Air Springs

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Air Springs

Postby halfdome, Danny » Wed Jun 28, 2006 11:47 pm

I'm thinking of putting Air Lift air springs on my tow vehicle to level it out while towing our tear. Does anyone have this brand on their vehicle and the pros and cons of air bags. A local dealer quoted over $700 to install the springs and compressor which I thought was very steep. I can install it myself and save almost $400. :relaxing: Danny

http://www.airliftcompany.com/
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Postby madjack » Thu Jun 29, 2006 12:07 am

Danny, I can't give specific info on the AirLifts but my 2001 Pontiac Aztek came with air shocks as part of the tow package and it is sure nice to hook up a trailer and here that compressor come on and level things out...also many years ago I had an old truck and bought a 22' Swiss Colony TT...I installed Monroe air shocks on the truck to accomplish the same thing and was very happy with their preformance...another thing I like about the Aztek is that it has a tap on the line for using the compressor for airing up a tire and such.....
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Postby asianflava » Thu Jun 29, 2006 1:04 am

A neighbor of mine is a mechanic for an independent shop. Like most mechanics, he does a few side jobs. A few years ago, he installed air shocks on an older Mazda MPV because the guy couldn't afford to have the factory parts replaced. That guy is still driving that van.
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Postby Gage » Thu Jun 29, 2006 2:43 am

Save yourself a lot of money and install some good air shocks. For what you want them for, they'll work just great.

Have a good day.

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Postby mikeschn » Thu Jun 29, 2006 3:44 am

How about self leveling shocks... like the Nivomat? They use stuff like that in Europe alot...

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Postby vairman » Thu Jun 29, 2006 6:21 am

Check out http://airbagit.com/ Thats where I got my bags from..
I have had them on my Corvair for about 2 years now with no problems.
As you can see in the picture I bled down my bags so the tear would set level while parked (hitch is to high on the car)

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Postby 48Rob » Thu Jun 29, 2006 6:56 am

Danny,

I have a set of $100 air shocks that solved the problem for me.

They are adjustable, and though there is no "on board" air compressor, it works out well.
Most of the year I get to keep the nice soft ride, and when we go camping, I just add a little air to get the height where I need it.
At first I was concerned about how they might effect handling, but that fear was unfounded...we tow at 75-80 with no troubles.

Rob

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Postby Nobody » Thu Jun 29, 2006 7:51 am

Danny, I'd think the "Air-Lift" air bags would be overkill for height compensation in your case. The ones I've had experience with are mostly for handling very heavy loads on truck/pickup type chassis. I installed a pair on my old Ford diesel P/U when I was hauling a 3000# cabover camper & they worked great. As several other posters here mentioned, unless you're needing to compensate for several hundred pounds tongue weight, a good set of air shocks should solve your problem. Lots less maintenance intensive too :thumbsup: .
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Postby halfdome, Danny » Thu Jun 29, 2006 9:04 am

With all these great replies I'm a little confused :? . I think my tongue weight is over 300# and it makes the Blazer drop 2" or 3" which in turn reduces my front braking capabilities and makes my headlights hit squarely on stop signs. It also makes my foot well scrape just on the leading edge on sharp driveways. Gage are you talking about Monroe-matics? I can get the basic air bags for the rear for around $180 and I can always use my air compressor at home and get one of those 12 volt portable compressors for the road. I bought the vehicle used and don't know if the shocks were ever replaced. I've done the rocking test with only one rebound after shaking the crap out of it but this is my first 4 wheel drive. We usually don't drive much once we get to where we are camping so won't need to bleed and refill much. :relaxing: Danny
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Postby Chris C » Thu Jun 29, 2006 9:35 am

300 pound tongue weight?!?!?!?!?! Dang, Danny, that's heavy for a Cub/ Modernistic. How much does your whole trailer weigh?
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Postby madjack » Thu Jun 29, 2006 10:33 am

Danny, think of them in two categories...air shocks and air springs...the air lifts you are linking to are air bags that replace or supplement the springs(air springs)...most of the rest of us are talking about air shocks that replace existing shock absorbers and are generally aired up manually as needed without a permanently installed compressor (at least the Monroes on my old PU were that way)...
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Postby halfdome, Danny » Thu Jun 29, 2006 11:16 am

Chris C wrote:300 pound tongue weight?!?!?!?!?! Dang, Danny, that's heavy for a Cub/ Modernistic. How much does your whole trailer weigh?

It's a insulated 5'x10' Li’l Bear clone of sorts with a tongue box. I had it weighed at 2 different yards with quite a difference in tallies. On the axle it is 1200# and I think it's somewhere around 1500# to 1600# total. I have no problems towing it and my gas mileage dropped down to city driving and that was on back roads with hills. My guess is I should get around 18 mpg on the interstates. Danny
Last edited by halfdome, Danny on Thu Jun 29, 2006 12:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby halfdome, Danny » Thu Jun 29, 2006 12:44 pm

madjack wrote:Danny, think of them in two categories...air shocks and air springs...the air lifts you are linking to are air bags that replace or supplement the springs(air springs)...most of the rest of us are talking about air shocks that replace existing shock absorbers and are generally aired up manually as needed without a permanently installed compressor (at least the Monroes on my old PU were that way)...
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Madjack, I looked under my Blazer and found a rubber thing mounted to the chassis frame above the leaf springs that looks like the Michelin man. I'm figuring it's there to prevent my suspension from bottoming out. Would this be replaced with the air bag? If so it looks simple to do :thumbsup: . Danny
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Postby Chris C » Thu Jun 29, 2006 12:48 pm

halfdome, Danny wrote:
Chris C wrote:300 pound tongue weight?!?!?!?!?! Dang, Danny, that's heavy for a Cub/ Modernistic. How much does your whole trailer weigh?

It's a insulated 5'x10' Li’l Bear clone of sorts with a tongue box. I had it weighed at 2 different yards with quite a difference in tallies. On the axle it is 1200# and I think it's somewhere around 1500# to 1600# total. I have no problems towing it and my gas mileage dropped down to city driving and that was on back roads with hills. My guess is I should get around 18 mpg on the interstates. Danny


Wow, I thought the idea was to not exceed 10% of the total weight of the trailer ending up on the tongue. But if you're not having any troubles towing, I guess the "proof is in the pudding", so to speak. But, obviously, the tongue is too heavy for your vehicle. Personally I'd consider putting more weight behind the axle. Just a thought.
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Postby Melvin » Thu Jun 29, 2006 2:10 pm

halfdome, Danny wrote:Madjack, I looked under my Blazer and found a rubber thing mounted to the chassis frame above the leaf springs that looks like the Michelin man. I'm figuring it's there to prevent my suspension from bottoming out. Would this be replaced with the air bag? If so it looks simple to do :thumbsup: . Danny[/color]


Usually the suspension snubber is kept as air bag need to be kept from collapsing too far.

Be warned when that some vehicles have brake bias adjusters built into the rear suspension (my 89 Turbo Voyager for example). If you mess with the ride height you can reduce the braking capacity of your rig.
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