FALCON and FAIRLANE Air bag suspension

to bring the thread back to the subject at hand..>That 65 Comet looks killer until I saw under it....mines a charcoal black/ gray...maybe it's time to change her up..IF I EVER GET RID OF THE "RACE" MOTOR in my classified..haha

 

Back on topic, does anyone know if there were different size tie rods on the 65? or 64?. I am doing the Granada disc swap and the tie rods Crites sent are smaller than my adjusters and old tie rods. I also have a set of new tie rods for the stock drums and they are different from what I pulled off my car as well. Is there some way to identify them easily?

 

I did get alot done today and got a cross member for mine that hasn't been on the car for God knows how long. I never remember seeing one and I know I didn't take it off so that's at least 18 years.

 

turbo i do believe their are 2 different sizes. i did the granada disc brake swap. check on tffn.net or discbrakeservice.com they might have all the info you need cause i forgot the details. something about the tie rod ends (the threads being too long) and having to cut a small peice off when bolting everything together or else the ends will bottom out on one another when tightening everything back together and you won't be able to properly align the front end.

 

you need to run Granada outers when you do the converstion...

 

You can also use tie rod adapters from Mustang Steve if you want to keep the smaller tie rods. They're $20/each though. Got mine off eBay.

 

Geat post so far minus the wyoming cowboy trash!!! I am looking at throwing a bagged mustang 2 under my 63 falcon to get rid of all the support crap in the engine bay. thanks for the post about the small cars whether there for chicks or cowboys

 

Thanks for the input, I will see what I can find.
I know about the adapters from Mustang Steve.
I should havee been more specific about the tierods. My adjusters and tie-rods on the car are of a larger diameter than the new stock replacement as well as the Crites replacement.
I know when I drove this car all the time it had problems with setting and keeping an alignment, I wonder if someone changed something somewhere along the line? I am sure the crossmember had a little to do with that though being a unibody and all and not having that support there.

 

has anyone seen the "wonderbar" rear suspension for the leafsprung fairlanes from FATMAN, and i would say falcons too. its a pretty kool idea that i bet we could even duplicate with out buyin from fatman. cool pix on fatman website for ideas

 

We bagged my 64' Fairlane wagon about 11 years ago and have never had any problems with it. In the front we bolted the bag to the upper control arm, used a piece up pipe bolted to the top of the airbag, and bolted the pipe up in the shock tower to the original mounts. Pretty easy really. We relocated the shocks by using a shock with a post on each end and making brakets off of the lower contol arm and the shock tower. Hard to visualize, I am sure, but it works great. I get about 8 inches of travel. I am running stock leafs in the back with a couple removed. We built a crossmember under the rear floor and bolted the bags to the crossmember. The shocks stayed in the stock location on the back. We did have to raise the driveline tunnel a bit for clearance. In the pic, the car is not down, but will lay on the ground.

 

Here are the brackets I made for my '59 Fairlane. Hope it helps.

 

Very cool topic would love for my falcon to sit like this one....

 

It's funny that this would be brought back up again...
I haven't felt much like working on the Fairlane since my other car was stolen.
It has been up on stands next to my Monte which has been on lock down as well. This weekend I started feeling like messing with it and getting back into the groove of things again. I got the front spindles bolted in and it's resting on all 4 again but I still have alot to do. New brake lines, tie rods (probably will use Mustang Steve bushings after all).
It's low even in the back and I only took off the helper spring.
Will post when I get more done.

 

i worked at a shop that does airbags for every kinda car possible , these are the things you need to know (1) clearance at least 1 inch around the entire bag , (2) any time you have a stable base plate and upper plate the bag will open in a arch motion causeing the inner fold to wear from rubbing and the outers to wear from over inflashion.( 3) the falcons original floating spring perch with a 5.5 bag will actully move with motion of rise and fall . lift isnt as great as larger bages but you can expect 6 inchs plenty for normal driving ,, heres how i know

 

and im building new lowers and upper arms to get it 2 more inchs ,,,, i also retained my swaybar ,, rides better with it

 

Flaked62merc - thats a bitchen ride man

 

thanks , as soon as i can get picsill post them ,,, but i have found out that falcon/comet front suspension doesnt take to well to being lowered lots of cutting and adjusting,,,, but hell if it was easy it would be a chevy

 

BAD IDEA RAY! those "roll plates" are NOT NOT NOT designed to hold the weight of the vehicle like that. the weight of the vehicle should be directed to the actual end plate of the bag. you are relying on that sheetmetal rol plate to support the entire weight of the front of your car. bad things COULD happen. i recomend a thick metal plate that bolts to the top of the bag and have your current mount rest on (and be welded to) that.

the good news. Airlift has done a complete redesign on their bags and the roll plates are no longer required.

 

just go to suicidedoors.com and order 4 or 5 inch cups there reasonable and they work great also sawzall or plasma out the fender supports and debur them nothing worse then blowing a bag cause of a jaged edge you could have fixed , airlift bags are ok but the bands have a tendency to leak over time ,,, check out slam specialties they have a internal bump stop , and a better designed seal. a very small bit more exspensive but whats 50 dollars total on your car for 100% benefits

 

not the case any longer. they went with a TOTALY new design. very similar in concept to the style of cap all the other major manufacturers are using... only better. they now have the best bags in the industry. ask ANYONE who has used the new "DOMINATOR" bags and they will agree. everyone i've sold them to LOVES them. they are some heavy duty SOBs too. can't wait to get a set for one of my projects.

 

you're right. it was obviously a quick and dirty means to an end when i was rushing to get the car on the road a few years ago. the car has been sitting for a few years now, keeps getting pushed to the back burner, but fixing the quick and dirty stuff is on the agenda whenever i get back to this one. though it will be replaced, in THIS application i don't see much of an issue with the strength of the roll plate carrying the load. falcons are very light cars, the roll plates are constructed of similar gauge steel as much of the rest of the cars load carrying structure. i could certainly see the same misuse being a big problem in a caddy or a truck.

 

it has obviously worked for a while but i would NEVER recomend doing it. sounds like a gamble to me and that is not a wager i want to be involved in.

 

flaked62merc - Whats the rear set up, links, leafs ?

 

its 2 linked w/ bag under axle ,, its a suicidedoors.com kit was really cheap and came with the bags

 

Got pics of your set up ?

 

ill take some in the morning of the front and rear and post them , the back is getting redone though

 

I was able to finally get some work done on my Fairlane this weekend.
I finished the brakes (new lines, Granada discs, new calipers, mc, wheel cylinders, etc). It finally moved and stopped under it's own power for the first time in almost a year. I was going to finish the airbags but ran out of weekend. I promised we would go to the movies.

I need to lower the back still.

 

Hi sorry to bring this thread up again but flaked62merc, would you reckomend the 5.5 slam bag over a 6"? Im just about to order some slam bags and making some mounts for the front of my 65 aussie falcon just wanted to know which one you thought to work the best? P.s. my falcon looks near the same as yours lol same panels and everything just differnt grill and tail end...

 

hey man sorry for not responding quick enough go with the 5.5 for space needed you will be happier and so i kinda changed mine up and went crazy

 

heres a pic of the new bag set up