Springs or Bags

[jac]

HI.

I have a D3 S and found that the ride height is a bit restrictive with the standard springs so I'm looking to lift it.

I had been thinking of fitting a 2 inch lift via new springs and shocks and was talking to my mechanic (who is also my Brother in law) and he suggested considering fitting D3 air bag suspension. He thought we could set up a simple manual height adjusment system using a compressor, solenoids and a few switches. Obviously it would be a very basic control compared to the factory setup but it would be convenient to be able to keep the low ride height around town and then be able to easily raise it when heading off road.

Has anyone done this or heard of someone doing it?

Is it possible or just too hard and not worth the expense?

What sort of problems might we face doing this?

I look forward to reading your responses.

Joel.

[bbyer]

I do not think simple would describe the task even though you hope not to be doing any of the electronics.

You would need a wrecked D3 so as to source all the air lines, the air tank, the compressor; the height sensors, the some electrical cable as well as the air springs, their mounting bits and who knows what else.

As to setting height, maybe you would ignore the height sensors and associated cables and just run an air line off each air spring and set visually one corner at a time.

Money wise, there is probably a better market for used coil spring D3's than used air suspension 3's. I think you could sell the coiler and buy an airing 3 and be money ahead. Also you would not have to purchase a wrecked air spring 3 either.

In other words, coil to air is not a common mode.

[cal415]

you could set it up using standard d3 airbags and a simple compressor/solenoid setup with manual adjustment easily enough i would guess, but i would spend the extra and go for something if in cab controls like i have used on my 130, you might have to pay a bit more but you can also setup automatic height control with 3 positions and manual override on the touch pad.

This is what i have, it was easy to setup and works very well.
Air Ride Suspension Supplies - ACCUAIR e-LEVEL w/TOUCH PAD

[Graeme]

Manually adjusting ride height in an emergency would be acceptable but not every time you want to change heights.