Busy Northmead Civil protects vehicle reliability and safety with the Rite air spring solution

The oddly shaped, uneven and widely varying loads on different trips can ultimately wear down the springs and lead to excessive body roll, sagging and reliability issues that no busy tradesman can afford.

“You rely on your vehicle day in, day out – so you need to ensure it’s reliable and safe. On a busy site, the last thing you want to be worrying about is whether your vehicles going to get you through the job,” says Mark Telfer of plumbing, draining and gas fitting specialist Northmead Civil Pty Ltd. The long-established company is quality endorsed to ISO9001:2000 and accredited by Sydney Water as a Development Operations Supplier.

Mark operates a 2000 2.7 litre Toyota Hilux ute which is constantly called upon to carry the full paraphernalia of the business he and his father Lyall operate throughout busy Sydney worksites, often also towing a box trailer containing a pressure washer.

“We certainly had issues with body roll and sag. We also wanted to optimise load capacity and safety – and make sure the tail didn’t drag when carrying a full load or towing. We value our reputation for reliability and safety,” said Mr Telfer, who consulted air suspension specialist Ian Murphy of All Air Suspensions Pty Ltd.

Ian Murphy’s own 2004 BA Falcon AWD RTV flatbed ute is equipped with a Firestone Ride-Rite kit, so he practices what he preaches.

Not only does the Ride-Rite air helper suspension system give better ride and handling – these are the same springs often fitted to luxury 4wds and as original equipment to leading heavy truck brands - but also the air springs can be inflated to different pressures to cope with uneven loads and varying weight distribution.

Instead of beating the life out of suspensions not designed for the battering dished out by NSW roads, these air springs protect the existing springs and chassis of the vehicle as well as the driver. By simply adding or removing air they can maintain the same vehicle height under different load conditions. This gives ideal performance and safety from empty to full. Fitted between the chassis and leaf springs, they absorb the increasing weight of loads that cause vehicles to sag or lean, resulting in hazardous driving conditions and wear and tear on the vehicle's tyres, suspension and frame.

“Ride-Rite air helper springs work with the existing suspension to re-level loaded vehicles to their ideal configuration, which is with frame and body parallel to the ground, as in an unloaded vehicle,” says Ian Murphy. “Ride-Rite kits also have benefits when the vehicle is empty, because the air pressure takes the strain off existing leaf springs, preventing sagging and helping them to last longer.”

Mark Telfer says the improvement with the Ride-Rite installation has been outstanding – “It’s removed the body roll and the vehicle doesn’t drag its backside when it’s towing. Even though the truck has 77,000km on it now, it rides flat and true.

“This vehicle was in very good condition when we brought it from a careful country user and we wanted to keep it that way. Now we can pump 40-45psi into the airbags to support heavy loads and take the weight of the leaf springs. The vehicle is riding at the right height, braking well and steering well. Once we changed the braking load adjuster to accommodate the helper springs, they were ideal.

The Firestone Rite-Rite® suspension systems from NSW distributor All Air Suspension are designed for light trucks, utes, vans and 4wd work vehicles fitted with conventional leaf-spring suspensions. (Full air conversions are also available for a number of more popular coil-sprung vehicles)

Ride Rite springs (inflated by standard workshop compressors or optional onboard compressor systems) can handle 0-7 bar (0-100 psi) and up to 1100kg each (subject to chassis gross vehicle weight limits).

Ride-Rite products and accessories include:

• Basic Ride-Rite kits for different types of vehicles, including two air helper springs, air lines with separate tyre-type inflation valves, hardware for proper installation
• Ride-Rite Air Compressor Accessory kit, containing a 12-volt air compressor, half gallon (2.25 litre) tank, pressure switch and tubing to inflate not only the air helper springs, but also tyres.
• Ride-Rite Dual Cab Control Kit, Single Cab Control Kit, Automatic Control Kit and Level Command Kits. These can provide in-cab adjustment for unbalanced loads, including back-to-front and side-to-side loading problems.

For further information about this media release or the name of fitting specialists throughout NSW, please contact All Air Suspension, 10 Angas St (Cnr Underdale Lane), Meadowbank, Sydney 2114 ph (02) 9807 7641, fax (02) 9807 7643 For inquiries nationally, Airbag Man, PO Box 337 Albany Creek, Queensland 4035 Tel: (07) 3889 6556 Fax: (07) 3889 6557 or call 1800 AIRBAG

All Air Suspension Telephone +61 2 9807 7641 Fax +61 2 9807 7643 e-mail sales@allair.com.au