I have a few questions about airbag suspension design, mainly the safety aspect . 1. Is there a given height above the lowest level of the car that I should setup the removable bumpstop height at. The car will lay frame with about 1 inch or so left in the bag at this point, front and rear. I like the ability to put the car on the ground but a blowout would be catastrophic. Never having had a car with it I have no idea how often to bag setups actually fail? 2. I have a pair of VAR 480C they are rated at 200psi, the tank itself has a rating of 200psi. Currently I have no pressure gauge on the tank and the pumps are set to run only when manually switched. (Adding gauge tomorrow) Is it possible for the pumps to blow the tank, I don't see a blow-off valve set in the system. The engineer in me freaks out with pressure vessels and no blowout. I don't have a extra 1/4 port on the tank where I could put one in. Better to put it inline between the pump and tank? New Tank? 3. My bags max out at 100psi. Is there a reasonable way to set an adjustable pressure and just use the switches up and have the bags settle out at that pressure, like a adjustable inline blow-off instead of using ride height control setup. Or just set the tank at the pressure I want across the board and use that.
Bags do not normally just "blow out" most of the failure comes from the installer. I would suggest putting a bump stop right at the level at which you feel it would keep you from bottoming out. A pressure gauge is always needed. When you put one on the tank get a T and attach a blowout on one and a pressure gauge on the other port of it. You should consider running a gauge to the inside of the cab if you don't want to run the blowout. As far as question three, Most systems have individual gauges on each bag running to the cab.... I'm not exactly sure what you are asking for after that.
What I wanted to do was have a pressure/height for each corner and just have the bag go to that when I hold the switch down. That way I can align the car and always get close to where I had it aligned it everytime.
"I like the ability to put the car on the ground but a blowout would be catastrophic" That says it all right there. Leave yourself room for a failure. Failures don't happen often but once would be more than enough.
ridetech suspension makes an electronic control that senses ride height and adjust it I think. Not on the cheap though and it only works with their system. not sure if anyone else does it though
Accuair has the best system going. Auto ride height adjustments, Programmable ride height, auto leveling.
there's a guy on here that goes by the handle of like arrowood customs, believe his name is justin, bought my setup from him. straight up honest dude, stuff was sent out fast and was absolutely exactly as he said, got a better setup than I had put together online for half the price. he only sells digital controllers. it has a ride height setting that it automatically goes to, shows pressure on each corner and allows for adjustment at each corner as well.
I recommend spending your money on the Accuair system. http://www.accuairsuspension.com/ This system will do what you want.
That might be the ticket. I guess I was just over thinking this. I already have the bags, tank, pumps and switches installed. What I figured was I could put a regulator+check valve at the tank and adjust it to my preferred setting there, that is what we do at work when we have higher pressure on the supply side. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I will install the gauge's that I have tomorrow and find a 150 psi blow-off at the office that I can put in place for the time being. If I put in the bump stops I have now, I should have about 2 inches of clearance across the board which in my mind is enough to at least get me on a flatbed home or find the leak.
were an accuair dealer air systems are safe as how there isnstalled if a bag can possibly rub on somthing threw range of travel it can and will fail bag clearance is important
^^^^Alex hit the nail on the head. Most every bag failure I have ever seen occurred because it was rubbing against something, and over time, it wore a hole in the bag. I like at least an inch of clearance around the bag through all of the suspension travel. It can be a challenge on the front suspension because you'll have to trim the area around the spring pocket. The rear is not as big a challenge because on most systems, the rear bags are usually out in free air. Just make sure that all the brake lines and e-brake cables clear the bags with room to spare. I've seen some horriffic set-ups on cars at shows, and those are ones that give air-ride systems a bad name because they were only concerned about laying the car down on the rockers and not about clearances, the quality of their air fittings, and suspension theory. Do your homework and spend the extra money in the right places, and you'll have a nice, reliable system.
My bits on bag safety.... I still think they're a pain in the ass, but this is after 6 years of having a bodydropped truck. people don't realize that some bags swell after installation. I set up my old truck with 3/4" around the bag and on my first drive out, I blew one. That was an older Air Lift bag, and some new styles dont swell (slam specialties). Another overlooked factor is check valves before your fills... In the event of a tank leak/failure... your car/truck will fall because the selonoid valves rely on back pressure to hold them shut. Put check valves before your fill valves. Bumpstops.... If you're car is not laying rocker, you can set up appropriate bumpstops in the event of a bag failure, the car will fall to that instead of a frame rail. pressure relief valve on tank.... in the even of your pressure switch failing, this will stop your tank or lines from exploding... cheap insurance.
I have been running bags for about 12 years now on 3 different cars. I have had blowouts 2 times and both were clearly my fault. On my first car I had them on, one of the front bags rubbed just a TINY TINY bit on the control arm. It took about a year, but it finally blew out on the 405 freeway doing 70mph. That was scary. The second blowout was from a line that was routed right by where I was doing some welding. The line got too hot and got a soft spot. Thankfully I was parked when it went, but it was a tank line, so my whole car ended up on the ground. That was all about 10 years ago, since I learned my lesson the hard way I haven't had any problems. The biggest thing is to make sure you have room around your bags, and that nothing get too hot.
Sooo. 1- bumpstop shuld be mounted where you feel theyre better swited. 2- tanks blow if they are poorly made (china tanks) but its quite hard to blow one just fillin it. The DOT tanks rated for 150psi have their burst limit at 750psi. They sell pressure switches for this anyway. from 145 to 200 psi if i remember right. 3- to do what you want you need a digital sys. As said already Accuair is sellin the best in the biz, and will set you off about 2k. for everything but the bags. But since you only need valves you might mail them and see if they sell separate. i know their autoleveling system is made to mate w/ every manufactures valves, so my guess is they can help. Accuair owner is here on the hamb too, his name's Mike, pm him: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/member.php?u=109869 The system that Gsnikets mentioned is the same i have, the Easy Street package. Honestly, i bought it cause i had a bangin deal on it, cause at the time i hated the digital controllers and wanted switches. Now that i know a couple extra things im glad i got that. Until Accuair came in the game i think Easy Stret was the best deal out there, the valve blocks are super solid and easy to service, and the rest of the kit is only made of quality brands parts. Go for it, do it once, and do it properly. Comin from a guy that did it a few times cause he screwed it all up repetedly is some rather good advice i guess. ahahahahah. keep us posted.
DOT tanks or not.... they've blown up with 200PSI or below... I dont put that much faith in my pressure switch.
I didnt think an air tank could explode at only 150/200 psi until some time ago. Then ive been shown a picture of a chrome china tank blown at the seam.....scary shit. I have some serious doubt that a quality brand, DOT approved tank has more than a 0.5% chance of blowin. Tires do blow too, whatcha gonna do?
I have bagged and have owned a lot of bagged vehicles, and if you do the setup right and use top quality parts you should never have a problem. But you have to remember you cannot just bag something and forget about it, over time bags and valves and compressors will wear out. bags will weahter crack, valves diaphrams will leak, compressor seals will deteriorate. You have to maintain a bag setup. I bagged my personal truck in 2006 and just replaced all for bags and valve seals 2 months ago for the first time. If you do not trust yourself to do a proper installation PAY A PROFESSIONAL to do it
put a 150 pressure relief on the tank and not exceed that...haha... back in the day I left my manually EDC switched on and found 400 in my tank... That was fun releasing that....
Talk about fun i have ran 550 psi to a chrome tank runninng nitrogen, i would have to say its not the smartest thing i have done then i stop and think about it and would definitly not recommend it. I was at a carshow once and watched a tank in a SUV explode it damn near blew the roof off!
Must have had a heck of a pump. I have a easy street branded tank. Figure I will just keep the whole system at 150psi max as my bags max out at 100psi. I found a 150 blow off in the garage from something I did for the office. Brass tomco 150. Got a drain as well. I have a bunch of brass air tees from a install I did as well that were in a box. Tested it on the air system we have at work, blows out at 145psi. I have a good quality gauge and I am going to fit it on the main tank in-between the pump and tank that way I get a clean reading. It tests out ~6 psi up. Love the fact that someone actually took the time to one star this thread but fake ardun heads and stickers get posted up highly. I am going to order the bump stops tonight and hopefully will have them in this weekend. I am going to set them up for about 1.5 inches from the lowest point, frame.
if money is an issue you can get in cheeper than that you can go with a basic sistem for as low as about 1200 and you can up grade it later with the auto leveling and yes they sell there valves separate as i said be fore were an accuair dealer and dont sell any thing else your not realy saving $ at all when it comes right down to it buying other stuff in the long run its $ well spent
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