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I was wondering if anyone have considered lifting the GX with the aftermarket airbags. I believe Airbagman of Australia has the 2" extended airbags for our application. The reason I was thinking of this route is to keep the factory airbag features with 2" lifts. What do you guys think.
I'd actually be interested in this as well. Right now I was leaning toward a coil conversion, but would like to continue to have the ability to raise/lower the back.
I was wondering if anyone have considered lifting the GX with the aftermarket airbags. I believe Airbagman of Australia has the 2" extended airbags for our application. The reason I was thinking of this route is to keep the factory airbag features with 2" lifts. What do you guys think.
On a GX470 (close to same as GX460) ... the factory ride-adjustable shocks totally sucked ... handled like a barge on "soft" setting and almost tolerable handling on "sport" mode ... so I replaced with Bilstein 5100's ... totally transformed the handling ... glass smooth ride with an improved level of road feel, with significantly less body roll in turns. To use the factory front springs, the spring seat clip was raised one notch resulting in about 1.25" of lift. The rear was then "leveled" to the new front height by simply adjusting the (air-bag) "neutral" position switch ... very easy. I also went 1-up on the tire aspect ratio to fill out the wheel wells.
Yes, this is the kit that I asked them about before. It is $650 shipped to the US and includes airline adapters and height sensor spacers. This kit requires a 2" lift shocks+ for front and rear. I have purchased Radflo +with remote reservoir for my front and rears. Also, +bought the springs and the spring isolators. I am having last minute second thoughts of removing the airbag since we can not completely remove all the components because of the dash lights. My car will be mostly on-road so having the rear height adjustable would be kinda nice. What do you guys think.
I'd be inclined to do that myself. I really like having the OEM air. The towing/load autolevel advantages and variable height hooking up trailers sells me.
I have had some communication with Ben Clamp (bclamp@airbagman.au.com) and he was quite responsive. You should send any questions you may have to him and you should be the guinea pig for us :^). I went on Pradopoint forum and it seems that this kit has been used with success on the Prado ( Kakadu series) that came with air suspension.
Interesting... I will need to research the numbers again but thought range of RAHC was around 2.x inches from low to high. The article above suggests a travel of 4.x inches from low to high. Ok...now you really have my attention.
I do not believe lifting a vehicle with air bags is a good idea.
As an off-roader, you want articulation (read: letting your wheels have FULL suspension travel) when wheeling. I really don't think airbags will off that kind of articulation.
Also, if you ever develop a leak, chasing down the leak may be difficult to find and repair and will leave your rig in a funny looking stance. (tail dragging, one side or the other sagging?)
If you want to lift your rig, I strongly suggest doing it correctly.
R2m, you make some good points. Previous GX has a lot of problems with leaky airbags. Do you have problem with lights on your dash from removing the airbag and components? Nice rig, btw.
No issues at all with the air bag delete. That's fine!
I do have an issue with the AFS light flashing on my dash. When they installed the suspension they disconnected (and tossed) the AFS linkage from the axle to the AFS module so I don't have anything linking it to my axle.
When I get time and it dry's down here (kind of funny saying when it drys up here in So. California...) I'm going to purchase a small turn-buckle and use that for the linkage. I played with it once with me under the rear end adjusting AFS module while my daughter was in the car with the ignition on (not the engine on) to see if I could get it to stop flashing. It did not stop flashing. I'm wondering if:
The vehicle needs to be started and driven a few feet for the sensor to work.
It needs to be dark out for it to work.
Combination of both of the above.
If the AFS module is bad.
Is the plug into the module loose or shorting?
These are some areas I'll need to trouble shoot. I don't want to have to buy a new module if I don't have to. $360 clams for one.
No issues at all with the air bag delete. That's fine!
Was anything else removed besides the airbags? I have heard of dashboard lighting up when removing other components such as compressor or other things?