Airbag Man Air Suspension Photos

[winniliss Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close winniliss]

Re: Airbag Man Air Suspension Photos

G'day airbag man,

I was looking at OME 2in lift and nitro shocks from ARB.

1. Do I retain OME with nitro shocks on the front or do you recommend something else if we get airbags fitted on the rear?

2. Just the airbags alone to suit 2in lift $

3. Type of compressor you supply and cost $

4. I was looking at supplying my own compressor (endless air system with airtank). Can that be incorporated into your system easy enough?

5. The type of airbag controls and their price $

6. I know that you can have a manual system to pump up the bags like the coil assist bags. The in cab set-up, you can set a height and the system keeps it at that height automatically? For example on the you set it at 5 (vehicle level)and normal speeds, set it at 9 you get and extra 1in - 2in lift to get over a rock (traveling slow of course) and set it 1 to lower the veh till it hits the bump stops. and finally,

If in the outback and you do puncture a bag, is there a way to prop it up to get to a workshop say 100km or more away and what would be the process to get it fixed. Do you send a new bag and if so the cost of a new bag or does the old bag get repaired.

Cheers Winston.

That is my only concern is getting stuck out bush somewhere.

[winniliss Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close winniliss]

Re: Airbag Man Air Suspension Photos

This airbag man hasn't been online for a while........ :? :? :? :? :?

Gave Airbag man a call, they are going to reply to my post shortly to assist me and others contemplating using airbags..

[Riding On Air Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Riding On Air]

Re: Airbag Man Air Suspension Photos

Thanks for the call and questions Winston, we have not been on here in a while as we have been rather busy elsewhere and have been doing extensive product testing on our Prado Someone has to do it!

1. We have mainly been trying to get shocks and front coils that work well when also using the same shocks on the rear, not so easy on a Prado. The only shock that we have found works well with out modification is the Tough dog adjustables, or with some adjustment Koni's. We would not recommend fitment of OME shocks with a full air suspension as you will not get the ride quality that you would expect, the same can be said for most aftermarket brands, particularly where the shocks were designed to work with HD coils.
We have found however that matching the shock style/brand on front and rear is not that important as the front and rear suspension are totally different and inherently react differently; overall it is better to use parts that work the best on the given axle. If you want to use the OME front lift then fine, but we recommend using shocks we supply for the rear to match the airbags.

2. The cost of the rear 2" lift bags is $841.50 including GST (PP member price)
3. We supply Thomas and Viair hard mount compressors; the Viair 400C is recommended if tyre inflation is a high priority, an air supply using this costs $701.25 including GST (PP member price)
4. Endless air is fine, just make sure you filter and cool the air before it enters the air tank
5. The controls are really up to you and can be added later easily, however we recommend at least to have switches in the vehicle that allow easy raise and lower, may need to check the laws in your state...[attachment=0:3srcwgj9]IMG_4893.JPG[/attachment:3srcwgj9]
Alternatively automatic and automatic with manual over-ride or 3 height automatic can be used if you prefer, these all ad cost but greater convenience.
Basic air controls in the car can be added for under $200.00 plus fitting.
6. The manual controls like Coil-Rite use are supplied with the bags, I would leave these in even if controls are fitted. The in-cab control shown is adjustable to any height so you can get extra lift when needed, or lower, by just operating the switch up or down. The automatic system can be used/added to give one height setting (plus optional manual controls) or the electronic 3 height system can be used to give 3 preset heights.

The air bags are not able to be punctured like bags you may have seen before as they are very heavily constructed and in the event of a heavy impact will distort to absorb the impact rather than puncture. The air bags uses a separate rubber bellows so only this part needs to be replaced, if you are really worried a spare can be carried easily as the squash very small and weigh next to nothing, the spare bellows part cost $160.00 each. As the bellows is on top of the axle, not on the ground like a tyre so are rarely damaged, the have a life expectance of about 10 years after which time only the bellows would be replaced.

I trust this helps, please let me know if anyone requires more information.
Regards, Brett.

[winniliss Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close winniliss]

Re: Airbag Man Air Suspension Photos

Thanks for that airbag man.

Lets us know when you have finish testing the suspension setup and list what coils and shocks you use.

Are the test results for a 2in lift along with a normal height setup? Both would good to cover most of what people have.

Endless air is fine, just make sure you filter and cool the air before it enters the air tank

Why is this the case?
Filtering is just common sense. Cooling, is it to prevent water forming down the line when the air cools and getting into the bags.

After all that, what sort of warranties are offered for your product, what does it cover and do you have to take your vehicle to an authorized repairer.

[Riding On Air Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Riding On Air]

Re: Airbag Man Air Suspension Photos

We are putting the parts together now to start selling the kits and have thus far settled on using Tough Dog adjustables with the usual King springs (in this case from Tough Dog) however swapping coils around has shown that they tend to be either high enough and to firm or soft enough and to low; a winch in the front bar would probably make the taller coils feel OK. Our conclusion is take your vehicle with all accessories fitted to an experienced Prado suspension fitter to make sure you get the best coil, and ask more than one company.

Re the Endless air, I should have explained, the air that leaves this style of pump is a lot hotter than from a 12v pump so the tubing and fittings need to be able to withstand the heat, and the hotter the air in the tank the more water it will release when it cools. As air cools it shrinks so the cooler the air entering the tank the more air it will hold, this becomes obvious when you start up in the morning and the compressor turns on even though no air is being used. Overnight the air is cooling and shrinking, therefore loosing pressure, by the morning the pressure switch will turn on - this is often mistaken for a leak in the system, the obvious difference is that the compressor does not turn on during the day.

We offer a 2 year warranty on the On-Air product, and a lifetime warranty on Coil-Rite and Ride-Rite bags to the original purchaser. The warranty covers and manufacturing defects or design faults in the parts, they can be repaired/replaced by anyone competent in mechanical work. We only ask that the suspect part be returned to us for analysis.

[dog789 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close dog789]

Re: Airbag Man Air Suspension Photos

Hi, is it possible to install a full (front and rear) air suspension in a prado grande?

I like the ability to raise and lower the rear with the stock suspension, but this doesn't raise the front, which then cops it if you raise the rear offroad...
The Airbag Man suspensions would be really interesting if you could get them all round, and have some sort of auto-leveling and articulation thing like the disco's do..
I'd imagine that would really improve the IFS as well, and give us the ability to increase ground clearance all round when needed.

That would be a real advantage over regular coils in the adjustability and flex if it can be controlled right..

[Riding On Air Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Riding On Air]

Re: Airbag Man Air Suspension Photos

Hi, The rear of a Grande we can do now with a long travel, 2" lift air bag that replaces the factory one, however the front is not able to be done at present due to space restrictions for the size of air bag required, without having a special high pressure strut manufactured and a high pressure air supply fitted, again at great expense. The majority of payload change is over the rear springs so there would not be a lot to gain by doing the front and the shock has a larger influence on the ride quality than the coil. If anyone is interested in the rear conversion kit it costs $880.00 including GST, or $748.00 for PP members.

[dog789 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close dog789]

Re: Airbag Man Air Suspension Photos

Hi, The rear of a Grande we can do now with a long travel, 2" lift air bag that replaces the factory one, however the front is not able to be done at present due to space restrictions for the size of air bag required, without having a special high pressure strut manufactured and a high pressure air supply fitted, again at great expense. The majority of payload change is over the rear springs so there would not be a lot to gain by doing the front and the shock has a larger influence on the ride quality than the coil. If anyone is interested in the rear conversion kit it costs $880.00 including GST, or $748.00 for PP members.

Thanks for that... I was more interested in a full system like the Disco's for the control and flex advantages that could bring to the IFS, but that is a bit impossible... The height adjustment on just the rear doesn't help too much as when you increase the rear height the bit in front of the front wheels drops, and cops it a bit... I'm not sure how much of a difference the self leveling makes having had it working it's magic for the last 6 years...
Just another question, to achieve the flex in the photos did you have to do anything manually? or was that just drive up on the hill like you would with a regular suspension?
Also who would you recommend in Perth to get a fitted quote for the rear from?

[Riding On Air Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Riding On Air]

Re: Airbag Man Air Suspension Photos

Hi, We have found the limited flex in the front also, however this is also heavily influenced by the heavy front anti-roll bar, which is obviously required for stability. One option may be to get a KDSS system in spare parts from the Lexus evquvalent in the USA, or buy a new Kakadu! It will be quite interesting to see how much flex they have in the front but early reports are impresive. There is a company in Brisbane who can charge up the KDSS properly if you want ot go this way; the company who designed this in WA was closed down by their new owners buy the people who originally worked it out are in WA somewhere I understand...
For the flex photos we do not make any manual adjustments, the air bags will allow one wheel to go to the end of a 635mm shock and the other to the bump stop (factory part +10mm), even with the anti-roll bar connected as we also supply spacers for the anti-roll bars.
As you are in perth start with Central 4wd, if you ask for Allan he will be able to sort you out.

[dog789 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close dog789]

Re: Airbag Man Air Suspension Photos

Hi, We have found the limited flex in the front also, however this is also heavily influenced by the heavy front anti-roll bar, which is obviously required for stability. One option may be to get a KDSS system in spare parts from the Lexus evquvalent in the USA, or buy a new Kakadu! It will be quite interesting to see how much flex they have in the front but early reports are impresive. There is a company in Brisbane who can charge up the KDSS properly if you want ot go this way; the company who designed this in WA was closed down by their new owners buy the people who originally worked it out are in WA somewhere I understand...
For the flex photos we do not make any manual adjustments, the air bags will allow one wheel to go to the end of a 635mm shock and the other to the bump stop (factory part +10mm), even with the anti-roll bar connected as we also supply spacers for the anti-roll bars.
As you are in perth start with Central 4wd, if you ask for Allan he will be able to sort you out.

Sweet as, thanks mate! Will check out Central 4wd when I have some more free time...
The KDSS seems pretty interesting... I will google that a bit more, didn't realise they were on the Lexus 120...
Edit: after googling I can't find anyone that has retrofitted KDSS onto a 120... Oh well

[winniliss Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close winniliss]

I have finally converted the rear suspension on my 2009 GXL from coil to airbag. For those contemplating this type of conversion...DON'T, unless you have money and time to burn.

I will start off with a quick outline of the true cost involved in doing such a conversion:

1. I got the airbag parts from AirBag Man suitable for a 2in lift. They call it a kit but you don’t have all the necessary items to install it without performing some form of fabrication to your vehicle, depending on what option you go for. The required fabrication is not listed on their website nor through this thread when I was asking questions (read from start of thread).
If you want to manually adjust your airbags then that option is the easiest option to install and this setup will cost about $1900 (will cost more if you want a compressor etc). You could also do the install yourself. It’s when you want automatic levelling and or with manual override height adjustment that you will run into trouble.
Brackets are needed to be fabricated so that the automatic levelling valves can be attached to your vehicle. Fabrication is also needed for the switching valves for the manual control. The extra cost for the automatic levelling and manual override controls increased the cost to about $2200.

2. Next you need to look at an air-compressor. At the moment I am using my portable ARB compressor (removed from the box and mounted in the engine bay), cost is about $360. Soon I will have an Endless Air system which has been back and forth from the manufacture to make up a suitable bracket to mount it to a 120 series Prado. The Hilux and 150 series bracket won’t fit.

3. For my set-up I required an air tank. I am using two 6ltr air tanks. You can use one 6 ltr tank but I require more volume of air for later for when I use air tools. Tanks cost $220 and they are alloy.

4. Next you need to get someone to mount your air-compressor, air tanks and in my case, an air manifold also. The air tanks connect to this, a pressure gauge, a pressure switch for the air-compressor and a quick connect for an air hose.
The cost for someone to make up the mounting brackets etc will vary between $700 and $1300. The company that did mine over charged me and did a piss poor job and not to my specification i.e. under body protection plates for the tanks as they were installed between the chassis rail and the side step. When they finally did the mounting brackets as required they where touching the floor underneath the vehicle. This was causing vibration and damage to the floor. I had to take the mounting brackets off. I will have to source another fabricator to due the job properly at a later date.

5. Next you need to find someone that will install the airbag suspension. I located a company and also got them to raise the vehicle by 2in. I was quoted a price that went $1400 over the original quote. Time frame when from 3-4 days to 3 weeks.

In the end, the total cost of the conversion was $6800. If using and Endless Air compressor $7200.
Pros –
· Good handling.
· Vehicle is not bouncy as one would think having airbags.
· I can manually raise and lower the vehicle. Spot lights in the trees are a thing of the past.

Cons –
· Cost, Cost Cost. If I knew what the overall cost was at the start I would have not gone ahead with the install.
· Customer service, workmanship and after sales technical support
· A lot of time is required to do the job. My vehicle was off the road for 32 days between the two companies I was dealing with to install the products.
· Because I complained to Consumer Affairs I have no warranty with the companies that installed the products (Airbag Man excluded). The company that installed the suspension did a good quality job; they just had poor customer service.

I am currently away from home so I cannot provide photos at this stage.

[Peterpilot Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Peterpilot]

Wow, better off buying a Grande than converting a GXL.

[winniliss Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close winniliss]

Just about.

It would be nice but with Grande suspension it you change the height and then go over a certain speed I think the suspension goes back to normal.