Active Suspension?

[racingbeast]

How much does it cost to restore an active suspension system? What parts are needed? Is it possible to just eliminate it?

[whiterps13]

On what, a Q45t? Be more specific.

[racingbeast]

I thought Active suspension only came in Q45a's?

[bruce.weiland]

Yes. Active is its' own beast.

I had two and have one now.

Generally all you need are the 9 accumulator, modified and charged by Keith Bowers and about 3 liters of Nissan A active fluid.

The parts from Infiniti/Nissan $10,000.

The 9 accumulators recharge by Keith $1,200. A $8,800 savings.

Replacing your currently flat accumultors will take you around 4 to 8 hours or very easy work. No special tools or knowledge required. Keith will send you the instructions.

I did mine about a week ago.

To eliminate the suspension you need to bypass the pump, not difficult.

You need 4 new shocks and 4 new springs. The springs in an active are just there for failsafe and about 30% weaker than the standard, or "t" cars.

If you have an active car, keep it active. The suspension will really reward you.

Bruce
Modified by bruce.weiland at 5:52 PM 3/7/2007

[racingbeast]

so can i just replace the springs as a temporary fix, and have it running fine for a while? (like w/o the active suspension, it bottoms out right? w/ the springs, will the ride b acceptable?) Btw, how much does the active suspension weigh? What would be a better way to go if i were to think about turning a Q45 into a drifter? Active suspension or coilovers? Thanks a lot bruce for the advice! really helpful!

[bruce.weiland]

NO. You can not just replace the springs. You will need both spings and shocks.

The active suspension is designed to work as it is. It is extremely likely that all the hydraulics are functioning properly. It is just the nitrogen filled accumulators that are flat. Have you tried drifting as is?

Do a search for active suspension and read others comments.

If your intension is to make this Q a drifter, you may not want to keep it active. I would say try it first before you make any changes or repairs. Secondly, if you are making it a drifter, you may actually want a "flat" active.

I don't recall, but I think the active adds a little over 400 lbs to the car. That could be way off.

Do some searching with the search function.

[racingbeast]

well i haven't gotten the car yet, but am thinking about it. How is the car's ride w/ "flat accumulators"?

[Rex]

well i haven't gotten the car yet, but am thinking about it. How is the car's ride w/ "flat accumulators"?

Think wagon-like. Stiff and hard.

Active suspensions, while very nice, are not cheap to re-hab, but not really anymore expensive once you have re-habbed them.

If you don't own an Active Suspension car yet, please research in detail before buying one. You'll be glad you did.

[racingbeast]

so in addition to the accumulators, i'm going to have to get shocks and springs?

[bruce.weiland]

NO! You only need accumulators if you restore the active. The restore job should last you about 50K miles.

The actuators on all four corners of an active Q ARE the active shocks. Each one has a nitrogen charged accumulator attacted to it that make the ride "soft". So, they are kind of like nitrogen charge shocks, except they have the ability to respond to what is happening with the car, under the control of two 16 bit computers, software and input from vertical, lateral, fore and aft accelerometers and wheel position sensors.

If you convert to "standard" suspension. The actuators are replaced by standard shocks. Therefore you do not need the four accumulators on the actuators. Secondly the front and rear main control valves can be removed for weight savings so you don't need their two accumulators or the ones next to them, that is four more. And finally the pump output ballancing valve and its accumulator are unnecessary. That makes 9.

You can remove all of these parts for weight saviings. They will only be of value to someone who has an active, because you need all the hydraulic piping, the electrical harnesses, the sensors and an ECU that is designed for the active suspension to make it work.

You can also replace your power steering pump with one that does not have the active pump piggy back on it. However, you will probably only save a pound or two doing that.

I reiterate, DO A SEARCH AND FIND OUT ABOUT THE ACTIVE SUSPENSION, OR JUST BUY A STANDARD. There are about 9 or 10 to 1 standard suspensions for every active.

Bruce

[racingbeast]

i see... well just wondering, can u convert a non active suspension car into one?

[bruce.weiland]

Reread my post just above.

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unless you have a lot, lot, lot, more money than brains or absolutely nothing to do with your time.

[bruce.weiland]

So racingbeast, have you done a little research on the active?

If you haven't seen this site yet, take a look. It contains what you need to know about installing accumlators and is the ONLY place you can get the "rebuilt" parts you need. There are some articles describing active suspension.

http://www.activesuspensionsys....html

Magazine article

http://www.q45.org/brabhamq45a/

San Diego area Q specialist about conversion to non-active,but it will cost less than $2k to rehab the active not the $4.5k he quotes.

His conversion price $2.5k, have you shopped for springs and shock?

One advantage to a converted 'a' is that you will already have the rear sway bar that most recommend.

http://www.jerrytucker.net/news/pr02.htm


Modified by bruce.weiland at 1:14 PM 3/1/2007

[texasoil]

Keith here (texasoil) Thanks to Bruce for a customer's view point.

IF the active system is working (no warning light), restoring to near new performance and ride is a matter of exchanging the old accumulators for recharged ones. Run the diagnostics on the system (found at my webstore activesuspensionsystems.com

[Ozzie]

Keith, can you find out a price on shipping for the 4 strut accums to australia?

I will probably get them in the future, but need to figure out the total cost.I assume I have to return my flat accumulators to you?

[racingbeast]

ok i'm understanding what you're talking about so far, but i'm still new to active suspension, so please bear with me. so i can simply replace the accumulators w/ tokico blue's, right? then in the future, when i have enoguh money, i can replace the tokico's w/ recharged accumulators right? and i have a questions about the tokico blue's i still need springs for them right?

[bruce.weiland]

Well, kind of.

Keith can answer this better, but as I understand it;

You will need to disconnect the active suspension pump, which is piggy-backed on the power steering pump.

You will need to seal all four hydraulic pipes that go to the acctuators to keep dirt from getting into them.

You will need to route the output from the active pump back into the input.

And.... as I understand it; you will need new springs, because the springs on the active suspension cars are about 30% softer. I believe your car may sit too low without the hydraulic/active system supporting its weight.

So, yes. You can take out the actuators and put in blues and potential go back to active at some time in the future. But is seems like a difficult way to do it.

I would recommend that you spend the $700 it cost for the four actuator accumlators - remanufactured and recharged - and put them on.

It is a very simple take off and reinstall. Pull one of your wheels or just get under the car. You will see a metal cylindar attached to each "shock". They are held in place by three bolts that come in from the bottom.

You bleed the pressure off the system (Keith will tell you how), unbolt the accumulator, pull it off, put the recharge one on and put back in the three bolts. Go to the next wheel and do the same thing. Maybe an hour or two to do the whole job.

No new springs needed, no pulling shocks off and putting new ones on.A straight forward easy job.

You can do the other 5 accumulators at some later date.

Just trying to save you some $$, time, and work.

Bruce

[bruce.weiland]

If you feel you must put in blues

check this post. He had blues and springs (used in good shape) for less $$ He wants someone to make an offer.

zerothread/237275