Airbag Man Installed

[kody472]

Installed these long boys this morning. I’m hellbent on keeping my airbags for some reason. Figured I would do it right instead of “tricking” them to lift the rear.

Shipping from Australia took about 2 weeks, but arrived in great condition.

If you can change airbags, you can install these.

 

[gxjunior]

Installed these long boys this morning. I’m hellbent on keeping my airbags for some reason. Figured I would do it right instead of “tricking” them to lift the rear.

Shipping from Australia took about 2 weeks, but arrived in great condition.

If you can change airbags, you can install these.

View attachment 3424491

 

[gxjunior]

Did you end up using all the spacers for the sensor?

 

[kody472]

Did you end up using all the spacers for the sensor?

I have not installed the spacers yet. I still have the washers in that I used when I tricked the bags the first time. Will probably change them out next time I have the tires off.

 

[HomersCanyonero]

Installed these long boys this morning. I’m hellbent on keeping my airbags for some reason. Figured I would do it right instead of “tricking” them to lift the rear.

Shipping from Australia took about 2 weeks, but arrived in great condition.

If you can change airbags, you can install these.

View attachment 3424491

Very cool. I ran tricked factory refreshed air bags for 4 years. It was nice offroading on them…but I eventually went for long travel rear suspension to maximize my articulation on rutted roads.

Keep us posted on how they work out for you. It is nice to be able to raise and lower the rear with airbags.

I do miss that feature, but overall I’m very happy with my specific rear long travel setup.

 

[kody472]

Very cool. I ran tricked factory refreshed air bags for 4 years. It was nice offroading on them…but I eventually went for long travel rear suspension to maximize my articulation on rutted roads.

Keep us posted on how they work out for you. It is nice to be able to raise and lower the rear with airbags.

I do miss that feature, but overall I’m very happy with my specific rear long travel setup.

I did the same riding on fresh tricked airbags. Kept going back and forth about springs or bags. Obviously, I decided to make the airbag situation better than what I had.

Since installing the Airbag Man bags, the ride is back to where is was. Smooth and not rough at all. I’m sure if I swap out my OME stuff for Dobinson or similar, the ride would be that much better.

We are taking a trip to Hot Springs in November and out to Big Bend NP in December. I’ll report back on the off-roading abilities. Not much of doing that around here in Louisiana.

 

[sjskinr88]

@kody472 , any more updates on the bags? I'm also looking into those for my GX. I appreciate what the air ride offers in regard to comfort/compliance, so would rather not throw it all away to install coils in the rear. Next part would be determining the "right" rear shocks and front coil overs.

 

[kody472]

@kody472 , any more updates on the bags? I'm also looking into those for my GX. I appreciate what the air ride offers in regard to comfort/compliance, so would rather not throw it all away to install coils in the rear. Next part would be determining the "right" rear shocks and front coil overs.

Yep. Just back from our Hot Springs trips. Towed our camper from the New Orleans area to Hot Springs. Did some fairly tough trails in the Ouachita National Forest. A few wheel lifts and articulation in the rear. Airbags did fantastic! Ride is buttery smooth.

Right now I have OME 2" coilovers in the front and OME shock in the rear. Seems to do well. When I do end up changing, I'll likely go Dobinson.

I know I'm pretty much in the minority, but I'm glad I went this route and I would absolutely recommend it. I use the GX for my daily and for my towing rig so keeping the ride nice is a plus.

 

[masturv8]

Wish I knew these were an option before removing my compressor and whatnot.

 

[sjskinr88]

Yep. Just back from our Hot Springs trips. Towed our camper from the New Orleans area to Hot Springs. Did some fairly tough trails in the Ouachita National Forest. A few wheel lifts and articulation in the rear. Airbags did fantastic! Ride is buttery smooth.

Right now I have OME 2" coilovers in the front and OME shock in the rear. Seems to do well. When I do end up changing, I'll likely go Dobinson.

I know I'm pretty much in the minority, but I'm glad I went this route and I would absolutely recommend it. I use the GX for my daily and for my towing rig so keeping the ride nice is a plus.

@kody472 , I'm now in the midst of installing my Dobinsons MRR and Airbagman lift. Did you do the install yourself on the bags? Fairly confident in my abilities to run the lines and get them hooked up. What is not clear is once I have everything bolted up and ready to go, how do I cycle the air suspension? Truck is currently up on jackstands, but I'm not sure if I need to lower everything and have the weight of the truck on the bags and then cycle the system, or cycle the system while the bags have no weight on them?

 

[kody472]

@kody472 , I'm now in the midst of installing my Dobinsons MRR and Airbagman lift. Did you do the install yourself on the bags? Fairly confident in my abilities to run the lines and get them hooked up. What is not clear is once I have everything bolted up and ready to go, how do I cycle the air suspension? Truck is currently up on jackstands, but I'm not sure if I need to lower everything and have the weight of the truck on the bags and then cycle the system, or cycle the system while the bags have no weight on them?

Super easy. I did it in my garage with a wrench and jack.

First thing I did was crank the truck and get the bags in their highest position. Turn off truck and get a jack under the frame to where it will hold the truck up while you take the bags out. The vehicle will not fall on you. It will hit the bump stops if the jack fails, but you could always use some tall jackstands if it makes you fell better.

Next, I removed the air line from the compressor. The bags will deflate, but the jack will hold the truck where is previously was. Remove one side and install the new bag. Repeat for the other side.

If you haven't done so yet, install the spacers on the airbag sensors. This will tell the truck where the bags need to inflate to.

Once you have them installed, bolted, and plumbed, remove the jack. The vehicle will be resting on the bump stops. Crank it up and they will inflate. You will need to cycle the suspension. You can adjust the spacers to your desired ride height. DO NOT ADJUST THE ACTUAL SENSOR, ONLY THE SPACERS.

When everything is buttoned up and running, spray some soapy water on the new connections. I had to fight a slow leak on one of the new push-to-connect fittings and ended up destroying it. If you need more here is the link to some new ones. I also keep these in the truck just in case.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BJQMDC94/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

Good luck! It really is very easy.

 

[sjskinr88]

Super easy. I did it in my garage with a wrench and jack.

First thing I did was crank the truck and get the bags in their highest position. Turn off truck and get a jack under the frame to where it will hold the truck up while you take the bags out. The vehicle will not fall on you. It will hit the bump stops if the jack fails, but you could always use some tall jackstands if it makes you fell better.

Next, I removed the air line from the compressor. The bags will deflate, but the jack will hold the truck where is previously was. Remove one side and install the new bag. Repeat for the other side.

If you haven't done so yet, install the spacers on the airbag sensors. This will tell the truck where the bags need to inflate to.

Once you have them installed, bolted, and plumbed, remove the jack. The vehicle will be resting on the bump stops. Crank it up and they will inflate. You will need to cycle the suspension. You can adjust the spacers to your desired ride height. DO NOT ADJUST THE ACTUAL SENSOR, ONLY THE SPACERS.

When everything is buttoned up and running, spray some soapy water on the new connections. I had to fight a slow leak on one of the new push-to-connect fittings and ended up destroying it. If you need more here is the link to some new ones. I also keep these in the truck just in case.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BJQMDC94/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

Good luck! It really is very easy.

@kody472 thanks for the super quick response! After work today, I'm hopefully finishing up the rears. I have the OEM bags removed and the driver side shock removed. Figured I'd do the driver side first, and once plumbed, put the new shocks on and then move to the passenger side. If I understand what you said, once I've got everything buttoned up and good to go, lower the truck off the stands so its holding under its own weight, turn the truck on, and press "up" on the air suspension settings until it's complete with the cycle?

Only other question is how difficult was it to drill the 6.5mm holes in the upper perches for the bolting hardware? Not a lot of wiggle room in there!

 

[kody472]

@kody472 thanks for the super quick response! After work today, I'm hopefully finishing up the rears. I have the OEM bags removed and the driver side shock removed. Figured I'd do the driver side first, and once plumbed, put the new shocks on and then move to the passenger side. If I understand what you said, once I've got everything buttoned up and good to go, lower the truck off the stands so its holding under its own weight, turn the truck on, and press "up" on the air suspension settings until it's complete with the cycle?

Only other question is how difficult was it to drill the 6.5mm holes in the upper perches for the bolting hardware? Not a lot of wiggle room in there!

That's correct. The bags will inflate to where they need to be by raising the air suspension.

Drilling the hole was super easy, getting the bolt and nut started, not so much. I started the other two bolts loosely to mark where I needed to drill. Remove the bag and drill the hole. When that was done, I had to incrementally adjust the jack up or down to get the body at the right height to allow the empty bag just snuggly fit between the frame and axle to hold it steady. (Hope that made sense) This part will just be trial and error and could cause some frustration.

 

[sjskinr88]

That's correct. The bags will inflate to where they need to be by raising the air suspension.

Drilling the hole was super easy, getting the bolt and nut started, not so much. I started the other two bolts loosely to mark where I needed to drill. Remove the bag and drill the hole. When that was done, I had to incrementally adjust the jack up or down to get the body at the right height to allow the empty bag just snuggly fit between the frame and axle to hold it steady. (Hope that made sense) This part will just be trial and error and could cause some frustration.

Well @kody472 , got it all finished today! Only problem is, the rear looks like it’s sitting much lower than the front I did opt for the 3in lifted coilovers, but was trying to go for a leveled look. I did add the airbagman spacers, as instructed, and the bags do raise/lower the truck. Not sure if I should have the front lowered some or maybe add some washers to the height sensor?

 

[sjskinr88]

 

[kody472]

View attachment 3571850

Wonder if the spacers weren’t tall enough? I just have a 2” lift. Try adding a couple of washers on the bolt to lengthen the spacers.

 

[sjskinr88]

Yup! I added the second set of washers and it’s MUCH better. Now to figure out KDSS lean lol

 

[kody472]

Yup! I added the second set of washers and it’s MUCH better. Now to figure out KDSS lean lol

Awesome! Can’t help with that. My GX does not have KDSS. Good luck man.

 

[EssexTimmy]

Super easy. I did it in my garage with a wrench and jack.

First thing I did was crank the truck and get the bags in their highest position. Turn off truck and get a jack under the frame to where it will hold the truck up while you take the bags out. The vehicle will not fall on you. It will hit the bump stops if the jack fails, but you could always use some tall jackstands if it makes you fell better.

Next, I removed the air line from the compressor. The bags will deflate, but the jack will hold the truck where is previously was. Remove one side and install the new bag. Repeat for the other side.

If you haven't done so yet, install the spacers on the airbag sensors. This will tell the truck where the bags need to inflate to.

Once you have them installed, bolted, and plumbed, remove the jack. The vehicle will be resting on the bump stops. Crank it up and they will inflate. You will need to cycle the suspension. You can adjust the spacers to your desired ride height. DO NOT ADJUST THE ACTUAL SENSOR, ONLY THE SPACERS.

When everything is buttoned up and running, spray some soapy water on the new connections. I had to fight a slow leak on one of the new push-to-connect fittings and ended up destroying it. If you need more here is the link to some new ones. I also keep these in the truck just in case.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BJQMDC94/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

Good luck! It really is very easy.

Great job on the Airbagman's! After lots of debate, I'm going with the extended bags and keeping my stock suspension. I bought an '07 with 135K. I wanted to get all new suspension and anyway, so, I put in a Toytec 2" preloaded spacer in new stock front coilovers so a can keep my dampening control. For the rear, besides the extended airbags, I'm using stock rear shocks minted to a 1.5" extension bracket (made for the Prado), that way I keep all the stock suspension and get 2" of lift front and rear. I have 17" Mamba M14 wheels with -12 offset, so I'm hoping for 33" wheels (255/80 or 265/75 or 285/70). I what to keep my running boards too, for now. Think the wheels will work without cutting body mount?

 

[kody472]

Great job on the Airbagman's! After lots of debate, I'm going with the extended bags and keeping my stock suspension. I bought an '07 with 135K. I wanted to get all new suspension and anyway, so, I put in a Toytec 2" preloaded spacer in new stock front coilovers so a can keep my dampening control. For the rear, besides the extended airbags, I'm using stock rear shocks minted to a 1.5" extension bracket (made for the Prado), that way I keep all the stock suspension and get 2" of lift front and rear. I have 17" Mamba M14 wheels with -12 offset, so I'm hoping for 33" wheels (255/80 or 265/75 or 285/70). I what to keep my running boards too, for now. Think the wheels will work without cutting body mount?

View attachment 3602446

View attachment 3602447

The offset might not allow that size without trimming. May need to go 0 offset.