Do y'all think it is better to buy a complete air ride system like from ride tech, or part together my own kit? Pros cons? I feel like I could save some money doing my own "kit" ,
Springs and a low static ride height and be done with it, that's traditional not bags that pop at inopportune times and leave you stranded.
Yeah I like the idea of just lowering with springs it's dropped 6 " now, but my prob is I still need to haul stuff some times and if I put more than a load of pillows ii am bottoming out, it would be nice to have look and function,
Air bags are just as traditional as anything. Not a lot were done but they were used. To answer your question, I'd piece it together. Checkout gaugemagazine.com Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I saw a similar thread a few days ago, seems like GM came out with an air ride system in 57 or 8 and it was garbage. Airlift co. started 49. As I stated in the other thread JATO bottles came out during WWII so I thing they should be considered traditional also. (I heard about a guy that had one on the 57 chevy, they found his car 5 miles off the highway smashed on the side of a mountain in North Dakota) I'm sure someone tried it, did he survive? should it be considered "traditional? If I wanted a truly traditional car, I wouldn't use bags! If you choose to use them, call your car what it is, one built the way you want it! I think there is way too much emphasis on naming a car style (traditional rod, hot rod, street rod, rat rod, ricer, muscle car, street machine, etc.) and not enough emphasis on building cars of decent quality and aesthetics that the general public wants to see and associate with. This exclusionary way of thinking is just a silly ego trip. (I'm better than you because mine is a (pick one) and yours isn't) I'm sorry, but I see a sect on this forum that will say anything to get their little off topic "thing" included in the (traditional) formula. Rant over!!!!!!!!! BTW my next ride will be off topic and will have a home made air ride system on all 3 axles! Have fun!
Back to the question, do you know enough to piece together your own system, are you willing to learn?
air bags or air shock style? lol oh boy here we go again lets all get our sombreros out for this one and popcorn.....
you can do it, just do it safe! make sure its all quality steel with correct sizes and thickness for the application. Ex: Use DOM Also use correct grade of bolts, Remember some bolts are designed to bend and some to shear. Good quality welder with good quality welds. Lastly use good quality bags like Slam Specialties. Pays to be a machinist sometimes and you can CNC all your mounting plates but Im sure you could torch stuff out, just not as pretty. I did mine myself and run a nitrogen bottle as my air supply, took longer to do everything but I was able to justify buying a Lincoln 180 welder to do the project since I was making everything myself. I think in your application where you just want to lift the rear why not look at a load leveler kit that for the most part may be bolt on? Brent
This comes down to your personal skills. Check out whats available and look at installs that are what you want to see in your ride. If you look at one you like and say "hell yeah, I can do that" than go for it. If it looks like it's beyond your skills, you'll know and a kit will be better for you. Kits are made for a reason, not everyone can do it right. As for Mr. 48 Chev, I sorry you had a bad experience with air ride, it's not for everyone. It is a system that provides both comfort and an adjustable ride height. This is probably why major manufactures have been working on perfecting it for over 57 years.
I have installed several hundred bags. Not a single one has popped. I have repaired others failed installations, where they did. If you put them in properly, they work fine, and will last for over 100,000+ miles. I have yet to experience a failure that was not directly due to faulty installation. These systems are perfectly reliable, built properly. Anyone who tells you otherwise, is misinformed. I work for an Accuair dealer. Let me know if you find any of their systems or components interesting.
The only way an airbag would 'pop' is if it was rubbing on something, or due to age I work for an airbag manufacturer and we offer a 5 year warranty on our bellows.
I bought the Ridetech kit for my Galaxie as I had no experience of working on cars as this is my first car. I am reasonably happy with it as I bought it and fitted it very easily, I have slowly adapted it to take a different controller, added an extra compressor and hard lining it with 1/2" lines instead of crappy 1/4"( still in process of doing this). If I had to do it again I would do it myself without buying a ready made kit. Just be careful that you have at least 1/2" around the bag In all positions and you will be fine
Half-inch lines and valves move too much air, too fast, for all but the heaviest of vehicles. I don't install anything over 3/8", except by special customer request.
I would just buy the parts u need vs a "kit". That being said, if you are talking about a leaf sprung truck and you really are just looking to haul some stuff and or tow once in a while a proper static drop and some air shocks cant be beat.
never found much of a kit to fit just build mein out of pieces accumulated got a g body kit hope that fits on the 41 olds I have left the leaf springs on 2 and added the bags and like that set up, got air shox on one and small helper bags on another it is really a lot of work but its worth it in the end in 1963 I just left my exhaust system on a railroad tracks, no more and I got the exhaust under the rear end on 2 of the car, just rember to have them jaked when you do the exhaust
My advice to the OP would be first of all to ensure that he understands thoroughly how air springs work. If I end up going with bags on the back of the '31 project I might have a ½" line connecting the left and right bags, because the design would require that they act like a single spring, with as close to no resistance or lag between them as possible, i.e. zero roll stiffness. The system would provide roll resistance in another way. The bags would be about rigging self-levelling to allow a lowish stance with a generous static deflection rather than silly lowering, so the feed from the compressor etc. might be via smaller lines. It might end up being easier to have a single bag between bell-cranks, though, depending on space constraints.
I've been wondering why people put such large lines on a car. I'm running 3/8 on my 54 Buick and it will damn near jump off the ground when you air it up.
I only want to do it once more and thought if I use 1/2" lines with regulators on both front and rear I can fine tune it to how I want .
get u a account at lowrider depot i buy all my bag stuff from there for dirt cheap... and id definatly buy it one piece at a time because a kit always has a bunch of useless shit in it and usually its half assed parts... spend the money on the good stuff ull be glad u did
Why is it that everyone except the few professionals on here that likes airbags has like only a couple hundred posts. Even if they were used on the Mayflower in 1620, they're really not "traditional", but the HAMB is. We need to move this one along, laddies.
The were on Ala Kart, in 1957, and on numerous Kustoms, after that. Maybe not "common" buy they were used on a regular basis. Maybe it is your tradition to ignore uncommon history, but not mine.
It would be great to have the KUSTOM and traditional boards separate because guys like this forget this board is both KUSTOM and a traditional board. Jake
I pieced mine together as there were some things in a kit I liked, and some I didn't, plus I didn't have the money to fork out all at once for a kit, stay away from the push to connect fittings they will leak, now I will be changing them all out for flared fittings and hard lines where possible I used 3/8 SMC valves and lines and 2 Zenith OB2 Compressors it pumps up and drops very fast, to fast for my liking, I just want to raise and lower it not make it dance.........
I just finished bagging the back of my Studebaker. I found these http://www.mcmaster.com/#air-line-mufflers/=n2cfw0 for 3/8 line, along with most of my other fittings. I like how it quieted the air release and it slowed it down considerably. Oh, and 5window, maybe a low thread count indicates a member that doesn't just post on any topic to shoot an opinion. They just inform people with facts and knowledge that they are willing to share...
couldnt have said it better my self. i go over this again and again with this wheel taboo.... a old cars a old car i dont see why it matters what u do to it. We are all playing the same game and if u dont like the way someone plays just keep it to ur self u miserable post number hunting bastards lol... that escelated quickly
X2 Exactly. It would be interesting to see a breakdown of how many " that's not traditional" posts some of these folks have that help fluff their post counts. As for the 1/2 lines, most people I know of that run them want to be able to hop. I've got 1/2 ports, but 3/8's line and my rearend still damn near hops even with my adjusters cranked all the way down. I was always told that it's the valve size and port size that make the difference though, not the line size. I've never had an interest in hoping, so I've never pursued it.
Piece together a kit SMC valves are great, accuair manifold is the shit. Slam bags are the best, dont balloon and ride great Good to get an aluminum tank but still run a drain line from bottom of tank to a ball cock. 3/8's lines are perfect Run shocks all the way around Viair comps - 480's SMC water traps Suicide doors are great : http://thorbros.com/ These guys are good too : http://www.airassisted.ca/u2/index.php Sometimes you can find a kit, but they always seem to have something in there you dont need L
Yup, all that. If you have Accuair questions, or any others, for that matter, I work for an Accuair dealer, and install this stuff, all the live-long day.
My complaint regarding that is.... Why is it acceptable to discuss non era correct suspension mods on here, won't get into the airbag thing but Mustang IIs were not around before 66, yet if you bring up non era correct engine mods you get ostracized?
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