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vanagonjr
Samba Member
Joined: October 07, 2010
Posts: 3431
Location: Dartmouth, Mass.
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 Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 5:31 pm Post subject: |
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Well, I didn't expect to like an air-bagged Westy - but you sir have changed my mind.  Great job by you, your wife and friends. I'd be very impressed even without that time line. With it, well = just flat out amazed.
Also, the idea to lower a Westy for highway crusin and then put it back up to normal height once reaching a national park or a dirt road is very appealing.
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John - 86 Wolfsburg Westfalia "Weekender"
Flint reversed 1.8T W/Passat 5-Speed
LiMBO (late model bus club) www.limbobus.org
LiMBO is on Facebook too! https://www.facebook.com/groups/
FAQ thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=525798 |
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drftsub
Samba Member
Joined: August 27, 2014
Posts: 21
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| Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 11:02 am Post subject: |
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Thanks for the kind words guys. It was a blur of 3 weeks thats for darn sure!
I am working on getting all the info together for the suspension thread, I am doing some minor adjustments so once thats all buttoned up I will get it up here.
The air ride has proven to be handy for not only for keeping it low on the highway ( not really sure if thats helping aero or not considering the brick like shape haha ) but I also found it very handy to level the van when we were sleeping!
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85 Westy
Subaru Turbo Power! |
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greggearhead
Samba Member
Joined: June 20, 2004
Posts: 563
Location: Colorado Springs, CO
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| Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 12:24 pm Post subject: |
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| drftsub wrote: |
The air ride has proven to be handy for not only for keeping it low on the highway ( not really sure if thats helping aero or not considering the brick like shape haha ) but I also found it very handy to level the van when we were sleeping! |
 That's genius! An unintended benefit!
Quick question - I'm an air suspension newbie. Do you align it for highway height mode, and is there a height indicator of some sort, or just pressure?
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1972 Porsche 911E
1973 VW 412
1984 VW Doka
1991 Vanagon Syncro Westy
Period Lights, VW & Porsche wheels and Recaro/Scheel Seats for sale
https://www.facebook.com/greggearhead
http://greggearhead.com/soco-swap---september-vw-swap-meet.html |
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drftsub
Samba Member
Joined: August 27, 2014
Posts: 21
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| Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 1:20 pm Post subject: |
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| greggearhead wrote: |
Quick question - I'm an air suspension newbie. Do you align it for highway height mode, and is there a height indicator of some sort, or just pressure? |
Yes align it for the height you will be at most, and then deviations from that are typically short enough that its not a major issue.
For setting the height, you can do this 3 ways:
Set the height based on "feel" - this is only as good as your internal level. A friend of mine who has owned more air ride vehicles than I can recall is very good at this, most are not.
Set the height based on pressure - This requires pressure gauges and for you to know what pressure = what height, and gets complex as you add weight etc.
Using an air management control system - This is the best, and also the most $$ . These typically have multiple height settings, but will retain the height you want regardless of load etc, and can still be manually overridden for things like leveling the van for sleeping.
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85 Westy
Subaru Turbo Power! |
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vw4life
Samba Member
Joined: May 22, 2005
Posts: 144
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| Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 8:09 pm Post subject: |
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Patiently waiting for the write up on the air ride.....
Been contemplating air ride, but haven't found a good write up on install. I have never had a lifted vehicle, plenty of springs/coilovers/air shocks but never full air ride.
The rear is a no brainer but to get a parts list would be awesome.....I am curious about the front shock relocation |
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ftp2leta
Samba Member
Joined: October 11, 2004
Posts: 3271
Location: Montreal
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drftsub
Samba Member
Joined: August 27, 2014
Posts: 21
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| Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2014 9:42 am Post subject: |
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| ftp2leta wrote: |
You are crazy...  But I like it!!!
I'm curious about the exhaust system.
Ben |
Haha, not the first time I have heard that statement. Usually its from my wife after I have described some build I want to do.
The exhaust will get some small re-routing as it sits pretty low when the van is aired out all the way. But basically its a custom fabbed bell mouth off the turbo to 3" piping, then does a large U turn under the axle, around the valve cover to the longest Magnaflow muffler I could find. This has one flex joint before the muffler as it is mounted to the body. The system is all sealed via V Band clamps for easy on/off should the need arise.
| vw4life wrote: |
Patiently waiting for the write up on the air ride.....
Been contemplating air ride, but haven't found a good write up on install. I have never had a lifted vehicle, plenty of springs/coilovers/air shocks but never full air ride.
The rear is a no brainer but to get a parts list would be awesome.....I am curious about the front shock relocation
Ben |
Write up is in the works, work has been hectic lately and I have not gotten time to dig under the van for more pics etc.
Most of my vehicles run a coilover/ race setup of some sort, air ride is its own animal thats for sure!
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85 Westy
Subaru Turbo Power! |
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vanaru
Samba Member
Joined: November 02, 2005
Posts: 169
Location: Sykesville, Maryland
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| Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2014 5:30 pm Post subject: muffler |
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"This has one flex joint before the muffler as it is mounted to the body..."
really? the amount of movement my wrx van install has under load would break that flex joint in a matter of weeks...
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1962 sunroof beetle
1982 porsche 911 SC
1991 vanagon WRX powered |
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drftsub
Samba Member
Joined: August 27, 2014
Posts: 21
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| Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2014 5:43 pm Post subject: Re: muffler |
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| vanaru wrote: |
"This has one flex joint before the muffler as it is mounted to the body..."
really? the amount of movement my wrx van install has under load would break that flex joint in a matter of weeks... |
What mount system are you using? My setup consists of a RMW mount that uses the factory subaru mount points and subaru group N rally engine mounts.
I have very little flex during idle or load with this.
My exhaust has a 6" long flex joint and the muffler is rubber isolated to the body to allow some movement if needed as well.
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85 Westy
Subaru Turbo Power! |
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vanaru
Samba Member
Joined: November 02, 2005
Posts: 169
Location: Sykesville, Maryland
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| Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2014 7:17 pm Post subject: Re: muffler |
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| drftsub wrote: |
| vanaru wrote: |
"This has one flex joint before the muffler as it is mounted to the body..."
really? the amount of movement my wrx van install has under load would break that flex joint in a matter of weeks... |
What mount system are you using? My setup consists of a RMW mount that uses the factory subaru mount points and subaru group N rally engine mounts.
I have very little flex during idle or load with this.
My exhaust has a 6" long flex joint and the muffler is rubber isolated to the body to allow some movement if needed as well. |
OK. mounted to the body via rubber hangers?...now that make sense. I took "mounted to the body" above literally.
My motor is mounted via a small car mount...exhaust is a modified SmallCar header(flex joint at the crossover) with a custom down pipe to cat into a porsche 911 muffler mounted to the engine. It all moves with the engine. I do go through front mounts often. they end up moving way too much, so I'm looking to make a stiffer front mount.
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1962 sunroof beetle
1982 porsche 911 SC
1991 vanagon WRX powered |
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vw4life
Samba Member
Joined: May 22, 2005
Posts: 144
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| Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2014 8:32 pm Post subject: |
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| Any info on the air ride? |
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mccabe
Samba Member
Joined: March 20, 2007
Posts: 101
Location: Olympic Peninsula
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| Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2014 12:48 pm Post subject: |
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Nice work! I'm excited to see more about the air ride set up.
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1991 Carat 2.1wbx
vans "checkerboards" size 9.5 |
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PAULPIERCEFAN34
Samba Member
Joined: October 19, 2012
Posts: 17
Location: Northern Ca
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| Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 4:00 pm Post subject: |
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| Any updates on the air ride install? |
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svswan
Samba Member
Joined: February 13, 2013
Posts: 71
Location: Olympia WA
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| Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2015 7:05 pm Post subject: |
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seems like you've been real busy. Hopefully it's not frustrating to get another request for updates. I've been checking out Air Ride, Ride Tech and Accuair and would would love to know what Slam Specialties air bags (part numbers) you used and how they effected the ride of the vanagon. I'm thinking bagin' it would be better than lowering springs, plus allow me to air up on the occasional dirt road or scary parking lot entrance. Seems like lowering springs makes the ride harsh, or the wrong air bags...
Happy Trails and thanks for the write up so far ;-}
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Hula - '91 Carat with '03 Subaru JDM WRX 2.0T
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7682086#7682086 |
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newfisher
Samba Member
Joined: January 05, 2012
Posts: 1764
Location: The wet spot--Oregon
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| Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2015 9:48 pm Post subject: |
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| Not to steal the op's thread....Ive been running manual valves, 2 dual needles ,1/4 line 5gal or 2 3gal tanks with dual comps on several rigs ive built and have recently switched to the AirLift V2. Simple plug n play system with air up/key on capability and 8 preset hights. Both options work well with 2500 series non conveluted bags on trucks and suburbans, similar weight of a loaded vanagon. I have run 1/2 lines and they are too quick in my opinion for a daily. |
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