SimpleWhite

So theres a chance that someone will be giving me a free air suspension. I've never had one, so I'm a bit curious as to what type of chasis issues might arrise. I don't plan on bumping my ride around town really. Has one here ever had one? If so what can you pass down to me.

hyunk24a2

wth how do u get it for free haha

SimpleWhite

this dude has one thats been collecting dust in his garage, he offered to give it to me. I don't have the specs yet, I don't think I'm gonna know till I have it in my hands.

Tsx536

Is your car a daily driver? I wonder how bad the camber issues are with air suspension.

hyunk24a2

well u wouldnt ride with your car slammed all the time so i wonder if it would have any negative side effects

TacoBellSauce

its gonna suck, i say you just give it to me, ill be willing to take it off your hands

as long as you dont drive it slammed all the time, its all good

rex.

if its just air suspension your still going to need to fabricate parts to mount up.. unless it's a tsx specific system like air runner..

Audioserf

Paging tsxdriver to thread 40731.

Our ABP-driving forum member from the island has Air Runner on his car I believe. It may not be the same system you're talking about but he can hopefully shed some light on the subject.

SimpleWhite

nice direct him this way.

for the others, yep I wouldn't be riding this car slammed, I live in Jersey, some of the worst roads can be found here. I would probably only ride the car lowered 2" or less, and maybe just slam it when its parked. I don't think I'm gonna cut out the wheel wells, I don't really want to lower the car that low.

Audioserf

If you don't want to really slam the car I don't think it's worth going through the (probably) large amount of expense and trouble to get this properly rigged up in your TSX.

I'd pass if I were you.

LukeaTron

At very least it's going to add to the sprung weight of the suspension and to weight of the car in general. It's certainly not going to accentuate any of the TSX's strong points, like the handling. I'd only go that route if the main use of your car is cruising and trying to look cool.

Tsx536

If you're camber is set for a certain driving height, is it easy to get back to that exact same height on 4 corners everytime you drive? Are there ride height presets? Just wondering if you would eat through tires faster.

CL Platano

Jose I think it all depends on what kit you get as to chassis issues but if you get a decent installer who knows what he is doing you should be ok..If you need help with an installer give a holla

tsxdriver

paging kitbkk and TSXinHI to thread 40731 lol

well don't really know what i can shed light on. what did you want to know? if the system you're getting is a universal application then you're gonna need to fabricate some parts like rex said. and forget about your wheels ever being properly aligned, ever. if you go air, everytime you adjust your ride height you're gonna throw off your alignment. even if you think you're at the same ride height as you were before, chances are you'll be close, but not exact so getting alignments is out of the question. as far as camber issues go, well i don't daily drive my car so i can't help you there.

HI OFECR

Things you will hate

1 Waiting for your compressor to fill the tank everytime you start the car 10 min

2 Depending on if its baggs (suck balls yello suspension) Or air cylinders (stiff as hell rides like a log waggon) you will need accumulators wich will only help the ride a lil.

3 If the compressor goes bad or a line brakes you will be walking untill you fix it (it will happen all the time)

4 No trunk space ! it will be filled with a tank and 2 pumps if you do it right (one pump takes for ever!)

5 NOISE ! the pumps are loud and will annoy the hell out of you.

6 Cold weather will mess with your system, condensation will freeze and expand in the lines pumps and valves

7 this will FU(K your resale value

8 The new motion / Flex will adversely affect the way your body panals lineup and will put more stress on all parts of your car.

I can go on and on and on but you get the idea


DONT DO IT its not a mini truck lol

TSXinHI

I love my suspension. Being bouncy/stiff/etc is just a myth, or a piece of shit suspension. Talk to somebody who has one ON A TSX...not somebody who knows a friend of a friend of your sisters uncles cousin who has a bagged hardbody or something. You could be talking about two totally different setups. Personally, my ride is not as soft as stock of course, but i know it's better than coilovers at the height that i ride at. FYI, i have a vehicle specific app from Airrunner like tsxdriver.

do not wait for my compressor to fill everytime i start the car. If you do, your tank must be the size of a 2liter soda bottle. Its all a matter of how often you drop/raise the car. If you set it at a low height, and only raise it a bit to make it over speedbumps or something, you can go for a long time without the compressor kicking in. As for compressor noise, I hardly notice it now. Especially freeway driving with the window down, that noise is louder than the pump. Or autostart the car before you drive. The tank will fill before you are ready to drive off.

Camber will be messed up. You could probably ride at stock height or close to it and you will minimize the wear, but yes, everytime you adjust it you will change the camber and caster/toe. I daily drive my car, and for the most part, my car stays the same height for sometimes 2+ weeks but i know i'm getting uneven camber wear. But i'd rather have air and ability to raise the car over crazy driveways/bumps/parking structures so i don't damage my kit over coilovers and alignment but i'm stuck scraping my kit everywhere. When my tires get bad, i'll buy new ones. You gotta pay to play.

As for the kit breaking and stuff, yes, it is a more complex setup, but any decent installer (not to mention a quality kit) and you should be okay. Airrunners are not the kind of airsuspension with valves and fast bags or anything. I think the stress on the airride system is minimized because of how slow/gentle it operates. If you never seen it, i think tsxdriver had a vid of his in action somewhere.

To the OP, it would really help if you could find out the brand of airsuspension, and then you could probably get more info on how much work it is. I'd say its seriously worth looking in to because you said it's free. It's just the modification part that might not be worth it. I've had my air on since Feb07, daily driven, and no problems whatsoever. Like most people said, camber will be your biggest issue. If you can accept that fact, you should love the adjustability.

SimpleWhite

so there's a video, anyone have a link? I'd love to see it.

Jeff_Chicago

X2! I couldnt have said it any better! If u get the system and it consists of air cylinders from EAI, or SMC be prepared to keep 1 extra for the front and 1 extra for the rear (since they're diff sizes) I had airride before on my Accord and I would never do it again............... even to a TSX which I feel is totally stupid since you'd be hacking up a beautiful car and trashing it.
If u want to drive it in the winter, forget about it. As soon as u hit the switch to air up your lines freeze instantly and the cylinders go flat. Heres a pic of the Accord back in the day.

tsxdriver

nice accord! i guess it's a good thing that us hawaii people don't have to worry about our lines freezing!

TSXinHI

I know...thats not a problem for us. And i don't understand how you "hack up" and "trash" the car when you put in air suspension. FWIW, we (tsxdriver and i) don't have air cylinders...we have sleeve struts, so it's pretty much just like installing a new strut. No fat bags or anything. Guess it depends on what setup you go with. You get what you pay for.

SimpleWhite

two very different opinions, I'm still waiting on the system. I haven't received it yet to know what it is exacty. I'll tell you what though, lines freezing up could be a big problem for me here, it cold from now until feb.

CL Platano

My boy has airrunner in his TL and didnt have any problems last winter with it, our winters dont compare to Chicago winters

Jeff_Chicago

Lets put it this way, I had a hard time airing up at 40 degress so if thats a factor than it might not be a optimal idea unless u have a winter beater to drive.

SimpleWhite

to solve the winter issue, I would just have to replace the lines with a set that goodrich makes that withstands temps.

HI OFECR

But it still doesnt help with the condensation in the line freezing!


AND the valves, AND the tank, AND the pumps.

Jeff_Chicago

Exactly!!!!!

relaxedTSX

Ok here's the deal I have been a minitruck/ custom enthusiast for around 18 years now. Member of one of the top custom auto clubs in the world (Relaxed Atmosphere) I've dealt quite intimately with air and hydraulic suspension setups for 2 decades now including air suspensions on imports in cold climates. I will address your concerns to the best of my ability. resale... keep your stock components to swap back and you will lose no resale of your TSX. body or frame flex.. i have never seen any air suspension bend or flex any part of any car if it has been installed correctly. considering you are using struts on stock suspension mounting points with a pressure averaging 100psi or less.sleeve bags or cylinders.... dont use cylinders, their teflon seals shrink in the cold months and lose air quickly through leaks. only use sleeve bags that slide over your strut tubes. the most popular ones are made by a company named "universal air".the valves(several brands of electric or manual), compressors (air zenith and viair)and airline are usually chosen by preference and usually work equally well. try to purge the airtank of excess moisture in autumn and keep some airbrake deicer made for bigrigs and sold at truckstops.I'm in maryland and it's never froze up once after that small amount of preventative maintainance.the ride.... the ride is usually a compromise between the harshness of race coilovers and stock marshmellow suspension. on an 8 valve system the corners are isolated and don't have crossflow of air like in a 4 valve system so there is no sway and can corner great. spend the money on the proper amount of componentsand it will last a good long time. the upkeep... i would suggest if you intend on driving it as a daily, install the components yourself and become comfortable with what each component does. it's not rocket science and most problems are fairly straightforward and logical, however with anything custom there is a learning curve.camber issues... tire wear can be minimized by getting aligned at a certain psi for a set ride height. just make sure the toe is good and you should have no severe wear.I don't have air on my TSX as of yet but only because I got it 2 months ago.But it's probably in my car's future because I'm addicted to dragging shit on the ground. All i need is 4 sleeve bags because i have all the other components laying around my house.Another thing I want to address is the complaints because it is one of my peeves. If you're not into customizing and would prefer to keep your car in showroom condition with a couple ricey bolt-ons thats fine but don't debate the validity of someone else's want to do something different from the rest of the flock. Alot of times people are scared to take that step because of lack of knowlege or support. I understand the fear of the unknown, however this is what makes our hobby flourish and grow. It's the biggest complement in the world to have a family standing around the car when you walk out of a store, gawking at your work and the kid turns to his dad and says "i want to build one just like that." Chances are you just jumpstarted someone who may share your hobby someday.if you need any other info hit me up... relaxed240@hotmail.com

Simba91102

Dude, this thread is like 2 1/2 years old. And judging by it's lack of posts, it evidently died a natural death (thank goodness). Not too sure how many you'll find here interested in going the ghetto route, but....... knock yourself out.