My Accuair e-Level Install....

[fastbagged68]

I got some more pics of my wishbone, but I left my camera @ the shop. I will post them tomorrow. I should hopefully have it back on the ground tomorrow. I will write up about how the calibration of the system goes.

Does anyone know how I can post a movie clip of it working?

[Rokcrln]

Accuair- Guy's I am glad to see you are a supporting Vendor on here now. So lets have the info again if you would so we can start getting you more business and we can get more info of whats on the market.
I have to say I really like how compact and hi-tec the controller looks. But if you would please fill me in on how your system compares to one with PSI and Wheel height sensors. If you are parked with the LF and RR tire in the gutter and the RF and LR are on the street or driveway what will stop the computer from wanting to try and level it self?
Thanks for your time I think you will be a great source of knowledge and parts for this board. Also I see you are some what local to the bay area, will you be at the Good Guys show this Friday -Sunday, also what is the name and web for your company?

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Twisted78SS]

Ditto on the need for an air management system. This looks to be not only well engineered, but affordable.. Watching closely.

[dznucks]

I'm in the market for a air management system as well.

[AccuAirSuspension]

Originally Posted by Rokcrln

Accuair- Guy's I am glad to see you are a supporting Vendor on here now. So lets have the info again if you would so we can start getting you more business and we can get more info of whats on the market.
I have to say I really like how compact and hi-tec the controller looks. But if you would please fill me in on how your system compares to one with PSI and Wheel height sensors. If you are parked with the LF and RR tire in the gutter and the RF and LR are on the street or driveway what will stop the computer from wanting to try and level it self?
Thanks for your time I think you will be a great source of knowledge and parts for this board. Also I see you are some what local to the bay area, will you be at the Good Guys show this Friday -Sunday, also what is the name and web for your company?

Kevin
LFD Inc.

Thank you all for welcoming us to your forum!

Kevin, you bring up some very good questions. Everyone in this industry is so used to seeing pressure sensors and displays for their Air Suspension that there is always some head scratching when they first see our system. Although our website FAQ does a pretty good job of addressing these general questions, I will try to explain a little better here (this is a little technical and I apologize for the lengthiness, but there is no other choice):

When we sat down to design the e-Level system, we first took a look at every other controller in our industry and tested its capabilities and true leveling performance for every given scenario. We then took a look at every controller made for the OEM industry (production cars, trucks, and heavy duty vehicles for the past 50 years). We found that NO production vehicle has every come with per air spring pressure sensors. Guess which systems performed the best... The OEM's. The only problem with the OEM designs was that all of the parameters were developed and set for each specific vehicle (likely a 4-6 month tuning process for each application). We knew that the e-Level was going to be used on so many different applications that we would have to find a way to make it automatically calibrate to each (a bigger task than we ever imagined). After 3 years of development and testing on every potential application possible, the end result is a system that automatically calibrates to your vehicle upon installation (3-5 minute process depending on the vehicle and compressor capability). It takes every vehicle parameter into account; valve speed, line size, bag size, vehicle weight, sway bar stiffness, and shock damping settings (its determines all of this without user input). Once the e-Level controller knows your vehicle intimately, it can then make precision adjustments while parked or driving with never before seen accuracy and reliability.

Kevin's question about an extremely skewed surface (driveway entry, etc) is something that every leveling system is challenged by. Get in any new car with Air Suspension – RangeRover, VW Toureg, BMW 7-series, etc – and park it in a skewed surface for long enough, it will undoubtedly adjust for it. The difference is that these systems (along with the e-Level) will all automatically correct once you pull off of the skewed surface and onto a normal driving surface. No aftermarket system other than the e-Level provides this type of capability.

According to the manufacturer of the system you mentioned, the claimed purpose of the per air spring pressure sensors along with height sensors is described by the following:

“By comparing the position of the ride height sensor to the air pressure, the vehicle is leveled with no crossloading”.

Crossloading is when the vehicle is sitting level, but the weight on the diagonal corners is imbalanced. The only true way to test for this imbalance is with a set of racing scales (like the CompuScales that we use from Longacre). We conducted our own extensive testing with all of the other systems out there against the e-Level on a variety of vehicles. The results were impressive:

* The e-Level with only ride height sensors was able to re-achieve a balanced vehicle within 1%. (See attached picture)
* The other systems with ride height sensors and pressure sensors struggled to re-achieve a balanced vehicle within 10%.



The simple explanation is that with pressure sensors and height sensors, you have to give one of them priority (usually they first achieve balanced pressures and then balanced heights). If the system's height control capability is not up to par, then it doesn't matter what you did with the pressures initially, the height sensors will put you back out of balance. The e-Level system is so accurate with it's height control that it yields accurate results for both corner heights and corner weights.

P.S. Here is a picture of our '72 Suburban on air. It has been part of our test fleet for 10 years and much of the e-Level development has taken place on it.

[gringoloco]

[TimE]

That is exactly the type of control I want for my truck. Looks like I'm gonna have to raid the piggy bank and start rolling pennies for one of these systems.

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Looks like I need to start saveing now..... Nice sub but I gotta ask where did those taillights come from?

[AccuAirSuspension]

Originally Posted by FRENCHBLUE72

Looks like I need to start saveing now..... Nice sub but I gotta ask where did those taillights come from?

Thanks... the taillights are from a '99 Supra flipped vertical. That was 2 weeks worth of English-Wheel work that I probably wouldn't choose to do again, although they do look pretty good compared to the factory style taillights.

[Rokcrln]

Originally Posted by AccuAirSuspension

Thanks... the taillights are from a '99 Supra flipped vertical. That was 2 weeks worth of English-Wheel work that I probably wouldn't choose to do again, although they do look pretty good compared to the factory style taillights.

Now thats not fair because most lights look better then stock Burb lights! J/K guys but I really do want to find a better light for my 72 4 door Tahoe, maybe 67 nova lights.

Accuair Guy we need a name to go along with your posts. Thank you for the lengthy answer I believe you covered most questions so far. Yes you are right one of the systems I have used with both psi and ride sensors claims that the computer will detect say a ride height sensor showing a low corner but if that corner also shows a higher psi then it "knows" the ground is off and waits to adjust. I installed it for a customer and I was very pleased with the end results and the customer has been very happy with it now for about 6 months or so. I still like the look of your system and the compactness (is that a word?) of your system and your head display would mold in very nice next to an I-pod driven stereo system.
I will be sending you a PM later tonight for some more detailed questions.

Thanks for you time.
Kevin
LFD Inc.

[see ten]

Originally Posted by Rokcrln

Accuair Guy we need a name to go along with your posts.

Kevin....Check out his sig. I'm guessing his name is Reno Heon?

I spoke with his Co-founder Dustin on the phone today about adding their system to Christy's 54. He was very helpful/knowledgable and tolerated all of my questions. This mod may be in the very near future for us.

[see ten]

Originally Posted by fastbagged68

Does anyone know how I can post a movie clip of it working?

I've hosted videos on Photobucket. You can post them just like you would a photo when typing out a message.

[Rokcrln]

Originally Posted by see ten

Kevin....Check out his sig. I'm guessing his name is Reno Heon?

I spoke with his Co-founder Dustin on the phone today about adding their system to Christy's 54. He was very helpful/knowledgable and tolerated all of my questions. This mod may be in the very near future for us.

Hey now lets not confuse the issue with facts!

Sorry Reno,

Kevin

[runpasthefence]

This looks like an awesome system. I'm using their manifold (pictured earlier in thread) and it works perfectly.

[Hart_Rod]

Originally Posted by AccuAirSuspension

Thanks... the taillights are from a '99 Supra flipped vertical. That was 2 weeks worth of English-Wheel work that I probably wouldn't choose to do again, although they do look pretty good compared to the factory style taillights.

Welcome aboard! Glad to see someone else doesn't like the Burb tail lights either, . Back on topic, I saw some "laser" height indicators in a magazine and was wondering why you didn't use them in your system? They seem like they would be highly accurate or are they just for "wow" factor? Looking forward to seeing more information on your system as I will be finishing up my Burb this fall.

R/

[fastbagged68]

I got my system working tonight. I will post pics tomorrow (Thursday). I need to calibrate it and finish up a couple loose ends. If any of guys got questions let me know.

[Rokcrln]

Originally Posted by fastbagged68

I got my system working tonight. I will post pics tomorrow (Thursday). I need to calibrate it and finish up a couple loose ends. If any of guys got questions let me know.

Sounds good, looking forward to it. So am I correct that your Burb is pictured on their site in the customer builds? If so that thing is nice Get some pics of the rear suspension set when you are clicking away. I know it is a simple locater set up I have just not seen one used on this style of suspension before.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Twisted78SS]

If you want, I can host a video on one of my websites and provide a link to it. Or I guess youtube would work too.

[AccuAirSuspension]

Originally Posted by Rokcrln

Now thats not fair because most lights look better then stock Burb lights! J/K guys but I really do want to find a better light for my 72 4 door Tahoe, maybe 67 nova lights.

Accuair Guy we need a name to go along with your posts. Thank you for the lengthy answer I believe you covered most questions so far. Yes you are right one of the systems I have used with both psi and ride sensors claims that the computer will detect say a ride height sensor showing a low corner but if that corner also shows a higher psi then it "knows" the ground is off and waits to adjust. I installed it for a customer and I was very pleased with the end results and the customer has been very happy with it now for about 6 months or so. I still like the look of your system and the compactness (is that a word?) of your system and your head display would mold in very nice next to an I-pod driven stereo system.
I will be sending you a PM later tonight for some more detailed questions.

Thanks for you time.
Kevin
LFD Inc.

Kevin, Glad to see that you got my name figured out, j/k. You probably just assumed that I had put the city I was born in my signature or something, lol.

To answer your specific question about the detection of a curb, I think that you may have been mislead. Although I have never seen that claim from them, it would be an impossible thing to accomplish if they had tried. Here's why...

The logic for the scenario that you are describing; height sensor detects a LOW corner & pressure sensor detects HIGH pressure = No adjustment doesn't work for a load leveling type system because increasing the load would create the same logic; the height sensor detects a LOW corner due to load & pressure sensor detects HIGH pressure also due to load. So if you put this type of logic in place you would no longer have a load leveling system.

If I was trying to solve the "curb" challenge, I would lean toward intelligently comparing all of the height sensors to each other... yet again this really isn't a problem worth addressing with a system like ours because 5 seconds after pulling off of the curb, the RideMonitor Mode will automatically adjust the vehicle back to target heights!

I will be at the GG Pleasanton show this Sat and Sun and the GG Del Mar show next weekend with display vehicles at both. Any of you who will also be attending are welcome to PM me so that I can devote some one on one demonstration time.

[fastbagged68]

Attached are some pics of my wishbone.

I got the system working today after a few obstacles. My truck did not want to run when I went to calibrate the system. The batteries need to be charged. The motor has about 10.9-1 compression and takes a little power to crank it over. And with my Oasis compressor running through a few cycles definitely killed the batteries.

Once I got the system calibrated it worked flawlessly. The controller is so cool when lit up. The controller lights up in all kinds of different patterns to trouble shoot. You can turn off the "Auto Lift on Start Command". When the system has low voltage it lights up ascending the lights down the control panel. I will try to post some pics tomorrow of the control panel lit up and a short video of the system working.

[smbrouss70]

First of all, I think that this is an amazing system. I had found out about your company when the 1st gen system was being sold. Your new system looks quite a bit better as far as form & function goes. I will definately be investing in this when my bags are installed on my truck.

fastbagged68 - What is the bar that comes under your differential connected to? Is it welded to the frame rails or ?? If so, does that limit your lift?

[Rokcrln]

Originally Posted by AccuAirSuspension

Kevin, Glad to see that you got my name figured out, j/k. You probably just assumed that I had put the city I was born in my signature or something, lol.


.

That makes goos sense thanks for the info. As far as your name goes I had already started typing the question and just scrolled down in the reply area and Sig's do not show in that screen so I missed it. Good thing I didn't think your name was Obispo I will try and swing by Sunday and meet you.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[70k52wd]

subscribed.

[AccuAirSuspension]

Originally Posted by Hart_Rod

Welcome aboard! Glad to see someone else doesn't like the Burb tail lights either, . Back on topic, I saw some "laser" height indicators in a magazine and was wondering why you didn't use them in your system? They seem like they would be highly accurate or are they just for "wow" factor? Looking forward to seeing more information on your system as I will be finishing up my Burb this fall.

R/

Is it sad that the term "height sensor" has been part of my daily vocabulary for the last 9 years? lol

The "laser" height sensors are a little about the "wow" factor as you mentioned. We actually did a show-only vehicle in 2006 with ultra-sonic height sensors that worked by reflecting sounds waves off of the ground (about $3,500 for one vehicle though, so that was 100% wow factor). We have spent a lot of time researching and testing all of these avenues. The bottom line for us is reliability... both infra-red and ultra-sonics are susceptible to debris. If one little chunk of anything gets in the way, your height readings are now erroneous... bad news. Since 2001, we have stuck with off-the-shelf OEM style sensors because they are flat out reliable (we figure that if it's reliable enough for Grandma's new caddy, then it is reliable enough for all of us).

The sensors that you see on this installation thread are our older "linear" style sensors that we used with our GEN1 controller. The owner already had them from a previous project and they work fine. We now include the following rotational style sensor with the e-Level controller because it hides away a little easier and offers more versatility (the big three use this exact sensor on many new cars and trucks) :

[Long63]

So the wishbone mounts directly to the trailing arms? What is the bar running under the rear axle?