Anyone got any feedback on air cups?

[kinger]

Anyone ever played with them?  Thinking of incorporating some when I have the front subframe out on the LS7/8HP swap I am doing. 

Thinking of using a 4 gal pancake tank in the spare tire well, and no compressor, just fill the tank every 30 or so uses of the air spring. 

Why do I want them you ask?  I really want them triggered by door opening so I can get in and out easier lol

Of course inclines, bumps, etc and a possible drag mode where I lift the ass high mainly for looks haha and squat it as soon as I take off. 

Dumb yes, cool and adds functionality to the car yes. 

When done I plan to daily my 7 again and I want to fix or adjust all the things I didn't like about it.  Crawling my way out of it like a old grandpa was not my best look haha, be cool to open door it raises 2" get out comfortably, shut the door use a time delay and 3 seconds as I walk away it lowers with a psssht, as I put on sunglasses on and strut with "damn it feels good to be a gangster" magically playing in the parking lot   

[shainiac]

My only request is that you set it up like a city bus and raise only the driver's side when getting in and out lol.

I don't have any feedback on air cups, but I have had on-board air in my car for a few years and it's really convenient. I primarily use it for boost control, but it's handy for stuff like exhaust cutouts, valved mufflers, etc.

I use an OEM air ride compressor from an Escalade. There are a ton of cars/trucks with factory air ride on eBay to chose from. The OEM stuff is almost always better built, quieter, and more reliable than aftermarket stuff. I also have a 1/2 gal air tank and regulator/pressure switch on the tank. Whole setup weighs under 20#. I can't really hear the compressor run when driving, and it's mounted right behind the driver's seat in the bins. I think you'll get annoyed quickly with filling a tank, and the cups will go through a fair bit of air I'd imagine.

I didn't find much info on what the actual piston area on the different air cups are, but you're going to get proportionally less lift below a certain tank pressure. The fact that the cup's on the spring and the wheel has an agressive motion ratio over the shock/spring, it'll take some pressure to get lift I think.

Also clearance for the cup within the A-arms might be tricky. I think some of the cups are 4.5"-5" OD.

[Venom13132]

i bought a set but haven't been able to install them yet.  I got it with just the compressor no tank.  I just want to be able to lift the front for speed bumps or driveways, etc..

[shainiac]

You might want a small tank, even 1L would be a big improvement. The small 12V compressors don't build pressure very quickly. It takes my compressor a couple of minutes to charge a 2 liter tank from 0-120psi (leaks down slowly over a couple days). The volume in the air cups is probably closer to .25L total, so it'd take maybe 15s to air them up to 120. Might be a little slow for on-the-fly nose lift.

[kinger]

That's good info on OEM compressor, I hadn't thought of that and figured they were canbus controlled.  The cups are really low volume, Stanceworks claims 3-5s on full lift with compressor only.  Less then that with a tank at 100 psi. 

I hadn't thought about the diameter, my springs are 2.5" D I think, I will have to go back and look but the cups didn't show much larger then 3"D again I will verify. 

[shainiac]

The GM compressor I bought had a bunch of wiring that I gutted. It had a 3 pin pressure sensor that I'm assuming goes to some control box that turns the pump on/off. I cut off the red/black wires directly to the compressor and crimped on a DT connector. Power goes to a key-on relay and ground goes through a generic 120psi pressure switch on the tank.
Most of the OE compressors have an integrated dryer. I left mine one and used a compression fitting to mate the OE flexible outlet tube to push lock. Works well, but I have a small leak from old OEM O-rings at the compressor-dryer. There are a TON of OE cars with air suspension now. You might get something nicer on eBay from German cars, but also potentially more complicated.