Does anyone have an air lift on their TJ?

I can definitely say I need it...

Drove for about 2000 freeway miles loaded with a moderate amount of equipment recently. The rear sagged so much I was bottoming out constantly. And I was getting flashed by oncoming drivers because my headlight aim was so off.

And I definitely plan to add more equipment than that...

So I'm very excited to see what kind of difference it makes.


I can definitely say I am glad I ditched the Antirock. The Swayloc makes the ride feel so much more planted at freeway speeds.

The last step in my payload kit will be adjustable shocks. I'll probably go with Fox reservoir shocks with the CD adjusters.
 
I've got Airlift 1000 kits in the rear of all 3 of my Jeeps. I first installed them in my pickup to increase load capacity. I regularly haul things in the pickup and needed the extra capacity.

FloridaLoad_zpsn2dxcapv.jpg


They worked so well in the pickup that I next installed them in the LJ. When I've got the RTT on top and the kitchen/fridge in the back plus all the extra gear for an overlanding trip the extra capacity is very helpful.

SafariRTT2.jpg


One thing I recommend is a pressure gauge - a gauge makes it easy to monitor the pressure; also makes it easier when you're filling the bags so you know what pressure you're filling them to. Also if there's a leak and the bags lose pressure they can spin in the springs, twisting and ruining the air hoses so it's good to keep an eye on the pressure.

GaugeInstalled_zpsvoq2xl7t.jpg
 
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So did you plumb yours through a tee?
I really like the idea of a built in gage. Wonder if I could get a 4-gage panel...

I'm doing my bag plumbing separately (no tees). Going to have a manifold with all four Schrader valves under the hood.

Doing them separately gives two advantages: reduced body roll and side-to-side control. The biggest disadvantage is likely going to be reduced flex. But I figure if I'm really flexing my Jeep I'm less likely to have it loaded to the maximum.
 
Steel City 06 said:
So did you plumb yours through a tee?
I really like the idea of a built in gage. Wonder if I could get a 4-gage panel...

I'm doing my bag plumbing separately (no tees). Going to have a manifold with all four Schrader valves under the hood.

Doing them separately gives two advantages: reduced body roll and side-to-side control. The biggest disadvantage is likely going to be reduced flex. But I figure if I'm really flexing my Jeep I'm less likely to have it loaded to the maximum.
Click to expand...
On all 3 of my Jeeps both bags (I've only got them in the rear) are plumbed together with a tee. Across the three Jeeps I've put over 250,000 miles on the air bags, both on road and off road, with no loads and with loads like the roof top tent and fridge/kitchen off road, and I've never regretted plumbing them together. I've noticed no ill effects from plumbing them together and never felt the need to level one side differently from the other. At least for my use, plumbing the bags separately would be a lot of extra trouble for no perceptible gain.
 
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Got the fronts installed. More difficult because I have to use spring compressors to remove the springs, but again a straightforward install.
20200329_184425.jpg
20200329_184546.jpg

Also got the makeshift manifold completed
20200329_184601.jpg
 
To follow up to the airbag install and review, I had a really good chance to load them up the past couple of weeks. At one point, I had a very significant amount of weight on the car plus four adult passengers.

The airbags help greatly. Before the airbags, I would bottom out the rear constantly when loaded at a fraction of what I just did. With the airbags, I did not bottom out at all with the rear bags at 35 PSI and the fronts at 20.

I didn't adjust them during the trip, so when unloaded, it was a noticeably harsher ride, but felt very comfortable when loaded. (The harshness is quickly eliminated by depressurizing the bags.) When properly inflated to a corresponding PSI, the bags give an unloaded feeling ride at any load.

I did not use them to level side to side.


One thing to take note of that I initially did wrong:

If you want to use the full capability of the airbags, they must fill the entire coil spring. In the rear photos above, I left the upper bumpstop extension. This was a mistake I made, and resulted in poorer than expected performance of the airbag.

Upon replacing them with full height bags and deleting the bumpstop extensions, I measured a very significant increase in the restorative force provided by the airbags.

However, this does eliminate the spring retention capabilities of the bumpstop extension, and ultimately relies on the shock to limit travel. The RS5000X shock has a small integral jounce, so I can use that for rare hits. With proper airbag pressures, bottoming out can easily be minimized, even on the most brutal roads. You must also check that the springs will not pop out at full flex or droop. With my short arm Savvy kit and bolt in RS5000X shocks, this is not an issue for me. A mid/long arm with outboarded shocks might be a different story.

Based on my measurements, the rear bags, as a pair, will level for about 300 lbs of gear on the rear axle with the partial height bags. However, the full height bags restore on the order of about 700 lbs of gear in height. Weights were tested directly over the rear axle. In addition, the full height bags have a proportional increase in ride stiffness that reduces the odds of bottoming out.


Since I don't need much leveling capability in the front, I kept those partial height bags.
 
Steel City 06 said:
To follow up to the airbag install and review, I had a really good chance to load them up the past couple of weeks. At one point, I had a very significant amount of weight on the car plus four adult passengers.

The airbags help greatly. Before the airbags, I would bottom out the rear constantly when loaded at a fraction of what I just did. With the airbags, I did not bottom out at all with the rear bags at 35 PSI and the fronts at 20.

I didn't adjust them during the trip, so when unloaded, it was a noticeably harsher ride, but felt very comfortable when loaded. (The harshness is quickly eliminated by depressurizing the bags.) When properly inflated to a corresponding PSI, the bags give an unloaded feeling ride at any load.

I did not use them to level side to side.


One thing to take note of that I initially did wrong:

If you want to use the full capability of the airbags, they must fill the entire coil spring. In the rear photos above, I left the upper bumpstop extension. This was a mistake I made, and resulted in poorer than expected performance of the airbag.

Upon replacing them with full height bags and deleting the bumpstop extensions, I measured a very significant increase in the restorative force provided by the airbags.

However, this does eliminate the spring retention capabilities of the bumpstop extension, and ultimately relies on the shock to limit travel. The RS5000X shock has a small integral jounce, so I can use that for rare hits. With proper airbag pressures, bottoming out can easily be minimized, even on the most brutal roads. You must also check that the springs will not pop out at full flex or droop. With my short arm Savvy kit and bolt in RS5000X shocks, this is not an issue for me. A mid/long arm with outboarded shocks might be a different story.

Based on my measurements, the rear bags, as a pair, will level for about 300 lbs of gear on the rear axle with the partial height bags. However, the full height bags restore on the order of about 700 lbs of gear in height. Weights were tested directly over the rear axle. In addition, the full height bags have a proportional increase in ride stiffness that reduces the odds of bottoming out.


Since I don't need much leveling capability in the front, I kept those partial height bags.
Click to expand...
So, what I’m trailering would be a teardrop that is right around 2000lbs. The tongue weight is 345lbs. I know that’s more than the 10% of 2000lb we are supposed to put on the tongue, but is it probably ok with the bags? I’ve got a warn bumper with through-welded receiver hitch, frame tie ins and 8 bolts tied into the crossmember. I would have electronic trailer brake controls and a sway bar hitch.
 
JMT said:
So, what I’m trailering would be a teardrop that is right around 2000lbs. The tongue weight is 345lbs. I know that’s more than the 10% of 2000lb we are supposed to put on the tongue, but is it probably ok with the bags? I’ve got a warn bumper with through-welded receiver hitch, frame tie ins and 8 bolts tied into the crossmember. I would have electronic trailer brake controls and a sway bar hitch.
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While that's not ideal, it can be made to work. I would go with the full height airbags in that case, since the effective weight on the rear axle will be moderately higher than the actual tongue weight.

Try to get the hitch ball or coupling as close to the vehicle as possible. The closer it is, the less leverage the trailer will have on the car, and the more leverage the car has on the trailer. The most stable trailer systems are ones where the coupling is directly over the rear axle (think gooseneck or 5th wheel). The closer the coupling to the axle, the less the tail wags the dog.

If you can extend the drawbar on the trailer, that will help with high speed yaw stability and lower the actual tongue weight. A lot of off-road trailers use adjustable length tongues so it can be stable on the highway but make tight turns off-road.

You may also consider adjustable shocks, like the RS9000XL or the Fox shocks with CD adjusters.

You can also play with the cargo loading to change the tongue weight. Don't go below 200 lbs of tongue weight.
 
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Steel City 06 said:
Got the fronts installed. More difficult because I have to use spring compressors to remove the springs, but again a straightforward install.
View attachment 149185View attachment 149186
Also got the makeshift manifold completed
View attachment 149187
Click to expand...
I’m just following you folks discussion and thought If I was to install air ride , I’d probably install the air manifold somewhere within reach from the driver seat with manual valves or valve for inflating/deflating on the fly
- in my case I’d only need air support at the rear for Occasionally pulling our utility trailer or having tirechains hangin off the spare tire , causing irritating oncoming traffic at night with the headlights pointing towards the stars 😊
Just my 2 bits

~o|||||o~👋🏿
 
The majority of people only install the rear, and often plumb both bags together into one line. So the most common install would only have one Schrader valve.

I added the fronts in case I needed a front cargo rack, and to reduce brake dive when heavily loaded.

I chose to plumb each side separately to minimize body roll, and allow the capability to level side-to-side if needed.

For me, I only need to level it once it is fully loaded, generally once per trip. It's very difficult to see what's level before and after from inside the cab, so I generally measure it with a tape measure.
 
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I use airlift bags in the rear of my street/strip car to pre-load the suspension to help it launch more level and straighter. Have used them for years. Also air them up a bit when I have a car full of people. Probably been in the car 10 years or so. Never an issue with them. They are quality parts.
 
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Howdy All
- the airlift 1000 chart shows a variety of dimensions
- Anyone’s recommendation is needed as for what size airbags I should install inside the rear coil springs on our LJ
- we have 3.5” rubicon express lift installed

thx in advance

~•|||||•~👋🏿
 
DETOUR said:
Howdy All
- the airlift 1000 chart shows a variety of dimensions
- Anyone’s recommendation is needed as for what size airbags I should install inside the rear coil springs on our LJ
- we have 3.5” rubicon express lift installed

thx in advance

~•|||||•~👋🏿
Click to expand...
Do you intend to keep the bumpstop cups and any installed extensions?

If you keep them, you're less likely to damage the shocks, but the airbags have limited load capacity.

If you remove them, you can get a lot more restorative lift from the bags, but you will have to be careful not to get in any situation which may result in bottoming out harshly.

For my rear, I bought the 60921 kit. I have 4" of lift in the rear, and removed the bumpstop extensions. I can't recall that I had to use any spacers to shim it, but the bags fit my coils quite well. If you are on the low side of 3.5" of lift, you might need to go down a height increment.
 
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Steel City 06 said:
Got the fronts installed. More difficult because I have to use spring compressors to remove the springs, but again a straightforward install.
View attachment 149185

View attachment 149186
Also got the makeshift manifold completed
View attachment 149187
Click to expand...

I have a similar situation in front of our TJ. It has a 4" lift. But the longest airbag I can find is a 4" x 12" air lift bag. I would prefer to remove the bumpstop and run a full sized bag. But I don't know anyone who makes the proper air bag size. I think the correct size airbag is a 4" x 15", correct? Does anyone make one? Are there any alternatives to stiffening up the front to hold extra weight?

I can't even find stiffer shocks for a 4" lifted TJ in front.
 
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92lt said:
I have a similar situation in front of our TJ. It has a 4" lift. But the longest airbag I can find is a 4" x 12" air lift bag. I would prefer to remove the bumpstop and run a full sized bag. But I don't know anyone who makes the proper air bag size. I think the correct size airbag is a 4" x 15", correct? Does anyone make one? Are there any alternatives to stiffening up the front to hold extra weight?

I can't even find stiffer shocks for a 4" lifted TJ in front.
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The top of the bump stop is a long tube attached to the frame. I removed the bumpstop extensions on mine but left the frame piece and a single rubber snubber to be supported on the bag. It works plenty well enough for what I need. The shock bottoms out before the bag, and the bag provides more than enough support for any load I run.

To actually run bags the height of the spring, you'd need to hack off the frame extension and weld something shorter in its place.

Fot stiffer shocks, check out the RS9000XL shocks, or if you have money, Fox shocks with CD adjusters. They adjust by a dial so you can change them just like changing the pressure in the airbags.
 
Steel City 06 said:
The top of the bump stop is a long tube attached to the frame. I removed the bumpstop extensions on mine but left the frame piece and a single rubber snubber to be supported on the bag. It works plenty well enough for what I need. The shock bottoms out before the bag, and the bag provides more than enough support for any load I run.

To actually run bags the height of the spring, you'd need to hack off the frame extension and weld something shorter in its place.

Fot stiffer shocks, check out the RS9000XL shocks, or if you have money, Fox shocks with CD adjusters. They adjust by a dial so you can change them just like changing the pressure in the airbags.
Click to expand...
 
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