Universal Air Suspension, the San Bernardino, California manufacturer behind the Solution Series air struts, Aeroleaf leaf-to-air conversions, and a deep catalog of air bags, tanks, and management hardware, is now part of the Air Lift Performance family. The two companies announced it together in late August 2026, and Universal Air followed with a note to its customer and dealer list on September 1, closing out more than 30 years as an independent air suspension company.

Springrates carries both Universal Air and Air Lift Performance, so this one lands close to home. Here is what the announcement actually says, what it changes for anyone running or shopping either brand today, and how the two lineups fit together.

What the announcement says

Air Lift Performance announced it as the family getting bigger. Universal Air framed it as continuity rather than a handoff. The company name stays. The product line stays. Support stays where it is. In their words, buyers get the "same products and support you know and trust," now backed by a larger parent with more engineering, tooling, and distribution behind it.

Universal Air also pointed at the shared history: two companies with decades of air suspension experience joining up with the same goal of pushing air suspension forward. Nothing in the announcement mentions discontinued lines, part number changes, or a rebrand.

Who Universal Air is

Universal Air has been building air springs and complete air suspension systems out of San Bernardino for over three decades. The catalog is unusually broad, and it covers ground most air suspension brands skip:

  • Solution Series vehicle-specific air struts, spanning everything from a 1976 BMW 6 Series to a 2020+ Toyota Supra
  • Bag and bracket kits for custom and classic builds
  • Aeroleaf bolt-on conversions that replace leaf springs with air on trucks
  • Off-road air suspension systems built for travel and load
  • Air bags, tanks, valves, compressors, fittings, and complete management systems
  • Custom and one-off fabrication, including strut conversions and active damping integration

That last category is the part that made the brand what it is. Universal Air has long been the shop that builders call when an application does not exist yet, and a lot of the vehicle-specific catalog started life as exactly that kind of custom request.

Who Air Lift is

Air Lift Company is one of the largest air suspension manufacturers in North America, best known on the load support side for air spring kits and onboard compressor systems for towing and hauling. Air Lift Performance is its performance division, and it is the name most enthusiasts know: front and rear air kits for lowered builds, paired with the 3P, 3H, and ALP4 air management systems.

Air Lift Performance is also one of the most widely supported air platforms in the aftermarket, with a large installer network and a management ecosystem that a lot of other brands build around.

What changes for owners right now

Nothing under your car changes. Kits keep their part numbers, existing systems keep working exactly as they did, and an install that is halfway done this week is unaffected. Warranty and support run through the same channels the announcement points to.

Ordering does not change either. We carry the full Universal Air lineup and the full Air Lift Performance lineup, and both remain available as separate brands with their own applications and pricing. We track both catalogs closely, so if part numbers move or fitment changes down the road, our listings get updated and we will note it here.

How the two lineups fit together

Air Lift Performance summed the pairing up as different strengths and one shared passion, and that reads accurately against the two catalogs. Between them they cover most of what people actually put air suspension on.

Air Lift Performance is built around complete packages for modern platforms. A front kit, a rear kit, and a 3H or ALP4 controller handle the whole build, with documented installs and a wide installer network behind them. On a current or recent enthusiast car, that is usually the fastest route to a finished system.

Universal Air goes deep where application lists tend to run out. The Solution Series reaches back decades into classics, older European chassis, and trucks, the Aeroleaf line converts leaf-sprung suspension to air outright, and the off-road side covers vehicles that need travel and load capacity rather than ride height alone. Behind the catalog sits a fabrication shop that has spent 30 years building struts and conversions for vehicles that never had an off-the-shelf option.

Together that runs from a lowered late-model build to a bagged classic to a work truck, plus the bags, tanks, valves, and management to run any of it. For anyone shopping air, the useful takeaway is that the coverage under one roof is now much wider than either brand offered alone.

Shop Universal Air and Air Lift Performance

Both brands are live and shipping. If you are deciding between them, the short version is that Air Lift Performance is the easiest complete package on most modern platforms, and Universal Air is the answer when your car sits outside the usual application list or you want a specific strut built for it.

Not sure which kit fits your build, or which management system pairs with what? Reach out and we will work through the application with you before you order.

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