Ok, here's the delimia... The back of the wagon needs some springs. I cut the factory ones and they settled even more, so now it bottoms the driveshaft when I hit a bump. I put some air shocks on it to help, but it ain't no fix. I am wanting to get new springs or bags for the back now to remedy the problem. I like the ease and dependability of the coils, but bags are pretty cool! I want to be able to load the back down (like I usually do on a long trip) or even possibly pull a trailer sometime. But I don't want a whole air suspension, mainly because I got a generator and also if something goes wrong, well I'm screwed on the side of the road. Gimmie some advice and ideas of what you may have done sucessfully. Thanks
Maybe new springs and the airshocks? This is coming froma bag person. Can they rework the generator for extra amps? I have honestly never run into this yet and have messed with a lot of bag stuff. If anyone has some info on the generator situation I am definately interested... Maybe a small compressor and a 3 gallon tank?
I myself am not really into bags but i do think they definitly have their place.i would get new coils cut em a little let em settle and once you have the ride hieght you want get an air assist system,one of those sets that have the small compressor in the kit.you would only use it on the days you carry loads heavy enough to bottom the car out.shouldnt hurt the gennie.this way your reliable and dont have to redo alot of suspension stuff and spend more time cruising!!!
You can probably find NEW springs for the rear AND the front at your lcoal auto parts store. Ask to see the MOOG spring catalog at your local O'Reilly's or CarQuest store. You will be amazed to see how well the car rides with new springs, kinda like it is NEW! And the whole round trip for most coil sprung cars will be well less than $300, some less than $150.
I think you need to clearance the part of the floor that is making contact with the driveshaft and then run new coils made to sit the car where you want it and ride well. Then, air shocks would be a good add if you are worried about carrying a heavy load. FONZI
If your car uses coil springs these might be an option http://store.summitracing.com/egnsearch.asp?N=700+115+300083&D=300083 you can load up and inflate these to level things out.They fit inside your coils. I've never been a fan of airshocks.
The A irlift bags are, and have long been, the answer to this question. They work great in a bunch of applications, but really shine under a '58-'64 big Chevy. In my opinion air shocks are a "crutches".
Thanks for the info guys. I will look into the air assist stuff it sounds like, with a new set of springs of course. I did already raise part of the tunnel below the rear seat, but there isn't much I can do in the X frame.
If you carry some weight in the back air springs are the way to go. I had air ride on my '62 with the 235 6cyl WITH the 30 amp generator AND a single subwoofer amp, never had any problems at all. I did have an OPTIMA battery, which helped some, I got 7 years out of that 5 year battery too. You can set-up the system with an air line tee and schrader valve and fill it with an air chuck like air shocks, I ran rear bags only like that for 2 years. I carried one of those tire pump compressors so I could fill them if I was not close to an air compressor/filling station. Marty McFly
I did have the gen rebuilt and it is supposed to put out more, but......? The car has A/C, electric wipers, stereo, 4 speakers, and a punch 45 (talk about "traditional", LOL!) and a small sub in the side panel. So, I don't want to stress it too much more. I had to get a smaller battery to fit the A/C compressor too, which sucks Thanks
I did a 63 wagon and got it down pretty good... You can go pretty far on that x-frame with little modification. I did a baby c-notch, and some trimming to the bag cups. They lay out nice....
Airsprings, schrader valve. Cut the D.O.T. air line square and use full brass fittings (not plastic), some quality liquid thread sealer, urathane bump stops and you wont have any problems. Use a high quality shock and not only will you be low, it will ride great.
My own personal experience thus far with using Air Ride... I bagged my 61 Lesabre that had cut springs prior. I had bottoming out issues with the cut springs and did for a while after installing my airride. A simple spring adjustment on compressor the cutoff switch fixed that by allowing more PSI to my bags = more ride height. Currently the bags leak out overnight (dont know what is typical for leak time.) I was running 2 compressors, each one rated up to 30Amps. 60Amps total. Just recently I had to have the generator rebuilt due to the armature going bad (slung solder told me was overheating.) I just recently found out its only a 35Amp generator. So I disconnected 1 compressor and only run 1 now. A generator for a vehicle w/ AC would put out 45Amps but I have a feeling I will need to change over to a hi-amp alternator setup to accomidate both compressors. It just takes too long to fill the tank w/ only 1 compressor. Am I incorrect to assume that, on a vehicle with a generator charging sytem, to run a *5 to 10 minute 60Amp load off of the battery (engine off or @ idle) is bad? Anyone else have issues with their generator not being able to handle the compressor(s)?
Powermaster makes a alternator that looks like your original generator and uses your stock brackets I believe they even have a hi-amp version for a/c.
1. If you plan on towing, use springs. If you plan on cruising, go with bags. These are not over engineered semi truck systems, they are patch work from various oem designs. 2. Just use a gm 3 wire alternator? Or do you not want to get pulled over by the tradition police? available everywhere, used on taxis, combines and tractors. There is not a place in north america that you can't get one that will get you home. I only saw a handful go bad in 4 years at O'Reillys, old big case or newer small case, dead reliable.
Like tires never get a flat - WTF Do the job properly and replace the springs. If you want to use auxiliary air bags as load helpers as well - fine. But engineer it correctly first rather than trying to stick a Band Aid on an obvious problem and hope that it will go away. My 0.02c
The trad police don't bother me, or else I wouldn't have a/c and a stereo in it. LOL. But I do like the look of a generrator......oh and it has the p/s pump hanging from the back of it. So a Powermaster won't work. Thanks for the advice guys.
If my car sits for a 6 months without being driven I usually have to add a couple psi to the tires but the air system wont loose air at all!!! I know plenty of people with air systems 10 years old that have had zero problems, and drive the vehicle a lot, some are daily drivers. Marty McFly
What type of fittings did you use with your setup? Strictly barb fittings? My bags leak out over night! I use these crappy fittings that seem to be pretty swiss-cheesey. Perhaps, dare I say, French-Designed? My setup is 1/2" hose. Would you recommend changing over to barb fittings?
If you are going to be low, i think that the car is going to be too low when you put weight in the back or hook a trailer up. being able to adjust with airbags on the back will be very nice. by the way, that's exactly what i do with my '60 Chevy. I've towed my trailer all over the place and also loaded the back full of stuff.... btw: to those that whine that airbags aren't traditional...... they were done back as far back as the 50's. -scott noteboom
fitting leak. improperly cut line aids to leaks. but, i've found that a huge amount of leaks that exist are in the solenoids.... -scott noteboom
I have used the air-lift assist bags very successfully for hard working vehicles with cool stance. For what you're doing, that's absolutely the route to go. You have the brutal reliability of steel springs, and the variable rate of the lift bags. At 30 psi, the lift bags I've used added about a thousand pounds of load capacity. But the catch is you want to get the bag height correct for your lowered car, or the minimum 4psi you gotta run will lift the car a little. You can buy those onboard compressors and gauge panels if you wanna get spendy. Or just hook em up like air shocks with a fitting. Have done many miles with the airshock line configuration and one of those cheapie emergency 12V compressors, just string it out manually the few times a year it's needed. Ultimately you'll want some kind of traveling compressor, because you only want more air after it's loaded. Lift bags and an emergency compressor are as low buck as it gets. Good luck, it's cool seeing somebody wanting to work an old car.
My Brother had a chevy panel. We put in springs with a Commercial airbag system inside of them. and then Heavy Duty Coil over shocks. He hauled a load and a trailer. It was semi Low too. Never had a problem. Stiff but strong
I currently have a Firestone compressor and gauge panel hooked up to my air shocks. I have switched the air shocks over to 1/4 line. I will replacing this as soon as I can but all I am going to do is replace the air shocks and springs with bags and shocks. I am going to still use the 1/4 line (for now) The system I have uses no tank.
I used the fittings that came in the Air Ride Tech kit (push in fittings) and I bought the tubing cutter to be sure I would get a nice square cut on the air line. The push in fittings that are DOT approved are the only ones you should use, yes they cost more than the non-DOT fittings but that is because the work and don't leak or break. I used a non-DOT to mock-up and move the car around but forgot to swap it for a DOT fitting and it failed (in the garage luckily)and I couldn't drive the car till I found a replacement (DOT). Marty McFly
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