Airbag Suspension Assist

[Greesie]

Hey guys, Just had my VZ dropped with SSLs front and rear, the rear scraps soon as someone else is in the car and really badly if someone is in the back seat, its scraping on the point were the rear bar comes into the guard. Im thinking of installing some airbags, got a price for some polyair ones for $330 for a kit.

aparently you just put whatever pressure you need in them, 5psi unloaded and up to 40 psi loaded.
I was thinking i might put the valves in the boot and rig a little compressor up so if i need to boost it quickly i can.

has anyone ever had or know any info about them?

my two worries are leaks, and if i get lazy and want to leave one pressure in them so it dosnt scrape if the car is empty or has a few people in it...say maybe 15-20psi will this stiffer suspension effect the safety and cornering of my car?

Any help would be great, can really only find info on 4wds towing on the net about them,

[CKaras]

Hey mate, I used to own a V8 soarer which came standard with airbag suspension. I had an aftermarket digital height controller installed, and although it's abit different in that it takes quite a while to pump or release air I can still tell you abit about the ride and how it feels. When you lower the car or release air from the struts, you will find that the ride is alot rougher and bouncier, go too low and there is the possibility that you can "bottom out" the strut. As far as cornering and handling, from my experiences if you have the back end slightly lower than the front, you will notice that the steering wheel feels alot lighter and easier to steer. If you have the car completely slammed and try to corner at high speeds you will feel the steering get abit heavier and that the whole of the vehicle seems to be bouncing around the corner as there is little pressure in the bags. My best advice is that you may have to find someone who has already bagged their VZ and see if they mind letting you have a feel for the ride at different heights and pressure. Although my experience was with a totally different car I'd imagine the principles apply to both. Hope I am some sort of help lol

[Greesie]

Cheers mate, that does help. So was the soarer on bags alone? cus the ones im lookin at just sit inside the coil, and just give it a cusion the bump stop hits on, so the harder they are the stiffer the suspension, lower pressure is just more like standard coil stiffness.
I think your right i just need to find someone and chat to them,

Did you ever have issues with leaks or tears?

[CKaras]

Didn't have any leaks but when the car was sitting for a couple months (long story) the front right hand side had a crack on the top of the strut so the whole strut and bag had to be replaced. As far as I can remember the Soarer had a bag and strut alone, with the option to convert to coils should I have chosen not to replace the strut. The Soarer was close to 20 years old, and with new materials and technology being used in air suspension systems today I don't think you would have any problems. The Soarers had a sensor inside the guards that measured the height rather than the pressure inside the bags, and inflated/deflated as was necessary, I'm sure today there would be a system that adjusts according to how much pressure is in each airbag. Definately go with a well known and reputable brand.

[Greesie]

awwsome, thanks heaps for ya help mate!
probably just buy them next week and will let you no how they go.

[NightRIDA]

Where did you find them,mate?
Cheers

[Greesie]

POLYAIR AIR BAG SUSPENSION KIT SUITS (COMMODORE VR-VZ) - eBay Other, Suspension, Steering, Car Parts, Accessories, Cars, Bikes, Boats. (end time 14-Aug-10 17:04:32 AEST)
getting a quote on firestones, was told by a suspension place they are the shit, but aparently the polyair are decent, would like to hear from someone who has used them.

[Benboy]

Have used the PolyAir bags since the days of the HJ (1976) on various model Commodores. Only problem I had was a pinched air line caused a leak. Make sure that when installing air lines they are routed in such a way as to completely avoid stretching (as suspension moves) and pinching or stone damage. If you run high pressure with no additional load in/on the vehicle the rid eis as rough as %$!@#%

[Greesie]

Thanks ben, pretty much exactly what I wanted to know!! Think I'll give the poly airs a shot,

[Surfwagon]

I've used poly air's in my last 4 cars without a problem.
I removed the pump up shocks (HSV self leveling suspension) and replaced with poly airs.
Only ever had a leak from one hose when it was rubbing on the frame, the attaching clip had broken.

[Greesie]

thanks mate, what sort of pressures were you using in the bags most of the time?
Im organising a set next monday to chuck in, did you just run the lines into the boot somewere?

[Surfwagon]

For normal driving with no rear seat passengers I run the minimum 5psi, they only take 30psi a full pressure.
I just carry a bike pump and pressure gauge in the boot and takes no more than 5mins to pump up to full if needed.

[Greesie]

Awwsome, thanks for advice mate

[Duckywindsor]

Hey Surfwagon, what is the actual suspension setup you have on your Senator. It sits pretty dam tuff and I'm shopping around for a new suspension setup and rims for mine

[Surfwagon]

With the rear, firstly I removed the self leveling suspension (pump up shocks), fitted poly air bags originally with Monroe GT sports but found these too soft when used with HSV/FE2 style springs.
So now have Koni Yellow Sport adjustable shocks set on 1/2 turn from soft for city and 1 full turn from soft for highway combined with 18mm rear whiteline swaybar(std 14mm).
Front is std HSV/FE2 style springs with Koni adjustables set on full soft for the city, haven't tried them on the highway yet, combined with std HSV 28mm swaybar.
I have stayed with the std HSV/FE2 style springs because I had enough of rock hard ride and replacing parts and exhaust pieces from being too low, plus the HSV body kit hangs fairly low with the std HSV lowered height.

[Duckywindsor]

Cheers mate. Thats pretty much the sort of setup I'm looking for

[bigpaulyb25]

yeah i want airbage for ve ss ute does anyone no how much it would cost for a basic settup

[Benboy]

Send a request off to Polyair at the accompanying link Polyair Springs air bag suspension lift kits they will provide all the information you will require incvluding price etc.