How does an air suspension work?

Everyone knows how cool an air suspension is, but how do they work? Air suspensions are nothing new. They have been used on the Big Rigs and other industrial vehicles for a long time. In the early days of bagging a vehicle, you would have to make your own brackets and purchase each piece needed. Today it has gotten much easier. Companies like Air Ride Technologies, CCE Air Systems, and Chassis Tech make this much easier. These companies have developed complete bolt-on systems for most vehicles. Because of these companies we now have safe and reliable air suspension systems.

An air suspension system consists of several components. The first item in the air suspension system is the air springs. The three main types of air springs are air bags, air cylinders, and air struts. Air bags are basically a rubber cylinder. Air cylinders are metal cylinders similar to hydraulic cylinders. And air struts are a strut with an air bag on top. Air springs replace your current springs and depending on your vehicle, the shocks. Air springs can be inflated and deflated to raise and lower the height of the vehicle.

The next part of the system is the air source. Air sources can be on-board or through a tube from an external air source. On-board air systems are the best because it allows you to have air anytime. On-board air systems consist of one or more air compressors and air tanks. The on-board system will allow you to raise and lower the vehicle anytime. The external system would use a compressor at a gas station or in a garage. These are the most economical, but the least practical. The only way to air the bags up is to take the vehicle to the location of the air compressor. You don't have the ability to raise or lower the vehicle at will.

The last component, this is only valid for vehicles with on-board air systems, is the air valves. A basic valve will allow you to raise and lower the front and back of the vehicle. More complex valves will give you front, back, side to side (F,B,S,S). The valves work by letting air in or out of the air springs. The air valve sits in between the on-board air source and the air springs. Valves come in two flavors, manual and electric.

Manual valves are nothing more than a pneumatic switch. The switch and the valve reside in the same location. Manual valves are slower than electric valves. Electric valves are just what it says. These valves work by using electricity to power the valves. A switch box is used to control these valves and can be wired to provide several FBSS configurations. You can have one switch that lowers all four corners at the same time, one that lowers just the right side, one the raises all four corners, etc. Electric valves are much faster than the manual valves and provide more functionality.

I hope this will shed some light on the subject of air bags. If you want more information, check us online or email us at sales@kmwperformance.com.

Vincent Wright
sales@kmwperformance.com
kmwperformance.com