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Band.
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 13,322
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Sprinter air ride suspension
Anyone have experience with this? I have a 2019 sprinter 170 dually; pulling about 5k lbs and the ride in the van is occasionally quite challenging. Our sprinter outfitter upgraded the suspension but admittedly he's a 4x4 conversion kinda guy so I have a feeling he's not into the luxe ride.
Anyone know anything about air ride sprinters? Thank you
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1983 SC Coupe 1963 BMW R60/2 1972 Triumph Tiger 1995 Triumph Daytona SuperIII |
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01-12-2023, 04:37 PM
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IN the end doesn't air-ride just increase spring rate? So I imagine that would make the ride stiffer unless you also had adjustable dampening somehow.
Proper damping might end up being a better solution to handling than springs?
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Chris ---------------------------------------------- 1996 993 RS Replica 2023 KTM 890 Adventure R 1971 Norton 750 Commando Alcon Brake Kits |
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01-12-2023, 05:43 PM
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Information Junky
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: an island, upper left coast, USA
Posts: 73,189
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With Air, Spring rate is typically adjustable. This can also level the vehicle.
The problem with coils in trucks is they typically are far too stiff for light loads, as they are designed to not completely sag under larger loads. Air can give a soft ride regardless of load. Oh, and dampers should also be adjustable to match the changing loads. (critical damping, and all that)
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Everyone you meet knows something you don't. - - - and a whole bunch of crap that is wrong. Disclaimer: the above was 2¢ worth. More information is available as my professional opinion, which is provided for an exorbitant fee. 
Last edited by island911; 01-12-2023 at 09:57 PM.. |
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01-12-2023, 09:54 PM
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Registered
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 10,804
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Quote:
https://kelderman.com/shop/2014-sprinter-3500-2-stage-rear-air-suspension .
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"The primary contribution of government to this world is to elicit, entrench, enable, and finally to codify the most destructive aspects of the human personality." Jeffrey Tucker |
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01-13-2023, 08:27 AM
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Information Junky
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: an island, upper left coast, USA
Posts: 73,189
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Ah ^ now I get cstreit's comments about air-ride just increase spring rate. - If installing additional springs, then yes, air-ride just increases spring rate.
My bad, assuming air was to replace existing springs.
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Everyone you meet knows something you don't. - - - and a whole bunch of crap that is wrong. Disclaimer: the above was 2¢ worth. More information is available as my professional opinion, which is provided for an exorbitant fee.
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01-13-2023, 09:18 AM
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Depends on the problem you are attempting to solve. "Quite challenging" is just too vague to understand what you are struggling with. Is your current ride too soft, too stiff, too much wander?
My RV is on a 2014 Sprinter 3500 chassis. In an owner's group few are using air-ride. The most popular suspension mods are Fox Agile shocks in the rear and Hellwig sway bar. The combination greatly reduces roll rate and sway while maintaining a comfortable highway ride. Out of 10,000 owners, 99% are very happy with this combination. https://agileoffroad.com/product/agile-fox-2-5-rear-shocks-mercedes-sprinter-3500-rv-class-c/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAn4SeBhCwARIsANeF9DIwODh0cYBXg5Z5Vto NMeKMP4VYJxgQUMGMyhesuczjlkvq-p_XbXgaAlR7EALw_wcB
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2009 Cayman PDK With a few tweaks 2021 Cayman GTS 4.0L 2021 Macan (dog hauler) Last edited by Cajundaddy; 01-13-2023 at 10:31 AM.. |
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01-13-2023, 10:22 AM
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Band.
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 13,322
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"Quite challenging" means hard bumps and thunk thunk on the expansion joints. The van goes down the road well enough on nice new asphalt but old concrete I-95 style roads are pretty noisy and rough.
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01-13-2023, 08:57 PM
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Ok that sounds too stiff and mine does really well over rotten highways like NM, LA, TN that are rife with cracks and potholes and in desperate need of repair. My 2014 Sprinter rig is running close to 10,000 lbs all up as a light duty Class C.
What suspension mods did your 4x4 outfitter do? The scuttlebutt is that Sumo springs are often added to tighten up the roll rate and reduce crosswind sway but result in an overly harsh ride. Most owners that had this done end up removing them and are greatly relieved by moving to Fox shocks with OEM springs. Our rigs are tall and narrow so there is a lot of buffeting by crosswinds and trucks heading in the opposite direction but it is easy to go too far in correcting this by getting the suspension just too stiff and tied down resulting in a punishing ride.
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2009 Cayman PDK With a few tweaks 2021 Cayman GTS 4.0L 2021 Macan (dog hauler) Last edited by Cajundaddy; 01-13-2023 at 10:11 PM.. |
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01-13-2023, 10:08 PM
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Band.
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 13,322
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Thanks! I'll need to look at the info to remember what's on there right now. The builder has tried 2 different setups in the rear but I can't remember what the current one is. We definitely don't have sumo springs though.
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1983 SC Coupe 1963 BMW R60/2 1972 Triumph Tiger 1995 Triumph Daytona SuperIII |
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01-14-2023, 05:43 AM
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Registered
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 10,804
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Quote:
The kelderman is a swing arm on air bags that replaces the rear shackles. The air bags give the cushy ride and when bottomed out the load goes back to the springs only, hence the 2 stage in the name.
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"The primary contribution of government to this world is to elicit, entrench, enable, and finally to codify the most destructive aspects of the human personality." Jeffrey Tucker |
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01-14-2023, 08:31 AM
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1970 Porsche 911 S 
Lil Red
Cayman
