Sources for AHC Accumulator Globes

[jOnathN]

Art & 00n8 if you plan to get together drop me an email or call; i'll pm contact info. I replaced rear damping globes and almost all of the swaybar bushings (have not replaced the press in ends yet) about a month ago so the ride should be about as stock as you can get (for comparison).

Massive improvement from the flat globes and a very noticeable difference between comfort and sport settings.

J

 

[jOnathN]

Akella thanks for that offer. Would you be able to do sets of two also? E.g. Only the front pair or only the rear pair?

 

[Akella]

Akella thanks for that offer. Would you be able to do sets of two also? E.g. Only the front pair or only the rear pair?

Yes I can. even if you need I can get only only one. Pm me for more info.

Sent from Android using IH8MUD

 

[playdrv4me]

LOL, I don't want to go drive another truck and find out that it rides better, because then mine would bother me every day! As it stands right now the ride is still very compliant. If the globes have to be replaced eventually then that's not going to change, so I'd rather live in my world of blissful ignorance for now!

 

[jOnathN]

<heh heh> fair enough! Do keep an eye out for ride quality though. When you start thinking "man this is kinda harsh" in the back of your mind, you notice that there isn't really a difference between the ride settings, and you start thinking that the sport mode feels smoother than comfort mode then it is time to change the damping globes.

When the globes go the rest of the system start taking the road shock. It will compensate for a long while but the things that break are progressively more expensive so change the globes when they need it.

 

[00N8]

Got the globes installed and the OEM Land Cruiser Tbars and springs installed to help with the ARB bumpers. Much much better ride. I need to get all the bushings ordered and installed next.

 

[agaisin]

Got the globes installed and the OEM Land Cruiser Tbars and springs installed to help with the ARB bumpers. Much much better ride. I need to get all the bushings ordered and installed next.

KJS500 globes, right? How many gradation you getting on the reservoir from L to H?

How did the R&R for globes, TBars and Springs go?

Which bushings you planning to replace - sway bar, shock bushings, control arm bushings?

 

[00N8]

KJS500 globes, right? How many gradation you getting on the reservoir from L to H?

How did the R&R for globes, TBars and Springs go?

Which bushings you planning to replace - sway bar, shock bushings, control arm bushings?

Yes, KJS500 globes.

Getting 11 or 12 gradations from L to H. I had Ryan Bascom (local Mud member and Toyota mechanic) do the work. I ordered all the sway bar bushings from the super sway bar thread, all new shock bushings (hopefully that fixes my squeek), and the control arm bushings too.

 

[00N8]

nevermind

 

[00N8]

I'm getting about 22" from center of the hubs to the bottom of the fender wells all the way around with my new lift, what are you AHC guys getting when on Hi? I feel like my rig is 1/2 - 1" higher now then when I have my AHC in Hi all the time.

 

[BigGreenLX]

Newbie here doing research on everything I can learn about my 98 LX470. Been lurking for awhile but just had to say thank you making this thread although its been around for awhile now. This compiled and organized the info like I need it. My system is still working (at what I would say is 90%) but since she is at 243k I figure it will need to be replaced sooner than later.
I have been trying to figure out whether to replace stock AHC or go with LC setup when it fails. I don't plan on doing any off road other than in some mud and snow at times but want to move to 285/75/16's when the time comes to replace my current rubber and am not sure if the larger tires will significantly reduce the lifespan of the AHC system or not make much difference.
Well thanks again for this contribution and any advice would be helpful regarding the larger tires.

 

[Wilsil]

Found another pricing for the globes: Amayama USD $682 plus delivery.
I think mine are gone as the soft - comfort setting doesn't give any difference and the body roll is massive.

 

[bonze]

I had multiple failures on globes from B&B. The OEM parts are more expensive, but the only way to go.

 

[hkeller]

Has anyone bought the globes from Amayama?

 

[kgrove]

Has anyone bought the globes from Amayama?

I'm very curious here too. The Amayama price seems too good to be true though... Giving my credit card number, name, and address to a website nobody has heard of in a foreign country? What could go wrong, right?

Seriously though it is very tempting. Globes are big bucks... Being able to get them for $160 or whatever it is each would be awesome even if it does take 3 months to ship them here. The cheapest I've seen them elsewhere is about $400 each.

 

[Lx470iH8Mud]

Shot in the dark but I wonder how these would do? http://www.ecstuning.com/Mercedes_B....5L/Suspension/Active_Body_Control/ES1780861/

 

[Moody]

I had my system replaced with OME this spring at 115k. I know my AHC worked well, I just needed more height and cargo capacity. Anyone is free to take the globes if they would care for them. 2001 LX.

Edit: I have gotten some PM's on these. They are still on my truck. I'm doing some work on it tomorrow and I will see what it takes to remove them. Give me a few days.

 

[hkeller]

Well, I pulled the trigger and bought the globes from Amayama. Couldn't be happier. Brand new, in the box factory OEM parts. Took a few weeks of back order and the shipping was like $150, but I am very pleased.

 

[dfrelich]

OK. I need the globes. My hi to lo is under 7 graduations.

I'm usually for OEM but I'm curious about other products that the forum members may have bought. What their experience after a year with the product?

 

[agaisin]

If it were me all over again I'd go with new OEM globes from Amayama.

I've had my KJS500 for almost 2 years now, don't have any objective complaints other than fronts didn't fit in without removing a bracket temporarily iirc. (Problem is there's no 100% clearcut way I know of to validate how 'well' the system is working and if there are issues is it due to some imbalance in the size/pressure of the globes or something else in the suspension/electronics at play but that's a whole different topic).

At the time, I wasn't interested in B&B for a number of reasons, Pleiades was near impossible to reach/buy from online or via email, and the price for KJS500 ($800 iirc for 4) made it worth the risk for me to give 'em a shot.

Now things have changed a little. It looks like KJS500's price is $950 for four, and Amayama looks like a legit source for OEM at the cheapest possible price! As a matter of fact, I just ordered a few hundred worth of parts (tilt and telescoping motor and other misc.) from Amayama but haven't received the parts yet. I can't vouch firsthand yet, but it looks like hkeller vouches for them, I've seen others on other forums talk about them, and they do seem legit. If I were looking for globes all over again now, I'd try Amayama for sure.

--- tangent on Amayama ----
I don't fully understand Amayama's business model - it's weird to me in a few ways:
1) first, each part you want has wildly different prices depending on where it's coming from (never been given that option before), and
2) instead of a single ordering process of picking parts, shipping location and options, and then you order it online in one multi-step process, with Amayama you pick parts and then submit a request. Within a day or two they process the request (tally shipping etc) and create an order in pending payments state. Then you go back in to pay for the order.
3) In my case my single order was broken out into multiple orders and I had to pay separately for each order even though I submitted them together at once. presumably based on where they were shipping from but still different and strange to me.

So it's a little weird but at those prices and given others vouching for them I was willing to give them a shot.