How Does An Air Suspension Kit Work in a Car?

The Air Suspension system is an upgrade to the traditional coil spring suspension system. In the last decade, air suspension has moved from the trucking world to the commercial world. Today you can see it in motorcycles, cars, all-terrain vehicles, customer cars, performance cars, and sports cars too. Although the market uses this tech in mostly luxury cars, it has been becoming a common technology to be used in a vehicle. 

Getting advanced in any technology means we are one step ahead in comfort, styling, and speed. The system becomes easier to control and gives you more effectiveness and more advancement over the previous technology. Air suspension gives the same vibes and in fact, the modern air suspension has surpassed the earlier air suspension technology with its control of airbags, compression, bag pressure, and many more things. Electronic control over the system also includes the height of the vehicle which would give a smooth, controlled drive. 

Coil Spring was replaced because the drivers were finding it difficult to handle the car while turning, slowing down, speeding up, or adding or removing weights. Because the coil spring suspension system was designed only for limited fixed situations. 

The Air Suspension kit for Cars replaces the spring and shock absorber with tough rubber airbags that mimic to be a spring. But the resemblance gets a full stop there. A modern air suspension system gives you control over almost all factors through sensors, onboard controllers, and air compressors. 

Air Suspension System Components:

Airbags were simpler back in the time of their invention. It only had airbags which you could set at a height of your choice with the right pressure. You only had to use an outside compressor to fill the bag with air. With time, engineers have put in more electronic components. 

The airbags also get improved with time. The airbag now comes from a material that is a composite of rubber and polyurethane. This mixed material provides structural integrity and toughness against all odds like sand, road debris, and chemicals. 

Modern airbags come in three different shapes. 

• Double-Convoluted Bag: 

This is an hourglass-shaped bag that allows more flexibility than other designs. 

• Tapered Sleeve Bag: 

This design is more adjustable in a tighter area, hence giving you more flexibility in ride height. 

• Rolling Sleeve Bags: 

The rolling sleeve bags are specially made for better spring control, and ride height. 

Most modern air suspension systems come with an onboard compressor. The compressor is basically a pump that fills the airbags with compressed air lines. The valves of a compressor are attached to the frame of a car and push the outside air into the airbags. As the outside air is full of moisture, the compressor comes with an in-built drier. The drier uses a substance named Desiccant. This helps to make the outside air to be moisture free. 

Most advanced compressors have an air tank to maintain the pressure and even the transitions between different pressures. 

Solenoids, Valves, and Lines:

An air suspension does not consist only of a simple airbag. There is much more to it to function properly. 

Lines:

There are long thin pipes made of rubber generally in the system. These are known as lines. These lines carry the compressed air into the airbag and help it to raise or lower. These lines are routed along the frame of the vehicle. You can customise these lines by replacing them with steel lines to give them a clearer and rugged look. 

Valves:

The second component is a valve that directs the direction of air in the airbags. It works as gateways in an air suspension system. In the early air suspension system, it was a two-way path that was used to connect two wheels. The valve is used to connect both the left & right wheels. Several times in a journey, one wheel is used to push the air into the other wheel causing it to expand. This causes body roll and a terrible experience in driving. 

Today’s valve system plays a critical role in the passing of air. The whole system involves a series of valves that control each movement of air. 

Solenoids:

Solenoids are the component that is used to fill up or vacant airbags. According to different conditions, we can adjust the air in airbags by opening or closing the solenoids with the help of electronic onboard controllers. 

All the electronic systems are controlled by the electronic control board module. This controlling software gives you very basic but effective controls. You can see the data of each factor as a digital parameter. Modern airbag suspension kits come with an onboard controller that can measure and control the pressure, and ride height with the help of using sensors and toggles. 

The major upgrades that have invented this modern air suspension are done on the electronic controlling parts. In the near future, this is the component that engineers will improve the most. 

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Why Be Careful before Modifying Your Car with Air Suspension?

Major production cars come with a set of shock absorbers and coil springs as suspension sets. Replacing those with the air suspension system without disturbing the controls, handling, and car ride experience is a tough task. This needs expertise and patience. 

Many different companies have produced their specific quality air suspension kit for car (almost the same) which you can buy according to your needs. Note that air suspension only removes the coil springs from the system and it is only a part of a big system. Hence many companies offer a complete system kit to replace the old ones to get better controls and a better experience. 

Here you should be careful about your purchase. X2industries offer different vehicles with more specific parts and systems. Such as a sports car’s needs are different from a towing car. A heavy-duty pick-up car will need a different system than an EI Camino show car. 

Conclusion:

The air suspension kit upgrades the whole car experience to an advanced level. However, a coil spring is only a part of a larger suspension system and air suspension replaces that only. The working of air suspension includes controlling the compressed air pressure, and ride height by using air lines, valves, and solenoids.