Grande Airbag Retaining after a Lift

[Peterpilot]

After doing a bit of experimenting with the back end I cant get the airbags dislodging at all at full droop.
Tried both by jacking the whole vehicle up and 1 side at a time.
They do not leave their seats

This only happens with extreme articulation, I have managed to flex the rear down as far as 945mm with the shocks extended and up as far as 635mm hard on the bumpstop:

From what I can find out, the OEM Grande rear shocks with ride adjustment for airbags are about 30mm longer than the standard Prado shocks.

The TEMS Grande rear shock is exactly the same 375mm extended length as a standard Prado shock, but has 31mm less travel due to the TEMS mechanism inside the shock.

I measured a rear TEMS shock absorber out of my car today and while the extended length is the same 575mm as a regular OE shock, it seems that the TEMS mechanism inside the shock reduces copmression by 31mm for a closed length of 387mm. I guess that's why the rear bump stops are different in the TEMS equipped Grande compared to the conventional Prados.

Suspension Data is here: http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...nsion-Database for comparison of rear shocks.

Full droop with the stock shocks is 890mm so set them at a comfortable 825 stills gives a good margin of 65mm.

Until "Hi" is selected on the ride height control, then it would sit at about 860mm, so just be a little a careful there. I have thought about it and look at it like this; a GXL standard ride height is 750mm front and 780mm rear. Add a bit of weight and full fuel and the rear levels down to around 770mm. So a comfortable compromise on the Grande is to set the rear at about 20mm higher than the front. So a 40mm lift is 790mm front 810mm rear, a 50mm lift is 800mm front 820mm rear. Any more and I would suggest longer shocks and longer air springs are needed.

[craigm]

Marc, Fantastic result!!!

Love it! Are they M8 screws? Did you also move the sensor up along the slot? Or just added the spacers to achieve the lift?

[1coolbanana]

At 825mm ride height, its pretty good at the back.

Spacing out the sensor brackets.



At 825 ride height.



So a good aftermarket shock that remains withing 10-15mm of the OEM shouldnt pose any problem with the airbags and still provide plenty of lift.
Thats my theory anyway

[1coolbanana]

After doing a bit of experimenting with the back end I cant get the airbags dislodging at all at full droop.
Tried both by jacking the whole vehicle up and 1 side at a time.
They do not leave their seats

From what I can find out, the OEM Grande rear shocks with ride adjustment for airbags are about 30mm longer than the standard Prado shocks.





Full droop with the stock shocks is 890mm so set them at a comfortable 825 stills gives a good margin of 65mm.

[1coolbanana]

Thats certainly fixed the problem once and for all!
I wonder if the bags are the same specs and same lengths?
Probably something we will never find out :-(

[craigm]

MLC's is a 2009 (dont get any later than that in the 120...) What does the Kakadu have??

Ok, Kcharng has posted pics of his 150 with airbags. Prado 150 airbags
Toyota have gone away from even utilizing the keyhole and gone one better and secured the airbags by bolting the airbags in. With this in mind, I will definitely look at securing my bags when I do my suspension. It will be a matter of removing the bags, drilling through the seating pin and welding a pin in to form a keyed pin as mentioned in previous post.. Just got to pull my finger out now and get the funds for my Bilsteins & Kingy's...

[MidLifeCrisis]

MLC's is a 2009 (dont get any later than that in the 120...) What does the Kakadu have??

July 2009 to be exact. I think they called a handful of 120's after that a Kakadu and then started the 150 Kakadu build.

[craigm]

MLC's is a 2009 (dont get any later than that in the 120...) What does the Kakadu have??

[Peterpilot]

Why didnt they do that on the Prado? Then we would'nt need this thread!

Perhaps that's what Toyota did to the later model Prados? I have heard that later models have a "longer" seating pin, but I wonder if they also have the kehole lock extrusions at the pin.

[craigm]

I would say that with the thickness of the seating pin at the bottom of the airbag you would need to remove the bag anyway (good luck MLC!) Ideally the better option than to install a clip would be to do what Mr Toyota should have done in the first place and weld a couple of tiny bars about 5mm long at the end of the pin and turn the seating pin into a Keyed Pin to suit the keyhole that it sits in. This is what I believe is done with the US 4Runner (see pics). That way the bag is held in place and "if" there was ever a need to remove the bag, it would just be a matter of turning the bag 90 degrees and remove. Why didnt they do that on the Prado? Then we would'nt need this thread!




Edit: The Seating Pin could always be drilled and a pin welded into place to form a keyed pin.

[MidLifeCrisis]

Hmm. I can see myself in some desert cursing a solid weld that I cannot get off to replace an RS airbag. Defintely a fan of coolbabnans concept when he does it and with a strong pin. Wonder if those pins with the circle are stronger? Bad explanation but the circle flips over the pin to secure it rather than busting your hands trying to get a pin through. Have one at home I will take a pic of.

[Peterpilot]

Thanks for the photo MLC, much appreciated! I agree with Craig about 1Coolbana's idea of using an R pin rather than welding, just in case you ever needed to remove or replace the airbags.

[MidLifeCrisis]

I guess he trick is getting an "R" pin or similar that is strong enough....

[craigm]

Hey thanks MLC for the pic I do appreciate it. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words!!! With all your mods lately, getting underneath the prado must be like a second home to you by now? That weld is certainly going to stop the bag popping out. I hope however that you dont ever need to remove the bags as it looks like a bi*#h of a place to get a grinder in to! I think I'll stick to the R pin method, which I cant take the credit for as it was 1Coolbanana"s idea.