# "AirLift 3H/P Performance" - Review



## northendroid (Sep 16, 2014)

Airlift Performance 3H/P Beta Testing Review 9/10

The Airlift Performance 3 H/P is a solid upgrade from the Autopilot V2. The operation of the ECU in both pressure and height base setup is smooth and accurate. Programing, calibrating of the ECU was easy with many additional features not found on the V2 version. The installation difficulty of the height sensor requires some fabrication skills, which may not be suited for everyone. In my installation mounting brackets had to be fabricated for proper mounting of the front height sensor. One of the rear sensors required a modification to the wheel well liner to allow proper travel of the sensor arm. Some type of universal mounting bracket would make the installation easier.

Height sensor brackets:



I also installed 3-pin Deutsch bulkhead for the height sensors, this would be a nice addition to the kit (maybe optional). It’s a great way to keep the trunk area water tight and quick access for diagnostic purposes. 


My Beta kit came with a second compressor harness which was a bonus, please note that when you first initialize the ECU only one compressor will power up until you either enable "dual" in the “compressor” menu or do the calibration setup.

I would highly recommend this upgrade, the only downside is the lack of a universal mounting bracket for the sensors and height sensor bulkhead is why it hasn't scored a 10/10.  :thumbup:


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## MechEngg (Jan 13, 2009)

Do you have to clock the sensor arms for this version same as you do for the Accuair version?
In the position you have shown you would need to re-clock them, just wondering if you have run the system through calibration yet or not. And if so how easy was it to clock properly on the vehicle?


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## northendroid (Sep 16, 2014)

The AirLift height sensors don't have the arm stops like the Accuair ones that I've seen (see the first photo). Clocking as you call was easy and yes it has passed the calibration of the height sensors. AirLift supplies sensor templates to verify adequate travel of the sensors. I printed the template to cardboard and cut out to fix sensors.



There also a sensor tool in the display/controller setting which show you if the sensor are ok or out of range.


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## fasttt600 (Apr 12, 2007)

MechEngg said:


> Do you have to clock the sensor arms for this version same as you do for the Accuair version?
> In the position you have shown you would need to re-clock them, just wondering if you have run the system through calibration yet or not. And if so how easy was it to clock properly on the vehicle?


They clock just the same as accuair, the only difference is elevel has 4 screws, and air lift has 3.


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## MechEngg (Jan 13, 2009)

I really like the template idea, it gives people a really good visual indication of if they are in the right ranges or not. Good on airlift for this. It is maybe a bit better at visually seeing if you meet the minimum requirements for the arm travel. And i really like the sensor range showing up on the controller, it would be great if the accuair stuff even just had a diagnostic port you could plug into a laptop to see the ECU parameters without having to send it back to the factory for testing. Home diagnosis is really a big thing here and airlift has brought this to the plate which is excellent to hear :thumbup::thumbup:


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## northendroid (Sep 16, 2014)

MechEngg said:


> I really like the template idea, it gives people a really good visual indication of if they are in the right ranges or not. Good on airlift for this. It is maybe a bit better at visually seeing if you meet the minimum requirements for the arm travel. And i really like the sensor range showing up on the controller, it would be great if the accuair stuff even just had a diagnostic port you could plug into a laptop to see the ECU parameters without having to send it back to the factory for testing. Home diagnosis is really a big thing here and airlift has brought this to the plate which is excellent to hear :thumbup::thumbup:


"MechEngg" I have to apologize you were correct the sensor in the second photo was in the wrong orientation, that was the original position that I had installed it (posted wrong picture). The manual was a little confusion when showing sensor positioning although it did show the sensor like in the photo I could not get it within the sensor limit range.

Scan 1 by Jack Landry, on Flickr

This is the correct position of the front sensors:
DSC09096 by Jack Landry, on Flickr

Sensor Tool in the menu:
DSC09103 by Jack Landry, on Flickr

Sensor Tool will tell you which sensor is out of limit (high/low), makes for easier adjustment of the sensor in question:

DSC09104 by Jack Landry, on Flickr
I'll eventually fine tune the sensors so that they all line up middle screen at 50%.

I agree AirLift has nailed this one and when you look at the pricing it's cheaper then what AccuAir has to offer. Pressure/height base system complete with Bluetooth connectivity, sensor tool for proper installation all in one package.


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## MechEngg (Jan 13, 2009)

northendroid said:


> "MechEngg" I have to apologize you were correct the sensor in the second photo was in the wrong orientation, that was the original position that I had installed it (posted wrong picture). The manual was a little confusion when showing sensor positioning although it did show the sensor like in the photo I could not get it within the sensor limit range.
> 
> I agree AirLift has nailed this one and when you look at the pricing it's cheaper then what AccuAir has to offer. Pressure/height base system complete with Bluetooth connectivity, sensor tool for proper installation all in one package.


Yeah usually you have to undo the 3 or 4 little screws and re-clock the sensor arm so that the flat part of the metal sensor arm is facing away from the plug end. You can see in the manual that in the 3 "good" positions that the very very center circle has a flat section. The flat section always has to face away from the plug end or else you won't get readings from it. You could have left the sensor in the same spot provided that you undid the little screws and re-clocked the arm appropriately. 

You can see them in the accuair version below.

The only thing that i really don't like (most new people would like it though) is that it is a single unit. It has one purpose and it fits that purpose very well, but it is not customizable like the accuair ones. It would be better if they offered a different wiring harness for either single or dual or triple/etc compressors, and if you wanted to add any kill switches for them etc.


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## northendroid (Sep 16, 2014)

MechEngg said:


> Yeah usually you have to undo the 3 or 4 little screws and re-clock the sensor arm so that the flat part of the metal sensor arm is facing away from the plug end. You can see in the manual that in the 3 "good" positions that the very very center circle has a flat section. The flat section always has to face away from the plug end or else you won't get readings from it. You could have left the sensor in the same spot provided that you undid the little screws and re-clocked the arm appropriately.
> 
> You can see them in the accuair version below.
> 
> The only thing that i really don't like (most new people would like it though) is that it is a single unit. It has one purpose and it fits that purpose very well, but it is not customizable like the accuair ones. It would be better if they offered a different wiring harness for either single or dual or triple/etc compressors, and if you wanted to add any kill switches for them etc.


Ah right all makes sense now! As for the multiple compressor you just add another harness c/w with relay (actually pretty ease to make), off the ECU harness is a second compressor signal. The signal is a ground to the relay coil which mean you could trigger 2,3,4 relays.


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## [email protected] (Jan 25, 2008)

A second compressor wiring harness will be available. :thumbup:


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## northendroid (Sep 16, 2014)

*AirLift Stands Behind Their Product - Great Customer Support!*

This summer I purchased an AirLift 3H/P beta unit from BagRider. Great system was easy to install and work flawlessly until the colder weather hit my region. The display would cycle on and off until it warmed up and would show a Incompatible revision on the display. I also had an issue with the bluetooth connection with the iPhone app. Contacted AirLift via email and got a quick response from Aaron Collins one of their customer service representative. Aaron called me shortly after to inform me that they would be replacing the manifold and display. This company gets it, you need to stand behind your products very refreshing to see these days.

Thanks
AirLift and Aaron!


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## xk1llxy0urselfx (Jan 15, 2007)

northendroid said:


> This summer I purchased an AirLift 3H/P beta unit from BagRider. Great system was easy to install and work flawlessly until the colder weather hit my region. The display would cycle on and off until it warmed up and would show a Incompatible revision on the display. I also had an issue with the bluetooth connection with the iPhone app. Contacted AirLift via email and got a quick response from Aaron Collins one of their customer service representative. Aaron called me shortly after to inform me that they would be replacing the manifold and display. This company gets it, you need to stand behind your products very refreshing to see these days.
> 
> Thanks
> AirLift and Aaron!


Was the reason your bluetooth wouldnt connect was because of a faulty manifold? My bluetooth device shows up in the bluetooth connect screen on my phone but the app refuses to discover it and talk to it.


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## northendroid (Sep 16, 2014)

xk1llxy0urselfx said:


> Was the reason your bluetooth wouldnt connect was because of a faulty manifold? My bluetooth device shows up in the bluetooth connect screen on my phone but the app refuses to discover it and talk to it.


Yes when I talked to an AirLift rep he mentioned that they had some issues with the bluetooth module on some of the beta units. New manifold solved the bluetooth issue (same issue your having with yours) but the hand held controller still doesn't like the cold compared to the V2 version.


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## xk1llxy0urselfx (Jan 15, 2007)

Sounds good. I am not having such luck with contacting them but I will give them its the holiday weekend. I sent an email out thursday night about the problem. How long was the turn around on the manifold? Until my truck is finished or I buy this jeep im looking at I will only have the one car.


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## OLD-GTI (Jul 19, 2001)

I'm adding the 3H upgrade kit to my 3P system, as it crossloads too badly, and makes the car undrivable.

do the height settings trump the pressure for each corner? or does the system look for the pressure, and height equally?


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## veeko (Oct 26, 2005)

OLD-GTI said:


> I'm adding the 3H upgrade kit to my 3P system, as it crossloads too badly, and makes the car undrivable.
> 
> do the height settings trump the pressure for each corner? or does the system look for the pressure, and height equally?


I'd like to know the answer to this as well.


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## xk1llxy0urselfx (Jan 15, 2007)

My Bluetooth randomly decided to work one day. IDK if it was an app update or when my phone updated the OS/firmware. But all is good now. Got the air manifold firmware updated as soon as I got connected.


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## northendroid (Sep 16, 2014)

OLD-GTI said:


> I'm adding the 3H upgrade kit to my 3P system, as it crossloads too badly, and makes the car undrivable.
> 
> do the height settings trump the pressure for each corner? or does the system look for the pressure, and height equally?





veeko said:


> I'd like to know the answer to this as well.


You calibrate the manifold for either pressure or height, when set to height a change to any sensor height the manifold will adjust to set it back to the ride height, example when my son rides with me he's 6'3" 250 lbs the passenger side front bag will pressurize that bag to bring it back to the preset ride height.


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