Need Air Suspension Seat Expertise

Tall T

Well-known Member
While restoring my Jube seat frame, I had it lying on its side for the first time and opened the air valve. To my surprise, about an ounce of milk chocolate-colored oil shot out.

It was an odd smelling oil, not like gear lube though.

So I figure that the cylinder is designed to have a little oil in it before the final pump up of air. The valve looks deliberately easy to remove.

So does anyone know if they require internal oil and if so what kind and how much?

After putting the frame back on the tractor, it took a refill of air OK and feels fine.

Thanks,
Terry

Valspar New Holland Red
49623.jpg


Got the Ferguson Spring Shank finished as well, with tmy modified pin placement. New Holland Red again.
49624.jpg
 

I would think the oil is to lube the cylinder and piston and keep the cylinder from rusting. What kind I dunno your call.

I am rebuilding some bottle air jacks for my alignment man. They had grease in'em not much but a good bath of grease. Rust is the problem one worked out OK but not the other one. On these you are constantly working the jacks on every alignment so water is a issue.

Nitrogen would be nice to fill yours with :wink: Are dry air are at the least some kind of filter to eliminate the moisture while you are filling it.

If you can find amsoil dealer he may have a recommendation. :oops:
 
Hobo,

You writ:

[color=darkblue:aba896239d]I would think the oil is to lube the cylinder and piston and keep the cylinder from rusting. What kind I dunno your call.[/color:aba896239d]

Yes! Good thinking!

And some water spit out with that blast of oil.
I was already thinking about making sure my compressor air is bone dry before filling -- which it is now since I made that big line dryer.

Also
following your brilliant suggestion
I'll phone the tech dept of Amsoil!!

Last time I talked to the guy there I told him my MP nozzles were leaking (big white buttons). He sent me 2 full cases of MP FREE, no shipping. He said he also had experienced a drop of oil running down his own hand while oiling his garage door opener.
I like the old MP cans with the small white button and a more continuously forceful spray . . . but you can still dribble it.

[color=darkblue:aba896239d]I am rebuilding some bottle air jacks for my alignment man. They had grease in'em not much but a good bath of grease. Rust is the problem one worked out OK but not the other one. On these you are constantly working the jacks on every alignment so water is a issue. [/color:aba896239d]

I'm thinking like you about hydraulic jack oil,
so I'll ask one of the techies which hydraulic oil offeres the best anti corrosion, or if could I spike one of their oils with MP. without harming seals. It really is incredible on rust. 8)

I don't want to take the cylinder out of that red frame (it's seriously spring loaded in there. I almost drove the top pin out and stopped in time with the pin seriously cocked..
I had to lean on a long heavy wrecking bar to bring the top pin back down so I could drive it back through the frame.

So my access for an oil change
is the removable valve stem I guess -- which is the only practical access anyway.
Good heavy duty feel to this whole seat unit, and the cool valve stem will take a deep 6 pt and it has gaskets so it won't be frozen in the aluminum.

I now have a firmer air shock ride than I had before, as a result of purging that oil I guess. . . so getting more air in.

If I turn the whole seat upside down and let it sit overnight, I should be able to get the most moisture out that way, with any oil floating on top of the water.

[color=darkblue:aba896239d]Nitrogen would be nice to fill yours with :wink: Are dry air are at the least some kind of filter to eliminate the moisture while you are filling it. [/color:aba896239d]

Nitrogen sounds like the best!
Maybe find a shop with a nitrogen tank?

Thanks for the nuts and bolts,
T
49637.jpg
 
If you could pull a vacuum on it for a day (8hr.) it would boil off the water in it.

A single stage vacuum pump rated
1,5 cfm power will take a half hour to evacuate one drop of
water. Two-stage vacuum pump with the same rating will
evacuate drop in 12 minutes. At 29.5" of vacuum.

I spec some are saying WTF its only a air shock. I dunno how hard its going to be to find a replacement so whatever it takes to preserve it I would be looking that way.

If there are any racers around ya they would have a small bottle of nitrogen you could get a small shot out of.
 
The cylinder may be an "air/oil" type. They use oil moving through orifaces to control the rate of
movement of the shaft, and the gas pressure (air or nitrogen) provides the "spring" effect to
control the ride height.

The proper oil is important for proper operation. Do you know who made the unit so you can research
the proper oil? Viscosity, anti-foaming, and corrosion resistance will be important factors. Modern
oils are much better than the original, so it should not be difficult to match or exceed original
performance.
 
Hobo,

You wrote:
[color=darkblue:039bfb2776]If you could pull a vacuum on it for a day (8hr.) it would boil off the water in it.
[/color:039bfb2776]

I have a hospital vacuum pump my dad gave me but the last time I tried to start it, it wouldn't . . . but I'll give it another go.
I used it to pull gas a couple of times too so maybe I wrecked it.

[color=darkblue:039bfb2776]A single stage vacuum pump rated
1,5 cfm power will take a half hour to evacuate one drop of
water. Two-stage vacuum pump with the same rating will
evacuate drop in 12 minutes. At 29.5" of vacuum.[/color:039bfb2776]

Good stuff! Didn't know that.

[color=darkblue:039bfb2776] I spec some are saying WTF its only a air shock. I dunno how hard its going to be to find a replacement so whatever it takes to preserve it I would be looking that way. [/color:039bfb2776]

No kidding! I searched the web and couldn't find much of anything. Luckily for me it still holds air and the rubber gator is intact.

[color=darkblue:039bfb2776]If there are any racers around ya they would have a small bottle of nitrogen you could get a small shot out of.[/color:039bfb2776]

Oh, O.K. so those are the guys with the nitrogen.

Thanks,
Terry
 
Jock,

You wrote:

[color=darkblue:4a6ad05aef] The cylinder may be an "air/oil" type. They use oil moving through orifaces to control the rate of
movement of the shaft, and the gas pressure (air or nitrogen) provides the "spring" effect to
control the ride height. [/color:4a6ad05aef]

Sounds like you might have nailed it!
If I put less air pressure in it, and bounce on the seat it will bottom out and stay down until weight is lifted. More air pressure the seat height stays up at a fixed height and it takes more force to bottom it out. It doesn't float up and down with movement but responds to bumps by dropping. I have to relieve body weight to bring it back up. So you saying that the air "controls the ride height" makes perfect sense.

[color=darkblue:4a6ad05aef]The proper oil is important for proper operation.[/color:4a6ad05aef]

Right!

[color=darkblue:4a6ad05aef] Do you know who made the unit so you can research
the proper oil?[/color:4a6ad05aef]

I searched for a name other than what is on the cylinder but the only thing is the wrap-around decal that reads: "Air Suspension" (twice) . Now that I think of it, AIR SUSPENSION might be the actual manufacturer's name. Like Hobo mentioned, it's not "just an air shock." the driver's body height is "suspended" by air.

[color=darkblue:4a6ad05aef]Viscosity, anti-foaming, and corrosion resistance will be important factors. Modern
oils are much better than the original, so it should not be difficult to match or exceed original
performance.[/color:4a6ad05aef]

Good to know; I'll ask the Amsoil tech department which of their oils will suffice.

Thanks much!
Terry
 
Go to a motorcycle shop or even maybe NAPA and get some shock oil, there are different weights and yes vacuum and use nitrogen if possible.
 
Dune country,

No bike shops on the island but my local auto parts guys can generally get me anything I need.

But yes . . . "shock oil" not hydraulic jack oil!

Thanks!
Terry
 
if your local racers don't have nitrogen, consider filling it with nitrous oxide instead. your seat will thank u :lol:
 
(quoted from post at 12:36:05 06/12/17) if your local racers don't have nitrogen, consider filling it with nitrous oxide instead. your seat will thank u :lol:

((( Jumpin' Jack Flash
it's a gas gas gas)))

When i busted the ball off my right thigh bone and was lying by the wood stove after dragging myself into the house, the paramedics gave me nitrous oxide through a face mask.

But it didn't do a dern thang and I asked them, "Are you sure there's gas in this bottle?"

Probably just air as a placebo. :p
 
terry, it hurts just to read that :shock: i think nitrous is in way over its head there.

how's the hip now?
 
(quoted from post at 14:25:23 06/12/17) terry, it hurts just to read that :shock: i think nitrous is in way over its head there.

how's the hip now?

HFJ

I feel like I'm ready to dance again thanks.
I got the full robocop replacement.

It took longer to recover than the hip replacements due to arthritis cause I broke the short fat shaft that goes to the ball, clean through, so I had ragged bone ends aggravating muscles and tendons every time they moved me from bed to bed, ambulance to bed, etc.

It's a good thing I've watched all the old westerns again cause I felt like a guy with a bullet in him dragging himself across the desert. . . I dragged myself on one elbow five inches at a time across the yard in the rain, to get inside to the phone. It was one o'clock in the morning and my neighbors lights were out so I didn't bother yelling for them.

How's that for painful?:D

Wish I had a recording of those agonizing groans, I could sell it as a sound track.

The best part . . .
Two days after the operation my surgeon comes into the room and is standing at the foot of the bed. So, thinking like a mechanic, cause they have to saw the top of the bone off, drill out the thigh bone to sink the stem, ream out the hip socket to fit the acetabular cup, i asked him: "Do these operations sometimes go more smoothly than others and sometimes don't come off without a hitch?" He thinks for a sec and says, "Ya, but in your case I was perfect!" He accented the word "perfect" by pointing a finger at me. Later I found a web site where his former patients were discussing him and one of the comments was that he was the best in Canada! So talk about lucky cause I was just a luck of the draw emergency patient.

I told him later that in that one statement he showed that he had the humility to admit he wasn't always perfect but that he strives for perfection, and the fact that he stood there enthusiastically telling me how pleased he was with the job he had done, when he's said to be the best, was music to my ears.

It made him happy and he gave me a love tap on the shoulder.

What he said and did means more to me all the time cause since my operation I've met or heard about five people with the operative leg shorter than the other after they're done.

Terry
 

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