LLAMS electronic height controller for D3/D4/RRS

[101RRS]

It could be useful if you were to measure the heights when at normal and off-road heights of 2 wheels on 1 side of the vehicle during the calibration process, ie after switching Llams to -20 whilst at normal height then again when at off-road height but before switching Llams to +50. However when the vehicle levels as a result of what it thinks is weight being added or removed, it seems to have a wide dead-band where near enough is good enough until the vehicle is driven. Driving a little distance with Llams at +50 is more likely to produce the off-road height that existed at calibration time.

Will do

Can you confirm that in the calibration process you use the -20 and +50 settings and it is not necessary to do a +30 one - I didn't do it today.

I will go for a short drive after each change as well - it will take a bit of heat out of the compressor as well as help settle the height.

Cheers

Garry

[Graeme]

Once the calibration process has been triggered by connecting the calibration pins with the Llams height switch off, the -20 setting is used to tell the module to remember the current sensor voltages (vehicle expected to be at normal height), then the module waits for the +50 setting (expecting the vehicle to now be at off-road height as per instructions) whereupon the module will calculate the change in sensor voltages between normal and off-road heights. This change in sensor voltages is the basis for adjusting the sensor voltages so that the ecu thinks the vehicle is lower or higher than it really is. +30 is 60% of the change and -20 is -40% of the change.

Don't move the vehicle to a different spot during calibration if the surface isn't flat. I've concluded that there's no advantage to moving the vehicle at all during calibration, prefering just to ensure that the compressor is not hot so that the vehicle gets to off-road height quickly and fully. Furthermore the surface doesn't need to be flat, only that if 1 or 2 wheels are in depressions the sensor voltage change may be slightly different compared with the wheels in their normal position. A slope may cause 1 side or end to lean more at off-road height than at normal height and therefore the voltage change would be slightly different left to right or front to rear.

[101RRS]

Thanks for that - I live on a hill so have to take the car down to the carpark in the local park and do it there - all nice and flat and a good surface.

Certainly have calibrated in accordance with instructions etc - so will do the same but when testing afterwards I will go for a small drive around the park after selecting a height and measure after the drive.

Cheers

Garry

[101RRS]

When set to onroad height and -20 set it actually dropped 35mm
With +30 set I only managed 25mm and on +50 only managed 45mm.

With offroad height set I did not get any height rise when +30 was selected and when I selected +50 I only managed to get 20mm which was disappointing.

I will go back down tomorrow when everything is cold and redo the calibration and see how we go then.

Garry

Well I recalibrated and tested again - this time to save heat build up in the compressor - I started at the highest position and basically let the air out with minimal use of the compressor.

Overall results were similar to yesterday but did manage to get 40mm when +50 is selected when at offroad height. Graeme I will PM you the actual result so you can see if they are in specs.

After I finished recording the results I switched off LLAMS and did another test using the car systems.

Access to onroad was 65mm, onroad to offroad was 40mm. I then put the jack under the chassis and lowered it and it went into extended mode but it did not lift off the jack - it lifted the rear another 15mm but actually dropped 5mm at the front - the car seemed to be pivoting in the jack but not lifting it clear - so overall there was no height increase in extended over offroad even though the dash indicated it was in extended.

Then holding the up button down for 3 secs while having the brakes on to go into super extended mode did absolutely nothing, no indications (is there a dash indication you are in super extended) and no lift.

It was then that the compressor decided it needed a rest and a cool down but not all that surprising given the up and down testing that I had done.

It seems I have no trouble lifting the car up to offroad height but after that the system whether it be via +50 LLAMS or going into extended mode just does not want to play.

Garry

[Graeme]

Overall results were similar to yesterday but did manage to get 40mm when +50 is selected when at offroad height. Graeme I will PM you the actual result so you can see if they are in specs.

This is typical. The 50/55mm lift is from normal height but a little less from off-road height. However your PM'd measurements indicate that all's not quite right.

[101RRS]

Thanks to Graeme for great follow up support.

During initial testing it started to become clear to me that the OEM inflation system is marginal and quickly performance drops off with use and testing LLAMS started to push it over its limits. To be fair though in actual use the system would not be being raised and lowered a few times over a short period of time.

To be sure it was not a LLAMs issue Graeme sent me another module that went straight in with only one skinned finger. Results were very similar and showed that the car's compressor was able to pump up the car when at onroad height but when at offroad height the pump struggles to get to last 5-10mm out of the airbags.

With LLAMS on and the compressor cold I was quite impressed with the additional lift. Some poor pics of the lift achieved at Offroad Height +50mm when compared to access height. Also my new cruising height of onroad -20mm - does seem to improve handling a bit and ease getting in and out.

Access Height


Offroad Height +50mm


My new driving height - Onroad Height -20mm


LLAMS controller on the steering column - the key is a switch to raise the vehicle when the dreaded suspension fault occurs and it goes down to the bump stops.


Thanks to Graeme for the product and support - works great.

Cheers

Garry

[Graeme]

Thanks Garry. The returned module showed that 1 IC for a rear sensor had no adjustments stored (not calibrated?), which would have caused the rear to not raise or lower properly. As yet I have not determined why this has happened because the module seems to be OK. My PM to you tonight contains more details.

The recovery mode works if the suspension has been lowered but wont work if the vehicle is on the bump-stops.

Edit: It was the right rear that didn't get calibrated although the initial test values that are loaded with the program to test the circuit board had been cleared by the end-of-test bench calibration with same normal and off-road height sensor values. The absence of a calibration value would occur if at calibration there was no voltage on that IC's calibrate pin or no voltage on that IC's switch pin or no incoming sensor voltage. As the IC pulls out of its socket very easily on the sensor signal side, the cause may have been be loss of sensor signal during calibration due to poor contact.

The trigger for suspecting a faulty module was that +50 only had the rear about half as high as off-road height yet the front, which finishes rising last, was at the full off-road height.

Another edit: The cause could not have been a loss of sensor signal as the suspension ecu would have shown a fault so must have been no calibration signal or no switch signal to that IC.

[NavyDiver]

Thanks Graeme. I will hold off sending the loom back. I have found a fault in a connector on the OME loom. Found one of the other plugs being slightly out giving errors occasional susspension errors. I checked the lot and everything is now working. Given the fault with out the LLAMS loom installed I assume the LLAMS loom is fine and the fault was me slightly knock off line one of the pugs I had not meant to touch!!! Whoops and sorry! I will reinstall the LLAMS loom again when I get back from my trip.
Thanks again Rich for the install guides.

My battery, reflashed Suspension control with much more uptodate software (I should have done that before!) new compressor (Ouch) LLams is now working perfectly. All faults existed before LLams installed. About to put my D3 to hard use in the Vic Alps tommorrow night! Flood warnings all over the place here in and in the High Country could see LLams earn it price very quickly

[adzee]

How much was the compressor if you don't mind me asking?

[NavyDiver]

How much was the compressor if you don't mind me asking?

compressor was about $850 plus install as I am slack

LLams has a interesting effect on my fuel use. Running up and back to Ballarat from melbourne on the weekend, Was crusing at 110kph I was reseting the Fuel usage. Running at normal hight into a stong head wind with my roof rack I was getting about 13.5 Litres per 100 km (Lp100km)
lowering using LLams returned an average of 12 Lp100km

Coming back was normal height 11 Lp100km and lowered with LLams 9.5 Lp100km.

LLams has advantages for me at time even when I am not getting very muddy