Air Bag? (how far can you bend them)

I have a quick question regarding how far you can bend an a Firestone "small" airbag before you run into problems. I have mine mounted on my trailing arms in front of the axle. At full drop they are perfectly aligned and the top and bottom are parellel to each other. But as I raise the car up, the top and bottom of the bag come out of parallel. (one side expands farther than the other due the angles of the trailing arms in relation to the frame.)

How much bend is too much for an air bag?

 

sounds like a redesign might be in order, put up a pic so we can see how much you are talking about.

 

Your bag should be parallel at ride height. Anything you are doing fabricating suspension wise should be at ride height. Remember to adjust for sway also (weight shift in and out of turns)


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I see this alot in the truck scene. I'd keep the farther expanding size within the manufacturer's recommended travel.

 

No bag will be perfect all the up and down unless you are doing straight off the axle. (but then I've seen people get that wrong) You may need to "split the diffirence" with the misalignment.

You need to keep them as straight as you can.Firestone says you can have up to 2 inches of misalignment in the bags.

Unfortunally I've seen much worse.....

 

I had a 2-link with the bags on the bars. The bags would "bend" over ride height, but it wasn't enough to be worried about. It was the most comfortable ride I've ever been in. I kind of prefer the 2-link setup with bars on the bags because you can get more leverage at the bars if you place the bags in the sweet spot, meaning more travel up & down.

 

That is the EXACT setup I have and it rides great. I am just worried that I am bending the bag too much.

 

As long as they are *right ,at ride hieght* as mentioned above . spit the difference.