Thread: Air Suspension and being lazy

Originally Posted by WhiteD3

It does work, at least in a D3.

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/1117790-post35.html

??

How did that lift a wheel off the ground?

Silly me, misread the orginal post!

What about if the door is open, or does that only work the other way round, (lowered, and using a jack to raise??)

Isn't the whole point of the superior LR suspension and traction control system, keeping the wheels on the ground....LOL!!!!

I was actually amazed, when on what I thought was pretty flat ground, seeing how much travel the suspension actually had when compensating for uneven terrain....the clearance was huge. Or should I say 'articulation'.

Last time I jacked mine up to change a flat tyre it had gone to extended mode when I got all 4 wheels back on the ground.
Don't know how it did that when the engine was off & the tail gate was open most of the time.
Jonesfam

Applying a similar sensible assumption, I thought the air suspension switch would make life easier when I bogged the D4 properly on the beach, by letting me select access height (from extended mode) to raise the wheels out of the big holes I'd dug them into while the car rested comfortably on its belly. The plan was to fill the holes with sand and timber then lower the wheels onto the new firm surface by selecting off-road height and then be able to drive out.

I thought that wasn't a bad idea but the computer sneered at my idiocy and wouldn't let me do it, not even to select road height. No amount of pleading and pointing to the incoming tide and setting sun would change its mind. Fortunately dial-a-friend worked and he arrived with his recovery gear in the nick of time.

Hi Forumites,
When I jack my D3 up I select off road height as per the manual and jack up on the chassis rails placing the chassis on axle stands, all four wheels off the ground. When I lower the vehicle back to earth the suspension always goes to it's lowest point, ie access, as soon as I switch the engine back on the vehicle goes straight back to normal road height, I assumed this was normal because that's the way it's happened every time I do this. Is this not normal?

I did a bit of simplistic maths and the air suspension bags are not able to suck a wheel up off the ground. The bags are way too small in diameter to be able to suck the weight of the wheel+tyre+brake+suspension up even if they contained a perfect vacuum. I also suspect that all their seals would fail if exposed to a vacuum instead of pressure. In addition to the onboard air compressor, the D3/4 would need a vacuum pump to make this work (no, don't even think of using the brake system vacuum system to suck up a wheel - those things have caused enough probems) . .