Bags Gone

Actually, I hope to one day have my bomb Fleetline rolling on bagged suspension.
I think its traditional enough; as long as no one takes a peek under the fenders.

 

If it were easy everyone would do it. I run 2 switches. One for the front and one for the back. I also run two batteries per pump. Ran the truck all summer haven't charged them yet. No hoppin and 3 wheelin here. As far as hydraulics being traditional, ask Bill Hines The godfather of hydraulics. He will let you know.

 

2min and 10 seconds in will do
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw_9_YHnICU

 

hahaha I dont need to talk to the godfather of hydraulics... your first post says you drive all the way down and lift it to get clear things... so do i with my bags.... you say its half assed to drive around town stock, and lay out when parked" i drive around town as low as i can, hell, even all the way up, my car is lower than stock!... im doing the same thing you are... if youre not hoping or 3 wheeling.. what are you doing different from me... just trying to understand the " air ride is kinda lame" part, thats all....

 

traditional customs had modern air bags?

sorry my bad

 

lol! MODERN air bags?? they had air ride AND hydraulics,I have read plenty of threads on the HAMB proving that... as for MODERN versions , well probably not! My bad

 

I see all of these "anti air bag" posts and it makes me want to put some bags on a car just for spite....

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=178297&highlight=traditional+air+bags

neat article... and post #11, even Ryan thought so!
cracks me up this is always such a touchy subject!!

 

I look at it a little different than some. even from a traditional standpoint.

take the symco ralley.

even on there about us page they recognize that "Disk Brakes, electronic ignitions, and radial tires are accepted, they are driveability and safety upgrades"

I believe that air bags are a drivability and safety upgrade compared to some of the half assed ways i've seen cars lowered traditionally. YES done properly a traditional lowering job is fine,,, BUT,, done PROPERLY, bias ply tires, points ignitions, and drum brakes are fine. it is the fact that they just plain work SO MUCH BETTER and add a huge amount of drivability and safety.

alot of guys drive the bagged cars low all of the time but raise them to clear obsticles ect. how can this not be a safety improvement. take the town I live in. just three weeks ago they took out the main bridge to rebuild it. that will take 18 months and they have detoured traffic, the detour goes over a steep incline and sharp drop with railroad tracks top and bottom. I have one friend that is driving his toyota now because his 51 will not clear the tracks without hanging up. he is buying bags now,, he's done with being in situations that he gets hung up.

my pontiac is not lowered, and my 53 ford f100 is only going down about 4 inches. but if I ever lowered the pontiac or went lower with the f100 it would be bags. why...

driveability and safety.

bags are not going anywhere for just this reason.

just like the brakes, tires and distributors. I think of air bags as "traditional" in principle.

traditional rods were often lowered. yes, not by the same means but the style and thought is the same.

traditional cars had tires, but not radials

there quite a few cars here that are completley traditional. but in the "real world" there just are not many that have all original parts and components.

but the hobby will live on in spirit as long as the old guys don't scream.. HEY YOU KID GET OFF MY LAWN every time they see a set of airbags.

 

I was re-reading the tread, and realized this website really says it all

traditional style hotrods and customs.

I guess I would look at the symco rules and airbags in general and describe a car with them as.....

a traditionaly styled custom...... if that makes sense.

 

I don't see an end but I do believe that there are some who do not want them including me. I think back to basics would be great and lower cars the good old way.

 

Cmon, bags have been around since the 50's. If you can't appreciate the car as a whole you're missing the point. Get over it already.

 

I was saying air ride was kinda lame to me because I do not like it. Not to say it does not work or it makes you less of a person if you run it. I like to run hydraulics. Thats it. As far as it being a passing fad?

 

I think alot of the hydro fans feal hydrolics are the hard core way... maybe so.

But you can't over look how clean and reliable an air bag system can be.

I think bags are a major improvement over hydros, and thats why I run them.

The older I get the less hard core matters.

 

It doesn't say
"Spreading the gospel of traditional hot rods and traditional customs to hoodlums world wide"
it says
"Spreading the gospel of traditional hot rods and customs to hoodlums world wide"

Big difference really.

 

If you had been paying attention that opinion has been floating around this site for as long as I have been a member at least. Its about as traditional as orca Betty's and leans closer to the 'Rat Rod' crowd.

Now don't get me wrong, I think bags are a good idea on a low custom. Not to 'Lay frame' but to increase drivability over speed humps and rough roads. I would use them but the lowest the car would go is about as low as the Hirohata Merc.

Doc.

 

Or linear actuators.


http://www.gizmag.com/go/3259/

 

Lets get together and build a car with bags on top of other bags. That way it won't be so low as to be 'non-traditional'.

 

Air bags are punk rock?

 

its kinda lame because you just do not like it? ok, thats simple enough,.. I just thought there was an actual technical reason why you didnt like them... they do the exact same thing, except for the fluid versus air.. thats what i didnt understand.. i dont think hydraulics are lame.. i ran them for 10 years.. nothing wrong with them, but after running an air ride set up.. i wont do hydraulics again.... just my preference..
anywho, i dont think it will be a passing fad... im not in any hurry to go back to cuttin coils, smashing oil pans and scraping the chrome off my rear bumper... but thats just me.....

 

Hydraulics are cool.... On 60's Chevys. I like my air ride- alot.

 

Don't forget that bags aren't just about adjustability. They're also a spring medium with a different set of characteristics to steel springs. They're another element in our technological palette, another possible solution to the problem you're dealing with, another potential kind of result. I say use them if your situation calls for them.

 

I think they will be around for a long time, just don't put them on open wheel, straight axel cars where everybody can see them they look real bad. Yes I have seen this in person real tacky.

 

No. Solid mounting your axles to the frame is punk rock.

 

"before long?"

hell, i was saying that when it 1st started....

 

better bags then the way we lowered cars in the early sixties.
took my 48 fleetline fastback to j&j muflers in inglewood and told them "torch 'em" and put it on the ground.
rode like crap but looked cool...for a while.
got tired of jarring fillings lose on every dip and railroad track, especially the tracks on inglewood ave and broadway next to hawthorne high school.
to each their own.

later dudes
chuck

 

Im considering air for my newest project mostly because the last owner was going that way before he gave the truck to me. Im trying some more traditional leaf spring set ups now with the 49 and 47 trucks. Im just not sure if im that ready to jump i might just stay with the radius arm mono leaf ideas.

 

They all said the automobile would be a passing fad as well....look how that turned out.

 

i dont have a problem with lowered cars they are cool (or static dropped) but a car needs some ground clearence if you drove a car around here lowered all the way on bags youd have to own a suspension shop and a body shop

when i see acar laying frame in a show field it reminds me of a car sitting in a junkyard with out wheels and tires and if it happens to be unfinished or ratted or whatever it just reinforces the junkyard vibe

 

Yeah when i saw some of those amazing rides,at the long beach motorama with their amazing paint jobs,perfectly executed chops and attention to detail laying frame i really thought i was in a junkyard and wanted my money back...i was so lost,cant believe i went to the wrong place...damn junkyard motorama...