Product Review: Polyair Suspension Assister Airbags

[404pug Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 404pug]

Re: Product Review: Polyair Suspension Assister Airbags

I installed the polyairs about a month ago using instructions from here....no problems! BUT, over about a month each side has lost about 4psi- down from 10 to about 5 or6 psi. Years ago I had a set in a commodore which also slowly lost pressure. Is this common? I can find no leaks[ each is a separate circuit] yet they lost about the same.It is no problem to put a bit more air in them but I am curious as to whether this is normal. It is a slow loss of pressure and not a fast one. Neil

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

Re: Product Review: Polyair Suspension Assister Airbags

You have a slow leak somewhere. Valve maybe. This is the 3rd set I have fitted to various 4wds with over 380,000km between them and none have had a slow leak. Couple of fast leaks ops: but no slow ones.

[foxclan Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close foxclan]

The middle hole, in the picture below, is the 13mm hole that the airline passes through and it fits quite nicely - even with split tube over the airline.



The instructions, that come with the polyairs, say that this hole needs to be enlarged with a 40 mm hole saw. :shock:

For starters - even with a 40 mm hole saw I couldn't get it to start without a pilot bit that was a fairly snug fit in the existing hole ... and I don't have a hole saw with a 13 mm pilot bit. There's also a bit of body pressing hiding up behind that plate so the pilot bit would have to be set fairly shallow or you would punch a hole through it.

The airlines fit and the polyairs work fine - without enlarging this hole - but I'm still curious - does anyone have any better ideas on how to do this ?

Cheers
Chippy

Found that a Die grinder was all that was needed to enlarge the off set hole back to the center of top bump stop hole.
Cheers Troy

[Spike1 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Spike1]

G'Day Drew & everyone else that had something to do with this thread, you were all a heap of help.
Had lsptop in the shed w2ith me 12year old daaughter reading instructions from this thread. Great why to go to include a near teenager.
thanks heaps

[Lorenzo Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Lorenzo]

Hi Drew,

great write up. I've got a question for you and perhaps some other gurus of this subject.

My 120 series diesel prado used to sit on:

Standard Suspension: 740mm front/770mm rear
2" OME Medium lift: 805mm front/815mm rear
Then after a few upgrades like drawers and steel bar it now sits at: 800mm front/809mm rear

In the quest to get more clearance without starting from scratch with the suspension, would fitting these bags aid me in gaining a little more lift at the rear? Say 820mm? Or are these bags not really designed for this purpose? I don't tow anything but with the drawers in the back and the weight I put in it whilst 4wding/camping, would love the extra height at the back.

Am I barking up the wrong tree and should be looking at upgrading my springs to heavy duty ones from medium?

How much extra height should i be aiming for if doing this upgrade? I believe weight of vehicle should be irrelevant, but here is what aftermarket heavy items affect the height:

Front:
Steel bar, dual battery, compressor, driving lights, Winch (soon)
Rear:
Drawers (Outback solutions), 47L Fridge, camping equipment

Cheers,
Loz

[Lorenzo Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Lorenzo]

Bump Bump Bump

[Wil Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Wil]

I have ordered "Coil Rite" bags which are a firestone product - Will be installing them on friday, I hope its as easy as the experience people have had with the polyair product.

[maulbeagle Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close maulbeagle]

Wil, can you report back your experiences installing the firestone bags ? i'm looking at getting air bags and wondering which brand to go with.

[Yes Dear Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Yes Dear]

So am I,
would like to know what price you got them for.
Cheers

[Yes Dear Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Yes Dear]

Just installed the Coil rite bags today.
Took around 2 hours.
It was so easy I am worried I have not done it right!
Got them off the big E $275 delivered in 4 days.
See how we go, it states to run them at 20 PSI for 2 weeks to settle them in.
The rear of the Prado is well in the air now, so hopefully it will handle the new camper trailer.
Used a wood saw to cut the bump stops and a hole saw to open up the top plate.
Installed the valves in the plastic recess under the little cover as recommended.
Also the bottle jack to push the diff down was a great help.
Wound up the excess hose and cable tied it up for later on just in case.
Disconnected the rear sway bar to allow for the extra drop.
All good (I hope).