OK guys, First off I know an airbag system isn't for everyone. However there's no denying the fact that it's a great way to get your custom car/truck really low and keep it driveable. I've posted a few shots of our trunk setup in a couple of other threads and answered several PMs for guys asking about our setup. So...Here it goes! My wifes 54 Chevy 210 is on air. She wanted it low...so that's what we gave her. We started her out with two dual needle air gauges and a seven switch control box. Sure, it worked OK but it was far from being ideal for our application. She knew about where the needles should be on her gauges when it was just the two of us in the car, but when the passenger count goes up, those numbers go out the window. Yea, we could have just bumped up the pressure a bit more and been "close" to our desired height... but we didn't want it close. She wanted it to go to the same height everytime no matter how the car was loaded. After doing some research we decided that we liked the look of what the guys at Accuair had to offer in the way of air management systems. Their system works with ride height sensors on all four corners and offers the ability to have three preset ride heights (Full lift, regular ride height, and cruise height) as well as still having the ability to adjust each bag manually. The Accuair system would have worked fine with our valves that we were already using but we chose to install their valve block during the install. Since our car already had air, the install was reasonably simple and straightforward. Our largest obstacle (as well as everyone else's that I've spoken with that has done one of these installs) was coming up with a mounting point for the sensors. The instructions call for the sensors to be mounted in a location that will allow the arm to have 2.75" of travel....We were having trouble finding a spot that would work. We did find a spot that was going to allow us just over 2" of travel so I called the guys at Accuair to see if I could run it like that. I was assured that they had tested the system succesfuly with as little as 1" of travel so we were golden! I think just about every single picture I took under the car looks like leftover dammit. Anyway, here's a shot of one of the sensors on the rear with a bracket we built to secure it. The sensors have "Ford" script on them as well as a part# so I guess in theory if one ever failed I could order it myself from any Ford dealer. Once all four sensors were mounted things started coming together quickly. It was just a matter of running our cables to each sensor. Each cable is labeled for it's corresponding corner. Here's a shot with our old valves still in place while we were routing the cables. Once the cables were ran, it was just a matter of removing the old valves (after labeling all the lines leaving them) mounting the new block and ECU and pressure switch. Everything is labeled and it only plugs one way so as to keep fools like me from screwing it up I assume. The Accuair system can do an auto setup which will put your three presets at 10%, 50%, and 90% of your suspensions travel. We chose to set it up manualy using measurements that we had recorded while we still had our gauges. So...we went from this To this (cell phone thrown in for scale) And this to this So far we've been very pleased with the way it works. No matter how much beer we load in the trunk, and no matter how many of my fat buddies I load up, the car stays level. We also have the benefit of gettting the frontend alignment dead on due to the car lifting to the same height every time.
good to see you left the trunk floor and wheelwells in your car. I plan on being a trend setter and having something in my 49 we used to call "stance". maybe it will some day make a comeback
And we thank you. I think it may be a lost art. Your car sitting on the ground is not stance... AccuAir is on here... It's very nice stuff... Got 2 customer rides that'll be getting it soon enough. http://www.accuairsuspension.com/
Thanks guys! I purchased the valve block/ecu/sensors and the second water trap straight from Dustin (one of the founders) at Accuair. I already had the tank and compressor from the original setup. The vid I posted shows her at "cruise height", which translates to just barely above scraping pavement. This is how she looks when aired out... We just walked back in the door from a trip up to Pigeon Forge for the Shades of the Past. It's about a 3-3.5hr trip each way (plus cruisin the strip) and she performed like a champ...aside from an old cast valve cover pouring oil. Here's a link I found to their site... http://www.accuaircs.com/ You can reach them at 1-877-247-3696 They told me that they could hook me with anything from just the ECU to compressors, bags, brackets, airline or whatever I needed to make this happen. Seemed like real stand up guys.
Thanks guys! My previous valves lifted fine but I didn't really like how they dropped. The front dumped to fast (or faster then we wanted) And the back dropped slower then Christmas. I had installed some slowdown/mufflers on the front valves...but it didn't help much. The Accuair valve block has got what I feel like is a good "speed" to it. Not violently fast but not too slow either. I'm sure I've got some chassis pictures on file somewhere. Anything special that you'd like to see? We installed the Fatman ultralow frontend along with a Gambino customs notch out back. We ditched the torque tube/manual trans and installed a nova rearend with a triangulated 4 link. Also ditched the 6cyl and added a 350 engine and th350 trans. We've had this car running/driving like this since late last fall. We've been working out the bugs and chasing down the gremlins. Yesterday we drove it up to Pigeon Forge for the Shades of the Past. It's about a 3-3.5hr drive each way (plus a few hours of bumper to bumper cruisin on the strip) and she ran like a champ aside from an old cast valve cover pouring oil. I'm hoping that we're about to call it "done"...for now.
Damn nice job i want to do the same thing to mine in time I've already got the bags ,tank and Compresser i just got to get the c-notch from Gambino........look's good though where are you in Georgia im in Dallas
We're in LaFayette which is about 25 miles south of Chattanooga TN. We haven't hit the Dallas cruise in a while, but we have done the one in Cartersville this year.
I know were you are i visit there every once n a while very nice area .......Dallas and Cartersville is normally a cant miss cruze maybe we'll see you at one i heard from some friend's that Gaston, Ala is big got to check it out sometime take care
Gadsden is definitly worth hitting if you're within driving distance. There's some photos I took further down in this thread from the last one. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=394511&highlight=gadsden
nice ride im looking into a digital airride kit. i like the setup of accuair and videos of accuair. Slick 39 thanks these pictures will help make the installation easier for me.
nice ride im looking into a digital airride kit. i like the setup of accuair and videos of accuair. Slick 39 thanks these pictures will help make the installation easier for me.
I have a buddy who attendes who attends cruise night in gaston i believe starting on friday. He drives from philadelpia mississippi well get together and take a cruse that way he drives a 54 chevy also black.
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