[RCP2013]

Yeah, my largest channel locks are about the same size as my largest vice grips, so not big enough.

I’m going to swing by Home Depot tomorrow and see what they have in stock.

Thanks for the assist.

Any time. Harbor freight had a pair of the oversized channel locks as well but I know each store is different.

 

[yonah]

Are use the large pair of channel locks like the attached picture. The vice grips do not grab enough of the material to bite and allow you to pull hard and keep that good grip. Look at the size of the jaws on the channel locks.

Air bags are installed 🍻

I got a pair of massive channel locks from Home Depot - Husky brand. They did the job, though it was still a workout to get the jounces out. I’ll post the specific product page later for anyone else who wants to tackle this job. Lug nut for scale along with the vice grips I referenced earlier - these channel locks dwarf them.

I had no luck trying to grab the top part of the rubber jounce to turn the entire unit to break it free. I had to grab the metal collar area (at the top of the jounce) with the channel locks and pull as hard as I could to break them loose (it took some serious elbow grease). Toyota applied thread locker on the threaded bolt at the base of the jounce and man was it a pain to break that bond, but I did it. I was even able to fish the nut out of the upper spring perch with a magnetic bolt grabber and a u-shaped pick. I didn’t want those nuts clanking around inside the spring perch.

Bags are installed, took me probably 6 hours from start to finish/clean-up, but I routed the lines the way I wanted to and tidied everything up very well in an organized fashion.

I’m very happy with the final result. 10 psi in both bags resulted in about ~1” of lift from the top of both wheel wells to the ground (30” to 31”) and about a ~1.25” gain in clearance from the base of the EcoHitch tube to the ground (9.5” to 10.75”). I have three car seats in the back of the van (both captain chairs and the left side of the third row), spare tire bracket/mount, air compressor system, slightly heavier AGM battery, double wide stroller, EcoHitch (heavy), along with all of the other supplies needed for kids when out and about (in the left side trunk area) - and this is all without passengers, so the air bags are a welcome addition. They are a necessity when you factor in the added tongue weight in the rear when a hitch mounted bike rack / cargo box (and/or roof cargo box) are thrown into the equation.

Before air bags:

After air bags (inflated to 10 psi):

I didn’t take as many photos as I’d like, but I have enough for a thorough write-up. Will post that how-to thread within the next month or so when I find the time. It was great being able to install these air bags without disassembling the suspension.

Thanks again for the help @RCP2013

 

[RCP2013]

Air bags are installed 🍻

I got a pair of massive channel locks from Home Depot - Husky brand. They did the job, though it was still a workout to get the jounces out. I’ll post the specific product page later for anyone else who wants to tackle this job. Lug nut for scale along with the vice grips I referenced earlier - these channel locks dwarf them.
View attachment 64835 View attachment 64834

I had no luck trying to grab the top part of the rubber jounce to turn the entire unit to break it free. I had to grab the metal collar area (at the top of the jounce) with the channel locks and pull as hard as I could to break them loose (it took some serious elbow grease). Toyota applied thread locker on the threaded bolt at the base of the jounce and man was it a pain to break that bond, but I did it. I was even able to fish the nut out of the upper spring perch with a magnetic bolt grabber and a u-shaped pick. I didn’t want those nuts clanking around inside the spring perch.

Bags are installed, took me probably 6 hours from start to finish/clean-up, but I routed the lines the way I wanted to and tidied everything up very well and organized fashion.

I’m very happy with the final result. 10 psi in both bags resulted in about ~1” of lift from the top of both wheel wells to the ground (30” to 31”) and about a ~1.25” gain in clearance from the base of the EcoHitch tube to the ground (9.5” to 10.75”). I have three car seats in the back of the van (both captain chairs and the left side of the third row), spare tire bracket/mount, air compressor system, slightly heavier AGM battery, double wide stroller, EcoHitch (heavy), along with all of the other supplies needed for kids when out and about (in the left side trunk area) - and this is all without passengers, so the air bags are a welcome addition. They are a necessity when you factor in the added tongue weight in the rear when a hitch mounted bike rack / cargo box (and/or roof cargo box) are thrown into the equation.

Before air bags: View attachment 64836 View attachment 64837

After air bags (inflated to 10 psi):
View attachment 64833
View attachment 64832

I didn’t take as many photos as I’d like, but I have an enough for a thorough write-up. Will post that how-to thread within the next month or so when I find the time.

Thanks again for the help @RCP2013

Awesome, I need eventually get those off once you got those oversized channel locks, gripping those things.
Mine did not have any type of thread lock on them. It was a very hard pull and snapped the nut with the lock washer.

 

[surfstar]

I've put off buying these, but revisited the research tonight. Glad to see more info/updates. I just ordered an open box kit off eBay for $52. The van sags way too much with two adults and a load of camping and climbing gear. (same as any car I've noticed - we put AirLift bags in my VW wagon and Prius Prime before)
Looking forward to cursing while I shove the soapy bags through the springs, yet again...

Of note, my hybrid Maverick doesn't sag at all with a similar load. Might not have to add the bags to that one at least.

 

[brett.brotherton]

I tried to to install them like this picture air hose coming up, which is opposite the instructions and saves on drilling/spring compressor. It worked fine for a couple months but then started leaking. The leak was where the air hose goes into the air springs and I gave up took it to a shop. It appears the alignment is not quite right in that orientation and they couldn't get it to not leak once removed it seems to have messed up the press fitting and they had to get new bags. So I'm wondering if others had issues with the upside down install? I would not recommend it.

 

[yonah]

I tried to to install them like this picture air hose coming up, which is opposite the instructions and saves on drilling/spring compressor. It worked fine for a couple months but then started leaking. The leak was where the air hose goes into the air springs and I gave up took it to a shop. It appears the alignment is not quite right in that orientation and they couldn't get it to not leak once removed it seems to have messed up the press fitting and they had to get new bags. So I'm wondering if others had issues with the upside down install? I would not recommend it.

The airline pulled out of my drivers side airbag after about 11k miles / 1 year post-install. The issue I ran into was the 1/4" ID fuel line (used to jacket the 1/4" OD airline) had a tight tolerance with the pass-through hole in the upper spring mount (where the jounce bumper was bolted). It appears that the fuel line snagged on the hole and pulled the airline out of the air coupler on top of the airbag.

To keep the bag oriented up, the only two solutions I could think of were to 1) enlarge the pass-through hole to 1/2" (or larger) with a step drill bit or 2) remove the fuel line sheath/jacket and use a hard grommet with a 1/4" ID to allow the airline to freely slide inside of the hole to prevent any snagging in the future. I went with option 2) as I want to prevent drilling out the upper spring perch/mount if possible.

Photos:

Details are here: https://www.siennachat.com/posts/477203/

I'm going to give this a shot and see how it goes. If it fails, I'll go with the first option and open up the hole with a strep drill. Would be interested in the feedback of @RCP2013 as I know he was the first guy to try the 'bag up' orientation.

 

[TOYOTAJIM]

I tried to to install them like this picture air hose coming up, which is opposite the instructions and saves on drilling/spring compressor. It worked fine for a couple months but then started leaking. The leak was where the air hose goes into the air springs and I gave up took it to a shop. It appears the alignment is not quite right in that orientation and they couldn't get it to not leak once removed it seems to have messed up the press fitting and they had to get new bags. So I'm wondering if others had issues with the upside down install? I would not recommend it.

I would not recommend it either. With the fitting in the downward position like the manufactures recommended install, the bag and fitting will have no movement during spring travel. If the fitting is mounted in the up position it will move with the spring travel and constantly flex the hose leading to premature failure. We install air bag systems at our shop and the bags on my Sienna will have the ports pointed down like the manufacturer recommends.

 

[henryjcanales]

I have not had any issues with my airbags leaking. I left a gap between where the sleeve tubing meets the push in fitting on the airbags. If I do have any issues in future, I would definitely use a step drill bit to open the hole up.