Air Suspension Calibration

[jdhx]

Folks, need help with the measurement process as I am not sure if I am doing it correctly.

1. WHEN do I take the measurement 
     a) When the car is parked and turned off or does it need to be running in Comfort mode or something else?
     b) Or, when I initiate the calibration the car does some leveling action. Do I need to take it right after this?

2. HOW do I take the measurement ACCURATELY?
    a) I tried with a metal measurement tape but I can imagine the numbers can be quite off if I am slightly off center and/or the not square from the ground. Hoping there's a better to way that is more accurate.
    b) Does the car need to be on flat even surface? My garage and driveway has a considerable slope and I am not sure if the car is leveling itself to compensate for it.

1. After the calibration process has started and it ask you what the measurements are.  That is because the process puts the suspension into a known state.

2. I do the measurements in two stages.  Before I start the calibration I measure the top of the disk in the centre of the wheel to ground (x) and the diameter of the disk (y).  Then when the calibration process asks for the values I measure the wheel arch to ground (z).  The value I input is z-x+y/2.  I do it this way because it is easier to measure from solid ground upwards than to measure wheel arch to centre of wheel.  Of course y does not vary and x only depends on temperature so will not vary much.  The car does not need to be on absolutely flat even ground but the more flat and even the better.

Well you did ask!

[chess]

Folks, need help with the measurement process as I am not sure if I am doing it correctly.

1. WHEN do I take the measurement 
     a) When the car is parked and turned off or does it need to be running in Comfort mode or something else?
     b) Or, when I initiate the calibration the car does some leveling action. Do I need to take it right after this?

2. HOW do I take the measurement ACCURATELY?
    a) I tried with a metal measurement tape but I can imagine the numbers can be quite off if I am slightly off center and/or the not square from the ground. Hoping there's a better to way that is more accurate.
    b) Does the car need to be on flat even surface? My garage and driveway has a considerable slope and I am not sure if the car is leveling itself to compensate for it.

1. After the calibration process has started and it ask you what the measurements are.  That is because the process puts the suspension into a known state.

2. I do the measurements in two stages.  Before I start the calibration I measure the top of the disk in the centre of the wheel to ground (x) and the diameter of the disk (y).  Then when the calibration process asks for the values I measure the wheel arch to ground (z).  The value I input is z-x+y/2.  I do it this way because it is easier to measure from solid ground upwards than to measure wheel arch to centre of wheel.  Of course y does not vary and x only depends on temperature so will not vary much.  The car does not need to be on absolutely flat even ground but the more flat and even the better.

Well you did ask!

Thanks, will try this method with my new laser measure.

[bowditchsmith]

Been enjoying orbit for the past month to add some nice creature comforts to our XC90. I am very interested to try out this suspension calibration vs making the switch to Ghostlink Adapters. is anyone actively using orbit to lower their vehicle? The majority of the thread looks like trial and error, with - 30mm being stated as being to harsh / aggressive.

is - 20mm the sweet spot?

EDIT: Update - I just went out to the car to take measurements of the stock suspension in preparation for playing around with the settings, and noticed that my DSF height is slightly lower, and it being compensated by a slightly raised PSR height.

Measured heights from ground to wheel arch:

• DSF - 32.375" (822.3mm)
  
• PSF - 32.75" (831.8mm)
  
• DSR - 32.75" (831.8mm)
  
• PSR - 33" (838.2mm)
  

There doesn't seem to be any leaks, and it reports the discrepancy when connected to the calibration. 

A bit unsure with how I should address. Should I first adjust them all to be the same ride height in Orbit?



I just ordered a Metric tape measurer so that I can stop dealing with these conversions and risk of inaccuracies.

[brunopbarbosa]

Hi All, i have a question related with the air suspension settings - on the Volvo repair procedures for the V90, when it comes to replacing the air springs for those with air suspension, it mentions a section where before removing the springs you must deflate them using VIDA.

Is this something that can be done with OrBit as well?

[NetMare]

Thanks @Power6!
Can somebody confirm or test that the VGM pin is needed for "just" adjusting the air suspension height on an iCUP model?
It's a leased company car and it will be chaged every 2-3 years. Just want to make this one modification

Hi guys...
could anyone test if the suspension calibartion procedure is possible without the VGM pin?

[Volvo_Nut]

Tried running the air suspension calibration on my S90 but now the SUM is stuck in service mode and won't switch back to normal mode. 

at first the process seemed to be going ok but then when I went to apply a change,  OrBit said the change couldn't happen because of a DTC.  I cleared the codes but the suspension is still on service mode.   

Took a break and attempted again and everything worked!! I was able to lower the rear air suspension by 25mm. For whatever reason, my S90's rear end was sitting abnormally high, IMHO. This adjustment seems to be holding after a short test drive. Will continue to monitor. The suspension chassis failure message went away once I started driving. Now I just need some HEICO lower springs for the front!




Here is a before after:

[brunopbarbosa]

Hi All, i have a question related with the air suspension settings - on the Volvo repair procedures for the V90, when it comes to replacing the air springs for those with air suspension, it mentions a section where before removing the springs you must deflate them using VIDA.

Is this something that can be done with OrBit as well?

Just bumping this question if anyone knows the answer

[TheKris79]

Hello,

I have following question regards the air suspension settings - in the configurable listed items there is a choice of 059 - Active suspension and you can choose with or without. Now my car is the First Edition with air suspension from factory, but when checking the factory settings I noticed this was set as without active suspension. Can someone look into their factory settings to see what setting you have?  I was under the impression that all air suspension equipped cars would have such feature activated (or existing).
I did activate this now and the ride went much more smoother and stable so can it really be that they have not activated such function from the beginning even if the car is equipped with practically everything.

I also have tried few times to calibrate the suspension, but every time it will go into the service mode and blocks the proceeding actions even though I do not have any fault in the system as there is no trouble codes existing. So I thought to wait a bit and once the weather goes better I will try again.

[TheKris79]

Hi All, i have a question related with the air suspension settings - on the Volvo repair procedures for the V90, when it comes to replacing the air springs for those with air suspension, it mentions a section where before removing the springs you must deflate them using VIDA.

Is this something that can be done with OrBit as well?

Just bumping this question if anyone knows the answer

Hello,

There is nothing really that needs to be done additionally than clicking on the center menu at the "locking & suspension" section the suspension to service mode.

In the last 2 days I have now done overhaul to my XC90 air compressor(changed the decissant/dryer granules), changed the rear shock absorbers and front air struts. All was done by only clicking the center for service or deactivated mode and done. Obvioisly between each phase I let the car to fill the system again to not have it completely empty. Each unit is filled separately via the block valve so it will only empty that section if you change something and therefore very limited amount of air is running out
With compressor removal it will empty the tanks so that is a bit more air coming oit and when it starts to refill it will take aroind 4 compressor runs before the system is full again.

With the suspension part you just have to bear in mind that once you are done with the work and lowering the car just dont lower it all the way before you start the car and take the tick off from service mode. The system will automatically fill the bellow and then gradually lower completely.

At least mine is now all done and perfectly smooth ride again (I had quite a bit of noise coming from passenger side front). Now I will soon also chang the rear bags and the complete system is then almost new. Here in Sweden it is cheap to buy used parts which have only 100km driven so this is what I am usually doing as then I have OEM pieces.