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Air bag suspension?

Would you install air bag suspension on your Bronco if/when it is available?


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AtomicBronco

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So I'm a complete noob to off-roading and the closest experience I have to off-roading is driving in a dirt lot, lol. I live in SoCal and when I get my Bronco it'll be my daily driver and I plan on doing some overlanding. I've been in a Land Rover LR3 and absolutely love the fact that you can adjust the ride height with the flick of a switch. It has definitely come in handy when parking in parking structures. Now my question is if/when it becomes available, would you install air bag suspension to allow you to adjust your ride height like in a Land Rover?
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doyouglas

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I have a Range Rover as well, it's a nice feature to adjust the height but for the bronco I wouldn't bag it. I'd go aftermarket suspension but not bags. I'd keep the bag on luxury 4x4 vehicles from the factory.
 

MikeD

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No way, I had the air suspension on my ‘11 Grand Cherokee Overland and it was terrible, it had zero articulation.
 

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ferbm

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What about adding airbags just to up the towing capacity?
Right? That’s really the only reason. Not for lift, but to help with towing. Towing with a lifted truck looks dangerous with the nose of the vehicle pointing to the sky.
 

swooshdave

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vrtical

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I run em on my F150 when I was towing 9k but that is leaf spring not coil over.
 

wrbix

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In LRs at least, it’s not a matter of if but when the system will fail.
Go to eBay, CL, BaT and see how many LRs have been converted to coils - most.
After failure riding on the bump stops is a miserable experience.
 

Rednek

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most people put air bags on around here to turn their f250 into a f750 😝
 

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Rubicon 2 Badlands

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That is only for leaf springs.

And I don't mean going from 3500lbs to 7000lbs. But to make it handle the 3500lbs a bit better.
I have an airbag, trailing-arm suspension on my "Chaser" Adventure Trailer and it is pretty amazing. I agree, it would be nice to be able to "adjust" the ride height and stiffness on the Bronco's rear axle when towing. I think it might be a nice add. Should be simple to do, as long as there is a little space above the rear axle on both sides. Interesting idea and worth some thought. :unsure:
 

swooshdave

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In LRs at least, it’s not a matter of if but when the system will fail.
Go to eBay, CL, BaT and see how many LRs have been converted to coils - most.
After failure riding on the bump stops is a miserable experience.
I had that problem with a BMW E39 wagon. Airbags failed after driving on California roads. That was the last vintage of BMW that you could change anything out with a 10mm socket.
 

Wings2Wheels

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What about adding airbags just to up the towing capacity?
That is only for leaf springs.

And I don't mean going from 3500lbs to 7000lbs. But to make it handle the 3500lbs a bit better.

I'm with @swooshdave on this one.

You might have 3500# towing capacity (I think it *might* be 3400# with the 'Squatch package) but the trick is proper weight distribution. Even if you get it right, the rear of any lifted truck will normally squat down even with proper tongue weight on the trailer. This in itself winds up screwing up the weight distribution vs. a vehicle that is able to maintain a level body stance and transfer some of that weight to the steer axle (or, in this case, IFS) as well as the trailer axles.

I wouldn't want a bagged suspension for off road, but I certainly would like the ability to use bags on the solid rear axle to maintain a proper level ride height and weight distribution. Call them 'helper' springs if you want - being a former independent owner/operator, I don't want to overload the vehicle, but I DO want proper weight distribution and handling while I am towing to the rated capacity.
 

ex_nyer

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I have a Range Rover as well, it's a nice feature to adjust the height but for the bronco I wouldn't bag it. I'd go aftermarket suspension but not bags. I'd keep the bag on luxury 4x4 vehicles from the factory.
I had air
So I'm a complete noob to off-roading and the closest experience I have to off-roading is driving in a dirt lot, lol. I live in SoCal and when I get my Bronco it'll be my daily driver and I plan on doing some overlanding. I've been in a Land Rover LR3 and absolutely love the fact that you can adjust the ride height with the flick of a switch. It has definitely come in handy when parking in parking structures. Now my question is if/when it becomes available, would you install air bag suspension to allow you to adjust your ride height like in a Land Rover?
I had air bags on my 2001 Audi Allroad. I loved that wagon and the air bags right up until the warranty ran out. I had them replaced once under warranty and once after (very expensive). Owned the wagon for 12 years, really fun to drive.
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