure to open the hole up enough and then ran individual fill lines to each bag. No spacer required.

 

[cbbr]

I have seen some guys using 30mm spring spacers. Presumably its to get a little more lift to offset sag.

 

[TheRealPoser]

I was meaning to post an update here and forgot. X2 what others said about making a larger hole that is offset from center to clear the pneumatic line. Following the instructions to simply increase the existing hole diameter to ~1" is nearly certain to get you a severed line. I asked about a spacer because Airlift sells one and it comes with some of the other kits. However, I extended the hole in the lower spring seat and it has been working well for me. In fact, after redoing the installation I did a ~1500 road trip in August fully loaded with camping gear, bikes, and towing a small trailer. The bags held up well with no leaks!

What I did was drill a second hole of I want to say 3/4" or 1" almost directly aft and just a smidge outboard on each side (the line didn't sit dead center for me). I located the new hole so that the outer edge of the hole just barely overlapped the existing one, then I used a dremel cutter to open it up to an oval, and finished off for good measure beveling the edge with a hand file (probably doesn't matter but what the hey).

Here are a couple pictures of what it looked like after I opened up the hole, and what it looks like with the spring installed.

PS I have to run pretty close to the 30 psi limit with all my junk loaded, but I'm probably pushing things right up to the limit on tongue weight. For reference, I have medium Ironman springs plus I think 20mm spring spacers in the back as well. I added a picture of what it looks like, it's actually not quite level but pretty close, and it doesn't bottom out anymore!

 

[MongooseGA]

I have seen some guys using 30mm spring spacers. Presumably its to get a little more lift to offset sag.

Ah. Those are going to be more for keeping the ride height where you want it with the bags not deflated (or not bags installed). Once the bags are in, they're what will keep the back end from sagging.

But if you did want them for purposes of tuning standard ride height, I thin Cruiser Outfitters sells them, probably a handful of others as well.

 

[cbbr]

The PO of mine said that he replaced the stock springs with 2860 OME Heavy's, but once the "big" trailer is hooked up it sags far too much. That's really what I was thinking when I read some folks using spacers.

 

[TheRealPoser]

Ah. Those are going to be more for keeping the ride height where you want it with the bags not deflated (or not bags installed). Once the bags are in, they're what will keep the back end from sagging.

But if you did want them for purposes of tuning standard ride height, I thin Cruiser Outfitters sells them, probably a handful of others as well.

I may be thinking about this wrong, but I think the spacer will add height in addition to the air lift. It is true that the air bag does the majority of the work by keeping the spring from compressing as much, basically increasing the spring rate. But the spacer sits on top of said stiffer spring so it's still going to add a tiny boost overall. With hindsight I wish I had done taller spacers. But they are definitely not going to solve the problem you have without stiffer springs or the air bags. I was sagging waaaay down with the setup in the picture above before the air bags, and routinely was having the tires hit the body (too much offset on those wheels). 30mm of spacer is not going to solve that problem!

BTW, I forgot to mention, because of the 2" lift I first tried cutting the internal rubber jounce down and leaving a little bit in, instead of taking it all the way out. The instructions in my previous 4Runner said to do just that instead of removing it entirely, so I thought it might make sense to leave 2" in there since the bag is spec'd for the shorter stock springs. With this the bag was hitting the shortened jounce even when mostly deflated and I was worried about how much it may reduce travel, so I ended up taking them out after all.

 

[Patron100LC]

My right bag was leaking recently... I know, a doctor visit was advised. But it ended up being a nipple touching the hole side, the circus called but then I explained that it was only the pipe not sealing well under compression and air escaping. My wife left me but I managed to fix the issue and now I'm bouncing happily again!
I added a rubber spacer made out of an old air hose that sits on top of the connection and prevents the metal touching directly with the hose connector, no loss of pressure in 2 weeks, success.

 

[MongooseGA]

My right bag was leaking recently... I know, a doctor visit was advised. But it ended up being a nipple touching the hole side, the circus called but then I explained that it was only the pipe not sealing well under compression and air escaping. My wife left me but I managed to fix the issue and now I'm bouncing happily again!
I added a rubber spacer made out of an old air hose that sits on top of the connection and prevents the metal touching directly with the hose connector, no loss of pressure in 2 weeks, success.

It's always a little awkward when the nipple makes contact with the holes. They're not really intended to interact together.

 

[MongooseGA]

I may be thinking about this wrong, but I think the spacer will add height in addition to the air lift. It is true that the air bag does the majority of the work by keeping the spring from compressing as much, basically increasing the spring rate. But the spacer sits on top of said stiffer spring so it's still going to add a tiny boost overall. With hindsight I wish I had done taller spacers. But they are definitely not going to solve the problem you have without stiffer springs or the air bags. I was sagging waaaay down with the setup in the picture above before the air bags, and routinely was having the tires hit the body (too much offset on those wheels). 30mm of spacer is not going to solve that problem!

BTW, I forgot to mention, because of the 2" lift I first tried cutting the internal rubber jounce down and leaving a little bit in, instead of taking it all the way out. The instructions in my previous 4Runner said to do just that instead of removing it entirely, so I thought it might make sense to leave 2" in there since the bag is spec'd for the shorter stock springs. With this the bag was hitting the shortened jounce even when mostly deflated and I was worried about how much it may reduce travel, so I ended up taking them out after all.

You're correct that the spacers will add some lift with the bags. In my experience, the bags actually do provide a little bit of lift on their own, probably negating the need for spring spacers for the sake of the bags. At least, unless you want the added height around town every day anyway. But, they certainly wouldn't hurt.

 

[bmwjnky]

The PO of mine said that he replaced the stock springs with 2860 OME Heavy's, but once the "big" trailer is hooked up it sags far too much. That's really what I was thinking when I read some folks using spacers.

I think 860's are medium springs, 863's are heavy and 863J's are extra heavy plus an added 15mm of free height. I have 860's on my truck and with not much gear in my truck and my tent trailer with a claimed tongue weight of 200ish pounds it sagged quite a bit till I did air bags.

 

[cbbr]

That would explain some of the issue. His statement in his sale ad here reads "Upgraded rear springs with the 2860 OME heavy duty for towing." Shame on me for not really researching that, but now that I know it may be time to buy the 2863's.

 

[bmwjnky]

That would explain some of the issue. His statement in his sale ad here reads "Upgraded rear springs with the 2860 OME heavy duty for towing." Shame on me for not really researching that, but now that I know it may be time to buy the 2863's.

Yeah, I'm considering 863's as well to possibly eliminate the air bags. The spring rate isn't too different from the 860s and I've had 863's and 863Js on an 80 series and they weren't too stiff.

For reference here is a chart with the OME spring numbers and their related specs, Common Rear Spring Replacement Specifications - https://tlcfaq.com/main/2012/09/common-ome-rear-spring-replacement-specs/

 

[cbbr]

I am looking at heavier springs AND bags. I figure that the bags will only really be used when hauling a trailer.