Air Suspension for my 4Mo?

So we are all set for our 2 week trip to south of France. Van's fully loaded with all the gear including the bikes on the back.
Airride's set so vans level (slight rake to front) and at a reasonable drive height for motorway driving.
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Biggest test of air ride yet..... 2 weeks and c2000 miles. Now whats french for "air leak"
 
Ok so I'm thinking I may put air suspension on my 4motion for the odd off road I need to do.
Anyone have any recommendations, I won't fit myself so may get my local guy to fit or am I better off finding someone who has done this before.
Again any suggestions or is this a bad idea??
Done a lot of research and the one I’m going for is VB. Cost with all the extras around £5,000. And retrofitting LED headlights; not cheap either!
 
I've got the VB system, love it, especially the auto level great when on uneven pitches, just a press of a button and approved by VW
 
Ok so I'm thinking I may put air suspension on my 4motion for the odd off road I need to do.
Anyone have any recommendations, I won't fit myself so may get my local guy to fit or am I better off finding someone who has done this before.
Again any suggestions or is this a bad idea??
I’ve just had the full air suspension from VB fitted by Full Circle Enterprises of Banham in Norfolk. Very satisfied with it. I saw someone complaining about the control but mine is a hand held which sits in the driver’s seat pocket; there is a fixing bracket but I prefer it as it is. Also has self levelling so just press a button and it works.
 
I see no picies of the beast, time to share some :thumbsup:
Well I’m in Morocco now with the van in an airport garage but I don’t want to be here for Ramadan so if it’s still in one piece I’ll do some pics next week!
Seriously though I’ve heard some horror stories about airport parking but this time they took about 20 photos of the van to check for previous damage.
 
Hello everyone ;

First sorry for my english language, i’m french and asked to google translate help me for translation ! ;-)

I allow myself to post this post to tell you about my very bad experience with airride uk products. Knowing that there may be confusion with different companies with a similar name ( airide airride ... .. etc) based in different countries, I put here the link of the kit that I bought to avoid any ambiguity on the establishment and the offending products:
AirRide Air Suspension.
I received my order in 2 parts (for a VW T5 4motion) The first containing the set "compressed air" (compressor, air tank, fittings, electronic management module, air hoses ....) at Airlift (model 3H / P); then the 2nd part containing the air and air suspension suspensions manufactured by AirRide. Auto mechanic over 30 years and with the necessary tools I was able to install this complete kit without much difficulty, at least for the part "compressed air" Airlift providing a clear and very detailed instructions. The AR suspension part was however more difficult to install because it is necessary to cut and drill the AR suspension arms and from photos transmitted on an attached document but without precise dimensions. I had to ask airide also elbow fittings instead of straight fittings delivered in the kit that do not allow the connection of air hoses in a mechanically acceptable way. I had to ask various small missing accessories that were sent to me without additional cost. These little details started to alert me to the "pro" side of the kit design because I thought I would get a plug and play set ready for installation, but there was not even a single nomenclature. only to check the contents of the set.
Once the rear air cushions installed I realized an apparent purely mechanical anomaly in this sense or the AR flange bends on itself at an imposed angle between the frame and the suspension arm, making the upper part of the coil compresses on the lower part thus causing friction between the two parts. (see pics under)
The assembly finished it was very difficult to adjust the pressures AV / AR because the no adjustment procedure is provided, it is only after an exchange of mails with Airide that basic values m ' have been communicated in order to be able to do my set up. After a lot of road tests at different pressures, I arrived roughly to get an acceptable suspension but not at the level of the original suspension! Unfortunately we must find a compromise by adjusting the pressure between comfort and height of the vehicle because contrary to what I thought it is not possible to use the vehicle in high or low position it becomes undriveable and absolutely uncomfortable !
I had acquired this kit for my T5 4motion fitted out in camper van for use "high" in paths and low on road / highway (and incidentally to put the vehicle of level in parking). Great disillusion because after only 370 kms of road use the rear right cushion burst on a roundabout following friction on the upper part with the chassis! In the end nothing surprising given the design of this montage for which Airide did not want to know evoking a bad editing on my part ,,, a height ! In short you will understand I strongly advise to install this material whose use in my opinion is only to "parading and play" in tuning style! Since I installed a lift suspension kit Eibach with reinforced metal springs and tires in 235/65/17,,, which gives me whole satisfaction!

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Evening all! so here's my opinion on air ride.

I've done a lot of research but all of the following are just my thoughts and conclusions.

There seems to be one recurring feedback for both adjustable coliovers and air ride and that's buy cheap, buy twice. I therefore was only interesting in fitting top end kit to my brand new van.
My prerequisites: want full auto management system; want full 4 way adjustability so I can level on uneven campsite; want memory presets so I can a) set a low drive height for posing b) set a higher drive height for driving c)reset to previous level on said campsite; want to be really low when aired out (I need to get the van in my garage); want it all hidden away underneath the van; once fitted, don't want to have to worry about it going wrong.

So I've gone for HPDrivetech Bilstein struts front and back with Airlift 3P management system. All that comes in about £3500 plus fitting c£800. You might end up adding a few extras eg compressor silencer.
You can get cheaper struts eg Airrex and cheaper management systems (even manual ones) and you can get more expensive management systems like Accuair.
For me the Accuair doesn't give you anymore features that I actually need so it wasn't worth an extra £500 to me. There seems to be lot of negative feedback with Airrex struts so much so my fitter won't fit them.
So in my opinion, I haven't gone most expensive (c£5k) but have got what I think is the most common, up to date, top end system.
There are lots of very good fitters so might be better for you to choose what's local. Mines in at StancedUk in Wokingham, I like the guys there and I really like the fact they sell wheels and tyres as well and they are happy to trial fit different size wheels to settle on what will work best for ultimate 'stance'.
Other reputable fitters I'm aware of include Plush Automotive, LowPro, JPL automotive.
I'll pause there for fear of boring you to tears....
Any other questions just ask
Hi There
I know this was posted quite a while back, but I'm looking at exactly the same set of requirement for my new 6.11 Kombi.
So I'm wondering how it went & how you've got on with the system since then?
cheers
Ian
 
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