nige Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 Has anyone ever installed the airlift rear coil kit? I'm curious to know if it would level out my truck when I have calmini coils on my '95 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrailChaser Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 I have often thought about using air bags like 18 wheelers have. Only smaller. They'll hold up to just about any weight and I bet they'd be nice and soft... Not to mention you could pump extra air into'em for a couple of extra inches of ground clearance. Is it just my computer or does skrillaguerilla's sig make everyone's page too wide where you have to scroll to the right to finish reading??? No problems, just wondering... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelmanLS1 Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 It doesn't shift mine... I'm using Netscape. What do you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terrano Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 TrailChaser, I don't have to scroll right. His sig is huge, I agree, but if you have 1024x768 resolution on your monitor everything will be ok, I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 Yeah resolution helps with fitment. I have my favorites open on the side and his posts still fit. Anyway, back to the original topic; All I have heard about the air assist for the rears is they help when you are loaded down or towing, otherwise they don't do anything for ya. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrailChaser Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 (edited) The air assist would be cool too, but I was talking about replacing the springs and t-bars with air bags... Is that what you had in mind skrillaguerilla? I'm using IE with a crapola state of the art flatscreen monitor. I'm not sure what the res is, but I've heard if you try to change it with this kind of monitor it won't work. Edited July 5, 2005 by TrailChaser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrSurfer Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 I have an airf lift kit installed on my rig. They help on loaded situations and even lift the rear if you choose the right(high) pressure. It´s cool, you can customize the ride on the fly if you get the compressor system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nige Posted July 5, 2005 Author Share Posted July 5, 2005 The air assist would be cool too, but I was talking about replacing the springs and t-bars with air bags... Is that what you had in mind skrillaguerilla? No, I wanted to keep the coils and use the airbags to level out my truck. The rear coils never lifted the truck up as much as the front UCA upgrade I made. That, coupled with the weight of the tire carrier makes the rear end sag giving my truck a "baja" stance. This gets even worse when I put the boat on the back and load it up with gear. Here's an older picture from right after I installed my lift kit: You can see the difference between the front and rear ride height. Air Lift Kit This was the kit I was considering as long as I don't have to order it from AC. I was not sure if the bags will be tall enough at full pressure to make contact with the upper and lower spring seats to make a difference in ride height. The only other thing that may be limiting the amount of rear suspension travel would be my stock Nissan adjustable shocks which I have no idea how far they can stretch before bottoming out... BrSurfer Do you have aftermarket/JGC/Calmini rear coils? Or are you running stock height? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 Skrilla... Still want those 3/4" rubber spacers I made? They've been sitting in my living room since I sent you your springs. PM me your address again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrSurfer Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 Hey skrillaguerilla, I have stock´s coils and shocks. The bags works just fine for me. I`m running with +-30 psi on it and have all the lift that I wanted (2'). By the way, I`m carring extra weight in the back (100 kg). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 I'm using the Air-Lift bags. They work perfect for adding load capacity, exactly as designed and claimed to do. They can also be used to raise the truck a bit - but as installed per the instructions, it takes quite a bit of air to get much lift - like 40+ psi. At which time it starts riding like a truck using add-a-leafs. Buckboard stiff and jarring ride due to too much spring rate. Here's my plan: Install about 1 to 2" of plastic spacers between the bags and the spring mount (think hockey puck). Then adding air adds more lift sooner. Going to do it, just haven't had time yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nige Posted July 5, 2005 Author Share Posted July 5, 2005 The spacers would be the cheapest route to go. I was concerned about lateral shifting between the spacer and my isolators. Plus If I stack another spacer on top of the isolator, I'm worried the coil will become unseated from the upper spring seat if the opposite side is fully compressed. Would it be best to set them up like below and hope they don't shift around, or would it be better to figure out a way to get them to work with the bottom spring seat? I know the end of the coil has to be squared up against that little pocket on the side of the seat so it would be tough to get it to sit properly on a spacer. Maybe it would be a better idea to drill holes in both the isolator and spacer and insert some sort of dowel-type material to hold them together so they don't slip on each other. Either or, i'll pm you my address 88. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 Yep, that's just how mine are set up and it works fine. The springs won't shift on you a bit. I have 3/4" spacers top AND bottom and I had to use a coil compressor to put the springs in. mws: hockey pucks aren't generally 4" or larger in diameter, are they? Cause the spring seats are. Plus they need to be donuts, not solid discs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 mws: hockey pucks aren't generally 4" or larger in diameter, are they? Cause the spring seats are. Plus they need to be donuts, not solid discs. I think he was talking about the pucks for use as air bag spacers, they sit inside the springs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nige Posted July 6, 2005 Author Share Posted July 6, 2005 (edited) I thought you guys would like to read the reply from AC after I asked them about their Air Lift Kit: > Hello Neil, > > To correctly solve this problem is to dump the coils that do not give > you any lift and install one of our 1.5" lift coils or 3" lift coils > and you will have to change the rear shocks for longer units because > your stock shocks will limit your wheel travel and will not allow more > height in the rear. Air bag kits are good to keep the load from > dropping the rear end due > to the weight, but they are not good for lifting the rear with > inferior coils and stock shocks. Hope this helps. > If we can be of any further assistance or you wish to order, call or > you can > order on line at www.4x4parts.com > > You can reach us at 954-971-3510 or FAX 954-971-3770 > > Thank you > > Mike V. > Automotive Customizers > 1700 NW 22 Court Unit #2. > Pompano Beach FL 33069 > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <nige@motekmobile.com> > To: <4x4x4parts@bellsouth.net> > Sent: Tuesday, July 05, 2005 7:00 PM > Subject: 4x4parts.com Contact Request > > > > Name: Neil Pilsner > > E-mail address: nige@motekmobile.com Phone Number: 15195724071 > > > > Question: > > Please read this post to help me answer my question: > > I drive a 1995 WD21 with your UCA\'s and Calmini rear coils with > > some > urethane coils isolators. > > The rear coils never lifted the truck up as much as the front UCA upgrade > I made. That, coupled with the weight of the tire carrier makes the > rear end > sag giving my truck a \"baja\" stance. This gets even worse when I put > the boat on the back and load it up with gear. I want to keep the > Calmini coils > and use the airbags to level out my truck. The airlift kit you sell > for 169 > dollars was the kit i\'m considering purchasing. Is there any other > way to increase the lift of the rear without breaking my bank? > > > > I was not sure if the bags will be tall enough at full pressure to > > make > contact with the upper and lower spring seats to make a difference in > ride height. > > > > The only other thing that may be limiting the amount of rear > > suspension > travel would be my stock Nissan adjustable shocks which I have no idea > how far they can stretch before bottoming out... > > > > I have a picture of my truck to send to you if you want to see what > > i\'m > talking about. I can also measure the distance between the upper and > lower contact points of the rear coil suspension to see if the bags > will even do anything after they\'ve been fully inflated... > > Their solution: throw more AC-brand parts at the problem, because in their opinion, Calmini sucks... Edited July 6, 2005 by skrillaguerilla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 Skrillaguerilla, I know you're located in Waterloo, and if it's not too far of a drive for you, there's a place in Brampton that, I think, sells those air suspension kits. I remember seeing an ad in there for them. I can check it out for you, as it's only about 5 minutes from where I work, and let you know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 mws: hockey pucks aren't generally 4" or larger in diameter, are they? Cause the spring seats are. Plus they need to be donuts, not solid discs. I think he was talking about the pucks for use as air bag spacers, they sit inside the springs. Yup. What he said. If you're really worried about spacers shifting (and it sounds like you don't need to be...), just drill and tap a couple holes to locate them. Even a 6mm or 8mm bolt would be more than enough to keep them in place no matter what... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 Just for the record, I like the stock spring rates for normal driving. I plan to add about 3/4" spring spacer for a little lift, and a 1.5" airbag spacer. From what I've seen in my experiments to date, a reasonable amount of air should get me up to about 1.5" of lift for offroading, and a lot of air should get me over 2 or 3" if I need max ground clearance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 Airbags don't really lift your truck, they just prevent the springs from compressing. They'll also make the ride fairly stiff, and that's not really what you need while offroading usually. Air shocks would do about the same for you, actually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 Air bags are simply a variable rate spring. The more air pressure you add, the higher the spring rate. They are also a progressive spring. Sized properly and used wisely, they are a wonderful addition to trucks that are asked to perform variable functions. Personally, I hate air shocks. Because the piston area is so small and the resulting spring rate is a function of the area and pressure, you need a huge amount of pressure to get a minimal amount of additional spring rate. And the high air pressure in the shocks tends to cause a lot of stiction in the shock, degrading the ride quality. The average air shock has piston size under an inch, whereas most airbags are in the 3" to 6" diameter range. A 3" piston has almost 10X the area of a 1" piston, so it takes 1/10 as much pressure for the same load increase. BTW, you can get quite a bit of ride height increase with bags with proper installation, but at a serious cost. On my tow van, I get over 3" of lift with the bags inflated and no load! But then I have the spring rate and ride quality of an unloaded 1 ton truck. This is the intended and ideal application for air bags - extra load capacity. Although it is a 1 ton drivetrain, I am using 1/2 ton springs with airbags. When empty, I run 10 psi and the ride is almost Cadillac smooth. When we're headed out for a weekend, I air them up to 80 psi and crank the damping on the RS9000's to max. We throw 2 dirt bikes, 50 gallons of water, all our gear, and firewood in the back of the van. Then we hitch on our trailer (with well over 500 lbs tongue weight!) and it ends up right back at the original ride height. And still rides great - far and away the most stable, comfortable, and controlled feeling tow vehicle I've ever driven. My BIL's F250SD was close, but it was so tall it felt far less stable when cornering. IMO, they are a nice addition to the Pathy when used in moderation and with stock or not much stiffer than stock springs. I still have stock smooth ride when empty, but can firm it up whenever I want... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted July 8, 2005 Share Posted July 8, 2005 Well described mws... Sounds like you have experimented with them, and use them appropriately. It does sound handy for the occasional offroad situation where a couple of inches or a few degrees less lean would be desired... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gacruiser Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 The air assist would be cool too, but I was talking about replacing the springs and t-bars with air bags... Is that what you had in mind skrillaguerilla? No, I wanted to keep the coils and use the airbags to level out my truck. The rear coils never lifted the truck up as much as the front UCA upgrade I made. That, coupled with the weight of the tire carrier makes the rear end sag giving my truck a "baja" stance. This gets even worse when I put the boat on the back and load it up with gear. Here's an older picture from right after I installed my lift kit: You can see the difference between the front and rear ride height. Air Lift Kit This was the kit I was considering as long as I don't have to order it from AC. I was not sure if the bags will be tall enough at full pressure to make contact with the upper and lower spring seats to make a difference in ride height. The only other thing that may be limiting the amount of rear suspension travel would be my stock Nissan adjustable shocks which I have no idea how far they can stretch before bottoming out... BrSurfer Do you have aftermarket/JGC/Calmini rear coils? Or are you running stock height? If you're still running the OEM adjustable shocks, my guess is that they don't have enough extension to allow your rear suspension to lift. Have you tried disconnecting them to see if the ride height increases? BTW, I think Mr. Jim runs (or did run) airbags in his Finder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earth1 Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 Still want those 3/4" rubber spacers I made? They've been sitting in my living room since I sent you your springs. Hey 88 did you get my PM a could days ago about selling me some spacers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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