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The instructions that are provided with the replacement Air Lift parts were fantastic in that they provided great detail and photos in a step by step fashion. Elmer, a heavy truck mechanic, thought that perhaps it was a little too detailed. He pointed out that he managed to remove the existing bag through the spaces in the coils, and that he felt the new bag could easily be reinstalled in that manner. This would save about an hour of work and reduce the amount of pieces that would need to be removed. As one who has dealt with many snapped bolts over my lifetime, I thought it sounded like a good plan.
Saving an hour or more of time, rather than following the instructions to roll the bag up like a hot dog bun and insert in via the top of the coil spring, we started the hot dog bun idea, inserted it between the spaces in the unloaded coil spring, and massaged it into place.Removing the cap, squishing the air bag (Air Lift calls it an air spring) we easily got it 50% inside the coil spring. With a bit more effort and elbow great we got the entire air bag into place with virtually nothing on the truck being removed. I sat back and smiled with relief at how easy it was. The next part of our install was spent working blind, as the components we did not remove were now blocking our view.
First, we needed to get the valve core mechanism into the valve stem. This is where my skinny office hands and fingers came into play, as it was easier for me to get into this very cramped space. Elmer took one of his valve stem core removers and removed at least two inches of the handle with a hack saw. This enabled me to get it into the cramped space and tighten the core into place. Before you say we should have installed in before putting the bag into such tight quarters, that would not work. We were folding and squishing the bag to place it – that is even part 1 on page 6 of the official instructions. The core had to be out to give the bag the flexibility that we required. And my skinny hands let me install it in place.
Elmer torqued the lugs to 140 ft/lbs, the rate that's required for the E450. The hub caps were reinstalled and the truck was almost ready to hit the road.That left installing the upper protector which was a piece of cake since the wheels were off the ground and the springs unloaded. Then we connected the air line to the valve on the air bag. Intially the air bag looks too small for the the setup, but that's because it is designed to fit while there is a load on the system. When Elmer put a small jack under the suspension and raised it up, simulating load, everything fit into place perfectly.
The line is routed to the rad support where it is protected yet easy to access. All four corners are independent of the other (they can be twinned) to allow for load levelling capability. 50 lbs is the maximum for the front; 100 lbs the maximum for the rear.As this was a replacement process, all of my air lines were already routed and in place. We simply removed the jacks and the truck is ready to go. A big thanks to Elmer at Platinum Diesel for his support. To Air Lift, I simply have to say that you have captured my future business and I hope that I can send many other friends your way. I am so impressed with your customer service. Looking for an air bag system for your car? Air Lift has a performance division that likely has you covered.
Just so my readers know and in the interest of full disclosure, all of this happened without Air Lift knowing that I write for MotoIQ or that I was going to write about this. In fact, it was only after they blew me away with their support that this article came to life.
Sources
Platinum Diesel
