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Air bag suspension chat


KKtrips

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I have often wondered how hard it would be to make a controller out of an ardiuno, obviously I dont have the required coding skills, but surely it could be done for less than the $1300 the off the shelf ones cost?

It can be done for less but it depends on the value of your time.

I did it and if I was charging me out at my wage it would have cost $5000. And I still ripped it all out to make V2.0 because V1.0 was unsaleable.

And V2.0 doesn't even exist yet.

So basically it was a fuck around and I should have just worked and saved for a house.

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I always wondered if you could run an airbag system using an OEM control system from a car that has bags. The 88-92 shape Galant came with ECS in the top spec FWD cars, you could adjust the ride height and stiffness on the fly and it would automatically lower the car at speed along with sending more air to one axle or one side when the car brakes or corners heavily. It had its own electric pump and three valve/solenoids per axle. The bags ran in tandem with softer springs in the struts, but unfortunately they were prone to wearing out every 5-10 years.

 

I wanted to transplant it into my VR-4 but the rear suspension is different between FWD and 4WD so stock shocks can't be mounted.

 

Video of it doing its thing - quite cool for 25+ years old

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Mine is still set up as per cert - disabled when out of park/neutral. Probably will 'fix' that next time I'm in the wiring.

 

The instructions say there are a few different response speed settings for the height controller, but I don't think it is intended to be that fast to handle cornering loads.

 

The Accurair system uses pot height sensor with a mechanical linkage.

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Any one with a e manage, does it adjust the air pressures constantly on the fly? Ie does it pump up the outside bags on hard cornering?

The accuair system averages the ride height over a couple of minutes and makes very small adjustments infrequently while driving.

When parked the response time is much quicker to changes in load, like a couple of seconds.

A fully active system like that BOSE LS400 is not really practical with air.

I tried it in my car and because the system is always doing something I would need 10 compressors to keep up. I didn't drive it hard but it didn't do much for handling.

All the new Audis etc with factory air suspension have some super sick shit in there. Fully adjustable shocks and full control of the ride height.

If I do bags again I would try retrofit some Audi / BMW / Porsche airbag struts. They are way better than the normal old bellows type airbag. They have progressive spring rates and separate adjustable compression and rebound on the shocks.

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Hey guys ive had a bit of a read through here but maybe someone could shed some light on my setup. Im prety close to aigbagging the MX41 which is IRS rear. Im after a simple setup that will allow me to sit the car slightly lower then what it is now, but ride height will be where the car sits now. I don't need a fast setup, it will only be used for practical purpose and parking etc. Still want to also be able take the car to the track for events like Toyota fest and Chrome and it handle.

What would be a recommended setup for the old Toyota without going to custom, ie using a bag over factory front strut would be nice? And what wound a setup like this cost start to finish minus the obvious time?

Thanks guys

20141125_162203_zpsggdtlfs4.jpg

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Basically it comes down to how skilled you are. You an buy aerosport strut bags for the front, and some normal ones for the back, for my car these cost about $650 us, so call it $1000 nz. Then you need valves,compressor, air tank, lines, gauges, water trap, switches, wiring, mounting kits etc, and that can cost from $800 to $2500 depending on what you buy.

Basically if you dont want to hop use 1/4" lines and valves, otherwise it'll be too quick.

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Does anyone have an idea on how smaller tank I can run? I could buy a pancake tank and ditch the spare, but I have had to use it already, and I dont want an air tank mounted in the boot as we do lots of trips and shit so need to maximise boot space. I dont want to be flicking switches all the time, just pump up in town for shitty roads and speed bumps and lower it for everything else. I am looking at one gallon tanks at the moment but I dont know how they will go?

Also how big of a compressor? Viair 480c? It is hard when the Fucken things aren't rated like real compressors hahaha

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