# Anyone with air helper springs?



## S-Fitz (Jul 16, 2012)

As the title inquires, I'm toying around with the idea of installing a set or air helpers inside the rear coil springs for load leveling purposes. Now, I know air bags work great from experience. I had air bags on my previous SUV. Air helpers are new to me however, due to them being mounted _inside_ of the coil springs. I need load leveling because I make several trips to the in-laws year round. We have 2 small kids and ALL of the stuff that comes with being new parents, which means there is a considerable amount of weight in the car. Their driveway is steep and drops off abruptly from the road that it intersects. I've rubbed the underbody several times, despite going in at an angle so both a front and opposite rear tire crest the top of the road at the same time. If the suspension were not so compressed from the weight in the car, this should not be such a problem anymore.

My questions are:
1- When unloaded, how much air pressure is required to prevent the bags from collapsing or becoming unseated?
2- Because of requiring a _certain minimum_ amount of air pressure, how will this affect the ride height and stiffness?
3- If this is a bad idea then why, and what would be a better solution?

Installation is not a problem, I'm sure it is not rocket science.


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## Danny5 (Dec 22, 2011)

The shape of the rear springs would make it impossible to mount air helper springs in the rear of the Cruze. I would probably work with an air shock. 









Air helper springs are meant to be put inside a spring of a constant diameter, but the rear Cruze springs taper at the top and bottom.









Not only do they taper, but as you can see from this picture of my recent coilover install, the springs do not sit in a cup, they sit on pins.

An air shock would remove the requirement of fabricating custom mounts to get some load leveling help into the rear of your car.

Good luck!


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## S-Fitz (Jul 16, 2012)

Thanks for the info about the springs! I'm still pretty focused on air, and my good old 2002 GMC Envoy's air bags were original. Granted, a sample size of 1 is not indicative of good longevity, but without coil springs to rub on they probably will outlast helper springs. Thank you for steering me away from a dead end.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

Is it possible to get a higher rated spring? Would think even a lowering spring would be stiffer and not compress as much. 

With my trunk empty of everything(including spare tire) I can fit my hand sideways on top rear tire. With all my camping gear and full size spare there is maybe 2-3 inches of clearance.


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## TX CTD (Oct 24, 2014)

Basically what your looking for is a helper spring that stiffens things when the suspension sags from added weight. There are more ways to do that than just an air bag although that's probably the most common way. 

Have you done the driveway without all the gear in the car? We took a trip 500 mile trip in the CTD last year with a trunk full of stuff and a 200lb cooler on the hitch rack and had no issues at all scraping things even on dirt roads.


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