Air Management Opinions

There are hundreds of threads out there discussing air management, and I was hoping to get some opinions together in one place from the VIP community.  My personal situation is I have D2 air on my Y50 and am badly in need of an upgrade to the provided 4 valve f/b setup and would love to hear perspective on this.  My setup now is two Viair (I believe 400c) compressors, the D2 5 gallon tank with no water trap or drain, and 1/4 line with f/b switches and a dual needle analog gauge.  This is the D2 basic setup with dual compressors plumbed in addition.

First thing that needs to happen is gaining pressure control over each corner individually to improve handling, ride quality, and to minimize alignment changes.  What is everyone's suggestion on how to do this?  My cheap option now is to add four valves, and an analog gauge and rocker switches.  Seems like a lot of complexity and a lot of opportunities to become unreliable.

Secondarily, how best to manage those changes?  Is the auto-level setup offered by AccuAir and a few others worth the extra money and initial setup and install time?  I'm not so sure I completely understand the value of the height vs. pressure control.  To me, height is dictated by the positioning of the suspension collars, the pressure dictates the spring rate.  Level is great, but if setup appropriately shouldn't pressure be more desirable for handling and ride quality adjustment, not to mention level?

The AccuAir SwitchSpeed controller and VU4 manifold seem to be my best and most cost effective option at current.  However there does not seem to be a huge amount of info on this particular setup, more so the eLevel.

Intelligent conversation and opinions are welcome and appreciated!  Any other suggestions for upgrades or how else to look at this would also be appreciated!

I am new here but have been checking out forums for the last month or so about air management.  I have talked to Air Lift and Accuair over the phone along with a ton of dealers to see what is popular.

After hundreds of hours reading I finally bit the bullet and went with the E-Level from Accuair.  It has 3 settings plus individual wheel control.  The most important thing about this system are the height sensors.  Any automotive manufacturer that sells a vehicle with factory air runs height sensors.  This is so the system actually knows where your at for height.  And the fact that its repeatable every time makes it even better.  

On pressure based systems you are stuck guessing numbers.  Let's say you have 50psi in all four bags and the car is level without a driver.  We will call this preset one.  One you get in the driver seat the car sags on the drivers side and pressure changes by a couple PSI.  If you happen to add another passenger psi goes up and car is lower than preset 1.  If could always hit preset 2 set for a higher pressure to correct this.  Again assuming that when preset 2 is used the car goes back to a level driving height and so on per preset.

With the accuair and it's auto monitoring no matter the added or subtracted weight to the vehicle it's always level and always at the preset ride height.  

With a pressure based system that auto monitors it's system the added weight will actually drop the car causing no good to your alignment and possible damage.  

You are correct higher pressures means a stiffer ride.  But it also means an elevated ride height.  I am all about tracking my car and again it comes down to still running an E-Level.  It always will know where I'm at for height.  

I have been a mechanic for years and have been watching the guys do alignments left and right the last month or so.  One thing I never paid attention to is there is no one in the car when the vehicle is aligned.  So my belief is when I install the E-Level and get the car aligned it will always be perfect even with me in the car, with passengers etc...  I feel that this cannot be achieved easily with a pressure based systems since there are so many factors coming into play.  Weight of driver, passengers, cargo placement, outside temp, etc.  

I hope this helps your thought process as it did mine.

Mike's right on this one. AccuAir e-level IS the right way to go, if spending an extra kilo of coins ain't a problem, which it shouldn't...

I too got the D2 kit but Deluxe with the extra 380 compressor and valve set to get FBSS setup, I also installed Dakota Digitals digi pressure senders and display to get rid of the extra air lines. But still you really need to know what psi your ride works with diff weight on the car... height sensors will help with this immensely, but not a necessity. Oh and btw dakota also got height sensors + management software in the 1,5k range :shrug:

[QUOTE=Juzzo;437110]Mike's right on this one. AccuAir e-level IS the right way to go, if spending an extra kilo of coins ain't a problem, which it shouldn't...

I too got the D2 kit but Deluxe with the extra 380 compressor and valve set to get FBSS setup, I also installed Dakota Digitals digi pressure senders and display to get rid of the extra air lines. But still you really need to know what psi your ride works with diff weight on the car... height sensors will help with this immensely, but not a necessity. Oh and btw dakota also got height sensors + management software in the 1,5k range :shrug:[/QUOTE]

I need to holla at ya about the Dakota Digi stuff. I was also debating on either going accuair (which every one does) and Dakota Digital DHC 2002. This is height and pressure with auto leveling as well. It is around $900 not $1500. I'm leaning towards the dakota due to a few friends of mine which vouch for it. I have air runner waiting to install. I bought the kit with the airlift autopilot which I will sell for cheap. 

[URL]http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dakota-Digital-Air-Ride-Suspension-Controller-DHC-2002-/170661104032?pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item27bc31c9a0[/URL]

My bad... remembered the price wrong from couple years back.:shrug:

[QUOTE=nar8ta;440197]I need to holla at ya about the Dakota Digi stuff. I was also debating on either going accuair (which every one does) and Dakota Digital DHC 2002. This is height and pressure with auto leveling as well. It is around $900 not $1500. I'm leaning towards the dakota due to a few friends of mine which vouch for it. I have air runner waiting to install. I bought the kit with the airlift autopilot which I will sell for cheap. 
 
[URL]http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dakota-Digital-Air-Ride-Suspension-Controller-DHC-2002-/170661104032?pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item27bc31c9a0[/URL][/QUOTE]
 
 
I had the Dakota system. It's nice... However, if I did it again... I would go with the Accuair because of it's accurate, precise and fast adjustment. :shrug: But I would incorporate a digital pressure display to it. I need to know my pressures...

[QUOTE=nar8ta;440197]I need to holla at ya about the Dakota Digi stuff. I was also debating on either going accuair (which every one does) and Dakota Digital DHC 2002. This is height and pressure with auto leveling as well. It is around $900 not $1500. I'm leaning towards the dakota due to a few friends of mine which vouch for it. I have air runner waiting to install. I bought the kit with the airlift autopilot which I will sell for cheap. 

[URL]http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dakota-Digital-Air-Ride-Suspension-Controller-DHC-2002-/170661104032?pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item27bc31c9a0[/URL][/QUOTE]

How much you want for your autopilot? Pm me please

[QUOTE=rodneyc77;440256]I had the Dakota system. It's nice... However, if I did it again... I would go with the Accuair because of it's accurate, precise and fast adjustment. :shrug: But I would incorporate a digital pressure display to it. I need to know my pressures...[/QUOTE]

Rodney, I've been talking to Vlad and he has been telling me to call you and ask ya about the install (things you like and don't like). PM me your number. He said  you may have someone who can help us with the height sensor install in the NYC area. The rest of the install me and V will do.