Writeup/Review: Universal Air Suspension

[DUBSTER]

Originally Posted by Simans82

Considering I didn't install the water traps from the very beginning (I've been running the bags for just short of a month), is it still possible to put the traps in and have them remove the majority of the condensation/water that's already built up?

Thanks for any information.

My friend installed the water traps on each side of the tank.

[DUBSTER]

Originally Posted by iwakethenibake

man i cant wait if those are the only 2 drawbacks! 2 months to go!

SEWEEEEEET!!!!!!!

[DUBSTER]

Originally Posted by LAIDBACKC

hahah... trying too look at all possible drawbacks and fix them...

A. sound of compressors

B. freezing valves

C. uhh thats it i think lol

The sound of the compressors don't bother me at all.

[Blowndakrt]

Originally Posted by LAIDBACKC

trying to think outside the box... or... inside the spare well... lol


i was also thinking about building little boxes out of mdf and completely enclosing the two compressors then just drilling holes in the part where it sucks the air in... just to make it as quiet as POSSIBLE lol... i like modifying stuff lol

Ok, I will try to answer most of your questions.

The lift issue is with the top bolts not installed. If they are installed, it won't drop down when put up on a lift.

As far as enclosing the compressors, it can be done, just make sure you are leaving enough room for cooling though. Once you run the compressors for about a minute, you can put your hand near (notice I said near) the head of the compressor and feel the heat. Don't touch the head or it will burn you. This is the reason that quality compressor companies supply you with braided leader hose with their kits. I have seen people run plastic line directly from their compressors and it melt it. You don't want the compressors getting too hot, so leave ample room for ambient air to cool the compressors. Also, you can remote mount the filters and inlets for the Viair compressors. They come with the fittings and the extra line to do so.

My compressors will be enclose so to speak, but we are making sure to leave alot of extra room and several cooling fans to ensure the compressors don't get too hot. Now depending on how much you play with your system, the compressors will not be running constantly, so they won't get as hot. But I like to build with a pretty big margin for saftey.

As far as some sort of heating element for the valves. I have looked into this quite a bit. I have spoken with several experts on the subject. I even looked at having custom heat foil made for my valves. The issue is this, in order to make it work, and work well, you will need to run the heaters all the time through the cold months. If the valves get cold enough to freeze, the wattage it would take to thaw them would be quite substantial and even that could take up to an hour to thaw. I looked at everything from heat tape, to iguana matting that they use in reptile cages. All of them won't give the required wattage you would need to thaw a valve very quickly. One expert quoted me that in order to go from 32 degrees to 38, which is not much at all, and be able to do it inbetween 45-60 minutes, you would need approximately 300 watts. And with a heating element, that is a pretty big number. Most heat tapes you see in houses run anywhere from 20-60 watts. This is for the entire length of the heat tape also. If you shorten the heat tape, the wattage goes down.

Also, you need to consider that you need to find something that can be ran off 12 volts, or you will need a converter. Plus you need to have some sort of thermostat that will turn on only when it gets to a certain temperature and shut off before it gets too hot to melt the plastic line coming out of the valve. The air line UAS uses is good stuff, so it can probably reach quite a high temperature before it began to melt.

Shawn

[LAIDBACKC]

ok so this is the first night with my air ride to work out all the bugs...

first its AWESOME AND I LOVE IT - definitely worth the $$$$$$

so heres the small issues


--front driver bag is losing about a pound of prerssure every 30 seconds
the other bags are completely staying level - luckily the auto level fixes it like every 5 minutes... i already texted my installer were gonna check it out tomorrow

--When i dump my car all the bags goto 0 psi.. except the right rear bag still read 35 - 45psi??? if i hold down the dump... it will goto zero, as soon as i let go of the button it goes back to like 35 - 45? BUT it doesnt like AIR up... it simply just reads like 35 psi.. im thinking that particular valve is still letting some pressure back in... not sure if its install related or valve related... shall check that out tomorrow too

--When I air alllll the way up... all the bags goto 144 - 146 psi... but the right rear again wont go over 138 - 141???

--my compressors only fill my tank to 184PSI - i thought they were 200 psi compressors... if i dump my car.. i dont have enough to fill all the bags COMPLETELY up .. i have to wait, then it will air up more... if it would goto 200 instead of 184 i believe i could air all the way up... what do your guys's air compressors compress up too?

-- and also are your sensors 150psi rated? mine dont read anything over 150 psi... or maybe that doersnt matter cuz the bags only hold that much ? nada sure...

i believe these are all minor issues to be worked out which were also completely expected... especially the first day its driven... i figured id notice something faster than anyone else.


thanks guys! let me know!

[Simans82]

Originally Posted by LAIDBACKC

--front driver bag is losing about a pound of prerssure every 30 seconds
the other bags are completely staying level - luckily the auto level fixes it like every 5 minutes... i already texted my installer were gonna check it out tomorrow

Sounds like you’re already well on your way to having this issue taken care of, but at 1 lb of pressure every 30 seconds, it’d be my guess that you’d either be able to hear it and/or a good soap/water mix spray down would easily reveal that particular leak.

Originally Posted by LAIDBACKC

--When i dump my car all the bags goto 0 psi.. except the right rear bag still read 35 - 45psi??? if i hold down the dump... it will goto zero, as soon as i let go of the button it goes back to like 35 - 45? BUT it doesnt like AIR up... it simply just reads like 35 psi.. im thinking that particular valve is still letting some pressure back in... not sure if its install related or valve related... shall check that out tomorrow too

I have no clue what the problem could be here. I’m sure Zack could give you some sort of help on this particular trouble shoot. When I dump my bags, the gauge reads 00 at all four corners.

Originally Posted by LAIDBACKC

--When I air alllll the way up... all the bags goto 144 - 146 psi... but the right rear again wont go over 138 - 141???

From my experience (I don’t have the ride controller though), when I air all the way up, my bags never read the same. Even if you toy with the bags so that they all read the same, while driving around, the pressure in each bag will begin to vary again.

Originally Posted by LAIDBACKC

--my compressors only fill my tank to 184PSI - i thought they were 200 psi compressors... if i dump my car.. i dont have enough to fill all the bags COMPLETELY up .. i have to wait, then it will air up more... if it would goto 200 instead of 184 i believe i could air all the way up... what do your guys's air compressors compress up too?

My shut-off occurs between 190 and 200 PSI. Even if you were to allow the tank to completely fill you still wouldn’t be able to go to full lock. You’d have to let the compressors turn back on and fill the tank some more and pump it up a few more times before you would completely max out the bags.

Originally Posted by LAIDBACKC

-- and also are your sensors 150psi rated? mine dont read anything over 150 psi... or maybe that doersnt matter cuz the bags only hold that much ? nada sure...

I have the 400 PSI senders. This is an option within the Dakota Digital gauge, so you have to make sure that your gauge is matched up with the type of senders you have. Read the Dakota Digital manual on how to change the setting. When I’m at full lock, I’m around 180 to 190 PSI in each bag.

[4u2nv]

Originally Posted by LAIDBACKC

ok so this is the first night with my air ride to work out all the bugs...

first its AWESOME AND I LOVE IT - definitely worth the $$$$$$

so heres the small issues


--front driver bag is losing about a pound of prerssure every 30 seconds
the other bags are completely staying level - luckily the auto level fixes it like every 5 minutes... i already texted my installer were gonna check it out tomorrow

--When i dump my car all the bags goto 0 psi.. except the right rear bag still read 35 - 45psi??? if i hold down the dump... it will goto zero, as soon as i let go of the button it goes back to like 35 - 45? BUT it doesnt like AIR up... it simply just reads like 35 psi.. im thinking that particular valve is still letting some pressure back in... not sure if its install related or valve related... shall check that out tomorrow too

--When I air alllll the way up... all the bags goto 144 - 146 psi... but the right rear again wont go over 138 - 141???

--my compressors only fill my tank to 184PSI - i thought they were 200 psi compressors... if i dump my car.. i dont have enough to fill all the bags COMPLETELY up .. i have to wait, then it will air up more... if it would goto 200 instead of 184 i believe i could air all the way up... what do your guys's air compressors compress up too?

-- and also are your sensors 150psi rated? mine dont read anything over 150 psi... or maybe that doersnt matter cuz the bags only hold that much ? nada sure...

i believe these are all minor issues to be worked out which were also completely expected... especially the first day its driven... i figured id notice something faster than anyone else.


thanks guys! let me know!

Simans summed it up pretty good, but I'll through in a couple cents on the issues I have experience with.

Front driver bag losing pressure is a leak. You just have to locate the leak.

Your right rear reading 35 - 45 psi sounds like a faulty valve. It might be letting air from the tank flow slowly through the valve to the bag. It doesn't air up because the valve only allows 45 psi flow and that isn't enough pressure to left that hemi.

Right rear not going up to the same pressure as the other bags could be a few things. But I would bet there are no problems. Sometimes the road or the angle of your car will change the pressure.

The rated 200 PSI pressure switch is an estimate I think. My car would never lift all the way on the first lift. I used to have to wait until the pumps shut off before I could left it to the max. I can lift it all the way now because of the nitrogen.

And as Siman mentioned, Dakota Digital has an upgrade sendor for up to a 400 PSI reading.

Glad to hear your loving your air though. Lets see some pix.

[LAIDBACKC]

--ya im sure the left front is a simple leak no problem

--with the right rear not dumping all the way.. and inflating around 10 psi less then all the other bags (on any level terrain) yes it does sound like a faulty valve... not sure how to handle this.. ill wait til zack has some input, and we double check everything is installed right (tomorrow)

--i didnt know 400 psi senders all the way around was even an option.. i hope i can swap them out without having to rebuy all new senders... to be completely honest... if the bags air up to more than 150 psi... then i think bigger sensors should just HAVE to come with the kit.. even if you gata increase the price of the kit a little... you should be able to know what the actual psi level is of the bag

--how do i get my compressors to kick off around 190 - 200 instead of 184? what it sounds like is i ended up getting the 185 pressure switch instead of the 200... considering the 185 shuts off at 185 and so does mine basically...

--im also thinking how to kill some more vibration from the compressors (yes im kind of a perfectionist) but u gata be with a nice car like this... i did dynamat the entire spare well and the compressors are mounted to carpeted half inch wood OVERTOP the dynamat... it is quiet... but i wanna get either more rubber or folded carpet to mount them to...l too really kill remaining vibration...

--ill get some pics tomorrow! after work im going back down there... we still gata throw the digital gauge in the ashtray.. its sittin in the side pocket next to the shifter right now.. i didnt have my car for 10 days.. i was just like give it to me now! lol i said ill test it for one night and come back with all the crap wrong so we can fix it...


Things I still gata do...

1. Air Leak! - Front Drivers Side
2. Bigger pressure senders?
3. Faulty Valve?
4. Right Pressure Switch?
5. Install Height Sensors (weight for blowndak to finish bracket)
6. Ashtray Install (tomorrow)
7. Roll Fenders / blend paint (Monday & Tuesday)
8 Stupid transmission casing (Wednesday)

Im gonna talk to Zack about the problems.. I dont have a doubt in my mind that he'll make sure everythings right. Thats what makes it all ok lol.

[Simans82]

Originally Posted by LAIDBACKC

Things I still gata do...

1. Air Leak! - Front Drivers Side
2. Bigger pressure senders?
3. Faulty Valve?
4. Right Pressure Switch?
5. Install Height Sensors (weight for blowndak to finish bracket)
6. Ashtray Install (tomorrow)
7. Roll Fenders / blend paint (Monday & Tuesday)
8. Stupid transmission casing (Wednesday)
9. Take pictures (Now)

You forgot the all important #9. Only takes a few minutes to do... probably the easiest one to check off your list.

[DUBSTER]

Originally Posted by LAIDBACKC

ok so this is the first night with my air ride to work out all the bugs...

first its AWESOME AND I LOVE IT - definitely worth the $$$$$$

so heres the small issues


--front driver bag is losing about a pound of prerssure every 30 seconds
the other bags are completely staying level - luckily the auto level fixes it like every 5 minutes... i already texted my installer were gonna check it out tomorrow

--When i dump my car all the bags goto 0 psi.. except the right rear bag still read 35 - 45psi??? if i hold down the dump... it will goto zero, as soon as i let go of the button it goes back to like 35 - 45? BUT it doesnt like AIR up... it simply just reads like 35 psi.. im thinking that particular valve is still letting some pressure back in... not sure if its install related or valve related... shall check that out tomorrow too

--When I air alllll the way up... all the bags goto 144 - 146 psi... but the right rear again wont go over 138 - 141???

--my compressors only fill my tank to 184PSI - i thought they were 200 psi compressors... if i dump my car.. i dont have enough to fill all the bags COMPLETELY up .. i have to wait, then it will air up more... if it would goto 200 instead of 184 i believe i could air all the way up... what do your guys's air compressors compress up too?

-- and also are your sensors 150psi rated? mine dont read anything over 150 psi... or maybe that doersnt matter cuz the bags only hold that much ? nada sure...

i believe these are all minor issues to be worked out which were also completely expected... especially the first day its driven... i figured id notice something faster than anyone else.


thanks guys! let me know!

Those are just minor problems. Looking forward to seeing pics!!