Air suspension - varieties and benefits (Part I)

What is air suspension?

What is "air suspension"?

 Nowadays, more and more cars are leaving the factories with the so-called air suspension, replacing until recently the popular leaf springs or classic springs. The stability of the car while driving is due to this type of shock absorbers, which rely on compressed air.

In place of the springs are airbags, which are pumped by an airbag compressor that sucks the most ordinary air from the atmosphere, which passes through the dehumidifier and inflates the airbags to the required volume to level the car.

The air suspension gives a huge advantage to increase driving comfort and maintain optimum ground clearance without changes, allowing the car to move rhythmically, regardless of its load. When the car is heavy, its rear does not lie to the ground and the front does not rise high - here comes the role of air suspension, the compressor supplies the required amount of air to the cushions and the car is leveled again.

Advantages of air suspension

There are many benefits to choosing car air suspension kits over traditional spring systems, such as:

Better car control, as the cushions are adjustable to different levels of compression
Wider range for load capacity adjustment
Easy customization and suspension modification
Vehicles can be adjusted to different levels of hardness and softness, as well as the height of the car depending on personal choice
Improves tire life

In station wagon models, for example, air suspension is a great convenience. Today, more and more cars, even the lower class, are leaving the air suspension factories, and for high-end cars, Audi air suspension, Mercedes air suspension, BMW air suspension, Bentley air suspension, Porsche air suspension, Volkswagen air suspension and more. , it is a mandatory extra.

It is mainly used for greater comfort when traveling or with trucks with a large difference between the basic and their maximum allowable load.

How is the air suspension arranged?

It includes a balloon for air storage or the so-called. airbag, sensor for adjusting the level of the cabin and one for temperature and cooling, compressor, which has a function to capture moisture, valve control unit, as well as solenoid valves. The job of the compressor is to suck in air, the so-called working gas from the atmosphere, pass it through the moisture trap and inflate the balloon (cushion) with 5-10 liter volume, at a pressure of about 6.5-7 bar.

The optimum smoothness of the car, regardless of its load, is the advantage provided by the air suspension through the electronic control system with the valve block, additional air is supplied from the air chamber to maintain the distance from the center of the wheel monitored by sensors to the valve block.

To be continued...