avtekk

This is the car Ive been working on for a lil while. Its a 02 TL-S, and the owner wanted to flex it a bit, so I put air suspension on it for him. The struts have 9-position adjustable valving, and the bags ride very well, not harsh like cylinders or dros. The entire kit was around $1800 and installed with a bit of modifying but nothing too crazy.

The ext has red and blue pearl sprayed over the stock color so thats why it looks different. The wheels are 19" Niche.






As you can see the car is pretty clean. Im not into 'ricing' things out and I dont think this car fits the Uncle Ben category. It also has TVs in the headrests and visors and a PS2 under the seat. Right now Im working on finishing the custom dual pillar pod for the gauges to monitor the suspensions pressure so Ill post those up when Im done. More pics are here: http://www.s10forum.com/gallery/view...Name=album1257

goldendragon576

NICE...I love that first picture. Love the rims too. Looks great!!

hemants

1st pic too low, 2nd pic too high..but that's just me :-)

TL260power

how wide are ur rims?

vandy786

Who owns this car? He's done more to it then I've done to mine. Must be one of those lurkers

`ill*tl

NNNNNNOOOOOO!!!! Please don't tell me those are the Niche Rhine wheels...those are the rims I have been looking at! I thought no one would have them on their TL and that I'd be the first to rock them.

BTW, HOT CAR! Love the setup.

@cUr@-TL

wow man tell the owner he has one hot ride!!


btw, good job on the air ride install!


@cUr@-TL

car_lost

hey, contact a member by the name of superballs (his real name is derek). he has a custom fiberglass piece that goes where the stock radio is that has 2 gauges and single din cutout for his indash TV.

ResidualFreedom

pics not working???

avtekk

Pics might go in and out becuase the server that runs the gallery has some issues. Sorry about that, just check back later if they dont work at that time.

Thanks for the props guys. Ya they are the Rhines, and they get a lot of complements. Size is 19x7.5", offset I forget but its perfect. I researched it for a while but of course didnt write it down.. :\ The owners name is Jimmy and hes from Nj as well.

Heres some pics of my progress on the a-pillar. I bought the one from gaugepods.com for a CL, and cut the top off. Then I cut the top of the stock TL piece off and 'glassed it to the aftermarket part. The two were differnt widths and a lil different shape but I just took care of that with a heat gun and some overlapping 'glass mat. Im covering it with gray material like stock, and in these pics the glue is drying, so Ill have completed pics up tomorrow.




One for the 'too low' guy :P



As before, more pics are here: http://www.s10forum.com/gallery/view...bum1257&page=1

fixedtl

looks good is the ride bounce? i have cyclinder but i heard bags are more bounce

TLSAnthracite

oh this question is sorta off, but is that the factory kit?

and i love this suspension, but does it kill performance or the ride?

TL909

^To answer your question...Yes, it's the stock kit.

Also, where did you find the material to cover the stock pillar with?

car_lost

that is looking hot. tell jimmy that the brass fitting for the air suspension are garbage... get some stainless steel ones. he'll be glad he did in the long run. also, is the the sarona roof spoiler? get some more pics of that area... i'd like to see how it fits.

EDIT: i hope you dont mind but im gonna post these pics on www.acura world.com

VTEChump

Sweet TL...Do you know how much he paid for the roof spoiler?

songoku

Color look awsome on this pic.

ndawood

WOW... i must say that looks really good... i especially like the rims

Got_3.2?

iTrader: (2)

where in NJ is ur shop located in? i think im interested in throwing bags on my car instead of rims since im happy wiht my S rims. lets say for regular driving do the bags have to be filled all the way like in the 2nd pic on the top? kuz that does look way to high.

mike

Type S Lady

That looks gorgeous, tires are ashy though. Oh and the wheels are so hot!!!

car_lost

my bro had his set in the middle when he drove. so no, you dont have to have it all the way up when u drive.

TL260power

is there a lever that tells you that you are halfway or you have to actually look at it and see for yourself if its in the middle?

avtekk

Wow lots of questions..thanks for the props tho.

- No the ride doesnt 'bounce'. It rides great, and the adjustable valving really lets you tune it. I have the rear set at '3' and the front set to '4' but I might turn it up a bit more. Typically cylinders ride rougher than bags tho.
- Ya its the stock kit. No it doesnt kill performance or ride, it handles really tight still.
- The material for the pillar is headliner stuff I got from a upolstery (sp) place.
- I dunno what you mean by the 'brass fittings are garbage'. Ive never had any kind of problems with brass; typically they are easier to work with because they are soft. The steel ones dont allow much give when you are positioning things. Ill take pics of the roof tonight. Also let me know where/if you put pics of this car up on acura world because I have an account there too.
- Nope I dunno what he paid for the body pieces.
- My shop is in South Plainfield. No the bags dont need to be filled up all the way, I typically drive the car with maybe 1/2" gap between the tire and fenderlip.
- You have to own a vehicle with adjustable suspension to really get the feel with it. When youre used to it, you can hit a couple buttons and have it set right where you want it, just by feel. When youre driving, if it feels crooked or rough or you hear it bottom out, you adjust it accordingly. However for new kit owners I reccommend you put gauges in the car. Thats what Im doing with the a-pillar, I have dual needle air gauges and they will be able to monitor the pressure at each corner of the vehicle. Then you can lift the car to a height you like, and take note of what pressure its at. That way you always have something to go back to.

BTW heres the current progress of the a-pillar..more or less finished. Install pics tonight.

car_lost

the pillar is looking good.

about the brass fittings... my brother had air cylinders on his TL and they used brass fittings... you could literally hear the air leaking from them. no matter what he did, they leaked... he then upgraded them all to stainless steel... problem solved. no leaks at all.

my neighbor recently got air on his CL and he has the same exact problem with the brass fittings.

avtekk

Oh..Ive done at least 20 vehicles with air ride and most of the time I use brass, because thats whats available in what I need. This TL uses both brass and steel and I can say that it sat up for at least a week before I noticed any kind of leakdown, and thats just about as good as you can hope for. Now I got the gauges in tonight so that added quite a few more places for air to leak out of, so Ill see how all that goes.

As for the pillar, here are the finished pics as promised. The color match is pretty close and the gauges are made by Airlift as well..



Heres a shot of the controller and the interface box I wired up. I also added a kill switch on it so you dont get yourself is trouble. As you can see it all coils up and fits nicely inside.





Couple shots of the technical side of things and what I did to secure the line:

Rear..


Front..

JOSH-B

did you have to modify the rear fenders to let the wheel suck in????

car_lost

no.

JOSH-B

what size tires do you have... I had some bottoming out issues with out it even being dropped yet riding on 225/18's, so I had to change to a 215/18

avtekk

The fenderlips are rolled, thats it.

lodoss22

iTrader: (2)

God damn, that's a beautiful car. Is the owner planning on putting aftermarket exhausts? That stock just doesn't look right heh.

99hmtl

what rims are those?

avtekk

I dont think hes doing much more to it just yet. The rims are Niche Rhine.

I screwed up the address of the pic of the finished pillar, so heres another one:



Also more pics here: http://www.s10forum.com/gallery/view...bum1257&page=1

Hornda

very nice... love the color... wat kind of bags do you have?

em17henry

AVTEKK Have you driven fast or raced you car since the airsuspension kit? If so How was the ride and did it feel safe? And what is the Kill switch for? Sorry I"m new at this, and I'm looking to get a kit myself, my suspension is so bad, you'll feel the tiny little potholes and bumps, I need to replace it soon, so i'm looking around.

Napsoner

Y would he want to race that car on air suspension? With a ride like that, and that kind of suspension you just need to cruise as if your in a caddy. Avtekk sweet ride playa.