Airbags + Compressor + cabin controls (1 Viewer)

[21200]

I have airbagman helper bags in my rear coils and would like to tie them into a compressor with switches inside the cabin to inflate/deflate on the go. Anyone running this setup?
Airbagman sells some of the parts to do it, including the interior switches and pressure gague, but their kit is for a dedicated compressor. If I am going to go to the trouble and expense, i would like to get the full benefits of onboard air and go with an ARB compressor or similar with output for inflating tires, etc.


If anyone has done this, i would love to see some pics of your setup/plumbing or know what parts you used to tie it all together. So far i love the airbags, but their utility would be much greater if i could adjust for ride quality/leveling on the fly.

 

[LC Mike]

I have airbagman helper bags in my rear coils and would like to tie them into a compressor with switches inside the cabin to inflate/deflate on the go. Anyone running this setup?
Airbagman sells some of the parts to do it, including the interior switches and pressure gague, but their kit is for a dedicated compressor. If I am going to go to the trouble and expense, i would like to get the full benefits of onboard air and go with an ARB compressor or similar with output for inflating tires, etc.


If anyone has done this, i would love to see some pics of your setup/plumbing or know what parts you used to tie it all together. So far i love the airbags, but their utility would be much greater if i could adjust for ride quality/leveling on the fly.

I put one of the Air Lift 25980 WirelessOne (2ND Generation) controller and used my onboard ARB twin compressor. A few others on the forum have done this as well. I teed off the compressor outlet with a diverter valve and mounted the controller in the engine bay next to the compressor - it was a tight fit). Works pretty good - really nice to able to adjust airbag pressure on the fly.

 

[CharlieS]

Pretty sure Eric Sargent posted a video where they did the same thing to a customer rig at one point. Even had a remote fob to adjust the pressures remotely.

Firestone ride rite controller:

Another with an Airlift controller:

 

[kcjaz]

Pretty sure Eric Sargent posted a video where they did the same thing to a customer rig at one point. Even had a remote fob to adjust the pressures remotely.

He did. Search “airbag”.

 

[CharlieS]

He did. Search “airbag”.

I also posted the video from youtube above.

 

[21200]

Pretty sure Eric Sargent posted a video where they did the same thing to a customer rig at one point. Even had a remote fob to adjust the pressures remotely.

Firestone ride rite controller:

Another with an Airlift controller:

This is perfect. Ill do some research on the airlift controller. Thanks!

 

[Sandroad]

Give some extra thought to why you need to adjust pressure on the fly before you add that complexity to your LC. There are excellent reasons to have on board air, but IMHO, adjusting airbag pressure is not one of them. For both my 100 and my 200, I quickly learned the ideal pressure for each loading: towing camper, towing utility trailer, no towing with no load, no towing with heavy load, etc, etc. A few pumps with my bicycle pump or 5 seconds of letting air out gets me to the right pressure and I’ve never found a need to change it while underway (and in fact I don’t want to). Granted, some projects are fun to do even without having a practical reason, but not having extra wiring, switches, and extended airlines seems best for reliability since it’s so easy to do without them.

 

[CharlieS]

Agree 100%, but could imagine the remote version being cool for leveling on an uneven campsite. The ultimate flavor of this is what the Earthroamers have...

 

[grinchy]

I think the YouTube channel dirtlifestyle did an onboard air + airbag installation a year or two ago. It was in a Land Rover.

 

[21200]

Give some extra thought to why you need to adjust pressure on the fly before you add that complexity to your LC. There are excellent reasons to have on board air, but IMHO, adjusting airbag pressure is not one of them. For both my 100 and my 200, I quickly learned the ideal pressure for each loading: towing camper, towing utility trailer, no towing with no load, no towing with heavy load, etc, etc. A few pumps with my bicycle pump or 5 seconds of letting air out gets me to the right pressure and I’ve never found a need to change it while underway (and in fact I don’t want to). Granted, some projects are fun to do even without having a practical reason, but not having extra wiring, switches, and extended airlines seems best for reliability since it’s so easy to do without them.

I agree with the sentiment here in many ways. One thing that makes me not so worried about the reliability/complexity is these systems are made for vehicles with air ride suspensions, and i am using this in a helper bag. If the system failed, i would not have a problem on my hands (other than my rear end squatting more than I want it to). I am not towing above the rating of the vehicle or adding more tongue weight than it can handle, just wanting to dial in for ride comfort. I bet you could also plumb this up with a ball valve/shutoff on the compressor side, and a tee to the manual inflation option on the other end.


And like you alluded to, it is an excuse/benefit to adding onboard air for other reasons. Most expensive part by far is the compressor, everything else is pretty cheap/simple.