Suspension & Steering
An air suspension upgrade can give your car a comfort boost.
Contents hide
1 What’s air suspension and how does air suspension work?
2 What are the key components of an air suspension system?
2.1 Air springs (bags)
2.2 Shock absorber
2.3 Compressor
2.4 Air tank
3 Advantages
3.1 Improved fuel economy
3.2 More environmentally friendly thanks to reduced CO2 emissions
3.3 Reduced vibration
3.4 Improved tyre wear and handling
3.5 Easy Installation
3.6 Disadvantages
4 The Verdict
Whether it is speed bumps in a residential cul-de-sac, low kerbs on driveways, or even potholes or unintended bumps in the road, it is a sad fact that roads in the UK don’t really favour vehicles bearing heavy loads or high performance sports vehicles. There are bound to have been times when you have wanted to raise your lorry’s or car’s suspension up to help it clear an obstacle more easily. Similarly, sometimes when there is nothing in the back of your van you’re sitting pretty high up and can feel yourself going a lot slower than normal. While normal suspension systems that revolve around coils and springs are comfortable and keep a vehicle handling well, they don’t offer you the option to raise or lower your vehicle. Enter air suspension.
Air suspension, or air-ride, has been around for a long time and aftermarket kits first appeared for sale to be fitted to cars right back in 1920. As well as giving drivers comfort, it was used from the outset as self-levelling suspension for heavy loads. People even used it to help smuggle moonshine illegally! This is why even today many new lorries and trailers come fitted with air suspension systems and there are a whole host of aftermarket kits that can be retrofitted.
Air Lift is one of the best known companies for aftermarket air suspension and they have actually been around since 1949. While we tend to associate air-ride as being geared more towards comfort than performance, it was hugely popular in both drag racing and NASCAR in the 1950s and 60s.