Frequently asked questions – Airlift Products |
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Jump down to : |
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Accessories (Load Controller, SmartAir,
Quickshot, Sureset etc |
Coil
Suspensions |
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Q |
What is Airlift 1000? |
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Air Lift 1000 is a
complete airspring kit for a coil sprung axle, without optional
extras like compressors,
tanks, cab controls etc. |
Q |
Why choose air helper suspension? |
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Air Lift air helper springs are the best solution because
they are totally adjustable — steel springs are not. All you have to do
is add air to fine tune your ride for all load situations! That’s the
reason professional drivers choose air over steel. |
Q |
What are the benefits of Coil inserts (Airlift 1000
series)? |
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Adds support to rear springs on many popular 4x4’s
and LDV’s. Just
add air when towing or hauling a heavy load Driver
adjustable for the best possible ride, loaded or unloaded Eliminates
sag, sway, roll and bottoming out Keeps
headlights aimed Easy
and quick to install using common hand tools with DIY instructions. Between
226-725kg levelling capacity depending on the kit
(Coil diameter) |
Q |
How long should air springs last? |
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As long as the air springs are properly installed and maintained,
Air Lift adjustable air helper springs can last indefinitely. They are made of tough molded polyeurethane. |
Q |
How long does an air spring kit take to install and can
they be fitted by the average home mechanic? |
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Air Lift air helper springs can be installed in about two
hours and can be fitted by the average home mechanic? Advice is available by telephone and if you do not feel
competent to do it yourself, most 4x4 fitment centres
and tyre shops will do the job for around 2 hours labour. Gremeltech can recommend a number of places depending on
your most convenient area. |
Q |
How do you maintain air springs? |
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Air springs are low maintenance! Just check the air
pressure periodically, as you do for your tires. |
Q |
Do you have to add a compressor system to your air
springs? |
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No,
air pressure can be adjusted with just about any type of compressor, as long
as it can produce sufficient pressure (usually 2.5 bars max) to service the springs.
You can even use a bicycle pump! For maximum convenience on-the-go however,
nothing beats an Air Lift on board air compressor system. |
Q |
What are the inflation valves? |
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The inflation valves are standard size Schrader valves as
found on a motor car tyre, and can be attached to
an air hose at a petrol station, a mountain bike pump or most compressor
hoses. |
Q |
Why is the warranty voided by not maintaining the
correct pressure range? |
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The correct pressure range is shown on the fitting
instructions inside the kit. A
pressure of less than 0.4 bars allows the insert to deform, rubbing or
wearing on itself or loosing its cylindrical shape, and
could allow the insert to work its way between the coils, where it could be
squashed and damaged when the suspension hits a bump. The pressure is amplified when hitting a bump, causing
the pressure inside the airspring to rise above the limit (which is far
higher than the maximum pressure). The airspring will then burst, usually
displaying a “duck-bill” effect, where the material at the
weakest manufacturing point stretches permanently and then bursts. If the airsprings are tee’d together, it is wise to block off the damaged
airspring after
failing to maintain the correct pressure range. Remove the airline at this
airspring, double the airline for the last 2 centimetres
and attach a cable tie to hold the pipe closed off like this. Reinflate the remaining good airspring to minimum
pressure. |
Q |
What are the pro’s and cons of installing each
airspring on its own valve or Tee’ing them? |
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We recommend installing each airspring on its own valve
(2 valves are supplied in the kit) In this configuration neither airspring
pressure directly affects the other and if one airspring is damaged,
the other is not affected. The vehicle can be levelled
from left to right (e.g. fuel containers on one side of the roof, camping on
a slight gradient etc.) If both sides are Tee’d
together, then both air springs woul be over pressurised in the case of a mistake, the one with the
weakest point bursting, but the other still possibly damaged. For slow driving, Tee’ing
can be helpful. You also
loose roll control due to air transfer, Tee’ing
has a negative effect for high speed cornering in that the outside spring is
under pressure and transfers this pressure to the inside spring, increasing
the lean towards the outside. |
Q |
Can Airlift 1000 be fitted to any coil? |
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If the coil has a shock inside it (many passenger cars)
or a McPherson strut, then an Airlift Kit can only be fitted if the shock is
relocated outside the coil. Shock relocation is a difficult and time
consuming expert job and we don’t know of companies who offer this as a
standard service. Special products are available for complete coil
replacement with an air-shock. We do not import these products since they are very
expensive and often model specific. |
Q |
What optional extras are available with the kit? |
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GRASFLDE is an Air Spring Flow Director to Tee or Isolate
2 Airbags GRKGFILL is a 6 Bar Filler Guage kit (Stainless Steel) GRKCAB3 is a Cab Control with a
paddle switch and guage GRKTK38LD is a 3.8L tank kit GRK35033 is a 100% duty 12V
compressor See http://www.airsprings.cc/4x4/4x4.htm
for details on these products. |
Q |
How much can Airlift 1000 air springs lift my vehicle? |
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The kit provides an additional leveling capacity (see
Extra Axle Kg @ Bar on the Airlift 1000 page) Air
Lift air springs can lift the vehicle by up to around 2cm but are not a
substitute for a lift kit. If
the vehicle is level at minimum pressure and maximum pressure is applied to
the system, then the force will lift the vehicle provided that the
installation had air springs fitted with no spaces above or below the air
springs. The
lift is limited by the amount of “stretch” on the air springs,
usually around 2 cm, from convex ends forming. If an extra load of half the extra capacity is added,
then only half the lifting force would still be available. |
Q |
Can I use Airlift 1000 air springs for off-roading? |
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Airlift 1000 will work for off-road vehicles. When off-roading, increase the pressure to assure the 5 psi minimum pressure when the air bag is at it’s full extension. |
Q |
Can I use Airlift 1000 with lowered vehicles? |
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Lowered vehicles usually require a significant lift
before driving. Airlift 1000 is thus not a suitable product, but we do keep
specific products for this. |
Q |
I have a vehicle that gives a rough
rides, can I add air springs and make it ride better? |
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If the rough ride is caused by weak or overloaded
springs, the answer is yes. |
Q |
How much will adding air springs increase the Weight
Rating (GVM) of my vehicle? |
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.Adding
Air 1000 will not change the Weight Rating of a vehicle. Doing so is dangerous
and voids your Air Lift air spring warranty |
Q |
Can I get replacement parts? |
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Replacement parts are available. |
Q |
Do you add air to Airlift 1000 before adding the load,
i.e. how do I level my vehicle? |
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Add air to maximum pressure, add the load, then release air until the vehicle is level. |
Q |
How do I work out my suspension travel? |
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If you jack the vehicle by the wheel, the wheel rises
until the bump stop is reached, then the chassis moves. This is the minimum height. If you jack the vehicle by the chassis, the wheel drops
until the shock limit is reached, then the wheel stops. This is the maximum height for the air spring. |
Q |
What is the effect of adding spacers to
“fill” the coil? |
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The ideal is to get the longest air spring to fill the
coil. If spacers are added, they can act as a limiter for upward suspension
travel, conversely when the chassis is moving downwards they cause a more
immediate effect of the air suspension coming into affect before the coil
compresses. (i.e. they avoid a “delayed” effect in the air
suspension assisting.) |
Leaf
Suspensions |
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Q |
What is RideControl? |
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Ride Control is an airspring kit, adding up to 900kg
extra leveling capacity, complete for a Leaf sprung axle, without optional
extras like compressors , tanks, cab controls etc. Some of the ride control kits have roll
over sleeve airsprings while other have double
(sometimes single) convolutes. |
Q |
What is SuperDuty
/ Load Lifter? |
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SuperDuty
is a heavy duty version of Ride Control. It is an airspring kit, adding up to 2250kg extra
leveling capacity, complete for a
Leaf sprung axle, without optional extras like compressors , tanks, cab
controls etc. |
Accessories |
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Q |
What is Load controller? |
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Load Controller is an optional extra for an airspring
kit, allowing
you to Manually control the
airsprings from inside a moving vehicle. It is a small 50%
duty compressor and cab control with low pressure sensor(s) It is available with Guages and
sensors as follows: Single
: only front/rear levelling (Mostly for Airlift
1000,) and Dual
: front/rear and
side to side leveling (Mostly for RideControl &
SuperDuty). Load
Controller 1 has electrically operated Solenoids to allow fast air flow (More expensive). Load
Controller II has Guage panel paddle
switches to allow air flow, includes wiring harness. The system does not include a tank and is not suitable
for pumping tyres. e.g. Part 25812 (Load
Controller II Dual Guage), Request import around R2900 nett excl VAT Read More about
Load Controller II … Download 25812
Load Controller II Installation Manual (123 Kb) |
Q |
What is SmartAir? |
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SmartAir
is an optional extra for an airspring kit. It is a totally
automatic system with no dashboard guages Consists of an Electronic self levelling
system which will maintain the vehicle at a pre-set height regardless of
load, includes a small compressor, harness, circuit board and exhaust
solenoid air valve(s) controlled by adjustable magnetic height sensors. The system does not include a tank and is not suitable
for pumping tyres. e.g. Part 25430 Dual sensor, Request import around
R6500 nett excl VAT Download
25415 / 25430 SmartAir Installation Manual (288
Kb) |
Q |
What is Quickshot? |
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Quickshot
is an optional extra for an airspring kit. It is 4 times faster than Load controller II, and manually operated from a moving
vehicle Medium Compressor, 7.6 Litre
Tank, Pressure switch (7.6 bar off, 10 bar on), Air Hose and Dash Gauge with
Paddle Switch (for inflate / deflate) for fast height adjustment, used with Low rider vehicles to get back
often and fast to higher ride height. The system includes
a tank and is suitable for pumping
tyres. The Dual controls two airsprings
independently and is more suitable for RideControl
and Load Lifter e.g. Part 25690, Request import around R4500 nett excl VAT e.g. Part 25572, Request import around R5500 nett excl VAT |
Q |
What is Sureset? |
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Sureset
is an optional extra for an airspring kit. It is a manually
operated system with a small Digital dashboard controller (102x25x76mm). Consists of an Electronic pressure setting system in the
dash which will maintain 2 airsprings at a Driver
selected pre-set pressure. Includes a small compressor, harness, Dashboard LED &
circuit board, 2 pressure senders, and a 3 soleniod
manifold controlling 2 airsprings e.g. Part 25004, Around R4000 nett
excl VAT |
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