Air Bags, Don't make the same mistake

Jeff M,
The answer to the first part of you question is NO. My experience has cost me more than it has saved me.
I do understand that you have had a successful encounter with the Airbags that you received, and I am pleased for you.
I would like to say that I have nothing against the company that supplied my Airbags they were good to deal with and like you, they supplied all the instructions, the problem is that for my vehicle they are the wrong Airbags, and after contacting them, they have informed me that they do not have any to fit my vehicle.
I have also been told that there are several makes of car overseas that have different spings to the cars here in Australia.
I just wanted to let people know that not all things work out for all of us, and to be aware .

Regards
japmel

I agree - be aware - but you stated "DO NOT DO IT" Maybe you should have done some better research???

I purchased my airbags from truckspring also - 1/2 the cost of EXACTLY the same product from the Airbagman.

Moggs,
I do appoligise for my word phrasing, maybe I should have said LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP.

How much are the firestone airbags in the US? Ballpark!

Shaker, here is my post from Post ID: 15171 (can search for the entire thread in "Archive". Should give an idea on cost

"I recently purchased a set of Air-Lift 1000 spring assists from www.TRUCKSPRING.com in Michigan USA for A$160 delivered to Melbourne. I have never heard of the Air-Lift Company name before but as it turns out they must make Polyairs. On the base of the air-bags I received is stamped "Air Lift Co. - Polyair Div." - this is identical to the markings on the Polyairs that we get over here. The kit for the Pathy was USD69.95 +USD48 freight by UPS - all up converted to AUD $160 which is about 1/2 the price you pay here for Polyairs. (quoted $500 fitted to Pathy) I chickened out and paid someone $100 to fit them - so all up cost me $260 v's $500.

Anyone thinking of fitting Polyairs - check out www.TRUCKSPRING.com - they were excellent to deal with and the delivery took about 2 weeks. Gotta love the internet :) "

Thank you!

Hey Moggs

You were ripped off - two weeks - mine only took 8 days - either is fantastic really!!

Andrew

LOL, yeah I know - they were out of stock for the ones I ordered and said it could be up to 6 weeks. They managed to get them earlier and phoned to say that they were on their way and apologised for the inconvenience. They were excellent to deal with.....once they got their "g'day mate' and 'throw a shrimp on the Barby" jokes said in extremely poor accents out of the way LOL.

Zapper

No I'm not Air Bag Man.
And it's good that you got the correct part.

All I'm trying to say Is there are a lot of people that are not (I know because I was one of them)

When I ordered from the overseas company I was assured that the Airbags were the right ones for my car, As you can see from the above they were not.

Regards
japmel

japmel, how do you know there are a lot of people that didn't get the right bags - did the Airbag man tell you that LOL, or have you undertaken research???

He has exactly the same ad on the caravanning forum.....

LOL, when will people realise that they cannot do that without someone picking it up.

I also purchased air bags from the US with complete satisfaction.
If you want to pay a 100% mark up in Australia good luck to you.
We others made sure what we were buying was the correct part and received great service at half the cost.
I would prefer to support the Australian companies but only at a fair profit.
Regards

The Airbags that I received were to short by about 2.5"-3". I had looked into having spacers fitted with them, but the size of the spacers needed would make the airbags not fuction to their full capassity. So flaged that idea.
I thought that I had asked all the right questions and given all the right information when I ordered them, but it seems I didn't.
Regards
japmel

I was looking through my email with the truckspring guys. I was dealing with a guy called Marc and he was very helpful and asked me to send the measurements of my ARB springs - internal diameter and height with the vehicle unloaded so that I could tell him exactly what height I wanted them to be. He then recommended a part number for me to purchase and it was ......perfection!!
Andrew

Big Kidz.....do you have the e-mail addy you were using, I have tried the one off the site and get no responses. I need some bags for my 80 Series with a 2 inch lift.

Thanks

Andy

Hi Andy - its Andy here -well sort of

I used
truckspring@truckspring.com or
marcw@truckspring.com

Thanks very much for that mate. I will try the marc@ addy and see how I go.

All the best.

Andy

Hi John
How have you found them i'm still thinking about it

Richard

Hi Richard
Nice to hear from you, Long time no speak.

Yeah bags are real good stopped the saggy bum with the heavy load found no restrictions in an off road situation done quite a bit of Vic High Country tracks with some severe axle articulation no problems at all.

Increased stability both on and off road and increased departure angle clearance by lifting the rear back to level.

Relatively easy to fit did the fit up myself no problems couple of hours.
Could not get them out of the states as stated above so had to buy local.

I still have your email address, am happy to email a few photos if you want, just give me a day or two.

Cheers

Yes thanks John,
have you got any info on the bags etc.
The reason i'm not on much is I did'nt go to school for that long and when I did I only went to eat my lunch
can talk better than I can write

Regards

Local business should perhaps follow every other indsutry and stay competitave then. I know you are obviously in the industry GO_OFFROAD and this is not a direct dig at you, but I worked in the Computer industry both in retail and importing/wholesale for over 10 years and now I am in security doing a similar role. In both these industries there is very close competition, somthing that seems to be missing from the off road accessories market IMHO. Especially here in WA where price fixiing seems to be a standard practice. I support my local guys as far as paying labour goes as I think labour is a fair go as we all want to get paid for doing hard work. (I do most things myself, but if I can't or don't want to I will happily pay a full labour price). But paying twice the price just for the parts is redicuous and unfair. If the guys in Oz want to sell the gear then they have to do it at the right price. I had though about air bags for YEARS and never bit the bullet because I could not justify the rediculously expensive price. Within an hour of reading about Trucksprings.com I bought the bags online. This is a sale a local guy would have had probally three times over (my last three vehicles) if he had of been selling them at a reasonable price. So whos fault is it? The retailer/importer (whoever is keeping the price up).
So all up, its not the so much the fact that trucksprings are cheaper it's more about the fact that they are asking a price that people think the product is actually worth IMHO.

I think you will find that the Toyota prado is actually a lexus model over there.
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Rob I think youve missed the point mate, it's hard yaka buying stuff from the US and then taking twice as much cash off some Ozi Battler who got himself into trouble by an honest mistake for the gear. ;-)

Personally I would have gone back to Truckspring myself and tried to sort it out with them. The freight both ways would still have been cheaper than buying them off this bloke in Oz...