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Air springs

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Hi guys,
My cruiser will have to carry a very heavy load over rough terrain for
a prolonged period. Lots of weight behind the rear axle too (lr fuel
tank, dual spare wheels, ..). I beefed up my suspension already with
some new bilstein shocks and added a leaf all around. But I am afraid
my rear will be seriously sagging when fully loaded. As I don't want
lr fuel tank to touch ground on every bump I was thinking of fitting
some "air springs". Firestone has a good reputation on those. As I see
it the air springs kind of replace the rubber bump stops(I need to
replace those anyway) and can be pumped up to adjust the height. It
should also decrease wear on the leafs, help stability, etc...
Does anybody have experience with such an item? Some SA and Ozi people
swear by it, even in the bush, but I am somwhat reluctant to drive
around with balloons on such a vulnerable place.
I was looking at the Firestone Ride-Rite Air-over-Leaf:
http://www.driveriteltd.com
Any input welcomed.
Cheers,
Frederik
HZJ75 Troop Carrier
 
Frederik,
I have no experience with air suspension but am also interested in there
use. I have noticed over the last few years that nearly all truck
suspension includes similar air bags, somewhat larger than the one on the
web page but very compact for the job they do.
As a matter of interest what cruiser do you have and how heavily load will
it be? I assume you will also be carrying spare leaves, more weight but
useful if the air bags fail and / or you break a leaf.
Malcolm Bagley
Stafford, UK
1975 FJ45 Pickup (In Work)
_______________________________
-----Original Message-----
From: [Email address removed] [mailto:[Email address removed]] On
Behalf Of Frederik Willems
Sent: 08 May 2006 13:16
To: [Email address removed]
Subject: [ELCO] Air springs
Hi guys,
My cruiser will have to carry a very heavy load over rough terrain for
a prolonged period. Lots of weight behind the rear axle too (lr fuel
tank, dual spare wheels, ..). I beefed up my suspension already with
some new bilstein shocks and added a leaf all around. But I am afraid
my rear will be seriously sagging when fully loaded. As I don't want
lr fuel tank to touch ground on every bump I was thinking of fitting
some "air springs". Firestone has a good reputation on those. As I see
it the air springs kind of replace the rubber bump stops(I need to
replace those anyway) and can be pumped up to adjust the height. It
should also decrease wear on the leafs, help stability, etc...
Does anybody have experience with such an item? Some SA and Ozi people
swear by it, even in the bush, but I am somwhat reluctant to drive
around with balloons on such a vulnerable place.
I was looking at the Firestone Ride-Rite Air-over-Leaf:
http://www.driveriteltd.com
Any input welcomed.
Cheers,
Frederik
HZJ75 Troop Carrier
 
Hi FW,
I've recently bought an AirLift 1000 kit for my LC for precisely the
same reason but it has not been fitted yet, so sadly no first hand
experience.
I reckon if the air bags can sustain rubbing inside the coils, they
should last a while. And even If they fail, the worst that can happen
is going back to the original, unassisted suspension - which means
slower progress and more mechanical sympathy for the car.
--
Rgds,
Roman (London, UK)
'92 HDJ80
On 5/8/06, Frederik Willems <[Email address removed]> wrote:
 
Hi,
On 5/8/06, Roman <[Email address removed]> wrote:
Can I ask why you went for the Airlift (and not another manufacturer)?
I can find very little topics on air springs in general on the forums.
Very true... I just hope they would last a little longer then the
first deep-rutted track with some rocks
l
HZJ75 troop carrier kitted out as an overland vehicle. Fully loaded
with full water/diesel tanks I'll be close to a payload of 1000kgs.
No spare leaves.. I've been told you can find them on every
streetcorner in Africa (there are little streetcorners in the sahara
though ;-) )
Cheers,
Frederik
http://www.radiobaobab.be
 
Frederik,
On 5/8/06, Frederik Willems <[Email address removed]> wrote:
Because they were the first to reply to my query about the price and
shipping cost to the UK. I suppose there's very little difference
between the two products.
I guess it's a good idea to use stone deflectors to keep the bags out
of harm's way, not only the shocks.
--
Rgds,
Roman (London, UK)
'92 HDJ80
 
Doesn't look like the comparison of the Airlift for coil spring assist and
the Ride-Rite for leaf spring use is no apples for apples!
I spoke to Drive-rite who were very helfull, gave me the part number and
phone number for a UK distributor, Autovan in Devon.
http://www.autovan.co.uk/ They quoted me =A3285 for the Drive-Rite which seems
similar to the Ride-Rite on the drive-rite web site.
I found some coil spring bags for Jeeps on the AirLift site which were $70!
Malcolm Bagley
Stafford, UK
1975 FJ45 Pickup (In Work)
_______________________________


-----Original Message-----
From: [Email address removed] [mailto:[Email address removed]] On
Behalf Of Frederik Willems
Sent: 08 May 2006 15:33
To: [Email address removed]
Subject: Re: [ELCO] Air springs
Hi,
On 5/8/06, Roman <[Email address removed]> wrote:
Can I ask why you went for the Airlift (and not another manufacturer)?
I can find very little topics on air springs in general on the forums.
Very true... I just hope they would last a little longer then the
first deep-rutted track with some rocks
will
but
HZJ75 troop carrier kitted out as an overland vehicle. Fully loaded
with full water/diesel tanks I'll be close to a payload of 1000kgs.
No spare leaves.. I've been told you can find them on every
streetcorner in Africa (there are little streetcorners in the sahara
though ;-) )
Cheers,
Frederik
http://www.radiobaobab.be
 
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