Hello new shoes. Hello air

[goodie2sandles]

man i would love an air ride some day. but i dont think id have the necessary tools or knowledge for one. maybe a cheaper alternative for me. or maybe even a manual set up, your the man to talk to Spence.
if i plan on doing something air worthy, ill def seek your advice and help.
did you go kit or source things out yourself? also looks with the above doing your own work...wicked!

[X5SND]

Jhay, I put together my own kit....there are a couple kits offered for the X, but none really offered what I wanted while others are just outrageously priced.

With the exception of the TIG welding and operating the waterjet/Cnc machines everything else is all done in house. Pretty much all te stops are being pulled on this management system in terms of parts & esthetics...going for factory level function but show-able level build quality. Sourcing stuff can be a challenge, but being involved in the industry I have an idea where to start looking.

A manually operated air setup is definitely NOT something you want for a daily driven car....for a show car it works, but not otherwise.

I just put in an order for all my fittings and lines...they're about a week away. I'm hoping by next weekend I'll have my truck back on the road!

[X5SND]

PROGRESS UPDATE

Sensor mounting - Check!
Valve mounting - Check!
Tank framing - Drawn, awaiting manufacturing!
Valve mounting plate - Drawn, awaiting manufacturing!
Fittings - In Transit!
Budget for this project - Shot to pieces long ago!

The framework that the tanks & management box sit on are for the most part done....I still need to figure out some mounting brackets for the frame arms, but likely will not do that until I have the pieces in hand later this week. From the side this is what were dealing with:



On the above, the raised portion sits above the battery, and retains about 3" of clearance...more than enough room to remove the ground cable if need be. (I have a ground disconnect switch that needs to be installed....it's been kicking around for almost a year now; prehaps this may be a good time! haha). All in all, the whole assembly once mounted onto the framing, still leaves be about an 1" of clearance to the bottom of the cargo floor....more than enough!

In keeping with my "OCD" theme, after figuring out the framing....I decided that although completely unnecessary, I needed a mounting plate for the management box to mount to.....because a simple box frame will not do at this point. This piece sits in the center of the "arms" for the tanks, not only connecting them, but securing the management box to the frame as well. I need to add in a couple bolt holes yet for each arm...but in the meantime, Voila:



To maybe better illustrate...

In the shot below, (which is the framing arm) the battery of the X is located where the crosshair is, while the management box mounting plate bolts to these arms in the center recessed area.






As for the management box, I finished off my sensor racks and got the bulkheads welded in place, but am currently waiting on the arrival of all the fittings before I move any further. Each bulkhead fitting was turned out on a lathe from a solid chunk of 1.25" diameter 6061 aluminum. The Sensor mounting brackets were drawn up on cad, cut out on the waterjet and bent in the cnc brake.....OCD baby!

Anyways, here's some more eye candy:



That's more or less where the racks go. The top sensors on each rack (green 2 wire & empty spot) are both tank related sensors...One being the pressure switch for the compressor, while the other (empty spot in pic) is for the tank pressure sensor, which is still currently installed on the V1.0 setup. The square tabs with the holes in them on each bracket are so that once all is said and done, all that will be visible are the SS lines, and a single harness from each corner; Each sensor rack has its own cover. It should clean up everything nicely!




At this point the whole project is about a week behind schedule....But I'm hoping with everything more or less ready for the fittings & lines, that by the time they arrive it should be nothing more than a late night'r assembly job!

-S

[SlickGT1]

Dayamn. Love these type of threads. That looks so nice.

[X5SND]

Thanks Slick! Was hoping this would be a nice change of pace from all the "problem" related threads nowadays.

I got shipping confirmations today and dropped off my drawings as well. Should have all my parts in hand for this weekend, then it's off to the races to get this thing done. In the meantime it's going to be just sitting in the garage as it has been for the last 3 weeks collecting dust! lol.

[X5SND]

Thought I may as well park these here....









Delivery is confirmed for the remaining swag, end of day tomorrow.....which means I get to play with my hose's all weekend!


EDIT: I should mention that I had to make some changes to the original design (re my previous post) as some bends we're not feasible without compromising the structural integrity of the material (aluminum) being bent. Hence 1/4" X 2.5" steel for the load-bearing tank mounts while I retained 6061 for the center tray.

[SlickGT1]

That looks like shit. You need to finish building that and send it to me for further scrutiny. Thank you.

[X5SND]

Lol!! I know, I was thinking the same thing....perhaps back to the drawing board!

[X5SND]

Progress Update

I'll try to make this one short...

Pressure sensor harness routed - Check
Interior buttoned back up - Check
Last round of welding - Tomorrow
Sensor covers fabrication - Tomorrow
All outstanding required measurements - Check
Bulkhead harness build - Either later tonight or tomorrow.

I was sent a couple fittings in error and need to swap a couple others to a different angles...so I'll be ordering those tomorrow as well.

Right now the only major fabrication work left to do is the hoses, but thats literally the LAST step that's going to take some time.

Anyways, while I was getting the last set of measurements for the welder I thought I should snap a couple pics of the what these fittings really look like up close as they're really the stars of this show. The black ends against the titanium combine with the nickel plated adapter fittings looks absolutely gorgeous....it's almost a shame to hide them under a lid.

Enjoy:









The two 45's in this above were sent in error....should have been 90's, but are going to be more or less out of sight once the valve mount is tig'd into place.
They're still going to be exchanged.

[Pierce330]

VERY nice, clean work!