Hey all,

Kinda slow day, so I thought I'd post a half-baked idea i've been kicking around.

I've been reworking leaf springs for my wranglers SOA for the past couple weeks, and have finally got the ride height, and flexibilility I wanted, but the problem is it's a little to flexy. and with two or three people in the jeep, it sages a good couple of inch's in the back.

sooo.... I've been kicking around an idea of using some type of air cylinder like the ones below to suppliment my leaf springs. Fed off my OBA, the clynders could easily supply another 300-500 lbs of lift on the back springs, to keep the jeep level when heavily loaded, an then I could bleed the air out when they aren't needed to allow for plenty of flex. I might even be able to use them for forced articlulation, tying the two sides together so that when one side went up, the air exiting the cylinder would force the other side down. The ones below may or may not specifically work, but I wanted to get opinions of the idea... so I'm I crazy?

Here's one example of what I've been looking at.

http://www.arozone.com/products/cylinders.html

flame away

Chad

I think you would probably be better off putting airbags instead of these cylinders...

yeah, I thought about air bags, but the seem to have a relatively short stroke.

Used on a control arm, (like I've seen on the sniper) they seem to work well because placing them close to the pivot point amplifies their travel. on my leaving springs, I'd have to put them on the axle to work right (I think) which would limit the travel to length of stroke in the bag.

The cylinders above seem to offer a lot more stroke, and therefore travel.

chad

Originally posted by chadl
yeah, I thought about air bags, but the seem to have a relatively short stroke.

Used on a control arm, (like I've seen on the sniper) they seem to work well because placing them close to the pivot point amplifies their travel. on my leaving springs, I'd have to put them on the axle to work right (I think) which would limit the travel to length of stroke in the bag.

The cylinders above seem to offer a lot more stroke, and therefore travel.

chad

I'm not sure it would be worth the hassle on a leaf sprung vehicle. It would be to compicated for what you would gain. Just make the extra people get out and walk if you are having a problem on a particular section. If you are worried about body roll, add stiffer springs to your pack, or an offroad swaybar(like the one currie sells).

It's not really having trouble on a paritcular section, its the variety of load I carry. In all honesty, the suspension is perfect now, assuming it's just me, and an afternoon worth of supplies parts and tools. Problem is if I put two or three people in it, or a couple of days worth of camping gear it will sit really low in the rear. Plus it's still a DD, and a popular lunch commuter at work, throw three other big guys in the back, and the headlights will be blinding planes.

I don't think it would be too much of a hassle, I already got OBA, the only things I would need would be some hose, several fittings, and a pressure regulator (which I already have laying around). The big expense would be the cylinders (which I still haven't gotten much pricing on). As far as putting it together, it should be easy, some type of mount on the frame (possible scrapped shock mounts) and a way to connect it to the axle (again something like a shock mount should work here too). I'd say maybe $100 (tops) plus the price of the cylinders... I was really curious as to wether or not anyone else had thought of, or tried this... or at least a little inspiration like... "sure it should work, go ahead and try it" while you snicker "you dumba$$" under your breath.

Chad

Originally posted by chadl
I don't think it would be too much of a hassle, I already got OBA, the only things I would need would be some hose, several fittings, and a pressure regulator (which I already have laying around). The big expense would be the cylinders (which I still haven't gotten much pricing on). As far as putting it together, it should be easy, some type of mount on the frame (possible scrapped shock mounts) and a way to connect it to the axle (again something like a shock mount should work here too). I'd say maybe $100 (tops) plus the price of the cylinders... I was really curious as to wether or not anyone else had thought of, or tried this... or at least a little inspiration like... "sure it should work, go ahead and try it" while you snicker "you dumba$$" under your breath.

Chad


I've got experience with alot of low riders that use a very similar setup, and it's not as simple as it sounds.

It's your money, do with it as you please, but i'm just sharing my experience. From the sounds of it you already made up your mind, so go for it.

PS. you forgot to calculate the valves you need, which are not cheap. and don't waste your time with anything less than ½" airline.

BornInAJeep, you need to use the air bags you have for a susp like this. Just pit the bag were the coilover is. And make the links longer so you don't have to make the frame as low.

You are going to need some big air rams. A 2" bore ram with 100psi air gives you 200lbs of force. How much more weight are you trying to compensate for?

Originally posted by jslater
You are going to need some big air rams. A 2" bore ram with 100psi air gives you 200lbs of force. How much more weight are you trying to compensate for?

Correct me if i'm wrong but you might rethink your calculations.
2" bore x 3.14(pie) x 100PSI = 628 lbs of force
you will lose some of that on the pulling force because of the diameter of the rod.

check out ANT from SRC. hes got forced articulation airbags, then again hes got link suspension

I'm sure it's going to be a lot harder than I'm planning, all my projects turn out that way :)

I wouldn't say I've made up my mind to do it, but I am going to need to do something, and just stiffening up the springs seems like the wrong thing to do (although it may very well be the right thing)

Using an air-bag, as opposed to the cylinders maybe a better option, maybe I can incorporate it into my yet-to-be-done anti-wrap linkage. Need to get out a pencil and paper, and see what I can come up with. In the mean time, I'd love to hear any other opinions on this idea...

chad

why not use some air shocks,set them up to match the compression of your shocks,and build an upper drop away type mount for the droop.like they do with coil springs all the time.do a search on it and you'll find alot of mounting ideas. my .02

What about an overload leaf? Simple but it may be just the solution. Perhaps build the overload perches so you can remove them when you hit the trail so the overloads won't affect your flex all that much.

Originally posted by flimmy
BornInAJeep, you need to use the air bags you have for a susp like this. Just pit the bag were the coilover is. And make the links longer so you don't have to make the frame as low.

seems rather complicated. I've got a few ideas that i'm still messing with, but I'm probably going to mount the bags on the links(if i use them at all).