Air Suspension Questions

[beezy619]

Sorry. Also, aside from the price difference, why would someone choose UAS over Air Runners? How different is the technology?

[universalAirSus]

Originally Posted by beezy619

So, its says that you can use your stock shocks. Is anything modified on the stock shock to make these fit? Also, how are the air lines ran to the bags? Any drilling involved?

Depends on the model of car, Typically its just a matter of notching out for the airline on the strut.

Originally Posted by beezy619

I remember reading about condensation and draining the compressors in regards to air suspensions. Can't remember where I read it, but do you know anything about this? Something along the lines of the compressors causing condensation and that you need to drain it every so often.

Yes, when ever you compress air, you will always get water building up. Thats why we run the aluminum air tanks, so that its not going to rust out over time. All of the valves/fittings/bags etc are designed to handle the water going through them, but you are able to drain the water out of the tank through the drain port.

[universalAirSus]

Originally Posted by beezy619

Sorry. Also, aside from the price difference, why would someone choose UAS over Air Runners? How different is the technology?

Biggest differences are that air runner is sealed to a strut, where as we are not. So with our system your not limited by your shock choice. Your able to switch any damper that you choose. Also down the road when your dampers wear out, you can simply swap them out.

Also we run a single conv. air spring which will naturally have a higher spring rate then a sleeve, or a double conv.

As far as the system goes, our standard system runs 2150 forum discount with 2 viair 480 compressors, chromed aluminum air tank, 1/2" lines/fittings/electric valves, hand held switch box.

AR's standard system runs 1 small compressor, steel tank, 1/4" lines, manual valves and nice looking strut assemblies.

now they do have the option to upgrade to the electric valves and 3/8" hose, but of course its more $$

Generally speaking, your able to purchase our full system(2150), digital gauge upgrade(370), a set of decent coilovers(aprox 1000-1500), and pay for the install(we charge $1000) for aprox 4500-5000.

A typical AR setup (4293) with upgrade to electric valves (740) is aprox 5000

I will be the first to admit, AR has a very nice looking strut assembly. I am not knocking thier product. But, also keep in mind if you ever need servicing or replacement parts you have to go through them...

For us, we are able to keep our costs down by using the same bag in over 400 different applications. So that means that we don't have to custom build 100 sets or something along those lines inorder to offer an application. So, because our bags costs are down, we go "high end" on the rest of our components like the tanks/valves/fittings/compressors etc, because we can

[kennymo]

instead of draining the tank. which is going to be a pain in the *** since you would pretty much have to take the tank out of the truck or put a little bucket under the tank when draining. you could get water traps. which run in line between the compressor and the tank. this will keep damn near all of the water out of the tank. when i build bagged trucks i run 1 water trap per compressor. and the owners have to drain the tank maybe once a year.

[kennymo]

the package that zack is offering here is a VERY good package. viair 480 compressors are in my opinion the best compressors you can get. and especially with 2 of them. you will have very fast fill times. also they are 100% duty cycle so they can be on a lot of you get switch happy. also lance the guy that pretty much runs viair is a very cool guy and if for any reason (which you probably never will) lance is very helpful with hooking people up when they need it.


zack i hope you do not mind that i keep chimin in on your thread. im just trying to help out. if you want me to stop just let me know. no offense will be takin

[beezy619]

Originally Posted by universalAirSus

Biggest differences are that air runner is sealed to a strut, where as we are not. So with our system your not limited by your shock choice. Your able to switch any damper that you choose. Also down the road when your dampers wear out, you can simply swap them out.

Also we run a single conv. air spring which will naturally have a higher spring rate then a sleeve, or a double conv.

As far as the system goes, our standard system runs 2150 forum discount with 2 viair 480 compressors, chromed aluminum air tank, 1/2" lines/fittings/electric valves, hand held switch box.

AR's standard system runs 1 small compressor, steel tank, 1/4" lines, manual valves and nice looking strut assemblies.

now they do have the option to upgrade to the electric valves and 3/8" hose, but of course its more $$

Generally speaking, your able to purchase our full system(2150), digital gauge upgrade(370), a set of decent coilovers(aprox 1000-1500), and pay for the install(we charge $1000) for aprox 4500-5000.

A typical AR setup (4293) with upgrade to electric valves (740) is aprox 5000

I will be the first to admit, AR has a very nice looking strut assembly. I am not knocking thier product. But, also keep in mind if you ever need servicing or replacement parts you have to go through them...

For us, we are able to keep our costs down by using the same bag in over 400 different applications. So that means that we don't have to custom build 100 sets or something along those lines inorder to offer an application. So, because our bags costs are down, we go "high end" on the rest of our components like the tanks/valves/fittings/compressors etc, because we can

Thanks for the wealth of information and being honest about both systems. Why would one choose to run coilovers instead of just regular shocks? Wouldn't it be a little redundant to have the ability to adjust the ride height with coils when you already have bags? Sorry for all the questions. Trying to learn as much as I can because this will probably be my next big purchase, but not for a while.

[ShanesG]

To be honest all you really would need is some D-specs and save the $400+ if you were to get coils. You will basically replace your springs witht he bags. Also you might even be able to contact one of these coilover companies (Tein, BC, Megan, ETC.) and see if they will sell you just the struts alone.

[silencer_0]

Can you raise and lower the car while you're moving? Or do you have to be at a complete stop?

[kennymo]

yes you can raise and lower the car while moving. but it is not legal.
the laws say that air ride is for off road use. but a cop (unless he is a prick) is not going to hasle you for airing up in a parking lot to be able to drive off from your parking spot. and if you want to play it safe. you can run a switch inline with the power wire that goes to the switch box so that you can turn the switch box off just incase you do get pulled over. and then you can say look officer i was not playing with them they do not even work with the car on

[eurodre]

or you can just NOT raise or lower them while driving


bump for a sexy setup, i've seen this on shanes ride and convinced me to get them later on

[silencer_0]

I meant moving really slow before a driveway or speed bump, not while on the freeway or something, lol. Just wanted to make sure that when you're approaching a steep driveway or bump, that you don't have to completely stop, raise the car, move forward, stop, lower the car back down. These are very tempting to get sometime in the future. Thanks for the info

[kennymo]

yea you can defiantly lift and lower it while driving. i used to drag my truck on teh freeway and shower the whole thing with sparks. it was pretty awessome

[pfarmer]

Originally Posted by beezy619

I remember reading about condensation and draining the compressors in regards to air suspensions. Can't remember where I read it, but do you know anything about this? Something along the lines of the compressors causing condensation and that you need to drain it every so often.

The act of compressing air raises temperature of the air. However most compressors do not take advantage of this which is to run the air through a condenser or air dryer to remove the moisture at this point. Instead most simply pass it on to the storage tank. What you have done is taken x amount of air with x percentage of moisture and concentrated it into a smaller area.

At this point for the most part it is not a problem as long as good piping layout is followed. It becomes a problem when the pressure is released. This is one reason not to use compressed air to dust off sensitive parts since you can be dusting using ice crystals. You can add a fairly small dryer on the outlet of the storage tank but most are satisfied with just living with it. If
concerned one could put a solinoid operated drain valve that operated every few minutes/hours depending on need.

[kennymo]

thats the reason you should get a water trap. there is no need to get fancy with some heater or a solinoid operated valve. thats just doing to much.a water trap cost 20 dollars and they work great

[CreativeDesignZ]

i want these! any good place in NJ with REASONABLE prices? or is this something i can do if i could install coilsover, im good with wiring, and im pretty sure i can put the fittings together as im not a complete retard when it comes to mechanics lol. Can an intermediate/novice person do this in a day/weekend?