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height control with lift?


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I have an 88 GL wagon that was origonaly a GL-10. it had the height control on it along with the normal GL-10 accessories. turbo, sunroof, power everything, etc....

 

when it was converted to a GL, it had a 2 inch lift installed. so the height control had to come off im guessing. but it seems like the HC could still work for the back suspension.

 

So, is it possible to still have my height control on the back suspention? and work? lol cause im sure everyone will agree, rear end sag sucks!

 

thanks

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yes, i know that. but im asking if it will work if i was to put the rear air shocks back in and rewire it all. but ONLY the back. like, does the front have to be wired also in order for it all to work properly?

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My guess is probably not. The computer for the hight control tries to level out the car at all times, so if the front sensors/shocks aren't there, the computer will probably complain and throw a code. You MIGHT be able to trick the computer with resistors or something, I am not sure on that.

 

Why do you want the HC just for the rears? The HC systems are not very robust systems at all, so why would you want to re add in a buggy, old, unreliable system? It seems like alot of work, for very little gain IMHO. I think there are some 4wd shocks that you can "adjust" to a point, but someone else will have to verify that.

 

If all you care about is a saggy rear end, just get 3" blocks for the rear struts instead of 2", that should solve the saggy rear issue a little bit...

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yeah, the factory system kind of needs all four corners working for it to work correctly, so i dont think that is where you want to go.

it works by monitoring how the car is sitting and adjusting as needed to maintain a predetermined "level" stance. all 4 corners are tied together, so only having the rears hooked up would not make the system happy, if you could get it to work at all that way.

 

if you really want to use an air system, you would be better off finding some kind of aftermarket sytem and making that work (personally, i wouldnt go air, but that is my opinion).

if you are just trying to correct a saggy rear condition - new shocks and possibly different springs would go a long way to fixing that and be a lot cheaper in the long run.

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silly rabbits - it's easy and yes it can be done just as he says. very, very simple to do actually. i'll elaborate latter on options, there's plenty and it's easy.

 

but - the rear air struts don't hold up to extra weight very well. i'd consider just getting new struts/springs - how old are the struts/springs that you have? or even better yet - upgrade them to something more appropriate for what you need. i've had engine/trans etc in the rear of my XT6 (all 4WD XT6's have air suspension) and they'll just sag with all that weight.

 

if you're still interested in doing this:

 

if they left the wiring and air lines in place, then it's just a matter of bolting up struts and plugging them in.

 

if the compressor/tank/computer is missing - you'll need those installed. or you could fabricate your own air supply. you can splice in a valve to the rear struts and just air them up yourself.

 

if everything is missing, just install your own valve to air them up and you're done. have one of those 12 compressors and air it up as needed. that would actually be more reliable probably by removing all the leak and failure points like solenoids, sensors, a ton of orings, low grade compressor, computer, etc. no wiring at all - just air it up. it's really easy to do.

 

the air struts are actually nice because they ride nice and can be more reliable than conventional struts, never really needing to be replaced...but getting good parts and replacing all the orings, etc to get them reliable is hardly worth it for anyone.

Edited by grossgary
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:lol: Ya, I forgot that you have done that. Make sense to just remove the computer and power the shocks yourself. Good tip :)
now that you say it, that is the only option that makes sense for 99% of people. remove the 20 year old compressor, tank, sensors, solenoids, orings, etc from the equation, well worth the effort no doubt.

 

funny thing - one of my XT6's is currently running the opposite - front air struts and rear coil overs. the 2" lift causes the rear air struts to leak (pressure on bushings not even enough or something) because the top strut mount bushings also seal the top of the strut where the rod passes through. even with brand new bushings it wouldn't seal it when lifted. got some high performance marine grade sealant for when i install the lift on my new XT6 to see if that holds. but with the way the rod passes through multiple fittings/bushings i'm afraid that's not even going to work.

 

eulogious - you moved from CA to WA or i'm confused?:confused:

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