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JL with Air Suspension
- Thread starter Euro JEEP
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- air suspension bags
WanderingTrail
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- Ron
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- Pensacola Fl
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- 2012 Rubicon UL
That definitely looks like an AiROCK setup. Jeep was running through Demo mode. Really nice lift, I've run it on my TJ and my first JK.
Ron
Ron
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OP
Euro JEEP
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #3
Wow, you’ve had 2 Airock suspensions?
Please give us some feedback?
Installation, comfort, ride quality on-&offroad, reliability,...?
I am also looking at ORI only if it could be hooked up to an air tank to alter height on demand.
Mi idea is having smaller street tires for daily driving and bigger ones for the off-road trips.
Please give us some feedback?
Installation, comfort, ride quality on-&offroad, reliability,...?
I am also looking at ORI only if it could be hooked up to an air tank to alter height on demand.
Mi idea is having smaller street tires for daily driving and bigger ones for the off-road trips.
WanderingTrail
Member
- First Name
- Ron
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2017
- Threads
- 0
- Messages
- 21
- Reaction score
- 33
- Location
- Pensacola Fl
- Vehicle(s)
- 2012 Rubicon UL
I ran a 6" AiROCK suspension with a Rubicon Express Long Arm kit on my 2003 TJ Rubicon and a 4" AiROCK Suspension on my 2007 JKU Rubicon. Both of these used ORO's Onboard Air System. The full kits included York 210 air compressor, air tank, shocks, air springs, front sway bar links, and a ton of electronic cables, sensors and controllers. Total cost is about $8000 ($5,800 AiROCK, $2,000 OBA). You do not get any control arms or adjustable track bars with the kit, so your choice is open if you want to install those. Nice thing is you can run the AiROCK low enough on the road to not worry about needing control arms, and off road when you are at off road height your not going fast enough for it to be a bother. I did install a set of Clayton control arms and track bars on my JKU which added another $2,000 to the price tag. So a really nice setup can run you easily $10,000 for the suspension.
Now that the price tag is out there some people will be in sticker shock. A good suspension setup can easily run you $4,000, along with an onboard air system that will let you run air tools at pressure all day long. The York 210 compressor is no joke for output, twin ARB's don't compare. So lets say $6,000 for a Good 4.5" suspension setup and comparable Onboard Air. Still pretty pricey, but you have the ability to run low on the highway saving you some gas, and then run high off road when you really need it. Of course there is the cool factor. Like when the low rider pulls up and does his dance in a truck that rides like a tank. You can hit the all down button and drop, then up, then left, then right..... Now you won't do it as fast as him, but AiROCK is about control and not how fast you can do it. You can also use the compressor to blow up beach toys for the kiddies at the beach.
The ride is really nice, it is an air suspension, so the springs combined with the Radflo Shocks make a really nice combination. Long drives were really comfortable, it soaked up the bumps easily. Another advantage is those of us with short garage doors. I could easily drive my TJ on 37's into my garage, or my JK on 35's with the sunrider top open into the garage. I just hit all down and crept in on the bump stops with the JK.
The one thing that AiROCK depends on is the electronic controls, control arm sensors, and solenoid pack that controls the air supply to the springs. Naturally you have a lot of electronic wiring going to the sensors, air lines going to the springs, and electronics. The biggest issues I had with the air lines is from routing them to close to a heat source (exhaust pipe) and having one melt and blow out. My mistake, not ORO's fault. Didn't have any problems with the wires or sensor locations. I figured I would take one out with a branch or rock, but never did. I'm certain someone probably has taken one of them out with something, but they are pretty protected where they are mounted. I did have a solenoid pack go bad on me, but this was due to me having a compressor problem where I sent most of the oil in the compressor through the solenoid pack and screwed it up. I was concerned about the air bags, but these hold up things on semi-trucks and are really tough, I had plenty of branch scrapes against them, but other than marks, no damage.
If you do lose your controls, or air supply, you can still inflate the bags using the emergency inflation kit and just ride with them at a set pressure. I've done this a few times testing things, waiting for my new solenoid pack to arrive from ORO and when I blew out the air line. I later kept a spare parts/ patch kit for the air lines in the Jeep. Just some couplers, and some spare air line.
Advantages:
Adjustable of ride height, Maintaining ride height under various loaded conditions (daily drive to taking the kids camping), comfortable ride, showing off to the local ricer squad, cool factor with the Jeep crowd, control if off camber situations where you need to drop a side or shift the body ever so slightly to avoid the tree you misjudged.
Cons:
Price tag of course, complex electronics and controls, dependable on the air system for the springs to work, you can get yourself into trouble if you adjust off road in the wrong direction, but since the control is designed to be slow you can typically get your finger off the wrong F**n button before you cause to many problems. You do need to cut off the front bump stops, so if you want to go back to springs, you will need to save the parts and weld them back in later.
Final Opinion:
AiROCK is sweet, but pricey. I probably wouldn't use it for extended overlanding trips out in the boonies where you want to keep things mechanically simple. You can't beat the Onboard Air System with the York compressor. The only thing that keeps me away from doing it again is the price tag for the system. Though I will probably do the OBA on a new JL or JT when I trade in the JK.
Ron
Now that the price tag is out there some people will be in sticker shock. A good suspension setup can easily run you $4,000, along with an onboard air system that will let you run air tools at pressure all day long. The York 210 compressor is no joke for output, twin ARB's don't compare. So lets say $6,000 for a Good 4.5" suspension setup and comparable Onboard Air. Still pretty pricey, but you have the ability to run low on the highway saving you some gas, and then run high off road when you really need it. Of course there is the cool factor. Like when the low rider pulls up and does his dance in a truck that rides like a tank. You can hit the all down button and drop, then up, then left, then right..... Now you won't do it as fast as him, but AiROCK is about control and not how fast you can do it. You can also use the compressor to blow up beach toys for the kiddies at the beach.
The ride is really nice, it is an air suspension, so the springs combined with the Radflo Shocks make a really nice combination. Long drives were really comfortable, it soaked up the bumps easily. Another advantage is those of us with short garage doors. I could easily drive my TJ on 37's into my garage, or my JK on 35's with the sunrider top open into the garage. I just hit all down and crept in on the bump stops with the JK.
The one thing that AiROCK depends on is the electronic controls, control arm sensors, and solenoid pack that controls the air supply to the springs. Naturally you have a lot of electronic wiring going to the sensors, air lines going to the springs, and electronics. The biggest issues I had with the air lines is from routing them to close to a heat source (exhaust pipe) and having one melt and blow out. My mistake, not ORO's fault. Didn't have any problems with the wires or sensor locations. I figured I would take one out with a branch or rock, but never did. I'm certain someone probably has taken one of them out with something, but they are pretty protected where they are mounted. I did have a solenoid pack go bad on me, but this was due to me having a compressor problem where I sent most of the oil in the compressor through the solenoid pack and screwed it up. I was concerned about the air bags, but these hold up things on semi-trucks and are really tough, I had plenty of branch scrapes against them, but other than marks, no damage.
If you do lose your controls, or air supply, you can still inflate the bags using the emergency inflation kit and just ride with them at a set pressure. I've done this a few times testing things, waiting for my new solenoid pack to arrive from ORO and when I blew out the air line. I later kept a spare parts/ patch kit for the air lines in the Jeep. Just some couplers, and some spare air line.
Advantages:
Adjustable of ride height, Maintaining ride height under various loaded conditions (daily drive to taking the kids camping), comfortable ride, showing off to the local ricer squad, cool factor with the Jeep crowd, control if off camber situations where you need to drop a side or shift the body ever so slightly to avoid the tree you misjudged.
Cons:
Price tag of course, complex electronics and controls, dependable on the air system for the springs to work, you can get yourself into trouble if you adjust off road in the wrong direction, but since the control is designed to be slow you can typically get your finger off the wrong F**n button before you cause to many problems. You do need to cut off the front bump stops, so if you want to go back to springs, you will need to save the parts and weld them back in later.
Final Opinion:
AiROCK is sweet, but pricey. I probably wouldn't use it for extended overlanding trips out in the boonies where you want to keep things mechanically simple. You can't beat the Onboard Air System with the York compressor. The only thing that keeps me away from doing it again is the price tag for the system. Though I will probably do the OBA on a new JL or JT when I trade in the JK.
Ron
