I have a question from you air ride guys. I was wondering if there are any systems on the market that adjust the ride height based on vehicle speed? I know the common air ride system can have large or small dumps depending on what you want to do. What I'm more asking, is there any system that brings in a VSS signal and offers a tiny/small dump to slowly bring the ride height down at higher speeds at which you can set the threshold speed at which it begins to dump and a maximum height dump...ect? Is this something anybody would be interested in if it doesn't exist? I also see no reason why you couldn't have dual dump at each corner, one quick and one small. The quick for the obvious fun, then the small to achieve the speed vs. height adjustment. Thoughts? Concerns?
I know there is some concern about safety here, but this would be tuned to limit exposure to unsafe conditions, up to and including a 3-axis accelerometer to identify when in turns and not allow the system to drop...until a straight away condition allows....ect. All safety issues could be addressed...so are there anymore I'm missing?
EDIT: I know this could cause the compressor to run damn near constantly depending on settings and driving style, but this system could obviously be turned on and off depending on whether I'd want it active.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edited Tuesday, December 08, 2009 6:48 AM
"Never argue with an idiot. They'll drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience!" -Anonymous
Would a system like this be of any interest to anybody?
"Never argue with an idiot. They'll drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience!" -Anonymous
Never heard of it. I have the Easy Street Digital kit and it had a ton of wires, I can't imagine something like you are talking about.
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I know the concept of what you are talking about and i believe it was done on old muscle cars that were converted to chase planes on take-off.
219whp - I <3 whine
^Interesting
Yeah, I'm sure it's been done before....I know I can build it too, but now I'm wondering if the benefit would be even worth the hastle. This is obviously a personal opinion, but it falls under that whole concept of the articulating spoiler that Porsche put on some of their cars. Same kinda deal...nifty, but worth it? haha
"Never argue with an idiot. They'll drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience!" -Anonymous
there are allot of cars out there with this option from the factory. when the car reaches speed or put into sport mode it drops down etc etc. it can be done. would just need some sensors hooked up to the speedo to send a charge to the valves the hard part would be just getting it to send and exact charge to get it to the exact height u want.
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and use small oriface valve so the change is yer gradual for it doesnt jerk the steering.
sndsgood wrote:there are allot of cars out there with this option from the factory. when the car reaches speed or put into sport mode it drops down etc etc. it can be done. would just need some sensors hooked up to the speedo to send a charge to the valves the hard part would be just getting it to send and exact charge to get it to the exact height u want.
Well the way I would do it would be thru a PWM pneumatic valve, then send a pulse width in the form of a duty cycle like an injector, this would pulse the valve and allow air to evacuate the bags depending on the PWM characteristics. You could do similar with a charge as you say in the form of a 4-20mA output to a valve controller but all that controller would do is convert that current signal inside to the exact same PWM drive I can do directly from the processor(with a low or high current driver driving the actual valve output). I would then compare the VSS to preset starting criteria ect.. Then also bring in a 4-20mA current signal or a digital 8 bit data set form a 3-axis accelerometer depending on the output sensor type. Probly an 8bit or possibly 12bit would be the best. Then run that into a digital/analog converter and bring it into the processor as a simple voltage reference signal. Then use the 3-axis data to also disable the air valves when the axial acceleration is greater than X of whatever would be needed to keep it very safe. I would bring in all x,y and z axises for bumps/whoops/fast hills, turning, stopping or very hard power accelerating since I wouldn't want this system to cause wheel-hop or break the tires loose on accel or decel conditions.
Basically this system would really only be used while approaching highway speeds, and only while the system would be 'activated'.
This sounds all good and fine, but the added complexity.....I'm still out to lunch on. Just sounds like a whole bunch of crap waiting to fail...like all the additional valves, wires, sensors, ect.
However the idea of load leveling or automatic corner balancing using strain gauges at start up or by push button does sound interesting......
Edited 2 time(s). Last edited Wednesday, December 09, 2009 10:06 AM
"Never argue with an idiot. They'll drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience!" -Anonymous
Joshua Dearman wrote:sndsgood wrote:there are allot of cars out there with this option from the factory. when the car reaches speed or put into sport mode it drops down etc etc. it can be done. would just need some sensors hooked up to the speedo to send a charge to the valves the hard part would be just getting it to send and exact charge to get it to the exact height u want.
Well the way I would do it would be thru a PWM pneumatic valve, then send a pulse width in the form of a duty cycle like an injector, this would pulse the valve and allow air to evacuate the bags depending on the PWM characteristics. You could do similar with a charge as you say in the form of a 4-20mA output to a valve controller but all that controller would do is convert that current signal inside to the exact same PWM drive I can do directly from the processor(with a low or high current driver driving the actual valve output). I would then compare the VSS to preset starting criteria ect.. Then also bring in a 4-20mA current signal or a digital 8 bit data set form a 3-axis accelerometer depending on the output sensor type. Probly an 8bit or possibly 12bit would be the best. Then run that into a digital/analog converter and bring it into the processor as a simple voltage reference signal. Then use the 3-axis data to also disable the air valves when the axial acceleration is greater than X of whatever would be needed to keep it very safe. I would bring in all x,y and z axises for bumps/whoops/fast hills, turning, stopping or very hard power accelerating since I wouldn't want this system to cause wheel-hop or break the tires loose on accel or decel conditions.
Basically this system would really only be used while approaching highway speeds, and only while the system would be 'activated'.
This sounds all good and fine, but the added complexity.....I'm still out to lunch on. Just sounds like a whole bunch of crap waiting to fail...like all the additional valves, wires, sensors, ect.
However the idea of load leveling or automatic corner balancing using strain gauges at start up or by push button does sound interesting......
I second the statement in bold, it sounds like a headache of an install, not to mention the troubleshooting process.
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i see no use for this on a cavi. most if not all of us that have air or had didnt do it for the comfort thing it was all show. hence why some jump up to 1/2 valves so it moves faster to play around with.
