Air vs coil suspension

[Americantruck04]

Does the air suspension have less articulation/flex than coil?

 

[PowerJrod]

Does the air suspension have less articulation/flex than coil?

I was told it is less. There are only two things that the air suspension is good for...and that's adjustable height and ride comfort. If you're into off roading...coil is the way to go. There's a reason why you don't see many Wranglers with air suspension.

 

[Bassinb]

I was told it is less. There are only two things that the air suspension is good for...and that's adjustable height and ride comfort. If you're into off roading...coil is the way to go. There's a reason why you don't see many Wranglers with air suspension.

Also good for towing.

 

[iLikeTurtles]

Glad i got air ride.














Also glad i got a 100k bumper to bumper warranty lol.

 

[Boston]

Seen plenty of air suspension land rovers off road.
Better off with coil simplicity and reliability. That's the reason you don't see many Jeep's with air suspension

 

[staylor81]

Air suspension is more comfortable but if it breaks holy hell is it expensive to fix. Spent over 3k replacing parts on mine and still was never right. Got rid of it and will never by one with it in it again.

 

[SpeedyV]

AS + lifetime warranty FTW

 

[Wsmith]

I did test drives in both, coil and air. I didn't notice a significant difference in ride comfort. The air adjustability is nice, I decided why pay over 1K for a potential problem. My brother bought a 19 with air and has had no problems, he has always had better luck than me.

 

[staylor81]

AS + lifetime warranty FTW

Yeah when i bought mine it was used and i wasn't too familiar with it at the time but boy did I learn. Even with warranty I don't think I'd still want it. Like I said I spent a lot of money for the Ram dealership to fix it and it still never rode or acted the same. I left that truck in their shop at least 10 times over night. And if it wasn't acting up while in their possession they couldn't tell what was wrong with it. I said never again.

 

[TruckDriver]

Does the air suspension have less articulation/flex than coil?

I wonder if anyone's done an actual RTI score, it's possible the TFLTruck Channel might have tried it or it could be requested. Heck I'd take my truck to a ramp if there was one around.

I've heard it's less and expect that makes sense, theoretically coils can compress down to their physical limit without damage, but I'm not sure what the physical 'squish' limit or travel range is of the air shock.

From my experience with air suspensions, they are designed to mimic coil range of motion, but when it comes to durability off road and repeated abuse, I'd go coils (and I personally have Air on my rebel as this isn't my primary trail rig)

 

[BmoreStew]

I’ve got the air on mine. If it weren’t for 2 considerations, I’d skip it.

1) towing/hauling - you’re always level with air, which is nice, but not a need-to-have feature.
2) parking - I’ve got to travel into the city from time to time for work and into the burbs for errands. Being able to lower the truck a couple inches to get through a garage has saved my bacon a couple times. I’ve even bumped my shark fin on a sign in a garage which was hanging lower than the 6’6” it indicated - it was nice to be able to hit a button and sail under it on the way out without a problem.

Other than those 2 items, air ride adds money, weight, and potential complication. While it’s been awesome so far and i haven’t had any issues, if I didn’t need it, I’d of skipped it.

 

[BmoreStew]

Oh, on articulation, I don’t think it’s restrictive compare to stock coils, but that’s the best it’s ever going to be. There’s no aftermarket bolt-on replacements, that I’ve seen.

At it’s lowest and highest settings it’s a harsh ride too. the normal setting is great, but you’re not desert running in the off-road settings... either you or the truck would break apart at speed.

 

[Ram1500rsm]

Air suspension is more comfortable but if it breaks holy hell is it expensive to fix. Spent over 3k replacing parts on mine and still was never right. Got rid of it and will never by one with it in it again.

This. I sold my 12 Jeep GC Overlander because I grew up tired of having to deal with the air system. Got it fixed 2 times under warranty then it broke outside of the warranty and holy cow they wanted more money for the compressor hoses and air shocks than why you’ll pay for performance race coilovers and shocks. Same stuff in our 4th gen 1500’s, when the weather is too cold the shocks don’t want to move, one side only goes up, system stuck in aero mode, compressor fails, leaks... last vehicle I’ll ever own again with air system, the ride is only good in aero or normal, OR2 is a pos rock hard feels there is no travel for those who want to get the system stuck in the highest setting.

Don’t know if FCA may have revised the air system with the new gen 1500 trucks but for what it’s and unless you’re leasing the vehicle that you won’t be modding your stuff, the coil system is a lot better since you can lift or lower it to your likes without the dramas from the air stuff. Feed any coil or shock available and have fun with it and if you go with race shocks you can be a lot more aggressive with your speed out in the dirt with confidence and she feels 10x better onroad as well.

 

[TruckDriver]

Found it - looks like they tested coil sprung only; hopefully someone with air is near a 20* ramp or can point me to one!

Which New Off-Road Truck Has the Best Articulation? Ram vs GMC vs Nissan (Ramp Test)

Which new half-ton off-road truck has the best suspension articulation? This is the first round of 2019 Gold Winch ramp travel index (RTI) testing. This time it

tfltruck.com

 

[RSConsulting]

I think the air rides smoother (seat of the pants observation) and I like being able to lower it to entry/exit to help me get in/out of the truck/bed. Also came in handy going into OR2 when I had to go up a friends rutted driveway in the NC mountains, kept me from bottoming out. Though in my 4X2, I still had to have her boyfriend drag me up the hill in his jeep after I got stuck (how embarrassing). OR2 comes in handy when I have to "curb hop" too.

I had a 19 1500 Classic as a loaner (when mine was in the shop for a day) with no step - could barely haul my fat butt into the drivers seat.

I'm about comfort and convenience. The ride quality seems better to me - and the convenience of being able to go all the way up/down at the flick of a button is very convenient. 7 yr/unlimited MaxCare - not concerned about repairs all that much.

YMMV - these are just opinions - and your needs/intended uses may cause your opinion to be different than mine. If I did (or planned to do) at lot of offroading - I would have gone with coils and a rise. Since this is an urban street truck/daily driver - those aren't required for my needs.

Rick

 

[Neurobit]

Love mine. Truck rides like a dream with AS.

 

[Rsorrell2]

Love my air and it is nice to be able to raise it when I go off road and lower it when I have to park in a garage.

had air in my 2014 Jeep GC Overland and put 75k on it with no issues.

 

[RHeller1]

My last Ram had Air Suspension, rode great but towing is where it shined. New truck has coils, and it is night and day, old truck would stay planted to ground, new truck likes to hop around giving that uneasy feeling quite often. When empty, I feel the ride quailty difference is marginal. I dont tow alot, and I am in deep freeze country where it would freeze up alot. I chose not to get Air on new truck as its not worth the hassle IMO.

 

[Chippy]

Yup new air system has been good compared to previous generation. Very few reports of problems it seems. I tow big boats often and you can’t beat air. for decent better off road you really got to go up to the TRX or Raptor set ups and then towing really goes to crap.

 

[SilverNight2020]

Never had a vehicle with air suspension. So I guess I can't miss what I haven't had. The only reason I am considering adding air to the rear is for the towing aspect. I towed a 3600 lb car hauler empty and it would have squatted like crazy had I not used a WDH. I would expect some rear bags would have leveled that for me without the need for the WDH. I moved some goods for a local charity place the other day, and was surprised to see the amount of squat just for what was in the cab and bed. These trucks squat fairly easily with anything in the back. No that is not trash. It is about 20ish bags of clothing stacked on top of boxes. Dropped them off at the local mission.