I need some advice from you guys that have an air ride equipped car and have driven it lots. My Zephyr is the first air ride car I've built. It has a super sexy stock dash and I'm trying to hide everything and not clutter the look with a lot of new looking stuff. So, I have pressure gauges and switches for the air ride to mount. I want to put them inside the glove box where they won't be visible. So here's my question: When you drive your air ride rod, how often do you look at the pressure gauges and how often do you have to fuss with the switches? I'm OK with opening the glove box to set that "just right" stance for car shows or fairgrounds cruising, but I'd rather not do it while driving. Any advice from real world experience?
In my zephyr they are in the left glove box door. I have air bags in several cars, at first I watch a lot, but unless you have a bad leak. Which I don't. I only look when raiseing or lowering the car for driveways or parking. Roger
I've built and driven several bagged rides, and have never installed gauges. I like to drive at different heights depending on how I'm feeling at the moment.
I've only got a few miles on mine so far... never look at the panel. Seems that as long as it feels level and the bumps aren't too shocking, it isn't a worry. Besides, I need to get all the other drips, runs and errors fixed before I have free time to conentrate on the fine tuning! Gary
All of my gear is out of sight too. I check once per driving day. I had to swap out a few fittings at the outset, and re-do a few lines until I got it to not leak in any meaningful fashion. Noticeable bleed down takes a few weeks.
What make of gauges do you have in your dash? Do you have room for one more gauge? If so, you could probably find a pressure gauge in the appropriate-scale to match your existing dash gauges and hide it in plain sight! Remember, pressure is pressure and any pressure gauge will do, so long as the scale is right, regardless if the gauge was originally intended to measure fuel, oil, air or whatever fluid or gas pressure . Mart3406 ===========================
I don't look at my gauges very often. What I did to keep everything out of site was to make my own switchbox on a cable with a digital gauge in it. I keep it on the seat next to me while driving, and can tuck it under the seat when I'm not.
We try to incorporate them into the upholstery so that they are easily seen by the driver. Once the newness is over I hardly ever watched them at all. These pictures are from our 1939 Chevy 2dr sedan that would be considered off topic here but will give you an idea of placement.
Good input guys - thanks! I think I'll go with a panel behind the glove box door. I can put a bunch of other stuff on there too and keep the dash clean.
I have 11,000 miles on my 34 Airflow with Air ride tec. I am glad I did it.Not a problem yet.I put my guages up in the header.The only time I look at it is when I have had it lowered and start driving so I know the wheel alignment is correct for highway driving.I set mine at 80 lbs .The alignment was done at 80 lbs.I set the car up for if it ever failed I would still be able to drive it all the way down bottomed out.It would be a rough ride but atleast be able to get it home for a fix. Mine has not leaked down over all the years yet,It holds good preasure.
Mine is set up this way too. Being able to lay frame or rocker may look really cool at the fairgrounds, but it means that you are calling a tow truck if you have even the smallest of failures. Or, at least in CA, getting a ticket or impounded if the cops get there before the tow truck does.
Not reallyI have at least 6 cars on air, twice I have had problems, and have found that by inflating 2 I could get the car up (example left rear failed, inflate left front & right rear) then repair or place wood block in damaged position. The 1957 & 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham came with oak wood blocks. I got home both times, with no ticket or impound
i dont have gauges on mine, when i start feeling like a tire is goin flat i hit the switch and pump it back up! lol
I have had air suspension on a few cars, but my last one was a 1966 Coupe DeVille that I put switches and gauges in when I built it. I hated it. I could never tell where the car was. When it was just me in the car it was fine, but throw a couple friends in the back or some stuff in the trunk for a car show and it was totally different. I put an Accuair E-Level on it and now I will never have air suspension without one! You have three heights that you can set anywhere you want, and the car will go straight to height by pushing one button. When you start the car it goes to your number 2 position automatically, so you can set number 2 where you drive your car and forget about it. You can actually align your car so you don't wear tires, which is a problem I've always had. The coolest part is while driving the car if the Accuair sees it's out of level it will adjust it back without you having to do anything! It uses height sensors only so you don't even have to use gauges. For anyone who loves the look and ride quality of air suspension but hates all the constant adjusting and checking, you have to get one! I'm gonna put air on my 57 F100 next month and it will have one for sure. Check it out here http://www.accuairsuspension.com/
I have 4 cars on air. In theory, they should never leak off while driving, but when you have a gauge, you have a chance to raise it BEFORE you are in trouble. Hows your luck been running so far?
Good thread and some good posts too. Quick question: How can you check for leaks? I have a slow leak in the front someplace? It bleeds down over a few hours to zero when parked. Have been through all the parts, tighten them, listen and still that bugger eludes me. .
A little detergent mixed with water in a spray bottle. Spray it on the offending lines and fittings. Watch for bubbles. If it's leaking that fast, it will be relatively easy to spot the leak. Good luck...
Exactly it is just air and fittings. sooner or later you will have some leak down issues. I prefer to watch my guage.
The soapy water works kinda ok, there are liquid leak check products available. But I've found that if you know any one with an ultra sound tester you can get acess to it will find the smallest, slowest. Roger
I start by spraying all the fittings with windex, it bubbles up nice when you find a leak.. alot of the time its a connector or a poorly cut airline.
Do you have one you'd recommend? Seems like a worthwhile investment, and a time saver. Already spent way too much time curing the 1 PSI per 8 hour leaks my customers don't want.
My ultrasonic leak detector is an amprobe model uld-300 I've had it for several years they may have a newer model try www.amprobe.com a long time ago we had a 747 with a o2 leak the normal way to check was with "sherlock gas and air leak detector" couldn't find it for some reason I tried our ultrasonic found the leak . Roger
Thanks, I will look into it. It appears the ULD-300 is still the one. Trust me, I'd rather that I did not have customers that expected a NASA "continuous orbit installation" grade seal, but I don't see that happening.
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