Why use air bags? Why not Monroe air shock?

the basic thing you need to remember, is the springs are designed to support the weight of the car, the shocks dampen the movement of the springs,this is to prevent ocillations in the spring,take a small coil spring and drop it,and watch what happens. this is also the reason people across the pond call them dampeners,not shocks. that's probably a better name for them anyway. the shocks are not designed to support the cars weight,they only dampen the springs. there is another difference that makes this complicated too,which makes a big difference between air shocks and regular shocks. it's jounce and rebound. in a regular shock the fluid moves through valves,which control this. jounce is when the spring is compressed, such as hitting a pot hole, and rebound is when the shock wants to return to it's normal state. these valves are set up for the type of driving the vechicle is made for,also the weight of the the vechicle. you wouldn't want a shock set up for drag racing, which helps transfer the weight to the back wheels for traction,on a street car. the air shocks don't have these kinds of valves, and have no control over eithier of these factors. the other difference between a shock and a coil over, other then the spring being around the shock, is often the mounting points are designed to be under the strongest point, such as where a spring would go. you can't just bolt a coilover where the old shock was, you could if the mounting point was made a lot stronger, and the frame was reinforced and gusseted for that point, but even then, on a car designed for springs and shocks, you are moving the suspended points on the frame away from their intended location. this can induce stress into the frame, unless you reengineer that part of the frame for the coilover.

 

Can't be any more dangerous than what we use now ??

 

I have a 94 ilverado that someone removed 2 leafs on both sides and installed leaky Air Bags..rides like a buck board..will the air shocks help my ride?
Tnx
Ron

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=829438