What Is An Air Suspension?

What Is An Air Suspension? How Do Air Suspension Systems Work?

An air suspension simply replaces the springs of a vehicle (whether it be coil, , etc) with air springs. Instead of a coil spring, you have a rubber membrane which is inflated with air, which the vehicle is resting on. The pressurized air is what is holding the vehicle up. This video will compare rolling lobe air springs versus convoluted springs, open versus closed air spring systems, and look at the advantages and disadvantages of air suspension systems.

The benefits of an air suspension include:
1. Ingress/Egress: Ram 1500 has a specific mode which lowers the truck as much as possible for getting in or out. It doesn’t drive at speed at this ride height.
2. Off-road use. There are two modes for raising the suspension, which is great for off-road use as it increases the ground clearance, approach angle, breakover angle, and departure angle of the vehicle.
3. Better aerodynamics. The Ram 1500 will automatically lower when driving on the highway to reduce drag and improve fuel economy.
4. Load-leveling. If you put a significant amount of weight in the truck bed, steel springs means the rear will now ride lower. With load leveling the truck will automatically raise the truck bed to the targeted ride height.
5. Improved ride quality. This is a byproduct of how the system behaves. As you increase payload, the system increase pressure to maintain a set ride height. By increasing the pressure, it increases the spring rate. This maintains a fairly constant ride frequency, which means the truck will feel pretty much the same from a comfort standpoint regardless of how much weight it’s carrying. In this scenario, the volume within the airbag remains constant, while the pressure increases with added load.
6. Prevent getting high-centered. Some off-road vehicles equipped with air suspensions will have a mode that lifts the vehicle further than it’s highest ride height in order to allow it to not get stuck. In the event of getting high centered, the vehicle will raise to attempt to allow you to back up off the obstacle.

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[NevinWilliams]

Another pro for auto-leveling air suspensions: headlight remained properly aimed, and do not blind oncoming drivers when bed is loaded.

[Nonamenever]

My Land Rover Discovery 2 has air suspension at the rear. 17 years old and i only had to replace the two rear bags after 15 years of use. Never had any other problems and the bags were £80 each. When they did fail it was just a slow leak, so in the morning the car would be sitting on its ass. Towed a 3 ton trailer and the car was completely level. Great system!!

[evan]

My fathers 96 Lincoln Continental has air suspension . Such a comfy ride.

[man_on_wheelz]

I have a strong love/hate for air suspension systems, especially on household cars. Lets take a Lincoln Navigator for instance. When working properly it provides a nice comfy, cushy ride and the fact it can automatically adjust with load preventing any squatting with weight is pretty awesome! But I've driven one where the system has failed and the whole truck was sitting on the suspension bumper stoppers. All I had to do was pull it into a shop stall for the mechanic from the parking lot, and hands down that was the most rough and uncomfortable ride I have ever experienced! And that was only about 300 ft... I could only imagine this happening to a customer on the road and having to drive it all the way to the shop. I'm sure most people would prefer to get a tow.

[Hydrospx]

Great video, as always!! Another con is that it adds weight.  The Ram with an air suspension has a lower payload and towing capacity than one with out it.

[chengcui]

Well explained! material-wise how long can the rubber membrane last? Any idea?

[HaloToday]

I work in a shop with several diesel pickups and do have aftermarket airbags installed on some of our trucks. Having the airbags makes a huge difference when towing/hauling things with a good amount of weight. If I ever purchase a truck I would definitely want airbags installed

[peanuts]

Land Rover has this system nailed. Stunning piece of engineering that accomplishes all roads

[shobud]

now u made me wanna learn about buses now

[ElvisCarrilloelviman]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. When I have my car I will tune it with a Convulted Air Suspension.

[austintimm]

Additionally, on the subject of air power, I would love to see a video on heavy duty air brakes.

[DoubleYouPee]

You should do one on hydraulic suspension found on older Citroens and Rolls Royce :)

[texan]

It's worth the extra $ to get air suspension when you get a new vehicle. On luxury cars the air suspension will lower the car 1-2 inches at highway speed for better aerodynamics. At low speeds the driver can adjust the height in a heavy rain to ride higher if needed. The ride quality is also better. When it goes out of warranty it's time to sell the car. From Lexus to Mercedes Benz one air shock/strut can cost anywhere from $500 to $1500+. You can also go insane/broke chasing down leaks in the system when the failure is not in the bag part at all.

[DyingToLive]

dude your like the Driftor of the car world. very smart.

[boostedlife]

Hey great videos. I watched both part 1 and 2. Two questions I do have. 1. How does it effect the camber while changing the ride hight ? 2. What about alignment ? Since there is a get in and out mode like you said what do you do for an alignment ? I appreciate your time

[AksmManNavar]

Can you please do a video about dually trucks?

[FlyDontLandOnFlowers]

I can't thank you enough for making these videos. You answer a lot of the questions that I ponder and now I have decided that I should get air suspension on my car. Because I will be using my car for daily driving, as well as a show car, it would be nice to switch between the two at a push of a button as opposed to spending an hour or so adjusting the coilovers

[mrithun]

Please make a video on the Audi Air suspension. the A6 was the best ride quality i have personally experienced

[thegreatempire]

I love the air suspension in my RAM 1500. Smooth ride with great handling, for a Truck.

[martingarza]

What I do know firsthand is the larger the bag the smoother the ride especially when well loaded. The major drawback is when off-roading which is typical in Texas the bags make the axles act like basketball being dribbled. Letting the suspension down helps if you aren't bottomed out. Small bags are a bummer. On a pickup it would seem overkill considering the quality of the ride versus what the air system would provide. But then again most modern day trucks have one to two airbags under the cab as well and under the seat. A $1000 seat is like sitting on a living room couch compared to a $500 which after a few hours your lower back will be talking to you in pain lol.