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Air Suspension

When it comes to air-ride suspension, they come in several styles for both OE replacement and aftermarket upgrades. Some systems use an integrated air spring and shock absorber that replaces your customer’s metal springs with pressure-adjustable air springs (i.e., airbag). Using correctly sized air springs and properly calibrated shock absorbers offers ride characteristics similar to coilovers.

An air-suspension system consists of many different components. Components include an air compressor, air springs, pneumatic solenoid valves, height sensors, electronic control unit, air reservoir, air lines, pressure sensor and temperature sensor. The system may be designed for the rear air suspension only or for the entire vehicle.

While air-suspension systems are mostly used on high-end European cars, manufacturers have adapted them to many other vehicles such as SUVs and pickups to improve ride comfort and functionality. OEMs also discovered that air ride could improve fuel economy by lowering the car at highway speeds to reduce the drag coefficient.

What is air suspension?

As a starting point, it is important to discuss what is air suspension and how does it differ from traditional suspension systems? The main difference between a traditional shock or strut is that they have a dampening mechanism set to a certain ride control feel while an air suspension system uses an air compressor in combination with air struts and suspension air bags to control the feel of the ride.

Air suspension has several advantages over traditional shocks and struts. The first is that the ride quality is often controlled by the driver of the vehicle. Therefore, if you want a softer ride you can set your air suspension system to deliver that and vice versa if you are looking for a stiffer, rougher ride. The second advantage is that you can control ride height, some systems are advanced in that they automatically control this for you. The final advantage of an air suspension system is weight management. If you load the back of your SUV with a large amount of groceries from the store, the air suspension system either automotically adjusts to handle it or you can manually adjust it. For traditional shocks and struts the level of rebound is set and therefore no matter what the weight of your load is, you have to stick with it. This often creates a sagging rear end when carrying a heavy load.