Not so Smart Air Suspension -

[CONCH]

Saw a friend's new Porsche recently. We're both old men. So ingress/egress to high/low vehicles can be a challenge (not for us of course). No issue for him in his new Porsche - when he opens the door it automatically raises up so ingress is easier! Returns to squat road mode when he closes the door. NICE. So Im thinking - as GREAT as the LR4 Air suspension system is, it could use some modernization. I not so old (only 73 years young) that I can't get in & out of the Vette or LR4, but I do forget to push the button to the ingress/egress lower mode when going into Park to aid the wife and other passengers. And wouldn't it be swell if we could use the remote to lower it during an approach from the store? But in their ridiculous pursuit of safety they programmed it only to work if you turn the four way flashers on! Sheesh. I'm already in the vehicle to do that and the air control switch isnt that far away. OK, I get it - for trailering help. Yada Yada Yada.

Finally - the question. Does the XLifter or any other aftermarket system - or programming - allow us to make the Air Suspension system more automated from an outside/remote use standpoint, or tied to the Park position? Perhaps one of you computer programming savy folks could do something with the GAP and BCM.

Until then, Im going to tape a reminder onto the middle of the steering wheel to push that dang egress button!!! And maybe add to push that dang ECO button right after I push the start one!

 

[djkaosone]

Great question... xlifter was created and manufactured by 1 single person. He's always looking to improving the highly programmable xlifter. He's pretty responsive and looking for feature requests as a useful challenge. Reach out to him to see if this is something he'd be interested in doing.

 

[CONCH]

Thanks DJ. Wasn't aware of that, and I have been curious about the xLifter system. I'll give that a try.

 

[powershift]

The xLifter looks attractive. 12.2" max of ground clearance up from 9.4". I could have used that extra height. I'm curious what the repercussions would be driving around at max height like that continually (under 30 MPH). I wonder if they were thinking about rollovers, mechanical stress, longevity, ect. or if it was to have the feature where if the front end bottoms out, it lets you raise the suspension further to back out. The problem with that feature is it sucks and not useful yet lol. Couldn't get it to trigger on the side of a hill, but when level it works fine.

 

[djkaosone]

I have the first gen ones before covid and it's been a life saver. Meaning my wife would get mad at me for leveling the truck on rocks, and the xlifter's auto leveling saved me from countless arguments. You can adjust height on the fly. For liability purposes I don't recommend it, but I've raised/lowered while moving at 80 mph. For skyrocket height, it's recommended for short emergency purposes and not for daily driving because of axle angles. Off roading, I typically put it on +25mm which is just an inch height and I can get through 90% of the things I need like ruts, uneven trails, washboards, etc... +55mm for the extra lift on more incline/decline angles. Suspension droop is just as important as clearance for traction.

Again, I love my xlifter and there's a perfect spot for it on the left of the dashboard. It just fits snuggly.

 

[itsaguything]

I have the first gen ones before covid and it's been a life saver. Meaning my wife would get mad at me for leveling the truck on rocks, and the xlifter's auto leveling saved me from countless arguments. You can adjust height on the fly. For liability purposes I don't recommend it, but I've raised/lowered while moving at 80 mph. For skyrocket height, it's recommended for short emergency purposes and not for daily driving because of axle angles. Off roading, I typically put it on +25mm which is just an inch height and I can get through 90% of the things I need like ruts, uneven trails, washboards, etc... +55mm for the extra lift on more incline/decline angles. Suspension droop is just as important as clearance for traction.

Again, I love my xlifter and there's a perfect spot for it on the left of the dashboard. It just fits snuggly.

Pic?

 

[powershift]

I've been leveling the air mattress by shimming it to counter some inclines, but that is limited. The manual says that I can use the key fob to raise and lower, but I've only been able to lower it once and from that point I can't get it to work at all. All that happens when following the button press sequence is the headlights turn on/off.

The manual also states there is an off-road mode, extended mode and then additional lift in extended mode so maybe the xlifter is enabling the "additional lift in extended mode. In later software a feature is available to provide additional body clearance when in extended mode."

 

[djkaosone]

Don't mind the dust... I haven't cleaned it since our last outing.

 

[djkaosone]

I've been leveling the air mattress by shimming it to counter some inclines, but that is limited. The manual says that I can use the key fob to raise and lower, but I've only been able to lower it once and from that point I can't get it to work at all. All that happens when following the button press sequence is the headlights turn on/off.

The manual also states there is an off-road mode, extended mode and then additional lift in extended mode so maybe the xlifter is enabling the "additional lift in extended mode. In later software a feature is available to provide additional body clearance when in extended mode."

Imagine the xlifter as a piggyback to the oem system and that's all it is. I use the xlifter as a compliment to the oem modes as well. If I'm going to use crawl mode, I will put the xlifter back to +/-0 before putting it in neutral, lo gear, and switch to crawl mode. The reason behind that is the xlifter will piggyback whatever the oem system is doing.

If the oem system is in +55mm for crawl mode, and I add another +55mm with the xlifter it WILL fault and error out with "Suspension Fail". However, if I need another (max up to) +20mm with the xlifter while it's still in +55 crawl mode I can do it without issues.

Another thing to add is that the xlifter can put the truck at any desired height without the oem suspension lowering itself if you reach 30 mph.