Alpha Polyair gaining momentum

A new electronic caravan airbag suspension that allows individual, four-wheel airbag as well as 'Level 4' adjustability on the run, is being rolled out across an increasing number of Australian-made off-road caravans and locally-built chassis.

Introduced last year as a 'game-changer' in the booming caravan airbag suspension market, the new Alpha Ultimate Polyair airbag system is a collaboration between Sydney-based Polyair Springs Australia and Melbourne's Alpha suspensions.

"This unit controls all four wheels whereas (other airbag systems) only control left and right," explained Polyair Springs General Manager Beau Smith.

"The advantage of that is the load carrying... the system works either as a pressure based or height based (system), you don't need the height sensors, they are an add-on," he said.

While Campbellfield, Victoria-based Alpha Suspensions already offers a full off-road airbag suspension with its Extreme series, the Ultimate Polyair system takes it up a notch with features including five preset ride settings, individual wheel adjustability, pressure and height based options, and controllability via a smart phone, fob or manual switches.

Utilising suspension technology from US-based airbag pioneer Air Lift, Smith said another advantage of being an electronic rather than pneumatic system is that it allows for 'Level 4' adjustability on the move.

"It has both hard-wired remote control and a Bluetooth-capable app for Android and iPhone as well as four corner adjustability; left right, up down, forward aft, it does everything," he said.

Getting level in quick time on an uneven campsite is another bonus, while the system also allows users to adjust the caravan's ball weight by inflating or deflating the pressure in the front or rear axles. However, Smith pointed out "it's highly unlikely to exceed the axle rating even if there is excessive pressure on the front airbags".

"All the testing we've done (demonstrates that)... including putting weight scales under each axle. I can put 90 pounds in the front and zero in the rear and I'm still not over the axle weight," he said, referring to his own retro-fitted 'test' van.

"When the spring rate is increased in the front you take weight off the front of the van, so you're lowering the ball weight... That said, it's a good feature but it's not the thing we want to ram down people's throats because it could come across as negligent.

"We're not trying to manipulate something; at the end of the day it just helps with sharing the load, and it's not a band-aid for a poor design.

"This is beyond what everyone else can offer. Other 'Level 4' systems are two channel with a height sensor. This is (up to) four channel with four height sensors, so it's Level 4-plus..."

"It is the dearest thing on the market but it's not a lot more expensive than some of the other (top-spec airbag suspensions)," he said.

Melbourne's Lyfe RV was the first to get on board around 18 months ago, with a number of other Aussie manufacturers now offering the Alpha Ultimate suspension as an option including Retreat, ProRV and Option RV, which had Alpha Ultimate airbags fitted to a 20ft Traction 20RD couple's van on display at the recent 2024 NSW Caravan Supershow.

The two-channel 'Level 3' version was advertised as a $5500 upgrade on the luxury off-road display model, which came in at a 'show special' price of $122,500 including options.

Alpha Ultimate is also starting to be adopted by a number of chassis manufacturers including ARV and potentially Road King, while it can also potentially be retro-fitted to some older vans.

"This system will work with any airbag and any brand," he said.