I LOVE my AHC.

[TeCKis300]

AHC seems to get a rather bad rap on these boards. But I just love the heck out of this feature for the flexibility it's offered me in a slew of situations. While I can appreciate why some people opt to rip it out, I for one won't because it's seriously one of the coolest features of this truck!

1) Low mode allows my 2 yr old daughter and 90+ year old grand parents to climb in themselves to an otherwise inaccessible truck without help.
2) When towing, AHC is awesome! I can lower the car to get the towball down low when hitching up. I can lift the tongue of the trailer way up, which has given me that little bit of extra breakover clearance when loading/unloading my race car off the ramps.
3) No butt sagging when towing. Or sagging when fully loaded. It maintains clearance independent of load within its design envelop.
4) The active dampening seriously earns this suspension it's keep. The shocks can be silky soft, yet the moment it detects the car going over undulations, it immediately dampens and settles the body motions in a way passive systems can't. And it works across a huge range of road situations and load, whether empty or loaded down, without being harsh.
5) Active dampening, and the dampening selector, gives this truck great flexibility, whether driving through the nausea inducing Pacific Coast Highway 1 outside of Big Sur in firm damper mode and having almost no body roll, or pounding down fire roads in Ocotillo Wells on full soft in comfort without much fear of it bottoming out.
6) 2" lift on demand, without compromising on road stability or mpg hit as I can return back to normal height. I've driven with the truck lifted, and the steering is definitely not what I would call stable at that setting due to caster and suspension geometry compromises at that height.

Love this truck.

 

[Cantatan]

I have a love/hate relationship with it. My wife has a bad back and its great for her on the open road. On the other hand just packing for a camping trip for the family pushes it into low mode due to overloading

 

[Kigiin]

6) 2" lift on demand, without compromising on road stability or mpg hit as I can return back to normal height. I've driven with the truck lifted, and the steering is definitely not what I would call stable at that setting due to caster and suspension geometry compromises at that height.

Love this truck.

You had me until #6 ??????

 

[Yukon LX]

i love mine too. i will not lie. However, the problem come when you have several thousand dollars worth of globes pumps etc fail. the second that happens i am going to a traditional setup. I dont know which one, i am still talking to IPOR about this. While it works, it is a VERY cool system. On high, offroad withe stiff setting, it does great. Let it drop itself for speed and put on the comfort setting on the interstate, it floats like a caddy. I know it is not for the everyday wheeler. But while it last, take advantage of it. I flush and replace my fluid more frequently than called for to keep it alive.

 

[Yukon LX]

that being said, you have to have your replacement setup ready for the day one globe goes.

 

[agaisin]

or go with citroen globe adaptations for ~$800 (for all four) from pleiades (created the first ones) or from the ebayer kjs500 that copycatted pleiades.

So far haven't seen any complaints on these citroen adaptations, but a good number of people swear by the pleiades ones on other lc sites.

have been looking into alternatives recently...

 

[patrickfinley]

Does the 100 LX series lower at high speed like the 200 LX?

 

[jonharis]

You will learn to hate it someday. When that day happens please post up in this thread. In the meantime, love away. It's a great concept, I loved it in my LS400, but for a non Mall Cruiser it won't last.

 

[Wilsil]

I love it as well.
But, a big BUT, when towing our Kimberley Kamper loaded, it will drop into the low setting.

 

[hankinid]

Does the 100 LX series lower at high speed like the 200 LX?

Negative...in fact it goes from Low to Normal at around 19 mph.

Very OT but upcoming Dodge p/u's apparently lower at speed for less wind resistance.

Steve

 

[Impreza]

Negative...in fact it goes from Low to Normal at around 19 mph.

Very OT but upcoming Dodge p/u's apparently lower at speed for less wind resistance.

Steve

Well, I guess why not right. They already use it in the Grand Cherokee. The truck industry is in a full blown fuel economy war, gotta use every advantage they can find. Obviously the height control has many other uses too.

 

[nickswan]

Well, I guess why not right. They already use it in the Grand Cherokee. The truck industry is in a full blown fuel economy war, gotta use every advantage they can find. Obviously the height control has many other uses too.

my new jeep GC overland has an air suspension. But it is very nice, expedition portal just did a very nice review, you should check it out.

 

[Yukon LX]

Negative...in fact it goes from Low to Normal at around 19 mph.

Very OT but upcoming Dodge p/u's apparently lower at speed for less wind resistance.

Steve

It goes from hi to normal at 19. It goes from low to normal when you are barely rolling. I thought it did adjust slightly while driving? Is this not the case? There is also the emergency hi where it will go even higher momentarily when the vehicle is stuck.

 

[TeCKis300]

You had me until #6 ??????

Mpg or lack of stability?

You will learn to hate it someday. When that day happens please post up in this thread. In the meantime, love away. It's a great concept, I loved it in my LS400, but for a non Mall Cruiser it won't last.

Nothing lasts forever and I'm okay with that. The AHC does not have any systemic weaknesses other than known wear parts, which seem to last on the whole about 10 yrs and 150k+ miles. That's pretty darn good IMO for such a complex system.

Where the problem does seem to be is that there are very little qualified mechanics out there capable of maintaining, diagnosing, and fixing this system. I'll agree that it is an expensive system to fix, but it is inline with the fact that this is an expensive vehicle.

I love it as well.
But, a big BUT, when towing our Kimberley Kamper loaded, it will drop into the low setting.

And that would be true to some extent for any traditional suspension vehicle if not augmented with heavier springs/air bag. AHC coils will get weak too so may you need to a trim packer to bring things back into spec. Though I suspect your globes need to be looked at as I'm able to tow 5500# trailer setup with much higher tonque weights without issue.

It goes from hi to normal at 19. It goes from low to normal when you are barely rolling. I thought it did adjust slightly while driving? Is this not the case? There is also the emergency hi where it will go even higher momentarily when the vehicle is stuck.

Correct on all points. But it unfortunately does not hunker down at speed beyond 'normal' height. But normal is better than a static lift

 

[Yukon LX]

Correct on all points. But it unfortunately does not hunker down at speed beyond 'normal' height. But normal is better than a static lift

Awe man, all this time i thought it hunkered. It always raises back up when i come down from a high speed at a stop light. Maybe this is just an overload thing. Mine does have armor, recovery gear, a fat dude at the steering wheel and 190k on it.

 

[hankinid]

It goes from hi to normal at 19. It goes from low to normal when you are barely rolling. I thought it did adjust slightly while driving? Is this not the case? There is also the emergency hi where it will go even higher momentarily when the vehicle is stuck.

You are correct...my bad. 19mph is the transition between high and normal.

Steve

 

[pman]

Nothing lasts forever and I'm okay with that. The AHC does not have any systemic weaknesses other than known wear parts, which seem to last on the whole about 10 yrs and 150k+ miles. That's pretty darn good IMO for such a complex system.

As good as it maybe, most on here, myself included, prefer the KISS principle.


AHC is adaptive which is nice, but high end/quality shocks and the right springs/t-bars will perform better than AHC overall.

a fat dude at the steering wheel and 190k on it.

Your AHC's days are definitely numbered.....




AHC is great while it works.....once it breaks though...lift, remote res shocks, and timbren bumpstops all around for me

 

[TeCKis300]

AHC is adaptive which is nice, but high end/quality shocks and the right springs/t-bars will perform better than AHC overall.

That's just the thing. There is no high end anything that is as effective across as broad of a spectrum as AHC - hence my enthusiasm. You can get higher load carrying or more high speed washboard handling with an aftermarket setup, but always at the detriment of other use cases.

I hear you on the KISS. Though that's somewhat of an interesting concept when applied to the tour de force of the Hundy, which has other high end sophisticated systems such as the electric brake booster, VGRS, etc. I trust Toyota to walk the fine line between too much complexity at the cost of reliability and durability, which I feel the Hundy does with aplomb. At a cost. Though I knew this going in which is okay with me.

 

[Wilsil]

There is no high end anything that is as effective across as broad of a spectrum as AHC

Untill you go remote, load up the car and hook up a campertrailer.
The AHC goes down to low and you have basically almost no suspension left.

 

[MilkmanVX]

Loving the AHC ....

I love the AHC too .... my truck is about 11 years and the AHC is still on original spheres -only thing new is the fluid ....

If and when it does go (sadly -all good things do come to an end) -I shall replace it with original AHC components -and hope they last another 10 years ....