Air Ride... let's talk about 'em
- Thread starter nero
- Start date
deputydawg
Member
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2006
I have had air ride on trucks....
Made a world of difference on ride. I am wanting to put my GN on air ride. I have heard of people using the traditional bags in the front with outboard mounted shocks (common for s10 installs) and traditional bags in the rear- the biggest complaint was ride control- the bags tend to be a little spongy. I have talked to some people that have run the shockwaves and absolutely love them as they have control over rebound within the internal shock and they require very little modification to install. Both systems use a compressor, tank, valves and lines (400-450).
Traditional bags run about 50-65 per bag, about 40-50 per mount- the spring cup has to be trimmed out and an external shock mount has to be installed for the front (total of about 400-500). The rearbrackets are simply bolted or welded in place of the stock coil springs and the bags bolted to the brackets. Here is a link showing this installation:
HzEmall.com
I have contacted the shop about this install and they told me the owner has since removed the traditional bags and went with shockwaves.
Shock waves run about 800 front and 800 rear. More expensive, but perform better. Installation is fairly straight forward with a little modification to the spring pocket in the front. The rear is pretty much a bolt in. I guess it all depends on what you are looking for- the look or the performance.
Made a world of difference on ride. I am wanting to put my GN on air ride. I have heard of people using the traditional bags in the front with outboard mounted shocks (common for s10 installs) and traditional bags in the rear- the biggest complaint was ride control- the bags tend to be a little spongy. I have talked to some people that have run the shockwaves and absolutely love them as they have control over rebound within the internal shock and they require very little modification to install. Both systems use a compressor, tank, valves and lines (400-450).
Traditional bags run about 50-65 per bag, about 40-50 per mount- the spring cup has to be trimmed out and an external shock mount has to be installed for the front (total of about 400-500). The rearbrackets are simply bolted or welded in place of the stock coil springs and the bags bolted to the brackets. Here is a link showing this installation:
HzEmall.com
I have contacted the shop about this install and they told me the owner has since removed the traditional bags and went with shockwaves.
Shock waves run about 800 front and 800 rear. More expensive, but perform better. Installation is fairly straight forward with a little modification to the spring pocket in the front. The rear is pretty much a bolt in. I guess it all depends on what you are looking for- the look or the performance.
Mike Licht
I was here first
- Joined
- May 23, 2001
lots of autocross and g-machine guys going to air ride as well, the Camaro I drove was like a slot car, I was amazed it was air bagged
I am so close to making this my suspension upgrade.. air ride. The flick of a switch and you can adjust the height? It's really that simple? What about the on going maintenance, if any? Can I use my Howe upper and lower ball joints or does the kit recommend others? I didn't get springs and shocks yet, which is good since the kit provides its own.... I can't think of anything else at the moment.. so I'm going to check the links provided...
I'm looking for the look mostly... I hardly ever go to the track, I haven't made a single pass in the 4 years I owned the car. I just love Gbodies and wanted the king (turbo regals) of Gbodies. That being said, if I get on it on the beltway or from a redlight, would the kit blow to pieces???
Right on!!! I'm glad people other than me are putting 'em in TRs!!!
Double glad I'll be the only one in this area
I have almost a complete kit ready for my TR. I have gotten 4 2600 lb double convoluted bags, 4 -1/2" valves for air up, 4 -3/8" valves for air down, a Viair 380 compressor and a 7 gallon tank, a bunch of line and fittings. I still want a second compressor, digital ride control (to have 3 memory settings) and 2 sets of S-10 front mounting cups.
I have heard alot of the sponginess in the front bags is attributed to cheap bags and too low pressure. To solve this I also am doing 2" drop spindles (also wanna be slammed) so that it requires higher pressure to get the nose up high enough to drive, and should control the slop better. Also an 8 valve system keeps pressures from washing side to side in turns, and a set of new KYB shocks will round out the install. If for some reason it doesn't meet my eeds, I will do shock waves, but at this point I have traded for all of this w/ no out of pocket expenses, and all the parts are new/never installed.
I am not looking for G-machine handling, just better than stock, and a nice low smooth ride. I don't think it'll handle badly, actually in most air ride cars I have riden in, if at the right PSI, you can not tell its on air or coils.
I'll post pics once completed, but I am in no hurry.
I have heard alot of the sponginess in the front bags is attributed to cheap bags and too low pressure. To solve this I also am doing 2" drop spindles (also wanna be slammed) so that it requires higher pressure to get the nose up high enough to drive, and should control the slop better. Also an 8 valve system keeps pressures from washing side to side in turns, and a set of new KYB shocks will round out the install. If for some reason it doesn't meet my eeds, I will do shock waves, but at this point I have traded for all of this w/ no out of pocket expenses, and all the parts are new/never installed.
I am not looking for G-machine handling, just better than stock, and a nice low smooth ride. I don't think it'll handle badly, actually in most air ride cars I have riden in, if at the right PSI, you can not tell its on air or coils.
I'll post pics once completed, but I am in no hurry.
That car in the link is exactly what I would want, should I go the air ride route. No rush... still gathering information. Do you have a parts list for that thing or a link to get those parts?
Shockwave, about to google that now to start.
That dude on Hzemall had a basic kit, and didnt like it, (the one being installed in the pics) and later went w/ Air Ride Tech shockwaves. There can be many reasons air ride doesn't work well, so its hard to say what issue shockwaves solved. The most common prob I have seen is only one up and down valve per axle, causing the car to load pressure when you turn, and the car feels like its gonna roll over as all you air pressure is rushing out to the point w/ least resistance, not where its needed. To aleviate that you most use either 2 valves per wheels (air in, and air out) for your control, or some say shockwaves being adjustable valved shock help with this. To me, it only makes sense to start w/ 8 valves, and learn from there.
no issues w/ durability on the bags themselves, big rigs have used them for years now w/o incident. The only bag failure I know of was from the bag in collapsed form rubbing a frame rail and wearing a thin spot, which lead to failure. The main issue people have with air ride is one of two things;
1. Leaks from install (easily found, and repaired at install time)
2. Valves stick (open or closed)
If you do a quality nstall, and buy quality valves and follow manufactorers instructions of maintenance, they won't fail you.
1. Leaks from install (easily found, and repaired at install time)
2. Valves stick (open or closed)
If you do a quality nstall, and buy quality valves and follow manufactorers instructions of maintenance, they won't fail you.
Sounds about right... just trying to dot all Is and cross all Ts before going into an irreversible mod (having to grind front coil pocket for air kit to fit).
Start here, Air Ride Technologies - Ridetech.com , this is Air Ride techs main page, read the shockwave info, cool ride (which is std air bags) and the control arm packages. This will let you learn alot, then you can try to find similar parts cheaper if that is something you desire. They have great products, but after much research, many companies offer similar equipment (for s-10 trucks) that fits our cars fine.
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