Rear Air Springs, done.

[haffi]

Rear Coils swapped for Air Springs.

For the last few months my rear end has been getting lower and lower. With full load it´s been sitting on the bump stops. I have been dreaming about converting to air springs for a while and last weekend I finally got me into it.

The main reason I wanted to use Air Springs is because I use my truck as a daily driver, then I usually drive a empty truck. But in the weekends I use the cruiser for travelling. Mostly with a truck full of friends and luggages, often with a bike rack with four mountain bikes in the trailer hitch.

Because of this great difference in cargo load, and still wanting a comfy ride both empty and with all the extra weight I´m sure air springs with in-cab control are the best option.

Now I have been driving for three days and I love it.

I used Good-Year 1R8-009 spring and Gabriel gas shocks. The shocks I´m using are made for Ford Escape. Whit air suspension you really want soft shocks, first I tries OME shocks but they were far too hard.

To make space for the Air Springs I had to cut all the tower that holds the Coil spring and the lower bracket off the axle as well. Then I had to make new flat surface in frame to hold the spring and make room for me to fit the bolts that hold the spring in place and the air fittings between the frame and the body. The hardest part of this mod is to rebuild the coil "cup" in the frame to fit the Air Spring.

I did not take many pics while building but I went out earlier this evening and shot some pics to post here.

Normal driving hight with 40psi in the springs, I´m thinking about adding spacers to lift the front end a bit. The front springs are getting too soft as well. Hopefully I will replace them with Air Springs someday.

In lowest position.

With 80 psi in the springs.

These small bump stops are to make sure the tires don´t hit the fender if I lose the air pressure.

I´m really looking forward till next weekend, to load the truck and test the new suspension with fully loaded truck on a hard Icelandic gravel road.

 

[Brentbba]

Nice work! As a user of the airlift bags in the coils and knowing that benefit, what you've done is over the top fantastic work. Looking forward to your comments after next weekend on their performance.

 

[sandcruiser]

in the lowest setting, is it sitting on the bump stop?

looking forward to hearing about your experiences with this setup- seems like a great solution for rough roads with variable loads.

with FF and RR, you could lower the truck for smooth highway driving as well, which might improve mileage, especially if there is wind

 

[Twiggles]

Awesome work. As a Range Rover convert, I have always thought the one area of improvement for the 80 would be a RELIABLE air system similar to the Range Rover's. I loved being able to adjust my suspension height for the required task. Being low on the highway increases gas mileage, and handling characteristics. And being able to pump it up for off-road was great too!

I will look forward to hearing about your experience with this set-up. If you are EVER thinking about doing fronts, I say go for it!

 

[bignasty]

I was trying to do the same thing. But i like the way you did it. In my set up i was trying to retain the stock spring perches. Trying to retain the stock perches is probably too hard. i really like your approach thou. I think i will go the same route you did.

 

[UCBerzerkeley]

Soooo uh, how does this compromise handling or whatnot? I am unfamiliar with air setups

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

Looks great


Are they filled individually or paired?

 

[haffi]

In the lowest pic. the truck is not sitting on the bumpstops, they are a bit lover. I would not drive the truck that low, but it might come handy to be able to lower it that much for attaching trailers or loading stuff in the back.

They are filled individually, there is a meter and two switches in the dashboard, I have just hooked them up (dont have the time this week to install them properly).

I dont think it is possible to keep the retain the stock spring perches in place without lifting the truck sky high. The air springs need at least 32-35 cm (12,6-13,8 inches) as a normal hight to work properly according to the dealer.

The dealer also told me that the springs would work best with 40-50 psi pressure, in the normal driving hight I have 40 psi, and then the truck is nice and soft. If I lower the pressure, it becomes to soft. In the highest position in the pic the springs are very hard and uncomfortable but adding extra air might be useful offroading and to lift the rear end while crossing rivers though I would not drive for long like this.

I´m pretty sure I will go the same way in the front someday.

 

[lndcruz]

Awesome work. As a Range Rover convert, I have always thought the one area of improvement for the 80 would be a RELIABLE air system similar to the Range Rover's. I loved being able to adjust my suspension height for the required task. Being low on the highway increases gas mileage, and handling characteristics. And being able to pump it up for off-road was great too!

I will look forward to hearing about your experience with this set-up. If you are EVER thinking about doing fronts, I say go for it!

yep that was cool till it went out and we were riding on bump stops till the dealer could take ours:whoops:


looks nice

 

[Twiggles]

Hence the upper case RELIABLE lol...the range rover system is crap with regards to reliability, but the concept is AWESOME.

 

[haffi]

So now I have been driving for few days and took a trip last weekend on a rough and hard gravel road with some river crossings.

I´m very happy with all of this. I have also replaced the 30mm spacer I had in the front with a 65mm, and now the truck looks much better.

 

[cody c]

let me know how the goodyears are in the long term, i have already replaced these firestones way too much for how long they have been on there so i may be going to goodyears when the firestones fail again. Luckily i have OBA so i can refill them if they have slow leaks which have of them do...

 

[haffi]

What is the problem, why do you have to replace them? Where are they leaking?

I also have OBA and I can control the pressure in the bags from the drivers seat.

 

[PHIL O]

this is way cool. you could adjust height and feel on the fly. groovy. did you have to do a check on the axles after welding the modified spring supports?

 

[haffi]

Yes this is way cool

No checks on the axles, no need to in my opinion at least.

 

[Wheelingnoob]

So a few year later how has this held up? Did you ever do the air bags on the front?

 

[Tapage]

I also have OBA and I can control the pressure in the bags from the drivers seat.

will love to see pics of your complete air feed setup ..

 

[haffi]

So a few year later how has this held up? Did you ever do the air bags on the front?

This has held up quite nicely, I never did the front though. This has been completly trouble free. The only thing I have thought about adding to the system is a automatic hight control valves. There is always a little air leakage so I have to add a little air every few days.
It would also be nice to have the automatic valves to keep the truck automatically in same hight if I load it or unload. But still I haven´t done it, it is easy to do all that manually

The suspension is very nice, I just have to remember to have enough pressure in them, if it is to low the truck gets very soft and sways to much and hits the bump stops.
The more load I have in the car the suspension just gets better and better

I love to be able to lover the back when I arrive at the campsite (to make unloading it much more comfortable) and when hooking up trailers.

I have no regrets at all of doing this mod.

PS, the truck is for sale see here

 

[haffi]

will love to see pics of your complete air feed setup ..

You can if you look at the pics in my overhauling thread. The control panel for the air bag pressure is located in the dashboard under the ash tray.

 

[Wheelingnoob]

Did you retain the rear sway bar with the air bags?