Thread: defender 110 ute

Originally Posted by isuzurover

Looks good Hally. I am very tempted to convert the rear of my 110 to air suspension.

What airbags and pistons would you guys reccomend? (my 110 is mainly a touring vehicle - would need to be able to carry heavy loads over places like the canning etc...)

I am mainly attracted by the idea of not having to swap to stiffer coils each time I go on a trip...

For the rear of a 110, what Hally has used is Firestone airspring assembly W01-358-5429 - see truckspring.com page US$176.82

This assembly has the bellows Firestone part 1T14C-8 with the longest travel you can have - approx 14" travel.

But the piston is a poor shape for what we want. The best piston (for our purposes) to use with the above bellows is Firestone part 9778/NAD-18053.

The following pic shows a 1T14C-7 bellows assembled with the 9778/NAD-18053 piston (airspring assembly W01-358-5426) - see truckspring.com page US$147.86 This bellows has a slightly shorter stroke.

The max/min heights are shown on the pics. Operating heights should be restrained to a little less than the max and a little more than the min.

I have bought stuff from truckspring.com and they were delivered promptly.

Thanks John! So if I am not fussed about getting maximum travel I can just use the W01-358-5426 assembly?

When you say "restrained" - do you mean that I need to make sure the bump stop and/or shocks will limit travel before full extension/compression of the bellows? Or fit a limiting strap if they don't?

Originally Posted by isuzurover

Thanks John! So if I am not fussed about getting maximum travel I can just use the W01-358-5426 assembly?

When you say "restrained" - do you mean that I need to make sure the bump stop and/or shocks will limit travel before full extension/compression of the bellows? Or fit a limiting strap if they don't?

Yes.

Yes.

Not all bellows have the buffer inside. Compressing to the min height, and extending to maximum height have to be avoided.

Attached is a Firestone data sheet for the 1T14C-7 bellows (I couldn't find one for the ...-8) assembled with a shorter piston than the one used with assembly W01-358-5426.

Originally Posted by Bush65

Yes.

Yes.

Not all bellows have the buffer inside. Compressing to the min height, and extending to maximum height have to be avoided.

Attached is a Firestone data sheet for the 1T14C-7 bellows (I couldn't find one for the ...-8) assembled with a shorter piston than the one used with assembly W01-358-5426.

Great info John! - and the pressure/force data was just what I was looking for as well.

Do you have any info on the design life of the bellows?

Awesome build mate! Thanks for all the pics and info.

Cheers,

Tim

Hally,

Do you have closeup pics of the brackets above your airsprings?

Originally Posted by isuzurover

Great info John! - and the pressure/force data was just what I was looking for as well.

Do you have any info on the design life of the bellows?

Sorry. It would obviously depend on how you use/abuse them.

From memory standard bellows are 2 ply.

If you put a small hole in them, they can be repaired with plugs used for tubeless tyres.

I have a spare bellows. They are light and easy to stow or replace if needed.

Originally Posted by Bush65

Sorry. It would obviously depend on how you use/abuse them.

From memory standard bellows are 2 ply.

If you put a small hole in them, they can be repaired with plugs used for tubeless tyres.

I have a spare bellows. They are light and easy to stow or replace if needed.

That is what I figured - buy a pair and one or two spare bellows to pack in the vehicle (or even complete units).

I just thought you might have a spec for design life - e.g. leaf/coil springs have equations to calculate cycles to failure.