rear airbags on D2

[PhilipA]

I was pondering recently about putting airbags on the back of my D2 inside the springs to increase the weight carrying capacity when towing.

Then I thought why not use D2 rear air springs , just run by a simple valve system without any height sensors or compressor. Just pump them up to the required height same pressure each side and maybe an adjustment of one side down in ride height.

Any experiences or ideas on why this would not work?

Regards Philip A

[trout1105]

Why do you need thew airbags, are you putting too much weight in your D2.
I have the spring conversion in my D2a and i can carry a lot of kit and tow a 1.5t boat with a ball weight of about 180kg without any issues.
Putting an airbag inside the spring would be the easy and most efficiant Mod if you are having dramas, Or maybe the springs themselves are buggered and need replacing.

[John_D4]

When I bought my D2 it came with the coil conversion. I reinstalled airbags and haven’t looked back. I used new air lines, 2nd hand compressor and new conti bags. The advice I’d have for you is to replace the valve block on the compressor with a new one (available in the uk).

I can’t say enough good things about it. I did look extensively at doing an aftermarket system, but the factory system works so well why bother?

[Lemo]

I'm same as John and put the bags back in, really happy I did!

You'd be constantly adjusting the pressures, the smallest amount of weight changes the ride height a fair bit.

Easiest solution = helper bags or check and replace springs?
Best = install the bags and whole air system.

Cheers Lemo

[Pedro_The_Swift]

FYI Phillip, they run empty somewhere around 65 - 70 psi.

[PhilipA]

Why do you need the airbags, are you putting too much weight in your D2.

No it's more that I have a lot of potential weight when I have a full150l tank, the camper trailer attached, and maybe 2 jerries of fuel on the front of the camper, plus the weight of food, a full fridge and clothes etc. in the car, as my hard floor campertrailer does not have much storage and fits only about 100Kgs max inside.
This is only an issue when I am embarking on a round Oz trip.

I have Kings medium duty 2inch rear springs and they seem quite good with load, but it does drop an inch or so and the tank then hangs down about equal to the bottom of the axle.
My car has never had airbags.
Is the circuitry for airbags still in the body computer? I know the sensor wires are at the back as one of them rubbed through the fuel line after the original recall was done in 2004. I haven't ever looked to see if the wires are there for the compressor.
Regards Philip A

[twr7cx]

Sounds like the factory SLS system would be perfect for you. Surely it would be much less hassle to let the smarts of the car manage and control it all than having to do it yourself? From my limited experience with the inside-the-coil-springs-airbags is that you have to pressure them up before you load the vehicle - that's inconvenient as you don't always know your final load and things change etc. The factory system continuously adjusts on the fly.
Personally I've found it to be very reliable. My vehicle's original airbags lasted 13 and 15 years each having traveled over 250,000km - if I had replaced both after the first failure I wouldn't have had the issue of the second one failing separately later.

[John_D4]

When removing the sls for a coil conversion, most people just remove the compressor and pull the fuses & turn off sls in the ECU. Mine just needed the parts I listed and the fuses then I turned it on with the nanocom. Quite an easy solution. All the wiring should be in place. If it is there will be a couple of plugs where the compressor mount is.