Air suspension

[Ksnau]

Hello, I wanted to start a thread because I've decided that I'm going to do air suspension on my baby bronco instead of a regular lift because it'll just fit my lifestyle better, I was able to get a couple of refunds from my prior cars so I can actually afford it, and it's just really cool.

But I've ran into a few problems before even ordering the kit. So I wanted to share the process and when I get the kit I'll make sure and add pictures of the install and how everything goes and prices.

The first problem was there's nowhere to mount the compressor and the tank under the car. Most kits like the Maverick put it where the spare tire was. So I decided to kind of copy that and that's why I ordered that Amazon spare tire carrier that goes into the hitch so I can put my tank and compressor and valves and stuff in where the spare went. However, that spare tire carrier that I ordered blocks my license plate and my rear camera and my backup sensors so I had to get a piece of bar stock and I was able to extend the carrier 6 inches higher and it seems like that might be enough to fix it, although I haven't been able to do a full test drive yet.

The next problem is that the compressors get really hot and so they need adequate ventilation to keep them cool. That's probably one reason why most kits mount them on the chassis under the car, for the airflow. So I just ordered a computer fan and I'm going to basically have to cut a hole in the cargo area floor and mount the fan down there and then cut another hole and it'll basically push cool air from the cabin down into there and then the hot air can come out of the other hole. I'm thinking is I'll actually mount the fan using the foam that went around the spare tire so that if I have to pull up the flooring to get to anything I won't have to unplug the fan wires every time. For the power source I Hope I'll be able to use the 12 v power source on the sidewall in the cargo area So I'm hoping that it's an ignition switch source so it's only on when the ignition is on. Otherwise I'm going to have to get power somewhere else or figure out some way to turn the fan on only at certain times. But from what I've seen with other power sources, they're usually switched power or what it is is they'll stay on for like another hour after you turn the car off but then turn off. That's how my boost gauge works and it gets power from the 12 volt in the storage area under the monitor in the front row.

So once I have these two things done, assuming nothing else pops up, I'm going to order the kit. I'm probably going to be going through Switch Suspension because they're local and I got referred them by a guy who had a focus RS. Which is basically the same platform and his was really legit. And they've been helpful when I've been asking them. Questions? Also the bags and especially the struts that the front bags are on look really good and a lot better than some that I've seen in other. And then they told me they'll just have to make some custom brackets so that it starts at the normal ride height and then I can go up and down a couple inches instead of just dropping it a whole bunch like their Mavericks have been.

I'm going to be installing this one myself though or hopefully I will be assuming I don't have any problems that I can't overcome myself. Otherwise, I'll probably take it to them to finish it. I've talked to a couple companies and the prices seem to be about 2500 to 3,000 for the kit which includes most of the stuff. Looks like I'll still have to get like a thick gauge power wire, relay, fuse stuff like that. And then if I want to upgrade to like a non-manual controller, it'll probably be like another 500 to 1,000 but I'm just going to try a seven switch controller first and see how that works.

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[Ksnau]

I do need to add that for this kit this is only the bags and struts no tank compressor lines controller etc. They have controller kits from like $850-$3,500. Well there are cheaper full kits online for like escapes and Mavericks from other places that are like 2500 or so dollars. I'd like that this is coming from a local shop and I know that these have already been used on a Maverick and they come with a guarantee and they just look a lot better and the dampers seem better. So I think it's going to be worth the extra 1,000 or whatever it ends up being depending on what controller I use.

 

[Ksnau]

Just want to give a quick update. My drill press crapped out on me and I had to fix it so it took a lot longer to put the 6-in extension on the spare tire carrier that goes into my hitch. It's done. I can now see enough out of my rear very camera to back up. Unfortunately it's still saying that the sensors are blocked but it's only the inner driver side one and I looked at the sensor. It looks like it's somehow got pressed in a little bit where it's not at the same angle as the passenger side inner one. So I'm going to see if I can do something to get that pointed at the right angle and then hopefully my sensors will work even with the spare tire carrier.

I also got the computer fans in. I'm going to be mounting them in the foam insert that goes around the spare tire where one forces air into the spare tire area and one forces air out of the area on the other side since there's not adequate ventilation otherwise and I'm going to wire them into the power for the compressor so they're just on when the compressor is on.

I was about to order my compressor and tank and power wires and relay and such, but I realized the kit that I was going to order has a steel tank and I really want an aluminum one so I don't have to worry about rust.

However, no one sells the round style that kind of goes exactly where a spare tire would go in aluminum. At least that I can find. So, I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do for that and then I should hopefully be able to give you an update in a week or two on the tank and compressor install.

Also, I found out that you can get airbags that slide over your McPherson strut assembly, so I'm thinking about trying to just buy my own bags and slide them over the stock front struts and if necessary make some spacers and then for the rear it's just springs and you can buy pre made spacers easy and cheap and lots of links that are meant to go into the coil pocket. So I might just try and do it all myself and see how that goes instead of just buying that set of struts that I posted earlier. Not that they're not good or anything. As far as I know they seem to be good but I want to keep this as stock as possible and do as much of it myself as I can and the bonus is it'll cost a lot less.

Also, for the controller I've decided, I'm just going to use a normal 7 switch manual controller at first and then if I decide that I need presets and and automatic leveling and such. I might go with the Accuair setup or I was looking at this other one. It's like feel air BP4 but that'll be a long ways down the road. I'm going to try and make the manual setup work first. Little

 

[Ksnau]

So I went and bought one of the Amazon compresser kits that also comes with a tank to see how it would work. I did this because it had everything I needed to get the compressor and tank set up and especially because it was one of the few places that had a tank that was like a round shape that's kind of made to fit in spare tire area.

One of the things I don't like though is the tank is steel so it could rust when an aluminum one wouldn't, but I couldn't find a round aluminum tank so we're going to try this first. Also something I don't like about the kit is the gauge of wire that's on the compressor and the fuse is small. I would say like 12 gauge maybe at the max and they have these charts on line and for my setup because the wire is going to go about 10 feet and the compressor is supposed to be about 18 amps so it's startup it usually doubles I'm told. So we did a 40 amp fuse and for that level usually want to have about 10 gauge at a minimum. Now I talked to my buddy who does electric stuff and he said that those are really meant more for audio equipment That's always running because compressor is only running when it needs stuff. Add more air so he thinks I'll be okay.

Also the power wire I bought out Amazon is supposed to be 8 gauge and it's probably more like 10 gauge and I guess that can be a common issue but he said that it should still be all right even though it's not the best for running power to the compressor.

The compressor does already have some rubber isolators on the mounting holes so that's nice. I'm going to make a bracket so that I can use the whole the amounts, the jack and the spare tire to mount them so don't have to drill them. Tap any holes for that but I will probably still have to drill a hole through the floor to run the airlines to the bags. Here's a picture of the stuff I bought that comes in the kid and then I also had to buy the supposed 8 gauge power wire. It's 25 ft of red and 25 feet of black and it was like 23 bucks and I would say so far I've learned don't buy stuff up Amazon. I should have just spit the bullet, paid a little more and gone to like airlift or there's so many other good websites but I want to try the cheap route just to see if you could all told I have $350 for setting up the compressor and tank and I'll put a picture of what I got with it.

Now that doesn't include the 120 bucks for the spare tire carrier. It also came with a log and it's got like this bracket thing that helps keep the part that goes into the hitch from shaking and then I paid like 20 bucks for two computer fans and I drilled a hole into the cargo area floor so that they can ventilate the air in the spare tire area and I'll show a picture of that soon I've done the holes and none of the fans. I just am still figuring out something to use to put around the hole so it's not just like a nasty cut hole in that floorboard that covers the spare tire area that you can pull out. I found a drain PVC drain thing at home Depot that I'm going to try. It's kind of what I was thinking of but I don't think it's going to look that good, but it'll at least be a start because I haven't found anything else yet. That's what I want. I had thought I could use those tubes that you put in subwoofer boxes but none of them working quite the right size.

 

[Ksnau]

I just wanted to give an update. I tried to keep it short but you know that's impossible for me.

I I finished the ventilation since I couldn't mount it under the car. I got two 120 mm computer fans cut a hole in the floor of the cargo area, the piece where you can pull it out to get to the spare tire and used two PVC drain caps to cover it so I think it looks a little better and it'll stop stuff falling through the hole. And hitting the fan.

I do need to either return the white one and get a black one or paint the white one black to match. Unfortunately they only had one black one when i bought them and I just wanted to get it done to make sure it would work right.

Also, I wouldn't recommend buying the vixen brand air suspension stuff on Amazon. When I got the tank it had some rust on the inside so I'll probably eventually replace it with an aluminum tank, but I bought some stuff that's supposed to fix rust and reline the inside of tanks and that's coming in later today. So I'll be doing that tonight and then I can show y'all how everything's going to be mounted.

For mounting I just went to Lowe's and bought a $20 piece of birch wood cuz it seemed to be the lightest and the cleanest, side note I couldn't believe I had to pay 20 bucks for a 2 ft by 2 ft piece of wood that's half an inch thick, but anyways, I'm using the screw that holds the jack and the spare in place, to mount it and then I'm mounting the compressor and the tank and the valve solenoid to that piece of wood.

I'm going to have bolts with rubber isolators on the perimeter of the bottom of the wood since there's only one screw actually holding it, although it is a big screw, I think it was like half an inch. Anyways I have screws that are going to go on the outside with rubber isolators on the bottom. That'll have a little bit of tension pushing up on the wood on the outside to keep everything stable and not vibrating and hopefully prevent any noise of vibration transmitting the car from the compressor when it's on. I'm doing that just cuz I don't want to have to drill and tap mounting holes in the wheel well cuz I need to think about what I would have to move out of the way to get to it and do it right and I think that this will be enough.

I'm hoping that this weekend I'll be able to show y'all everything mounted and how I routed the wires. And then this Friday I took off work so I can go to the local air suspension shop and talk to them about which bags I'm going to use.

I'm still not sure since I want to use the stock strut, what size bag I need. Do I want the bag to be the exact same size as the full amount of travel that the bronco sport has. Which in the front I believe is 7.4 in and the rear is 8.1? Or is it okay to get one that's slightly smaller and then just have a spacer? Or is it okay to get one that's slightly longer? But I'm worried if I do that if I extend it too much, it'll break the top of the strut that holds the cap on.

I do want to stick with the stock struts because I want to keep the stock dampening effects and it's got those shock bump stops inside of the strut and since I'm keeping it the stock height, I really wanted to drive as close to how it drives right. Plus it's just cheaper and easier.

I will basically be getting an air bag that has a hole through it that just slides onto the front struts.

For the rear the local shop has brackets for the Maverick already made and for sale for ita rear airbags, so I'm hoping that those brackets will also work on the bronco sport and I can just buy those and use those to mount the rear springs. Otherwise I'll have to make my own mounts for the rear. The one crappy part is I'll still have to figure out what spring you use because it looks like the spring that they're putting on those Mavericks is really more for lowering it and they only have like 5 inches of travel.

 

[Robins21]

Couldnt you mount the compressor under the hood with the tank? I had air horns on an older truck & had them mounted there. Never had a problem of the tank rusting out.

 

[Ksnau]

I also wanted to add I got the power and ground wire that goes from the battery to the relay and the compressor routed over my lunch. It was kind of a pain but it didn't take too long. It was just a pain figuring out where to route it to get it from the spare tire well past the back seat cuz I didn't want to pull the back seat out. Hopefully the pictures explain it and I didn't have to pull the plastic trim off to get it up front to the pedal footwell. I was able to just tuck them right up under. And then to get it in the engine bay I'm just going to use the same rubber grommet that I did for my boost gauge. It's just above the pedals. It's like 2 in by 4 in. It comes out in the engine bite kind of right behind the battery.

I still have to route a ignition switch wire that I'm going to do probably from fuse number 3 on the inside fuse panel and I'm just going to do that the same way but on the passenger side.

Oh that last picture. That's the only spot. I couldn't find a way to hide the wires but it gets covered by the seat belt and the back seat anyways so I'm not too worried about it

Also, I thought I'd go and give an update of them what this has cost me so far:

Fans and drain covers for venting spare tire well. $20
Wood to mount tank and compressor in spare tire well $20
Compressor kit which also came with the 4 gallon tank relay 170 on 200 PSI off pressure switch inline fuse 40 amps filter for the compressor lead line with check valve for the compressor was $330
Also bought a knockoff version of the Accuair VU4 solenoid that has all the valves together as well as a seven switch controller. You can get them for $175 on Amazon but mine costs $280 after tax because I got the one with the bigger 3/8 outlets and it has a longer cord for the controller. $280
Rust fixing liner for steel tank cuz it's a POS. $25
5 sensor gauge with sensors. $90
Gauge pod to hold pressure gauge $10 (It's the same one I'm using all my boost gauge. I'll probably put up next to each other and run out the wires the same unless figure out somewhere else to put it)

New 120 psi on 150 psi off with leads pressure switch. $20
Two 3/8 hoses to go from water trap to tank. $35
Water trap $35
Micro sized fuse add a fuse because all I had were minis or regular $8
Assorted fittings and plugs for tank and valve solenoid. $40
Total so far $913.

So I went to the local shop that makes the brackets for the Maverick airbags in the rear. The bottom one would work but unfortunately the top one uses mounting holes that I can't find on my bronco sport.

So I'm probably just going to have to make my own or it'll probably do is buy them out for another car that's close and then alter it myself to work.

So with the springs that I think I'm going to use probably going to cost me about $600 more to get the air springs airline hardware and mounts for the rear. For the front I'm just slipping them over the stock struts cuz I don't want to change any of that stuff and keep it as close to stock driving as possible.

Also was a note I don't have any special tools. I've done all this with hand tools. A scroll. Saw a cheap steel welder and a cheap angle grinder. On this one I would say the rear mounts are about the only part that would be difficult for a regular person to do themselves but hopefully I can find amount from another car or kit that I can get to work for this one and if I do all list it in case anyone wants to try and do this themselves.

 

[Ksnau]

Couldnt you mount the compressor under the hood with the tank? I had air horns on an older truck & had them mounted there. Never had a problem of the tank rusting out.

I don't know that there's room anywhere for a tank. That's big enough from what I've been told. Usually want at least 3 gallons and then I've been told that for the compressor it needs to have good ventilation to not overheat and I think the engine bay would be a terrible spot for that. It's interesting you didn't have compressor problems with yours, but I just don't think the rooms there in the first place. But it's a good idea if you could find the room as long as the heat didn't get it I don't know. I've never done air suspension before but it goes against everything that I've been told and read.

Also I'm just kind of making this up as I go along. I don't have any instructions. This is all Amazon Chinese crap that doesn't tell you what to do so and as far as I know, air suspensions never been installed on a bronco sport and even on the few escapes that have them, I haven't found any good instructions and same for the Mavericks although I'm not sure how much it would matter except for maybe the airbags between the three. I'm literally just doing all this stuff my own way.

 

[Ksnau]

An effort to hopefully save me a lot of time and work. Does anyone know the diameter of our front struts beneath the dust cover? I guess it would be called. I need to know the diameter. That's the part that the coil springs slides over but there's like a baffled dust cover over it and I really don't want to take mine off just to get that measurement and then to put it back on again to take them off again later. I don't suppose there's anyone who did like a lift who has theirs laying around if they could measure?

Also does anyone know how tall the front and rear coil springs are?

Also I got the valve solenoid in and tested it and all the switches seem to work so that's a plus.

 

[Ksnau]

Just to give a quick update. I went to the air suspension shop that makes the Maverick brackets that I found online and after pretending to look at Mavericks at dealerships, it looks like the top mount won't work. The mounting holes the Maverick has don't seem to be on the bronco sport or they're in a different spot. So I'm going to have to figure out my own mounts for the rear. My buddy help me with the wiring last night so I've got most of the other stuff done. I'll probably get a picture on here later today or this weekend. It turned out pretty good so far.

So at this point I basically have to order my airline's and fittings and choose the airbags I'm going to use. I believe I found the front airbags that I'm going to use instead of slide over the stock struts. I'm just waiting to verify details on them with the seller. I think I also have the rear airbags I'm going to use, but when I was measuring earlier this week I found out the coil spring is only like four and a quarter inches wide and I thought it was wider because the bags I'm looking at are six inches in diameter. There's a little rubber bushing or something to hangs down from the top where the super coil spring is. That might hit that but I might be able to just incorporate a small spacer in my mouth and I'm going to be using the dominator 2500 airbags in the rear. And if I remember I did give 7.7 inches of travel which is like 0.4 inches off of what the broncos were badlands has. And then for the front the travel is 7.4. if I remember I and the ones that I was looking at are really close to that as well so hopefully I can get everything set up where it drives pretty much. Just like my bronco sport is now but I'll be able to lower and raise it like 3 inches either way.

 

[Ksnau]

Quick update. I didn't get as much stuff done as I wanted today but I've got the tank and compressor and valve solenoid mounted. Everything seems to fit when I use the top slot for the cargo area floor. I've got all the wires routed except for the pressure gauges and I'm just starting to hook stuff up now.

Also I couldn't find a dealership or parts place that had a front strut in stock where I could just look at it so I'm going to have to take one of mine off to do the measurements but it's probably for the best. Who knows if they would have really gotten me the right one or if I'd really been able to get the right measurements looking at it on a counter for 5 minutes.

At this point though, I think I found the front springs. Assuming when I take the strut off the measurements are what I think they are and I think I found the rear springs. I'm just having to figure out the top mount and I'm working on making the bottom mounts already.

Here's a picture of the spare tire well with some of the stuff.

 

[Ksnau]

Sorry I haven't done update in a while like I meant to. I was busy with work and this last weekend I went up to Sedona and Flagstaff and went up Schnedly Hill trail and it was pretty awesome. I've been talking to switch suspension again and universal air who's providing the parts and I think I am going to go with them and their kit. That was the first picture I posted here. I'm just trying to make sure that it's going to have enough travel and that the springs are going to extend long enough to where when I raise and lower it. It's not going to be at the furthest length that the spring can extend. Otherwise while it will still raise and lower the vehicle the problem is that if it's as far as it'll go it'll have either no compression or if you've got it as low down as it will go it won't have any compression so I'm trying to get them to put longer springs in so I can still raise it two or what I really want is 3 inches up or down but it's not at the limit of the spring so it'll still articulate.

If they can get it to work like that I'm going to go ahead and order them. I'm just waiting on their reply and I'm probably just going to have switch suspension install it but we'll see because I guess their weight list is really long because they mostly do parts and they only have two installers. But they have really good reviews. And I've talked to two people about air suspension and both of them have recommended and gone through them .

Hopefully they can make a kit for the bronco sport and I can give you all the link in case anyone else wants to do this and then y'all can just buy a kit that you know works instead of trying to piece stuff together, and it'll be meant for our vehicle and it'll be meant for an off-road purpose rather than a street purpose and then it'll come in at the stock height. And then I would assume if you'll want more you could just add a lift kit on there as well or something.

 

[Ksnau]

So after pretty much harassing the sales associate at switch suspension with like 50 questions. I've decided to go with my original plan and I'm going to use their strut and spring set up which is the first picture that I had on this posting way at the top.

I'm doing this because there was just a lot of little intricacies with choosing the right air spring for my setup. And I just couldn't get the information that I wanted on them to make sure it would work, without having to buy something and return it or possibly not being able to return it. So we're going to go with theit Mavericks set up, but he says that it'll be built to the bronco sports specifications and he says that he has the CAD files from the broncos sport.

So there probably won't be updates for a couple weeks while it's being built. Also unfortunately, switch suspension has a really long wait list for installations but I think at this point I can install them myself and the only thing that might need help with is making sure that I get the base setting correct so that it doesn't mess up my tire wear because that'll be really important.

I really want to add height sensors from AccuAir but to do that I would have to figure out my own way to mount them which seems pretty involved, and I'm going to see how the manual 7 switch controller with pressure gauges for each spring and the tank works cuz people were able to make these things work for decades without those sensors. So I'm going to start with just a manual controller with seven switches and then just gauges for the pressure for each airspring and then one for the tank and I'll just have to check every now and then and Make sure that it's at the right right height so my tires don't wear bad.

But hopefully you'll be able to see a broncos sport kit for air suspension for sale after this that has been used by at least me. So if anyone else wants to do this they can. The only thing I would change is I would just not buy the kit on Amazon and buy piece meal so I could get a good aluminum tank. And so all the tank and compressor stuff was about $900, and then the shock and spring kit is I think 2550 plus tax so probably be like 2800 and so with the tank and compressor and everything you probably looking at like 3700 bucks if you install it yourself, which to be honest it shouldn't be too bad.

 

[RSH]

Is your plan to be able to run your BS in a lowered state like the Ford Mavericks I've been seeing lately (they look really good lowered) or to have adjustable suspension like the Land Rover Range Rovers and adjust the height for different off road situations. You can lift the BS, but it is limited by the A-arms and drive axle angles. Airbagit has a complete kit for the Maverick that isnt too expensive, Fitted Visions has a pricey version. It will be interesting to see what you come up with.

 

[Ksnau]

It's going to be similar to like what you see on like the Jeep Grand Cherokee and the Rams and the defenders. It's going to stay at stock height for 90% of the time and then I'm going to be able to lower it to make it easier for my dog to get in and maybe pump up the rear if I have it loaded up with a bunch of gear and then I'll be able to raise it at very low speeds off-road and if I need a little more clearance it's not to slam it to the ground though

It's similar to the kids you mentioned. I actually talked to airbagot cuz they're local to me but I'm going through switch suspension which uses universal error products for this kit. It's the same as what's pictured at the very top of this post so they're going to come with new front struts and then rear bags. Will replace the coil springs in the rear and it also comes with adjustable dampers to replace the dampers in the back. I'd ask them about using the stock strut and dampers and just replacing the springs but they weren't sure it would work out very well and since their stuff's all adjustable, it'll be easier just to use theirs and I can adjust theirs if anything needs to be

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