Air Suspension
When it comes to air-ride suspension, they come in several styles for both OE replacement and aftermarket upgrades. Some systems use an integrated air spring and shock absorber that replaces your customer’s metal springs with pressure-adjustable air springs (i.e., airbag). Using correctly sized air springs and properly calibrated shock absorbers offers ride characteristics similar to coilovers.

An air-suspension system consists of many different components. Components include an air compressor, air springs, pneumatic solenoid valves, height sensors, electronic control unit, air reservoir, air lines, pressure sensor and temperature sensor. The system may be designed for the rear air suspension only or for the entire vehicle.

While air-suspension systems are mostly used on high-end European cars, manufacturers have adapted them to many other vehicles such as SUVs and pickups to improve ride comfort and functionality. OEMs also discovered that air ride could improve fuel economy by lowering the car at highway speeds to reduce the drag coefficient.

Air Spring

air spring, load-carrying component of an air suspension system used on machines, automobiles, and buses. A system used on buses consists of an air compressor, an air-supply tank, leveling valves, check valves, bellows, and connecting piping. Basically, an air-spring bellows is a column of air confined within a rubber and fabric container that looks like an automobile tire or two or three tires stacked on top of one another. The check valves admit additional air to the bellows from the air-supply tank to maintain vehicle height when the load is increased, and the leveling valves vent excess air from the bellows when the vehicle rises because of unloading. The vehicle thus remains at a fixed height regardless of load. Although an air spring is flexible under normal loads, it becomes progressively stiffer when compressed under an increased load

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Types of Air Springs
Outside of custom fabricated air springs, there are three available types of market-ready air springs.

1.Crimped, convoluted bellows, which attach the bellow to the bead plate by a permanent crimp in the plate. These provide good vibration isolation and linear/angular actuation, but are not for vehicle suspensions.
2.Sleeve bellows, which attach the bellows to the bead plate by an external clamp. This air spring type provides good vibration isolation, but only linear actuation. They are not typical in suspensions.
3. Rolling lobe bellows, which incorporate a piston at one end of the bellows, rather than a bead plate. This is most commonly found in vehicle suspensions, and is generally not recommended for vibration isolation.

Applications

Air springs are widely utilized. Commonly as actuators in amusement park rides, packaging equipment, clutch systems, conveyor belts and scissor lifts, they also act as vibration insulators in centrifuges, commercial laundry machines, measuring and weighing machinery, and textile looms. While the air spring has impacted many industries like oil, logging, construction and manufacturing, it is most prominent in the automobile industry where the air spring is used in suspensions for vehicle brands like Lincoln, Cadillac, Hummer, and Jeep.

FEATURES & BENEFITS
• Air spring suspension absorbs vibration from the road, assuring a more
comfortable ride for people and payloads
• Air springs are a key component in leveling systems, allowing the truck and
trailer level to be adjusted for easier loading and unloading
• Superior air spring suspension performance can help improve fuel
efficiency and reduce wear on road surfaces
• Environmentally friendly manufacturing produces less rubber waste than
many competitors
• Rolling lobe air springs with clamping beads are supplied with pistons,
plates and the internal bumpers, where necessary assembled as a complete
unit
• Designed for longer stroke with minimal change in diameter for maximum
comfort
• High stroke enables loading/unloading and allows easier installation