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Would you want an air-ride system on your van????

Ripples in the water............air ride for the T4

171K views 637 replies 93 participants last post by  Or_GazM 
#1 ·
Ok guys and girls.
Just a mini update for you all but, Keith (T4chippy) and I have been chatting rubbish in the shadows and have potentially come into contact with someone about an air-ride system for the T4.:eek: It's early days and nothing can be promised. I will keep you all abreast of the latest info and detail when and where it happens.I:

If it works there could be a decent discount for forum members as well... again, not final as this is mega early days. H:
 
#50 ·
Interesting thread,

I've been looking at doing this for years but have never really come up with anybody or anyone who could make this work to my satisfaction and by that I mean being able to sit my van on the ground when static ,however if your guys could make it work then I'd certainly be up for it T:

In essence the problem as I see it is the front end, there just isn't enough room to get a set up that works at a very low ride height due to lack of space and any kit will need to involve some fairly major chassis mods and some type of coil over conversion,which incidentally is why the T5 set up works and is a fairly easy install, although having driven a T5 with a similar set up I can tell you that unless you get the pressures set correctly the ride quality is pretty awful and subsequently it's a bit of a myth that air always=good ride quality!

I also think that allowing this thread to describe somebody who has already fitted an air system to a T4 as a cowboy doesn't really help the situation. Especially as the person in question has probably fitted more air and hydraulic systems into cars than anybody else in the country and whose work has received great accolades and has been featured in numerous magazines. (name and shame policy anybody?)

Anyway, as I say interesting thread and one I shall be watching with great interest A:
 
#51 ·
I also think that allowing this thread to describe somebody who has already fitted an air system to a T4 as a cowboy doesn't really help the situation. Especially as the person in question has probably fitted more air and hydraulic systems into cars than anybody else in the country and whose work has received great accolades and has been featured in numerous magazines. (name and shame policy anybody?)

Anyway, as I say interesting thread and one I shall be watching with great interest A:
Duly noted and edited as I didn't spot the company name T:
 
#53 ·
whilst lying in bed last night i had what i though was a brain wave..... the rear section of the T4 is the easy bit to fit air to as it "just" (in my eyes) involves changing the spring for an air bag. For the front (in sleepy logic) i can see it being possible to place a modified bagover bag (with hole through the middle) onto a modified front tortion bar adjuster (one without thread all the way up) so that the bag could act on the adjuster. it wouldent allow you to fully sit on the floor without a longer bar and chassis notching but would allow you to go low.
 
#59 ·
Alex_m has a fair point with his suggestion of replacing the torsion bar adjuster with an air bag, as said you would only get as low as the bump stops would allow but that would be personal choice of notching or not. Look forward to hearing the final outcome/ design/ price of full air conversion:cool:
 
#66 ·
i like air alot!!

if you could get a system that fits ding dang do, what I would then do is integrate it with an accuair air ride management system (very trick bit of kit) which you can do anything with really!

Just to throw a spanner in the works, Gaz make air struts for a company call HavAir, now a Gaz shortened shock with an airbag at the top might just work, not so tho, and i think you would have to have an upside shock, if that makes sense!
 
#71 · (Edited)
pics!
in the pic of the rear wheel the front of the van is on stands normaly would be lower!
cant show you pics of the van with wheels on cuz like i said they got nicked and only 19" wheels will fit over the front brakes
new wheels comin soon when they do i'll put up some pics!
didnt bother showing the rear its pretty simple really!
 
#90 ·
Thanks for the pics Wink, very useful, similar to what i thought the set up would have to be but i have some questions.....
Take it A.R.B is removed and damper brackets fabricated top and bottom???
When its fully deflated is the main arm sat on the chassis where the old damper top plate would of been??
Cheers,
Gaz.
 
#86 ·
Hi Wink,

Thanks for the photo's no doubt a lot of work has gone on there T:

However, the pictures tend to ask rather than answer more questions for me .

For instance ,have you fitted air to slam your van or just to give you the option of raising it when circumstances dictate that you need some ground clearance.

I appreciate that the pic of the steel wheel looks low,but in fairness if I bolt a standard wheel with that profile of tyre to my van
( static drop ) theres no difference and if anything mine would probably be lower.

However, that doesnt really matter as you couldn't use that wheel with the discs and calipers you've since fitted, this then brings us to the set of 19's which your going to use, would I be wrong in thinking that this set up will inherently produce extra width and et? and if so won't your van be sitting on the arch way before you can fully deploy the bags? :*

Also looking at the pics it appears that even if you could totally deflate the bag, the shock would bind and thus stop the van dropping to it's full potential.

Sorry to sound critical, but I have a very strict criteria for wanting to fit air and I want to make sure that i can meet that before I commit to spending my hard earned ;)

Cheers in advance

Billet
 
#87 ·
right my old mate let me try and answer some of your questions
1 i did it because i had never see it done before and fancyed giving it a go and i think it look cool
2 the pic with the steely in, the rear suspension arm is resting on the chassis/body so unless you do some serious cuttin it wont go any lower
3 i have had 19" wheels on the van for the last 2 years with this system when fully lowered the wheels do touch the underside of the arches, but not sit on them like i said the rear arm is resting on the chassics
the front is as low as it will go dew to the steering rod touching the chassis agian! there is still room in the shocks after the arms have touched the chassis

i understand where your coming from im not sayin my system is perfect far from it i will prob never stop trying to inprove it!
 
#96 ·
Cheers for info bud, would like to see a pic of the front bag deflated if you could mate? think i could fabricate what you've got there without too much difficulty,take it they removed the rear bumpstop tube altogether to get the bag in??
Gaz.
 
#100 ·
Been away from the laptop for the past few days as found that this thread is coming in to quite a lot of interest.T:
A: Cheers for the pictures winks. They'll help no end with options for what's potentially going to happen with the guys at Air-lift.:ILU:

This won't be something that will be sorted in the next few weeks by any means but it could culminate in a commercial product that won't be by any means cheap but, something that will benefit the people that want a air-lift kit on their van/bus/camper.H:
 
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