Arnott vs Oem Air Ride parts GX470

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sprocket3

sprocket3

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Unless someone can talk me out of it I think I'll keep the air ride. It's going to be 95 pavement cruiser.

Where's the best place to get quality replacement parts? I just got the truck and it needs some attention. The back right is dropping every time I park it. I'm assuming this is a failing air shock?

I used these guys for stuff on another car years ago and it was good. Any thoughts on quality OEM style suspension, or am I crazy for wanting to mess with this on a 12 year old truck?

Arnott Rear Air Spring for 2002-2009 GX 470 (Toyota Prado Land Cruiser & 4Runner) 4808035011
 
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It's not an air shock, rather an air spring. The shocks are separate. Yes, yours is leaking and should be replaced if it drops when you park it. You can get them aftermarket on Rockauto for closer to $100. I have replaced both of mine at different times and the Rockauto parts work just fine. One word of caution, the air line is a quick release. Don't make the same foolish mistake I made and cut it thinking it's Push To Connect (PTC). I had to wait two days for the dealer to get the $60 line. Doh.
 
NTAPHSE said:
It's not an air shock, rather an air spring. The shocks are separate. Yes, yours is leaking and should be replaced if it drops when you park it. You can get them aftermarket on Rockauto for closer to $100. I have replaced both of mine at different times and the Rockauto parts work just fine. One word of caution, the air line is a quick release. Don't make the same foolish mistake I made and cut it thinking it's Push To Connect (PTC). I had to wait two days for the dealer to get the $60 line. Doh.
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Yes, meant springs. Have you had good luck with the rest of the system overall. Seems easy enough to swap out a spring for $100.
 
If your looking to lift the rear I have had some Dunlop bags from airbag man for about 12 months. Love the ride and height adjustability of airbags.
 
NTAPHSE said:
Yes everything is going strong and it's an 05 with 190k. The system seems solid.
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Ok.. I just picked up an 05 Sport with 102,000. Looking forward to 100,000 trouble free miles.
 
Just be aware that you could replace the bags and then later a sensor or two goes out. Then the air pump. There is a lot going on with airride. If that's ok with you go for it.
 
co4wheel said:
Just be aware that you could replace the bags and then later a sensor or two goes out. Then the air pump. There is a lot going on with airride. If that's ok with you go for it.
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Right.. That's what I've been reading for hours now. I want stock ride height and quality, but not a bunch of headaches with this system. Arnott sells a conversion kit. Any others?
 
My shocks eventually rusted out and needed to be replaced (05-150k miles). The shop I took it too said they were putting in OEM shocks but after getting it home I noticed the ride sucked. Crawling underneath I saw they put Arnott shocks. These shocks are just that, shocks and the adjustability is gone. I was pissed since I paid for OEM.

Took it back and they ordered new shocks from Lexus, I saw the invoice, and they gave me a large discount to keep me quiet. Manager claimed they ordered the wrong part (yeah, sure!).

My comment on Arnott, if your looking to save $ and not worried about the Lexus Ride, go for it and save the $. For me, mine is in Road 95% of the time and the rear was very bouncy. I knew right away it was wrong because the ride to me was that bad. Hitting a speed bump slow, it would bounce and bottom out. I couldn't take it.
 
cobra2top said:
My shocks eventually rusted out and needed to be replaced (05-150k miles). The shop I took it too said they were putting in OEM shocks but after getting it home I noticed the ride sucked. Crawling underneath I saw they put Arnott shocks. These shocks are just that, shocks and the adjustability is gone. I was pissed since I paid for OEM.

Took it back and they ordered new shocks from Lexus, I saw the invoice, and they gave me a large discount to keep me quiet. Manager claimed they ordered the wrong part (yeah, sure!).

My comment on Arnott, if your looking to save $ and not worried about the Lexus Ride, go for it and save the $. For me, mine is in Road 95% of the time and the rear was very bouncy. I knew right away it was wrong because the ride to me was that bad. Hitting a speed bump slow, it would bounce and bottom out. I couldn't take it.
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Yikes. That's good info to know about. I was thinking of going with Arnott coils and keeping the OEM shocks after doing more research. They have a coil "kit" and I'm concerned about chasing air bag problems, but don't want a poor ride either.

Are there high quality options to ditch the rear air bags on the market? I need to get something ordered tonight as it's just dropping as soon as i turn it off now.
 
I still have my original bags. We are talking 12 years and 150k miles of mostly NJ pothole roads. I think if you just get new bags you could get 10 years and 150k out of them.

My bags are still good but it's only a matter of time. When they go I'll just get new bags. They are not that much.
 
cobra2top said:
I still have my original bags. We are talking 12 years and 150k miles of mostly NJ pothole roads. I think if you just get new bags you could get 10 years and 150k out of them.

My bags are still good but it's only a matter of time. When they go I'll just get new bags. They are not that much.
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It's not the new bags going out that I'm worried about. It's all the other parts to the system. I'm just concerned it's going to be something different in six month or a year.
 
co4wheel said:
I saw a thread a while back where basically that happened. One part after the next. If you want factory just suck it up and pay for it.
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Just looks like a coin toss on the reliability of the system. I've only had it for 5 days now and hate the idea of messing with this all the time. If there was a high quality coil swap I'd just do that.
 
After going back and forth I decided to ditch the rear air bags and ordered an OEM type Kit from Metal Tech. It was about $400, but came with the OEM rubber isolators which should help to maintain ride quality. To me it looks like a better kit that what Arnott offers and it's only $100 more.

I like the air bag concept, but I'm worried about plastic lines, compressor, and the two $400 ride height sensors on a 13 year old truck.

Thanks for all the help.
 
sprocket3 said:
After going back and forth I decided to ditch the rear air bags and ordered an OEM type Kit from Metal Tech. It was about $400, but came with the OEM rubber isolators which should help to maintain ride quality. To me it looks like a better kit that what Arnott offers and it's only $100 more.

I like the air bag concept, but I'm worried about plastic lines, compressor, and the two $400 ride height sensors on a 13 year old truck.

Thanks for all the help.
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How well did you end up liking the Metal Tech springs?
 
AntiqueMechanic said:
How well did you end up liking the Metal Tech springs?
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They are just using FJ Cruiser or T4R OEM springs, and people love them. If your system is old and worn out, it sounds like there is an improvement in ride quality. If you have newer oem stuff w/o much wear and tear, it sounds like the ride is very close to the airbags.
 
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