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Accumulators for air suspension?

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  • Accumulators for air suspension?

    Has anyone ever heard of/used an accumulator set up for air suspension? With hydraulic setups, it's fairly common to soften the ride, but what about for air? I can't seem to find any online to begin with, which leads me to think this isn't too common. I want to smooth out a rough ride, and it has been suggested that I have accumulators installed between the valves and struts.

  • #2
    No one?

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    • #3
      In the case of an air system, this wouldn't be so much an accumulator as it would be just a small inline tank.

      I'm curious what your setup consists of that you're experiencing roughness with your air suspension. What are your ride height pressures front and rear, and what bags are you running?



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      • #4
        The idea crossed my mind when putting together my setup. As Sam said, it would be a small tank, not exactly a hydraulic accumulator... same idea though. I've never seen it done, but in theory it should work. Viair makes 1/4 and 1/2 gal tanks which could be good candidates.

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        • #5
          Back in the day when people used air cylinders, accumulators were needed because of the stiff ride they had. You should not need them for bags or air struts.

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          • #6
            How would I go about installing these accumulators? Would I add them inline between the valves and struts? If so, every time I were to increase or decrease pressure to the struts, I would be increasing/decreasing pressure in the tank as well?

            Reason I need accumulators is I am running cans in the rear and air struts in the front. I got into a bit of a money pinch and had the cylinders laying around [got them in a bundle for a trade], so I'm rolling with them for a few months until I can pick up a set of rear air struts. They work quite well actually, they're just rough.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by RedHeadMetalHead View Post
              How would I go about installing these accumulators? Would I add them inline between the valves and struts? If so, every time I were to increase or decrease pressure to the struts, I would be increasing/decreasing pressure in the tank as well?
              Correct on both accounts. All you'd be doing is adding a small tank inline on the line that runs from your valve to your cylinder. The effective instantaneous spring rate of an air bag / strut / cylinder / whatever is roughly proportional to the ratio between the volume of the cylinder at ride height and the cylinder when compressed. By adding a tank inline, you're decreasing that ratio.

              You're going to want to be cautious to not add too large a tank that you bring your effective instantaneous spring rate down too low, however. This is likely to require a combination of some rough math and some trial-and-error.



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              • #8
                Originally posted by Oh Damn, it's Sam View Post
                Correct on both accounts. All you'd be doing is adding a small tank inline on the line that runs from your valve to your cylinder. The effective instantaneous spring rate of an air bag / strut / cylinder / whatever is roughly proportional to the ratio between the volume of the cylinder at ride height and the cylinder when compressed. By adding a tank inline, you're decreasing that ratio.

                You're going to want to be cautious to not add too large a tank that you bring your effective instantaneous spring rate down too low, however. This is likely to require a combination of some rough math and some trial-and-error.
                Awesome, that's exactly what I was looking for. This forum is excellent. Thank you

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                • #9
                  I ran cans on one of my cars and used small tanks inline as well...worked fine.
                  *~* Yamaguchi-gumi Syndicate Member #59,005 *~*
                  // Bippu-Car \\

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