? for those with rear air bags

ARK_SWAMP_RIDER

ARK_SWAMP_RIDER

New member
After fighting suspension issues with the rear of my 4runner for a few months now, I'm getting ready to ditch my OEM rear air suspension for a standard coil setup. However, I don't wanna loose the ability to compensate when towing or loaded down (which isn't too often, maybe once a month at most where sagging would be an issue). I'm thinking about doing some lift coils and adding the Airlift 1000's.

First question is will the bags work with the lift coils, or will I need to do stock coils and a spacer for lift (thinking Toytec superflex or maybe OME's). Second question, how much adjustment is needed? I am hoping I can leave them set at a certain pressure that is both comfortable unloaded and also prevents sag when loaded. I don't want to be tied down to having to manually fill and release the bags when I need to tow. If I will have to add quite a bit of air to offset the load, I'll go ahead and get the wireless system with a compressor so I can do adjust with the remote.

Thanks for any help!
 
Register to hide this ad
ive had the airlift on my last 2 vec.s, as long as the lifting coil is the same diameter the bags listed for the 4runner will work, they may suggest extra spacers. u might as well get the onboard comp. trust me, after about a year or two u will be adding air every time u start the vec. since u need to keep at least 5 psi at all times. the company may have now switched to push fittings but if not spend the xtra $ & get em to replace the crappy airline clamps that that dont seal very well & also rust out. a couple of other things to keep an eye on, the lines can crimp easily & wear thru if rubbing on something. ive also noticed that when flexing offroad with only a little air in them or put on a garage lift, the bag can shift inside the coil. have em on my 4r since about 08, can fill them to 30 & in 1-2 days theres no air left in em. searched many times where i can reach for leaks & never found any. pretty much the same thing happened on the previous vec. next time im switching to a different brand. firestone maybe.
 
Last edited:
Hmmm, not really what I wanted to hear. As little as I tow, I am tempted to just say forget the bags. However, if I'm going to disable an OEM system, something makes me want to do so for a reason. Being able to manually control the bags along with leveling the left-right rake would be nice, just don't know if it's worth the money. Is the Firestone kit any better at holding air than the Airlift 1000?

I'm going to talk to a couple local shops to see if we can get something worked out. I saw that ebay kit, and I'm not quite sure how that works. I know others who've done the swap had to weld a piece in to keep the coil from moving, if that just sits in there I don't know how that helps anything. Plus, that's kinda high for what it is (I highly doubt I'd use the springs). I'm hoping a local shop can do something similar for a reasonable price.

And that leads me to another question, one I'm going to discuss with the shop. I've got a PDF from the FSM showing the OEM rear air system. The best I can tell, the bags serve no purpose other than leveling (no sensors on the bags themselves). I'm really wondering what would prevent you from hooking the OEM system up to a set of aftermarket bags. I'm thinking about giving that a shot, and if it doesn't work, maybe I can rig up a manual switch to turn the OEM compressor on/off and use it for the aftermarket bags (bypassing the auto level feature).

There's a lot of if's in there. I'm going to get with a local shop and do some looking myself to see what I can find. My big thing is how much money I'm going to have to invest in this. Here's what I'm looking at:
Conversion kit: $280
Airlift 1000 and wireless controller: $325
Bilstein 5100 rear shocks to match the front: $200
Either a spacer or aftermarket coils to give ~2" lift in the rear: $75-$200.
However you want to look at it, it'll probably run into at least $1000. That's a good chunk of money for only the rear suspension (and I've already dumped a few hundred into it). I'm hoping I can find a shop to help out and save money on parts, but then I'd have to pay for labor so it'll probably even out. I'm not gonna be able to start this right away, but will probably get on it as quick as possible (not this exact setup, just some solution).
 
Yea, I ran across that several months ago, but I just don't see how it works based on the conversions I've seen in the past. I e-mailed them to see if they had any install instructions they could send me so I can see how it all mounts up. Definitely worth looking into.

Good news is that I can do this progressively, I don't "have" to have it all done at once. And another good thing is that if I use the kit from Arnott, it's not permanent. If for some reason that doesn't help, I can reverse it pretty easy.
 
Last edited:
Sorry for waking this thread up, but i couldnt find any other relevant information.

I am looking to swap my OME 895Es to Toytec Superflex with the added flexibility of an air lift system but cant really seem to find any feedback on them. Anyone have the superflex airlift 1000 or firestone airbag system on their rig? Any coments? Worth the 80 bux?

Thanks!
 
albertomc said:
Sorry for waking this thread up, but i couldnt find any other relevant information.

I am looking to swap my OME 895Es to Toytec Superflex with the added flexibility of an air lift system but cant really seem to find any feedback on them. Anyone have the superflex airlift 1000 or firestone airbag system on their rig? Any coments? Worth the 80 bux?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

If you tow frequently, I'd say yes. See this thread for the correct kit to use with those coils:
Airlift 1000 installed - Toyota 120 Platforms Forum
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 604 (members: 2, guests: 602)

Forum statistics

Threads
278,316
Messages
3,554,111
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Share this page

Trending content

Back
Top