Thread: Air Suspension on a 130 DC

Ive seen truck like air sus. on a 75 series cruiser before but not the electronic controlled type.

The owner was happy with it but it wasnt used off road.

the Air Bag Man in Qld does a kit for the rear of 110/130's. They do complete kits for 'cruisers and Patrols, too.
The front only needs the dampers relocated to add a set.

Air suspension can be very reliable, in the 80s when the Stuart Highway was dirt Denning used to run their coaches filled with water bottles to simulate the weight of a full load of passengers they drove them until they broke strengthened it up then did it all again.
I recall with fondness of the early 80s Dennings on countless hours of really bad dirt roads with very few issues these things took a bashing that a modern 4x4 would be fortunate to survive and they weighed in in excess of 15 tonnes
Air suspension certainly has its place in the outback when well designed I personally think that can be as reliable as coils.
Provided the airbags can be individually isolated AND manipulated then changed easily when they fail I believe that you have the best possible suspension solution.
I recall having a Denning Coach bogged majorly down on one side in mud simple leveling of the suspension by manipulation of the control arms had the vehicle easily recovered in anything else I would have been waiting for days.
One of these things even got across the Simpson back in those days.
Rover introduced air suspension when no other (to my knowledge) 4x4 manufacturer has been game to try.
They did the same with coils with the first Range Rover and look at them all today.
Rover didn't get it right, but in time I believe they will.

Not sure how you will go doing it yourself with the authorities though.

Originally Posted by djam1

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Not sure how you will go doing it yourself with the authorities though.

IIRC, the AirBagMan system is engineered/ADR compliant.
Google AirBagMan.

Originally Posted by rick130

IIRC, the AirBagMan system is engineered/ADR compliant.
Google AirBagMan.

I have looked at their site and the stuff looks promising, does anyone have a pic of the shocky setup on an air suspended rangie and would it be an easy retro fit on the front of a Defender?

back around 2001 my father inlaw extended the chassis of a bravo extra cab and got air bags installed to assist with carrying a slide on camper

i'm sure it was the air bag man that drove to coffs harbour to fit them, not sure now after looking at the website cause i thought he had driven from toowoomba

if it was the air bag man the install was quality and simple to use, we could adjust the pressures from inside the cab and if the ground was not level by isolating each bag he could level the car before setting up the slide on

the only issue we had was the plates under the bags kept cracking, he send down replacement plates which cracked as well so i modded them or should i say over engineered them which stopped them from cracking

Originally Posted by rick130

the Air Bag Man in Qld does a kit for the rear of 110/130's. They do complete kits for 'cruisers and Patrols, too.
The front only needs the dampers relocated to add a set.

I've got this on the rear of my County. Been very happy with it.