Air lift not air ride

[Gaffer]

Selling my TJ on 35's and ordering a Sahara. Will rarely be off road but....
Does anyone make air ride height shocks or similar that could give me a couple of inches of lift for the times I might want do venture out? I will have Rubi wheels and tires and when combined with 2" of on demand rather than permanent lift sounds attractive.
This Jeep will mostly be a daily driver and motorhome toad but sometimes a guy just needs to play.

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[Reinen]

I would not recommend AirLift 1000 brand bags for off-road. They can help on the road but I popped a set on the first real off-road trail I took. They also won't lift you all that much.

There may very well be other air lift systems that will do what you want. I just know that AirLift 1000 bags aren't off-road tough and at that point I abandoned the air idea and got new springs that did what I wanted.

 

[Jtaugner]

@AccuAir is a forum vendor / sponsor who makes a air lift kit for the Wrangler.

 

[Pig-Pen]

im trying to wrap my head around how it could work. i had airlift suspension on my mustang. in heavy cornering it would keep my car flat, with no lean. fantastic handling. my buddy behind me on the track said it was really weird to see a car do that lol. then, it got stuck trying to get into my driveway on an angle. like high centered, but it wasnt. a wheel was lifted off the ground. it just seems like it would be counter intuitive if trying to articulate. for just a lift and ride comfort i could see it working though. RRs have them as do other luxury suvs im sure.

25 years ago i knew a fabricator who put a set on his lifted toyota to get about another six inches of lift out of it. its was more of a novelty than for actual off roading.

 

[GATORB8]

im trying to wrap my head around how it could work. i had airlift suspension on my mustang. in heavy cornering it would keep my car flat, with no lean. fantastic handling. my buddy behind me on the track said it was really weird to see a car do that lol. then, it got stuck trying to get into my driveway on an angle. like high centered, but it wasnt. a wheel was lifted off the ground. it just seems like it would be counter intuitive if trying to articulate. for just a lift and ride comfort i could see it working though. RRs have them as do other luxury suvs im sure.

25 years ago i knew a fabricator who put a set on his lifted toyota to get about another six inches of lift out of it. its was more of a novelty than for actual off roading.

Think of it like being able to change spring rate on the fly.

With free length being the same, a linear spring with a higher spring rate will ride at a higher location (compress less distance).

115 lb/in at 1000 lbs would compress 8.7"
130 lb/in at 1000 lbs would compress 7.7", so it would ride an inch higher.

Ignoring shocks, the droop would be the same, since it would just go to free length. It'd take more weight to get there, but you'd still be bump limited on stuff.

I'd assume the compression of the air spring wouldn't necessarily be as linear as a spring, but the idea should be similar.

Thing is, just like springs, you are moving where you ride in a fixed amount of travel determined by other factors, normally on the JL that is bumpstop in compression and shocks in extension. You could lower your spring rate to a point you are riding on your bump stops, and lift till you're riding on shock extension, but both extremes would result in horrible ride quality.

 

[Gaffer]

What about air shocks? Not looking for a stiff ride though, just like to get up a couple of inches for a day of trails once in awhile.

 

[STW]

Land Rover's been doing it a long time. 3" difference in the lift you can dial in on the go. Range Rovers have had it a long time, maybe Discos too(?), and it's an option on the New "Defender" as they call their new luxury SUV. Those have limited articulation because of IFS/IRS, so maybe the comparison is not useful to a solid axle vehicle that's using more articulation.

 

[drrags]

I run the OffRoadOnly system on my JK. I can go from 0 to 6" lift at the touch of a button. I've been running it for 4 years and works great from fast desert trails to the Rubicon. It ain't cheap though (why I haven't done the same to my JL yet)

 

[Mgg253]

The air suspension on my grand Cherokee would give me 3” or so of lift on demand…. And the harshest, stiffest ride you could imagine. If you’re just planning an occasional mild off road, the Sahara has plenty of ride height and capability. Maybe some rubicon take offs would give you a very cheap but good upgrade and not send you sky high

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