Finally replaced my "Accumulators, Globes, Spheres, Balls" today (1 Viewer)

[BonS]

Original owner, 203,000 miles and 22 years. The ride had become bouncy unless the ride selector was all the way to sport mode. Mostly it was noticed in the front suspension. I got my globes from Impex at the usual great price. My local Toyota dealer had the best price on AHC fluid that I found @ <$40 for 2.5 liters. Bleeding the system down and replacing the globes was uneventful. The globes were manufactured 03/2002 (edited). After the renewal the test drive was amazing! The truck rides great even in the softest suspension setting. I didn't expect that.

All the old globes "appear" to be the same. None of them have a collapsed diaphragm. I'm absolutely sure that they're down on pressure though.

My advice to anyone that's on the fence about the condition of their globes is to simply put their suspension in the softest setting and if it's bouncy then it's time! Dialing up the firmness is just a rubber glove to get you down the road until time and money allows.

Oh, one more thing: My AHC levels passed the gradation test with a 10+ prior to renewing the globes.

 

[SteveH]

@BonS - have you done the graduation test since you replaced them?

 

[TexLexican]

@BonS - have you done the graduation test since you replaced them?

I think I got 15 after I replaced mine. Before it was at 5.

 

[BonS]

@BonS - have you done the graduation test since you replaced them?

I just did the test and got 13. I've been driving both city and highway and don't feel the need to go above the full Comfort setting. I'm really amazed at the difference. I'll never wait so long again.

 

[BullElk]

I wonder if nearly three year old globes is why the price is low ??

 

[BonS]

I wonder if nearly three year old globes is why the price is low ??

Oops, nice catch, that was a typo. I meant to say the old globes were manufactured in 03/2002. There is no date that I could read on the new globes sourced through Impex. (I fixed the typo.)

 

[Rhetoric]

Thanks for sharing your experience!

Have you checked your pressures since the replacement?

Have you ever changed the torsion bar settings? Are you still running the original rear springs?

(Just asking for curiosity data points)

 

[TexLexican]

Thanks for sharing your experience!

Have you checked your pressures since the replacement?

No

Have you ever changed the torsion bar settings? Are you still running the original rear springs?

I cranked mine clockwise a bit just to get the hub to fender distance kosher. Still have original springs.

(Just asking for curiosity data points)

 

[JM63]

That's an interesting observation about assessing the suspension based on how it works in the softest setting. My car's a 2005 model with 270,000 km (about 167,770 miles). I recently changed the fluid and did a calibration, but I usually drive on the second or third level. The softest setting is too soft on one hand, and the truck feels like a boat, but on the other hand, it doesn't really handle short, sharp bumps well, almost like it’s missing damping force. How does it look on your trucks?

 

[BonS]

Thanks for sharing your experience!

Have you checked your pressures since the replacement?

Have you ever changed the torsion bar settings? Are you still running the original rear springs?

(Just asking for curiosity data points)

Great questions! I had to break out my old laptop, dust it off and charge it to get an answer. First, no I haven't changed the torsion bars and the springs are original. My pressures as of today are Front 7.7 Mpa-g and rear 7.1 Mpa-g. So, it looks like I have more work to do! Some torsion adjustment will certainly pull the front pressure into spec and I'm hoping that I can use spacers on the rear springs to get closer to spec without having to replace them.

 

[SteveH]

1999 LX470 - Just replaced the accumulators. They were dated 1/99 and had 336K miles on them. I now get 15 graduations from 'high' to 'low' and the truck rides better over light pavement ripples. Before this, I had about 13 graduations, but the ride wasn't great. The rear springs were replaced by the PO and he added spacers to tune the rear, and it still seems ok.

But, my front pressures are now too low (they were a bit low at 6-6.1) and are now 5.5. Do I need to 'uncrank' the torsion bars? I presume the torsion bars are doing too much of the heavy lifting? Is there any correlation to # of turns vs. pressures? Thanks - Steve

 

[prickly]

1999 LX470 - Just replaced the accumulators. They were dated 1/99 and had 336K miles on them. I now get 15 graduations from 'high' to 'low' and the truck rides better over light pavement ripples. Before this, I had about 13 graduations, but the ride wasn't great. The rear springs were replaced by the PO and he added spacers to tune the rear, and it still seems ok.

But, my front pressures are now too low (they were a bit low at 6-6.1) and are now 5.5. Do I need to 'uncrank' the torsion bars? I presume the torsion bars are doing too much of the heavy lifting? Is there any correlation to # of turns vs. pressures? Thanks - Steve

View attachment 3830392

from what i understand, yes. You have to undo your TBs to increase the pressure on the globes to get within spec.

 

[Rhetoric]

This might be helpful for you. It says that one turn equates to around 0.2 MPa pressure change.

 

[SteveH]

@Rhetoric - thanks - I was trying to find a clean copy of the whole 'cheat sheet' and your link was perfect.

 

[SteveH]

Follow up: I adjusted the front AHC pressures by turning the torsion bar bolts and got the front pressures very close to perfect. Rears were ok.

The LX rides better on smooth roads, but isn't greatly different on beat-up roads. I weighed my old globes and both fronts and both rears weighed within a gram or two of each other, so I don't think they were oil saturated, but clearly were tired. I may cut them open some day, being mindful of the pressure inside. I'll be sure to post pix on Mud of what I find inside.

 

[TexLexican]

Follow up: I adjusted the front AHC pressures by turning the torsion bar bolts and got the front pressures very close to perfect. Rears were ok.

The LX rides better on smooth roads, but isn't greatly different on beat-up roads. I weighed my old globes and both fronts and both rears weighed within a gram or two of each other, so I don't think they were oil saturated, but clearly were tired. I may cut them open some day, being mindful of the pressure inside. I'll be sure to post pix on Mud of what I find inside.

Did you count the turns? I’m assuming you went counter clockwise with them?

 

[SteveH]

I did count the turns (CCW) and determined that I needed 7 turns, but I did not get 0.2 MPa/turn. I ended up with considerably more pressure reduction per turn, so I added 2 turns back. Now, my pressures are within spec.

Because a torsion bar isn't a linear spring, it makes sense that a phrase like '0.2 MPa/turn' might be true for some part of the loaded spectrum of a torsion bar, it may not be true for the range where I was making my adjustments. I'm not concerned, since my pressures are now right.

It was fairly cold when I did this, so I'm going to drive it, bleed the accumulators once more, and test pressures again on a warmer day.

 

[tahoejoe]

Original owner, 203,000 miles and 22 years. The ride had become bouncy unless the ride selector was all the way to sport mode. Mostly it was noticed in the front suspension. I got my globes from Impex at the usual great price. My local Toyota dealer had the best price on AHC fluid that I found @ <$40 for 2.5 liters. Bleeding the system down and replacing the globes was uneventful. The globes were manufactured 03/2002 (edited). After the renewal the test drive was amazing! The truck rides great even in the softest suspension setting. I didn't expect that.

All the old globes "appear" to be the same. None of them have a collapsed diaphragm. I'm absolutely sure that they're down on pressure though.

My advice to anyone that's on the fence about the condition of their globes is to simply put their suspension in the softest setting and if it's bouncy then it's time! Dialing up the firmness is just a rubber glove to get you down the road until time and money allows.

Oh, one more thing: My AHC levels passed the gradation test with a 10+ prior to renewing the globes.

At Impex they list Toyota and Lexus for part number 49141-60010. Different price.
Does it matter which one I order? Is it the same part

 

[CarterTheFarter]

At Impex they list Toyota and Lexus for part number 49141-60010. Different price.
Does it matter which one I order? Is it the same part

Same Part