# Help: Air Lift Xl's Slam Series



## 16v dubbin (Jun 9, 2008)

I just purchased an entire Mkv Gti digital airlift kit and have been researching quite a bit about the rubbing issues. 

It is a personal nightmare to have a rear bag blow out on me so I want to do the install right the first time and have no worries. 


I have been referred to Drew Dorbritz and looked at his D cups, also the performance height brackets from bag riders. 



I need your experience and wisdom on the subject of Mkv Gti rear bag set up's and how to *PREVENT* rubbing. 


Thanks, 


Austin


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## itzkv (Oct 16, 2009)

16v dubbin said:


> I just purchased an entire Mkv Gti digital airlift kit and have been researching quite a bit about the rubbing issues.
> 
> It is a personal nightmare to have a rear bag blow out on me so I want to do the install right the first time and have no worries.
> 
> ...


 
If you have purchased a complete kit, it should come with brackets. no need for D-cups unless you go with other rear bags. 

I have the airlift performance rears and no problems, i daily my car too. Going great for 2months now.


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## bryangb (Jun 16, 2010)

Return the airlift rears and go with ss5's and dcups. **** airlift rears


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## 16v dubbin (Jun 9, 2008)

bryangb said:


> Return the airlift rears and go with ss5's and dcups. **** airlift rears


 why are they so bad?


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## [email protected] (Aug 22, 2006)

They're not terrible if they're installed correctly. The XL's just require trimming the upper spring nipple on the Mk5/6. 

SS-5/6 + D-Cups are great as well!


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## 16v dubbin (Jun 9, 2008)

[email protected] said:


> They're not terrible if they're installed correctly. The XL's just require trimming the upper spring nipple on the Mk5/6.
> 
> SS-5/6 + D-Cups are great as well!


 After trimming the upper nipple there shouldn't be any issues with rubbing? I have the slam brackets.


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## [email protected] (Aug 22, 2006)

Correct. Most people have rubbing issues with the lower control arms and the slam brackets. Mount the bags inward enough and trim properly, you'll have no problem!


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## 16v dubbin (Jun 9, 2008)

[email protected] said:


> Correct. Most people have rubbing issues with the lower control arms and the slam brackets. Mount the bags inward enough and trim properly, you'll have no problem!


 Thank you very much!


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## [email protected] (Aug 22, 2006)

No problem. 

Let me know if you need anything else! :thumbup::beer:


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## bvgoosedd (Mar 5, 2009)

is this a problem on mk4's?????


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## hyphytrain203 (Jun 9, 2003)

are they still making these rear bags with plastic caps? quality was most def lacking a year ago, not sure if they addressed this... 

the main issue with rubbing comes from the bag sitting in the rear control arm. not saying you can't properly orientate the bag to clear the perimeter of the seat, but it most definetly requires you to jack up and lower the control arm a number of times to find the appropriate position for the top bracket. you'll be drilling and fastening the self-tapping screws a number of times into the body of the car to get it right. 

i highly suggest changing over to ss5's or re5's while using a bottom spacer to bring the bag partly out of the seat in the control arm and custom top brackets. for the time and effort it requires you to properly orientate the airlift bags, you could easily make d-cup-esque brackets yourself and use a higher quality bag. 

either that or return them for bagyard rear bags and call it a day sans cutting :laugh: 

just a thought before you start cutting your car up to try and make the airlift bags work.


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## itzkv (Oct 16, 2009)

does ss/re bags go lower? and do they use about the same 
psi to raise the rears? I'm running about 55-65 psi in the rears with airlift


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## [email protected] (Aug 22, 2006)

No, they will not go lower than the AirLift Slam XL's. 

The SS/RE's will give you a raked look. :thumbup::beer:


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## DoctorDoctor (Oct 18, 2006)

I know that when I had my AirLift rear XL's installed, there was a quite a bit of rubbing on the LCA. The guys at Tomas Sport Tuning had to trim the LCA down to make it fit on top of getting rid of the top nipple.


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## hyphytrain203 (Jun 9, 2003)

[email protected] said:


> No, they will not go lower than the AirLift Slam XL's.
> 
> The SS/RE's will give you a raked look. :thumbup::beer:


 is that a joke? if you install re5's with no mounting brackets i doubt you would even be able to raise the back of the car to a driveable height... 

i have a 2.25" spacer in the lower control arm to get the lift i need from these bags 

collapsed height on re5's is 2.9", collapsed height on slam xl rear bags is 5" 

this is completely dependent on how you mount these bags


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## [email protected] (Aug 22, 2006)

No, it's not a joke, sorry. 

After rereading the conversation, we were referring to d-cups + ss/re bags and not a bracket-less setup. Sure, remove the brackets and you will go drastically lower, but that's not what we were talking about. :thumbup::beer:


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## 16v dubbin (Jun 9, 2008)

[email protected] said:


> No, it's not a joke, sorry.
> 
> After rereading the conversation, we were referring to d-cups + ss/re bags and not a bracket-less setup. Sure, remove the brackets and you will go drastically lower, but that's not what we were talking about. :thumbup::beer:


 All I wanted to know was if there is precaution's you can take to not rub with airlift xl's with slam brackets :beer:


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## [email protected] (Aug 22, 2006)

Sorry for derailing your topic, I was just responding to hypetrain's post regarding the Slam Specialties bags collapsed height. :thumbup:


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## hyphytrain203 (Jun 9, 2003)

it honestly kills me that people think d-cups are their only option when choosing a universal bag :banghead: 

no stab at dorbritz or anything, but come on... is everyone that impressed by this design or is it just a mindless solution? 

air suspension has become way too "off the shelf" imo, lets see some interesting set-ups with specific design intent 

/rant 

sorry andrew, didn't mean to come off like a jerk


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## [email protected] (Aug 22, 2006)

Feel free to contact me via PM, I don't want to jam up this poor chap's thread with a discussion about d-cups and bag setups :beer:


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## DAS-AUTO (Apr 10, 2009)

i bought the air lift rears. i brought it to a shop and got it done professionally and theyre great,


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## 16v dubbin (Jun 9, 2008)

DAS-AUTO said:


> i bought the air lift rears. i brought it to a shop and got it done professionally and theyre great,


Awesome!


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## steaguejr (Aug 3, 2006)

itzkv said:


> If you have purchased a complete kit, it should come with brackets. no need for D-cups unless you go with other rear bags.
> 
> I have the airlift performance rears and no problems, i daily my car too. Going great for 2months now.


I'm still learning here but the performance rears are the non-slam serious correct? If so you and running that kit with the u-bracket? did you cut the perch or install a d-cup? If your car is the nonslam and no mods with the u-bracket, do you have a picture? would like to see how low they are. Im not all about laying from, just clean proper stance.



[email protected] said:


> Correct. Most people have rubbing issues with the lower control arms and the slam brackets. Mount the bags inward enough and trim properly, you'll have no problem!


For the non-slam serious and the u-bracket, have you heard of any rubbing issues or issues in general? and do you have to have d-cups installed in all rears to prevent rubbing?


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## Seppdelaney (Apr 11, 2011)

The airlift performance rears are the same bag as is with the Xl's, I think. The difference is the mounting brackets. The performance go a bit higher than the xl's, but low enough for me- I don't want to rest on my exhaust- but they get low enough that my fender liners still hold me up in the rear.


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## itzkv (Oct 16, 2009)

steaguejr said:


> I'm still learning here but the performance rears are the non-slam serious correct? If so you and running that kit with the u-bracket? did you cut the perch or install a d-cup? If your car is the nonslam and no mods with the u-bracket, do you have a picture? would like to see how low they are. Im not all about laying from, just clean proper stance.


seppdelaney said it perfect. The only modification you will need to do to the rear is to use a 1/2" Drill bit to widen the existing hole on the upper nipple for the nusert. Any also on the LCA, there is also a identical "nipple" which holds the OEM Spring pad, that will be needed to be grinded down to about 1/4" so that the bottom of the airbag cup can fit flush on the LCA.


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## Minor_Threat (May 12, 2009)

Seppdelaney said:


> The airlift performance rears are the same bag as is with the Xl's, I think. The difference is the mounting brackets. The performance go a bit higher than the xl's, but low enough for me- I don't want to rest on my exhaust- but they get low enough that my fender liners still hold me up in the rear.


performance rears are not the same as XL's 

performance rears are a slim bag that doesn't expand as much as XL's

XL's are a tapered sleeve bag, if they're not perfectly centered they will rub on the control arm when you air up and down, if the bracket isn't positioned correctly the bag will rub on the shock bolt and blow 

the best way to install airlift rears is using a drive on lift or slip plates from an alignment machine, that way you can see if the bag is touching anything when you air it up and air it out 

I prefer air house 2's or SS5's 

the D cup positions the bag on top of the control arm rather than an XL bag that sits inside the control arm. 

If you're gonna use XL's use the bracket that keeps the nipple, also don't use airlift shocks, you need 80 PSI to get any height out of them.


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## itzkv (Oct 16, 2009)

Minor_Threat said:


> performance rears are not the same as XL's
> 
> performance rears are a slim bag that doesn't expand as much as XL's
> 
> ...


I've always thought the differences in the rears were just the brackets for Airlift... Learned something new today.

How much PSI differences if I were to switch to Koni/Bilstein? I do agree that about 80PSI is when you actually are above the tire,no tucking..


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## Minor_Threat (May 12, 2009)

not sure, my friend johnnyr32 said the most height he ever got was with the airlift bags and bilstein shocks

I just got rid of my airlift rears after running them for 3 years

went to airhouse 2's and bilstien shocks


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## steaguejr (Aug 3, 2006)

Minor_Threat said:


> not sure, my friend johnnyr32 said the most height he ever got was with the airlift bags and bilstein shocks
> 
> I just got rid of my airlift rears after running them for 3 years
> 
> went to airhouse 2's and bilstien shocks


Anyone have a picture with no modding of the rear spring perch? I have an idea but im a visual type of person.


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## Minor_Threat (May 12, 2009)

if you don't want to mod the spring perch, try and get some nutserts from airlift and you can insert them into the nipple then screw the bag to the spring perch


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## trefive (Nov 15, 2010)

The LCAs from All Day Fab were my solution on XL rears and never have to question if I'm rubbing.

http://www.alldayfab.com/VW-Custom-Arms.html


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## [email protected] (Aug 22, 2006)

Minor_Threat said:


> performance rears are not the same as XL's
> 
> performance rears are a slim bag that doesn't expand as much as XL's


Actually, they are the same tapered rolling sleeve bag. It's AirLift part number 58130, it's the same for Mk4/5/6 Slam XL and Performance Series rear kits. The only difference is the mounting brackets/hardware. :beer:


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## Minor_Threat (May 12, 2009)

I remember performance rears looking quite different than XLs


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## [email protected] (Aug 22, 2006)

You might be thinking of the Zytel top plates versus the metal top plates, that's the only change that was made recently. Other than that, they're the exact same bag. :thumbup::beer:


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## ForVWLife (Nov 12, 2004)

[email protected] said:


> Actually, they are the same tapered rolling sleeve bag. It's AirLift part number 58130, it's the same for Mk4/5/6 Slam XL and Performance Series rear kits. The only difference is the mounting brackets/hardware. :beer:


this^

this has been covered in a million other threads :laugh::laugh:

airlift xl rears for mk5 go to low

stick with the regular rears and you will not have a rubbing issue


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## CaliSteezR32 (Jul 16, 2008)

Installed my airlift rears perfectly, and even compared to my Mk4 R32, the Mk5/6 airlift rears were a pain in the ass to get right, and I'm still having rubbing issues with the rear control arm. I put some household oil on the control arm to see where the bag was rubbing (and to reduce the friction and rubbing noise), you can see it in the picture below, and this is on both of the rear bags. Whoever said **** the airlift rears were totally right, most likely gonna be swapping mine out soon. :banghead:


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## bryangb (Jun 16, 2010)

**** airlift rears. 

Go with ss5's and dcups :beer::beer:


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## CaliSteezR32 (Jul 16, 2008)

bryangb said:


> **** airlift rears.
> 
> Go with ss5's and dcups :beer::beer:


Took my car back to TST today and had my rear control arms modified, all good for now, but will for sure be looking to change it up soon. :beer:


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## DoctorDoctor (Oct 18, 2006)

CaliSteezR32 said:


> Took my car back to TST today and had my rear control arms modified, all good for now, but will for sure be looking to change it up soon. :beer:


Same here. TST modified my LCA's over a year ago and no problem ever since.


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## [email protected] (Aug 22, 2006)

If you haven't, pick up a copy of AirLift Service Bulletin #240. It gives you a number of things to check when installing their rear bags to ensure they don't rub. :thumbup::beer:


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## F-word (Feb 13, 2011)

itzkv said:


> seppdelaney said it perfect. The only modification you will need to do to the rear is to use a 1/2" Drill bit to widen the existing hole on the upper nipple for the nusert. Any also on the LCA, there is also a identical "nipple" which holds the OEM Spring pad, that will be needed to be grinded down to about 1/4" so that the bottom of the airbag cup can fit flush on the LCA.


So, this is this "rear bracket trimming" that everyone is always talking about when trying to get as low as possible? If it is, you simplified it really well. :thumbup:


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