Consumers' attention is being increasingly focused on riding comfort, maneuverability, road-holding ability, stability, and steerability of vehicles, which in recent years has been conditioning the progress in engineering of air suspension systems. Air pneumatic suspension provides better road performance and more comfort compared to the standard one.
However, it is not uncommon that an air suspension system is out of service before its due time while its cost is rather high. In fairness it must be said, that service life of air suspension depends significantly on the way it is used. Sometimes they are manufacturing or design defects that might cause the failure.
Weak spots of an air suspension systems:
- air spring bellows;
- compressor;
- air lines;
- electronics.
It should be noted that in most cases compressor failure is directly related to the air spring bellow damage. Perforations in the bellow casing appear due to natural wear, as they are fabricated rubber products. The dust shield does not protect from sand and dust accumulating on its surface. Friction of the air spring bellow against the piston leads to the tiny perforations. These leaks are difficult to detect because of the low air leakage rate. Pressure in the air bellow doesn’t drop significantly for the next 1-2 hours, so the fault is often detected only when some more serious trouble occurs.
An average life cycle of a sleeve-type air spring bellow ranges from 70 to 100 thousand km.
In terms of design, the air struts used in passenger cars are pneumatic elements combined with hydraulic shock absorbers. Fluid leaking from the worn shock absorber may eat through the air spring bellow and cause its blowout. As it is quite expensive to replace an air strut, a lot of car owners choose to repair. Official service centers often don’t want to repair air bellows – they refer to the technical regulations of motor manufacturers where these components are said to be maintenance free. This means they are to be replaced only.
Today a growing number of auto services agree to repair air struts and the auto market offers equipment, special tool, and components for repair of air spring bellows.
Special tool for air spring bellows
MSG Equipment introduces its novel solution in the line of special tools for air spring bellows. Tool MS20003 is designed to fit air spring sleeves over air spring bellows. Sleeve-type air spring bellows are widely used by such manufacturers as Audi, Mercedes-Benz, and Land Rover.
Tool MS20003 is a complex-type swivel mechanism that allows installation of universal sleeves with a diameter of up to 140 mm. The time required to slip a sleeve over an air spring bellow is 1-2 minutes and doesn't depend on the air spring bellow type. Effort applied by one person is enough to make it, which enhances productivity and decrease the risk of injury.
Important: The use of universal air spring sleeves gives an opportunity to cut down the number of tools necessary for air spring bellows repair, and thus the expenses.
Contact MSG Equipment managers for details. The tool is available for order.
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