Writeup/Review: Universal Air Suspension

[Simans82]

I've decided to do somewhat of a pictorial as the install progresses this afternoon. I've done the same thing on other forums that I was a part of due to the lack of pictures (I'm a visual person if you haven't already guessed ). The info on these forums regarding the UAS system is phenomenal, but I really struggle sometimes due to not having some sort of picture relating to the topic at hand. I hope that this thread will help clear up some questions regarding the UAS setup.

I decided not to do a "How To" as I feel this may take away something from UAS and their ability to distribute their business to installers around the country... and plus, who wants to take a picture of every bolt taken from the car during the install. What I will be doing thoroughly is commenting along the way in regards to the install/quality/use of the system. So if you're mechanically inclined and feel as though this install is something you might want to tackle yourself, my write-up should suffice to get past some of the possible kinks in the install.

I will have plenty of pictures of my trunk and gauge setup as it evolves tonight. I have the dash apart and clock pulled awaiting the installation of the round Dakota Digital gauge, and the trunk and interior are stripped and ready to run the necessary wiring.

I'll have pictures posted of the goods as soon as the box is opened this afternoon. So stay tuned!

Q & A Section: These are questions I received through PM that I will be posting anonymously so that everyone can see what kind of struggles people are having doing this install themselves. Please feel free to PM me your questions and I'll answer them to the best of my ability and post them here. Thanks.

Q:

hey, when you mounted your rear cups, how did you secure the top cup in place? I got the bottom one secured with the bolt that goes through the lower control arm and attaches with a big washer and a nut. I just couldnt figure out how to mount the top cups in place. It came with 2 long bolts. Any ideas??
Thanks

A:

If you're talking about actually "seating" the rear cups when you have them on the car, you're going to have to have a pry bar on the top pushing them towards the upper mount and have someone air them up ever so slightly so they set themselves in.

You'll have to make sure to FULLY air up the rear after they are seated so they STAY seated. Then when you let the car down, you won't have any problems.

Q:

yea i got them seated in place. But i was wondering if you have to do anything after there seated? I thought they had to be bolted down or something?

A:

The bolt that goes through the bottom with the washer has to be tightened down, but that's it. You stated that you'd already done that, so you're all set.

When you set the car on the ground, it doesn't matter whether the bag is fully inflated or fully deflated, the weight of the car and suspension keeps the bag seated on the topside.

If you read the instructions, it says:

21. Start the car and allow for the air tank to fill up.
22. Once compressors turn off inflate rear bags and make sure upper cup sets into place.
23. **be very careful not to get your hand or fingers caught while lining up cups**

Q:

awesome car, how did you run your air lines to the 2 front struts along with the rear bags??? did you have to drill any holes for the air line?

A:

The air lines to the fronts were decently easy. The front left was run along with the e-brake cable (very easy to zip tie up against the body) and the passenger side front was very straight forward also, just needed to get more creative with the zip tying.

I had to drill holes in the backside of the spare tire well so the hoses could run smoothly into the trunk area. With the way the hoses are, they're very stiff and want to bend only in certain ways, so you have to work with them as best as possible to ensure that they don't kink, while at the same time can run straight into your valves.

Just take your time and it can all be done very cleanly! The hoses are all hugging the body as they head into the rear of the vehicle. They are away from all exhaust and moving suspension components. I'll get a picture from below so you can see how they are ran. Check back in my post a bit later.

Q:

thanks so much for the help, a pic would be awesome, so for the front two lines it did not require any drilling or did it?? i guess im a little confused, im just curious to know how hard it would be if i choose to remove the UAS system and didnt want to have holes drilled into my car, incase i decided to sell it or trade it in to the dealer

A:

I understand your concern!

You will have a few holes in the trunk, but nothing to be concerned about. You can plug these holes left by the airlines with rubber plugs or some sort of other filler.

There are no holes needed to be drilled in the front of the car for the bags. The airlines are the only thing you need to drill holes for, and that's in the trunk.

Updated! Some great information from GROUNDED regarding quieting down the compressor noise inside the cabin:

Originally Posted by GROUNDED

Ive been reading your article and thought i would tackle these questions so you can put em up front....



Q: ok i have a question 2 all UAS owners.... how quiet can u make the compressor? if i were to install EVERYTHING in the wheel well..... lets say for instance i like triple extreme dynamated the entire well.... even the lid.... make a difference... this is my only draw back... whats the potential here?


Q:I am in the same boat. I would like mine to be more quiet. I orginally installed them straight to the spare tire well floor. You will quiet them down quite a bit by Fatmat or Dynamating the entire spare tire well. Another thing we are gonna do on my setup is to mount the compressors to a board wrapped in fatmat also. Then the new sub floor we are building will have fatmat on the underside of it as well. I am hoping that is enough to quiet them down alot. I will be running 6 compressors with the new setup, so its gonna be a fingers crossed situation. LOL.




A: Most of the noise associated with a compressor is not produced from the pump itself but through the intake of the air. A very simple way to somewhat remedy this is to install what is call an intake air silencer or silencer filter. You can purchase these from MSC in their miniature intake filter silencer.



bottom left hand corner. If you want to see what they look like, next time you are at home depot or lowes look at their big compressors and the filters on them... its a scaled down version of that but it cuts WAAAy back on noise!

[Wayoflife]

I was going to do the same, starting next week i cant wait to see you pics !

[Simans82]

Originally Posted by Wayoflife

I was going to do the same, starting next week i cant wait to see you pics !

Nice! Well... we'll be the first!

I look forward to seeing how things go for you also. Goodluck!

[300customs]

yummerz!

[duke_dallas]

Glad you're moving forward w/ the mods despite the recent life changes.

[Simans82]

Originally Posted by duke_dallas

Glad you're moving forward w/ the mods despite the recent life changes.

Thanks man! Now I just gotta get moved...

Oh well, this will help keep my mind occupied on the weekends instead of still thinking about work.

[Simans82]

Pics as promised! I'll continue to update this post as the install progresses this weekend.

[srt8danno]

This will be a very nice and helpful gesture to the members who are considering doing something like this on their own rides. Even though it may not be a “how to” it sounds like it will give someone a great overview of the entire process from start to finish. I look forward to seeing what you come up with and I’ll stash this link in my goodie bag for future linking. Well done!

[300customs]

Originally Posted by Simans82

Pics as promised! I'll continue to update this post as the install progresses this weekend.

sick!!

[Simans82]

Originally Posted by srt8danno

This will be a very nice and helpful gesture to the members who are considering doing something like this on their own rides. Even though it may not be a “how to” it sounds like it will give someone a great overview of the entire process from start to finish. I look forward to seeing what you come up with and I’ll stash this link in my goodie bag for future linking. Well done!

Thanks Danno! I MAY still do somewhat of a "how to", I'm not too sure yet. We'll see how it goes as we begin the install.