Air Suspension Switches make it easy to get more from your rear air suspension.

Air Suspension Recap

For those new to air suspension, in the recreational 4×4 sector it’s most commonly found in the rear of vehicles to assist the existing with the burden of heavy loads. 

Many vehicles cope fine when empty but with a full touring load or heavy trailer attached, it’s typical for the vehicle’s rear suspension to remain compressed. On-road this can result in floaty steering, headlights pointing skyward and reduced braking ability. Off-road it means the already partially compressed shock absorbers and coil or leaf suspension has less ability to absorb bumps. In some ways, it’s similar to running shorter shock absorbers; the resulting ride is less comfortable, and the chance of bottoming out the suspension and damaging the vehicle is higher.

You can see the Airbag Man system we have fitted to our 76 Series LandCruiser in this article.

Several new, and planned vehicles, including Land Rovers and the Tesla Cyber Truck run or will run, on full air suspension systems. These vehicles use heavy-duty airbags in place of, rather than in support of, coil or leaf suspension. It’s also possible to retrofit this suspension to some vehicles like 200 Series LandCruisers, Defenders and Patrols.

Air Suspension Switches

Commonly Airbag Man suspension systems are installed with manual inflation valves. Adjusting these is precisely like changing tyre pressures. It isn’t difficult at all, but there is a more straightforward way, and it’s resulted in us fine-tuning our airbags far more often.

Pneumatic air suspension switches and a dual digital gauge can be retrofitted to most existing systems or purchased as part of the kit for new installs.

The airlines are re-routed to the switches for deflation, and separate lines connect between the compressor and the same switches for inflation. Airbag Man offers a range of Onboard Air Solutions. In our Cruiser, we were able to use the adapter in their Existing Compressor Kit to connect to our ARB Twin Compressor.

We opted to install our air suspension switches and gauge in the rear of the vehicle; with the compressor and airbags nearby, it meant we could keep the airlines short which made the install easier.

It’s possible to fit the controls in the cabin, and Airbag Man also has a wireless controller option.

 Levelling For Heavy Loads

Typically for us, our most significant loads are on our long and remote trips. Even with only two passengers, with 220 litres of fuel, 100 litres of water, food, camping and recovery gear and the usual build weight of the vehicle we’ll often depart weighing close to our upgraded GVM of 3,660kg.

We have a quality ARB Old Man Emu aftermarket suspension fitted with the rear Airbag Man Suspension assisting the back. To ride level at full weight, we would have needed to upgrade our 600kg constant load rear leaf suspension to the 800kg option. Doing this would have suited our touring trips, but at lighter loads, it would heavy left the vehicle uncomfortable on the road and without flex off-road. 

Adjusting Pressures

With our system, we switch on our compressor and then use the pneumatic switches to air down or up. Both airbags at once. The airbags fill quickly making the ability to partially press the switches to dial in the correct pressure on the gauge helpful.

Firmer For Highway Stability

To prevent body roll of our 76 Series at highway speeds, we aim to run the rear airbags reasonably firm, regardless of load.

Softer For Off-Road Articulation

When we are off-roading, we soften the airbags at the same time as we air down. If we are travelling light, we can go low to allow for maximum flex. At heavier loads, we go lower than our highway pressures, and let the load dictate the pressure; softer but so the vehicle still sits level.

Thanks to Ultimate 4WD Equipment for the tidy installation.

Mike Collister

Founder of Adventure Curated, Mike has spent his life outdoors. He has represented Australia as a slalom kayaker, guided whitewater expeditions in Nepal, and taught outdoor education and wilderness medicine. He’s paddled the Kimberley’s Fitzroy River in the wet season, across the Bass Strait and has explored many of Australia’s remote areas by 4x4.