LR air strut suspension

Quote:

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Originally Posted by roverrescue

BUT if they are rolling sleeve as indicated above by Graeme

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No doubt that they have a rolling sleeve - had them apart several times and have a full set still assembled.

Sorry Graeme on re-reading my words they do seem to doubt you! Not my intention at all.
I see they are a rolling sleeve - that generally means the springbrate is pretty constant through
The stroke irrespective of height which might preclude the rears from my plan

I'm looking at a bunch of "air lift" PDF at moment
There seems to be quite o few options available through them

S

hi steve
I have a D4 and it uses and integrated airbag / strut
which are a challenged to maintain
have you considered a caravan air suspension system
My Trakmaster van rides on air and it has separate components that make maintenance a lot easier
mind you I haven't had to do anything with it
just a thought
Russ

Quote:

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Originally Posted by roverrescue

I'm in the planning phases of another Offroad trailer build.
This will be another boat trailer for 5m plate alloy boat
Always I start with the suspension and work up,
I'm a little bored of triangulated four links from the last two builds so have two competing designs.

Easy one is radius arms plus a panhard with thoughts to use an air strut.
I figure that LR have dialled in Offroad durability to their struts and the overweight D3/D4 with front axle weights approaching 2tonne should be perfect for this application.

Big question is what are the dimensions of a front strut or better still does anyone have a dead one kicking around???

Kind regards

Steve

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Thanks Russ
Been there done that
Last build used firestone airsprings and matched dampers

Something different this time!!!!

Seems there are some good air lift options that are packaged even
Nicer than LR units

S

So this weekend I was gonna light up the old Linux LibreCAD
But instead went with "Cutting And Dicking" around


Dragged old trailer into shed
It runs on rusty old hilux front leaves on a 50mm square solid axle
With flanges welded each end that bolt up to Landy stub axles

So I went for it and cut the old springs out , removed dampers
And think I've decided to make a MkI radius arm panhard rod air strut
Suspension on the old chassis

Photos are
-with it "slammed" teeheehee
Attachment 128149

-At ride height
Attachment 128150

Roughie strut length compressed
Attachment 128151

-Then extended
Attachment 128152

-arms at ride height
Attachment 128153

-overview from rear
Attachment 128154

-pure dumb luck and largely why I'm going with
MkI on this chassis - the front radius attachment
Lines up perfectly with one of the strongest parts
Of the chassis
Attachment 128155

I have the Radius arms sitting on axle for setup but thinking about it this
geometry will keep bolts etc out of the salt - will run em high I reckon?

Will likely pair this setup with some air lift 82107 struts
Air Lift AirOver Shocks 82107 - Free Shipping on Orders Over $99 at Summit Racing

Obviously chassis will need some building bracing, front radius mounts
And panhard mounts. I'll likely lean the struts back at the tangent to radius swing but I can't
See any negatives other than the corrosion issue!!!!!
Will need to find a lanolin type product that is rubber safe.

Steve

Couple more hours at it today

First cut out some rusty bits with the plasma

I established what is needed for radius-chassis attachment
Thought one was to plasma off the mounts from a wrecker d1
But as my geometry will be top mount rather than side mount I think
I'll just go see my metal man and fabricate some.... the link mount is 70mm diameter slug of 25mm thick steel with 39mm centre hole and inner smooth radius'. I should be able turn these up....

Step two was to plasma out a pair of axle mounts.
These are 5mm thick cut out of some RHS. OEM axle mounts are 5mm
Boxed in and braced. So should be enough

Attachment 128278

I also took a pic with a roughy old damper at "air lift 82107" ride height

Attachment 128279

Top mount will be different - braced between centre and other chassis , but bottom mount I'm not sure whether to
Link into radius arm mount or just make a double shear lower mount onboard of the radius mounts....

Attachment 128280

Final plan was to sort panhard - reckon illuse the old damper axle mount leading the axle

Sooooo now I'll just order some struts and make this happen!!!

S

Got some work done on the radius arm chassis mounts
Started with some 90mm round bar in saw

End up with a 25mm thick Slug turned to 80mm OD with 39mm ID for OEM bushes
Still need to chamfer and tidy it up but one side is close

Plan to then cut hole in 6mm ear shaped plates and weld slug in
Can then tinker it into something pretty

Slowly slowly

Attachment 128404


Attachment 128405

Any updates....

I ended up finishing the rig
I thought I made a post about it?

Anyway in the end I used a pair of 80series radius arms
Length was good and the leading pin mount was easier to fab.
Used a landy panhard
Mounts welded to 50mm solid axle which runs landy stub axles (un braked)

In the end I bought a pair of double convoluted bags - it rides less softly than the previous 4 link I made which used rolling sleeves
(A bit of geometry plus spring rates in that)
But it still does the job
9L air tank bolted to frame which I fill via a shraider
Manual Paddle valves to control air in and out of bags
From memory 9L let’s me cycle up and down full stroke 4 times

Works well - rides smooth - height adjustable is awesome

Can post pix later

S