Suspension Air bag pressures

[Roosterman]

G'day all, were down to being a week away from heading to Vic to pick up our new Van, 17.56-2 OB, next week all going well.

As such im down to the finer points of prep for our little trip and handover/pick up, so am wondering for those that run air bags in your vehicles, what pressures do you run when towing your van.

My tug is a patrol which has a 2 inch lift, and modded fairly heavily, I run extra heavy duty spring in the rear with koni shocks, and air bags...in the past we towed our CT which prob maxed out at about 1.5t, so only ever needed 10/15psi in the bags when towing..

I have ordered a TREG hitch as part of the build, so no WDH for me....

Any comments are welcome.

Thanks, LEST WE FORGET...

 

[yabbietol]

The air bag pressure I use in my ATM 2.5t Kedron van I is about 28psi ( I check it each morning before I tow) and when I had a 1.2t Avan I ran about 20psi. I have beefed up rear suspension (Lovell springs and Bilstein shocks) and find the 28psi works well with the heavier van in my Polyair bags.

 

[Roosterman]

Thanks, @yabbietol I was thinking that about 25 PSI would be a good starting point, I believe that my van will be around the same ATM that you mentioned...did you find it a bit stiff/rough when travelling..??....my other concern will be the bounce factor as such...thanks again.

 

[yabbietol]

Great idea, I started with my new van at 20 psi then 25psi and increased it to 28psi which works well for my van. It rides quite well at 28psi.

 

[MDS69]

I run around 22PSI in the Prado with MD OME springs and shocks. Inflate your bags then hitch up and let out air until desired ride height.

 

[Fabulous]

With our Patrol, and WDH, We run our airbags at around 15psi

EDIT - forgot to mention, car has a 2inch lift as well as a few other toys.

 

[Smirke]

With our patrol and van, I had them at 15psi 2 weeks ago, but it seemed a bit low. I will try 20/25 next time. (our patrol is also lifted, etc and has OME ). When we picked up our van (from Melbourne factory), they put air in it and leveled it for us. I thought they put 30psi in them. We don't use wdh either.

 

[DRW]

Hi @Roosterman when we had out 17:56.2 OB we used to run around 15PSI with the van on and it had a Treg as well, the Sterling is similar in size but has a standard tow hitch, we still don't use a WDH and tow at the same pressure, we only ever have the Waeco and Weber in the back and only 2 of us most of the time, I run 5PSI when not towing. I would think with the mods on the Nissan the air bags wouldn't need a lot but I'm sure you will sort it quickly, good luck with the pick up I hope the weather is kind and you finally get some sleep

 

[dagree]

Run the Prado with a 35mm lift and HD Lovells springs and shocks. 26psi in the bags gets the 17.56.2OB and Prado sitting pretty level.... Just have to remember to drop them back to 5 - 6 psi when not towing. Bit hard when going over speed bumps

 

[Bluey]

G'day all, were down to being a week away from heading to Vic to pick up our new Van, 17.56-2 OB, next week all going well.

As such im down to the finer points of prep for our little trip and handover/pick up, so am wondering for those that run air bags in your vehicles, what pressures do you run when towing your van.

My tug is a patrol which has a 2 inch lift, and modded fairly heavily, I run extra heavy duty spring in the rear with koni shocks, and air bags...in the past we towed our CT which prob maxed out at about 1.5t, so only ever needed 10/15psi in the bags when towing..

I have ordered a TREG hitch as part of the build, so no WDH for me....

Any comments are welcome.

Thanks, LEST WE FORGET...

you will be driving very close to my house on way through melb on the freeway anyway do you have the sleaves on your bags the Kevlar ones very good they are stops rubbing and you can increase your bags heaps with my cruiser I put 25 to 30 all good but if I eva needed to I can put 60psi in my bags with the Kevlar sleaves but would never need to they cost me 120 for the sleaves

 

[bigcol]

I think (not checked for awhile) my airbags are running at between 10-15 psi
I have a valve for each side........... always a good idea

last time I checked, I just topped up to the van sitting level - didnt really notice the psi.............

yes I have a Patrol
yes it has 2" lift
and a false floor
and 7000kgs of crap in the back..............recovery gear, tools, billy, stove, chair, spare parts etc

 

[Roosterman]

you will be driving very close to my house on way through melb on the freeway anyway do you have the sleaves on your bags the Kevlar ones very good they are stops rubbing and you can increase your bags heaps with my cruiser I put 25 to 30 all good but if I eva needed to I can put 60psi in my bags with the Kevlar sleaves but would never need to they cost me 120 for the sleaves

I do have the Kevlar sleaves, so if needed yes i can inflate above 30PSI, will start at 25 and see what happens from there, given my truck is lifted with heavy stuff im pretty confident that it should need minimal air in the bags to get it right....if anything I think my veh will sitting above the right height to get the car and van level, may have to purchase an adjustable tow hitch...

 

[Bluey]

I do have the Kevlar sleaves, so if needed yes i can inflate above 30PSI, will start at 25 and see what happens from there, given my truck is lifted with heavy stuff im pretty confident that it should need minimal air in the bags to get it right....if anything I think my veh will sitting above the right height to get the car and van level, may have to purchase an adjustable tow hitch...

You mite know but dont pump them up with weight on pump before its loaded measure from bottom of rim to wheel arch then see whats its like with a load on

 

[Roosterman]

Thought I might follow up with some feed back...I ran my air bags at 20 PSI for the run home over 3 days, I found when I got home and finally got around to checking them, that I had 18 PSI in them so lost 2 PSI....all good.

I would say that I think that the van sits a little nose up on the back of the car, so am going to drop pressures a touch and see if it levels it out, with out sagging the arse of the car....I don't think the nose up position isnt to much to worry about for the van, as its not to obvious at all, if anything I may have to buy an adjustable hitch to level the van, but shall see how it goes first..

Cheers