Lift front only and keep air ride? (10' Premium)

[JohnnyOJay]

I wanted some clearance and my wife controls the bank account, so I copied what Matt did and lifted the front of my 2016 with a 1" spacer for 2"lift. I had to mod the AVS mounting bracket a little to be able to remount it onto the top of the shock.

For the rear, I didn't like the idea of having the bags inflated more than "normal" to gain 1-1.5" lift, so I made some 1.25" airbag spacers based on a design I found here in the Prado120 section. I don't have a lathe so the spacers aren't pretty but they are functional. With the 470s there is concern that the bag could dislocate when flexing. I found my airbags have a flange that bolts to the axle to keep it from dislocating (probably true for all 460s). I kept the airbags bolted to the axle by making an adapter/spacer out of some hexagonal bar that's was drilled and tapped on both ends.

With the airbag spacers, you still need to use the washers on the height sensors to trick the auto leveling.

I still have to address the bumpstops which will need to be extended so that the shocks don't take the brunt of any bottoming out.

Rear Airbag spacers and mount adapters.

Axle view of mount adapter with airbag spacer in background.

Lifted with 285/70/17s.

 

[mattds]

AMAZING! I was tempted to do the same thing with the rear spacers and never got around to it! If you have a link to that design pls let me know! running the spacers would mean that when you are in the 'hi' position the airbags will be maxing out the down travel...but i guess that's what extended travel is for...

 

[JohnnyOJay]

AMAZING! I was tempted to do the same thing with the rear spacers and never got around to it! If you have a link to that design pls let me know! running the spacers would mean that when you are in the 'hi' position the airbags will be maxing out the down travel...but i guess that's what extended travel is for...

That's true, the rear shock will have less extension now but it's no different than running in the "hi" setting or just tricking the system with washers..

This is one of the plans I referenced.
Air Bag Spacers Plans?

Making the spacers is pretty easy. I got the metal precut from Metal Supermarket and then I only needed to mill out the bump at the bottom, drill out the area for the airbag's pin/nipple, and tap a hole in the bottom. Aluminum is very easy to work with. I found that I could actually use a router to mill out what I needed. Though I started with a drill press.

 

[r2m]

Getting longer rear shocks may alleviate the issue of over extending the rear shocks.
Actually, keeping your setup as is, may require you to get new shocks anyways if you wind up blowing out your factory ones.
Just a thought.

 

[SkiBikePlay]

Mattds: Can you provide on update on your air suspension lift and Radflo front end? Any problems with your airbags? Did you get any "error messages" due to your rear lift?
I have a 2018 GX and plan to do the same.

 

[mattds]

hey! I did not. It's been about a year including about 5 hard wheeling trips and no issues. The only thing that did happen was that i hit the rear compressor on rock...luckily there were not issues at the time, but later that week part of the compressor broke which let all the air out of the bags...luckily i was able to make it home on my bump stops (and if i was off road it would have been a disaster). Once i replaced the compressore i made a robust skid plate that bolts to the frame and ties in to the body (but the main attachments point is the frame).

 

[Good Mayhem]

I wanted some clearance and my wife controls the bank account, so I copied what Matt did and lifted the front of my 2016 with a 1" spacer for 2"lift. I had to mod the AVS mounting bracket a little to be able to remount it onto the top of the shock.

For the rear, I didn't like the idea of having the bags inflated more than "normal" to gain 1-1.5" lift, so I made some 1.25" airbag spacers based on a design I found here in the Prado120 section. I don't have a lathe so the spacers aren't pretty but they are functional. With the 470s there is concern that the bag could dislocate when flexing. I found my airbags have a flange that bolts to the axle to keep it from dislocating (probably true for all 460s). I kept the airbags bolted to the axle by making an adapter/spacer out of some hexagonal bar that's was drilled and tapped on both ends.

With the airbag spacers, you still need to use the washers on the height sensors to trick the auto leveling.

I still have to address the bumpstops which will need to be extended so that the shocks don't take the brunt of any bottoming out.

Rear Airbag spacers and mount adapters.
--

Axle view of mount adapter with airbag spacer in background.
--

Lifted with 285/70/17s.
--

Nice work on that!
I too am a fan of modifying the stock setup. I'm going to do some research and found out what the pressure rating is of the rear setup--if the robustness of the bags is not compromised by it, I'd prefer to go that route. However, your spacer approach is smart, since it's a solid axle setup in the rear. My concern in either case is centering of the rear axle--even at a 1.5" lift, I've found it worth using an aftermarket panhard bar to get the rear axle centered (on 4runners and FJ's though). Have you measured your axle center after the lift?

Could you show a picture of your modified AVS setup with the front spacer? Again, great job!

 

[BPGX460]

I installed ironman 4x4 foam cell pros in the front and shocks in the rears....the rear springs shipped later, i tried doing the airbag trick for the rears, but no luck for me, height stayed the same.

 

[gbell210]

I wanted some clearance and my wife controls the bank account, so I copied what Matt did and lifted the front of my 2016 with a 1" spacer for 2"lift. I had to mod the AVS mounting bracket a little to be able to remount it onto the top of the shock.

For the rear, I didn't like the idea of having the bags inflated more than "normal" to gain 1-1.5" lift, so I made some 1.25" airbag spacers based on a design I found here in the Prado120 section. I don't have a lathe so the spacers aren't pretty but they are functional. With the 470s there is concern that the bag could dislocate when flexing. I found my airbags have a flange that bolts to the axle to keep it from dislocating (probably true for all 460s). I kept the airbags bolted to the axle by making an adapter/spacer out of some hexagonal bar that's was drilled and tapped on both ends.

With the airbag spacers, you still need to use the washers on the height sensors to trick the auto leveling.

I still have to address the bumpstops which will need to be extended so that the shocks don't take the brunt of any bottoming out.

Rear Airbag spacers and mount adapters.


Axle view of mount adapter with airbag spacer in background.


Lifted with 285/70/17s.

Do you mind sharing how you modded the front AVS/TEMS sensor mounts on the front when you used the spacer?
I assume you had to lengthen the shaft from the stepper motor to the shock adjustment?

 

[BillZ260]

I installed ironman 4x4 foam cell pros in the front and shocks in the rears....the rear springs shipped later, i tried doing the airbag trick for the rears, but no luck for me, height stayed the same.

This is what I did but was able to keep the bags in the rear by adjusting the sensor arms to run level. I have the springs JIC but bags have been ok. I've got about 6 months on it, one Colorado trip and one just to Ark. Loaded up it has been riding great and I love how the bags keep the truck level loaded or not. I still have some room to go into high if needed.

One thing that has been an issue is when unloaded, is that the ride can be very bouncy in the rear. I attributed it to the bags being over pressured. Was looking into swapping the springs in. BUT. After this trip to Arkansas last week, unloaded and washed it. Next day into work was riding like a dream. I'm not sure if I flexed it in a way that reset something or what but it drives like it did before the lift. Came here to see if anyone else had similar experience. So I'm sharing for posterity.

 

[jeremy j]

Interesting that your ride is bouncy when unloaded. I have stock rear bags/shocks with about 5 washers since last summer and it rides great.

On my 2014, I just removed the AVS module at the front shocks when I put the 6112s on the front. No lights on my dash. I never could tell a difference when I switched the setting so I'm not missing much. When I hooked up a techstream, I could see an AVS error but since it's not on the dash, I don't care.