Air Bag Suspension - Bagged P6 anyone

G

Guy Engelsman

New Member
G'Day all
It has been a while since I managed a post but I have a quick one for you. has anyone else out there thought of replacing the steel springs in a P6 with airbags?
I have been having terrible trouble with my front suspension and was thinking of replacing the springs with adjustable airbags. This will have the advantage of being easier to physically fit into the front, (no struggling with spring compressors that fail and break fingers!) plus it will allow the height of the car to be adjusted.
Still scratching my head over the rears, since the shock runs through the centre of the spring, but I will figure it out in the end. ???
Following the loss of my Blue Car :angry: I have started on another ( yes it is also Blue! I am nothing if not predictable), and am looking to incorperate all the lessons learnt from BC1 into the new car plus some added stuff.
Any suggestions?

Cheers

GUY :D
 
Hello Guy. Welcome back to the forum. Thanks for your encouragement regarding my rebuild. What happened to your blue car then? I seem to remember you had upgraded the spec somewhat, didn't you have a larger motor in there and all sorts of other stuff? I'm too lazy to trawl back through your previous posts. Do you have any more detailed information about airbag suspension? Perhaps you could guide me to any manufacturers websites you can recommend? I don't fancy compressing the springs to put my front suspension back in either! I'm intrigued by your suggestion and fascinated enough to want to investigate the same myself. Can the ride height then be (raised and) lowered by flicking a switch or turning a knob? How cool would that be!? With ref to another discussion elsewhere on this forum at the moment, a lowered P6 wins over a concours resto every time, at least in aesthetic terms, perhaps not as regards handling.



Edited By mrtask on 1198148785
 
Late Land Rovers could be a source of air suspension. Check the last Range Rover Classic, Discovery II and Range Rover P38A for a start. In this way you will still keep it in the family.
If you can find any used units to measure you will know what fits and what doesn't. You could also fit the compressor of the above vehicles. The pipework shouldn't be a problem, and i think that there is some space in the rear of the P6 to mount the dampers out of the springs.
So, in theory, it sounds easy enough.

Demetris
 
I'm sure I remember reading somewhere that Rover experimented with air suspension as part of the P8 project, perhaps even had it specified as part of P8. At least one P6 was road tested by a motoring magazine with genuine active suspension as well - but that was hydrualic (GKN?).

I'm not sure I see what advantage air is going to be at the front? Surely you would still have to shorten the spring push rod in order to get any decent lowering? If the problem is purely to make it easier to get the spring in and out (admittedly a large problem!) wouldn't the time and effort be better spent on a design for a more satisfactory spring compressor? How about a spring compressor that grips onto (new) brackets on the body rather than the spring?

I can see the advantage at the rear though. The P6 is quite sensitive to varying load in the back and this would be a much more satisfactory solution than variable rate springs or a Boge self levelling strut a la SD1.

You really ought to share with us what happened to Blue Car One though. knowing you I can hardly imagine it being a minor incident!!

Chris
 
Hi All
Thanks for the encouragement! I have had a closer look at the airbag situation and it looks like it will work. I have contacted a company here in Aust called PROBAG, in Wollongong and they reckon they can airbag anything. However due to Christmas everything is shutting down for the next few weeks so I will have to take it up again in the new year! :;):
The front spring push rod will be left standard, and the original end cups used, all that will be replaced is the actual spring in the middle, this also allows me to drop the car right down at shows etc, but keep it at a sensible level for everyday driving. The rears will have a special bag that has a hole in the centre to allow the shock to run through it.
BC1 died a horrible death at the hands of a bunch of drunk/drugged up kids. It was stolen, revved till it exploded and then set on fire. I have recovered the boot handle, and one wheel ( the spare, only thing the little sods didn't strip from it). The rest was only fit for scrap.
In its final incarnation she had a 4L EFi engine with a ZF 4HP24 4 speed auto and lowered (slightly) suspension, it was running 16" superlite alloys plus the usual aircon, power steering and full leather interior you would expect. :D
She is gone now and the pain is yet to fade, but I have a new love ( well infatuation leads to love doesn't it?) BC2 will have all the past mods, but possibly with airbag suspension! I will keep you all informed, have a great Christmas and take care.

Cheers

GUY :D
 
... Plus some better security !?

Depending on the ecu you are using, a great security feature would be the ability to unplug and remove the ecu from the car, virtually impossible to drive the car away without it. When I was running a home-brew ecu in my p6, I ran the cables to the glove box and the ecu lived in there, it was roughly the size of 4 cig packets, so could be unplugged and carried in my pocket.

Airbag suspension sounds very interesting, keep us informed !
 
RIP BC1!! Very sorry to hear that. If it had gone in a major "off" or similar you could at least have had some excitement out of its going. Trust the genetic lineage of the culprits is blocked forever!

When you have a quote for the air springs let me know and I'm inclined to go in with you for a set. Cheaper by the dozen?

Did you see my gearbox post re plans for the HP24 in mine?

Chris
 
BC1 had great security! Full level 4 alarm with immobilisers, 160dB sirens and remote battery for the security. However this just is no good when the little (expletive deleted!) break into your house and steal the keys!!!!! They also stole all the booze that I had stored plus 2 cans of cat food!? Maybe they were hungry after all that theivery. :angry:
I was overseas on deployment and when I came home my wife was dreading having to tell me. To add insult to injury the insurance man (hearafter refered to as Idiot) refused to honour the policy since the car was stolen using the keys! Idiot then proceded to inform me that the car was "only worth about $5000 because that is what the book says". I provided reciepts totaling $38000, was was told they were not admissible.
Eventually I received a payment of $12000 which was less than the car was insured for but it pays for the new engine and gearbox, with the paint and some other bits thrown in.
As for the low lives that nicked BC1 in the first place, they are all under 18 and thus get a slap on the wrist and told not to do it again! If I had my way, their chances of infecting the genetic purity of the human race would be removed forever, they would be walking bow legged for a while but they would never get the chance to breed! :;):

Cheers

GUY :D
 
Thats the only problem with very good security, if they decide they want the car (or whatever else your securing) then the next stop is to steal the keys, either by breaking into your house (as in your case) or worse still - attacking the owner (car-jacking style).

I tend to leave my old 820 unlocked most of the time. I never leave anything of value in it, and I'd rather they didn't smash the windows trying to get in to steal my £5 stereo.

It's a very sad old world when you can't have something nice for fear of the criminals.
 
A long time ago I had a Morris MInor convertible (yes - it was tuned) and a MGC convertible in quick succession. I started out by locking the Minor - only result was that they went in through the hood! After that i never locked them.

Chris
 
Re:

Guy Engelsman said:
Hi All
Thanks for the encouragement! I have had a closer look at the airbag situation and it looks like it will work. I have contacted a company here in Aust called PROBAG, in Wollongong and they reckon they can airbag anything. However due to Christmas everything is shutting down for the next few weeks so I will have to take it up again in the new year! :;):
The front spring push rod will be left standard, and the original end cups used, all that will be replaced is the actual spring in the middle, this also allows me to drop the car right down at shows etc, but keep it at a sensible level for everyday driving. The rears will have a special bag that has a hole in the centre to allow the shock to run through it.
BC1 died a horrible death at the hands of a bunch of drunk/drugged up kids. It was stolen, revved till it exploded and then set on fire. I have recovered the boot handle, and one wheel ( the spare, only thing the little sods didn't strip from it). The rest was only fit for scrap.
In its final incarnation she had a 4L EFi engine with a ZF 4HP24 4 speed auto and lowered (slightly) suspension, it was running 16" superlite alloys plus the usual aircon, power steering and full leather interior you would expect. :D
She is gone now and the pain is yet to fade, but I have a new love ( well infatuation leads to love doesn't it?) BC2 will have all the past mods, but possibly with airbag suspension! I will keep you all informed, have a great Christmas and take care.

Cheers

GUY :D
Click to expand...


For any future reference these will work in the back end :mrgreen: Boss will just make them to suit.

http://bossairsuspension.com.au/air-struts-and-air-cylinders/
 
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