Ive read many posts on this question, but with the tech changin daily, just wanted to ask what bag recommendations for front and rear bags, and tank size and number of tanks for 51 merc that has been monster notched rear and clipped with fatman MII. leanin towards slam spec. and only have room for 6in bag in MII clip. also considering slf leveling system(in case I am hammered and wife needs to drive (ouch). thanks fellas
im running slam bags in front re6 and slam re7 in rear, im am also running a 7 gallon tank and a belt driven compressor with an electric as a back up just in case. the good thing about slam bags is that they dont balloon out when inflated like other bags. I have had other cars on air ride for 8 years now and love slams
check with the Vendors here for more info. lots of bag info posted if you take the time to do a good search. have fun
Where does the MII run into clearance issues with a bag bigger than 6"? A 6" bag really limits the amount of travel. Looking at my recently installed MII crossmember with just lower A-arms mounted, it seems like I could fit a bigger bag than 6".
for self leveling I use Air Rides digital setup. Program the pressures that make the car work well, then you can bleed it off or whatever. Then it will automatically go to the set pressure when the car is started again.
When I bag a car, the bag I pick varies by job. I base the bag on the type of ride quality a customer wants, and the suspension design.
I would suggest Slam Specialties RE6 in the front and the rear depends a lot on where your mounting the bag. If it's straight off the axle I would say a Firestone F9000 sleeve style bag, or a RE6. The less weight in the back of the car means less pressure and a spongy ride when the car is low. If you mount the bags off the link bars you can go with a Slam RE7. I personally don't think the shockwaves get enough travel. Kinda defeats the purpose if you want your car really low. As far as a leveling system I wont use anything but Accuair's E-Level. It is cheaper then the ride-pro if you compare apples to apples and works WAY better. It really makes a car with air suspension easy for ANYONE to drive. Accuair can also get you a complete kit for your car with everything you need, including: bags, brackets, shocks, valves, a tank, air line, fittings, compressors. Check em out. http://www.accuairsuspension.com/
Actually,with Slam Specialty bags,a 6" diameter bag gets the same lift as the 7" diameter bag. An RE6 will do him fine.so on that note,here's my recommendation: Slam Specialty RE6 front,RE7 rear,5 gallon tank,4 valves,8 solenoids,two Viair 480c compressors,,and make sure to get a 180-200 PSI pressure switch,and moisture traps. Most people forget to run moisture traps and get water in their lines,tank and valves,which causes issues such as leak downs,etc. Ebay is an great place to score deals. The setup I just described is easy to install under your package tray. You can also find the ride leveling compnents on eBay also. With the package deals I have seen on ePay,you can get a complete setup for half of what Air Ride Technologies charges.
on a car like yours I wouldnt run anything smaller than a 2600 bag in front!!! rear would be the same! Ive done airlifts 2500 dominator bag in front on a fullsize truck that lays frame and has no problem!!
I'm about to install the shockwave 3.0 in the front. (m2 set up) They are a bit expensive but at least you won't need to buy additional shock absorbers. Build thread starts next month. Good luck !
ill be the voice of reason.. RE7s if you can fit em.. 6s will take 100psi to lift the front... seriously, if not more.. and they should fit FINE tank size, i would go ATLEAST 7-9 gallons.. no point in a single 5 gallon on a f/b setup to me.. one lift drains it all, then the bags feed to others and thinsg happen that are easily avoidable. id say 12 gallon tank if you can fit it, or 2 5s.. thats what i have compressors, engine driven york 210 would be best, but if you want electric go viair, and everyone seems to think you need 200psi, but i always run 450s @ 150psi, and im fast and never been upset about it.. less draw, no need for other 50psi valves, for christs sake get 8, not 4, thats retarded... they arent that much money anymore, and 8 = no rolling through corners etc.. id say SMCs, and i always use 3/8", with 1/2" line (ill never understand why so many people use same size line as fittings, 3/8" line is only 1/4" inner diamter, its restricting for no reason).. let us know more.. do you want speed? slowdowns are easily installed, i always go for pretty quick and slow it down with the cheap lil things if needs be.. but seriously.. talk to a guy that went from 6s to 7s, HUGE difference.. ride is a lil better, and i can lift my front end with 40psi whereas the other galaxie guys with air ride need over 100psi... smaller bag needs more pressure to move all the weight.. as far as auto leveling, i never much cared for it, never seen a daily driven one taht didnt have issues.. do like i do, just drive based on gauges and PSI... i plan on doin a car for my wife in the near future, she agreed we could put little red stickers where the car should be, and she will just lift and lay it to that point.. saves a LOT of money, and a LOT of hassle if the electronic shit goes bad.. just my opinion, but the electrical leveling can cost as much as most of the parts.. as a side note to that, perhaps you shouldnt drive at all if you think youre gonna drink that much, or atleast take the wifes car..
ps - i love shockwaves, but please evaluate how you drive first.. i like to drive aired up and aired down, shockwaves would SUCK for me.. they are well known to blow out at low or high PSI.. they are definetely show and go... drive into the show at regular ride hieght, drop to the floor when you park.. lift to ride hieght to leave.. i like to play at stoplights, ride front up ass down for hours, etc.. and i designed my setup in this car accordingly.. and i must say, mine rides NICE from 0-100psi (30psi front and back and its like its on a cloud).. above 100psi i sorta wish i had remoutned the front shocks, but doin good without em
For my Heidt's MII setup The problem I have found with most 6" bags is that they have the narrower 1.75" thread inserts for mounting them. The Heidt's arms and cups are all set up to only run a 2.75" thread mounting, but yet the Heidt's design has a built in bump stop arm that limits you to only using a 6" diameter bag, thus not allowing you to mount in the factory set location. If that does not make since see the pic below to understand... See the built in bumpstop? Basically the option I am left with is to cut that bump stop arm off completely so I can fit my 2600 in there. It sucks because they charge a premium for this stuff.
I will agree with others on the tank size. 5 Gal is the minimum, go larger if you have the room. I'm using just small sleeve bags in the back, standard firestones with a stock front end, all with a 5 gal tank. I can drop the car at a lite, then raise it up once when the lite turns green. That's it, then the compressor kicks in. If I could have figured a way to have hideaway digital gauges, I would have used them. A difference of 5 to 10 lbs raises my front end 1". I found it a little hard to read a circular gauge with a mechanical needle. I end up trying to place that needle between 2 or 3 closely placed lines on the gauge face. I guess that is one good argument for using automatic leveling.
My customers have an exactly 0% satisfaction - 100% failure rate with Shockwaves (12 of 12). I only use Slam Specialties bags nowadays. They have built in internal bump stops. So, if removing a bump stop will let you run a bigger bag, than you can go right ahead. I say RE-7 if they can be crammed in without rubbing, else RE-6.
I have Air ride tec shockwaves on the front of my heavy custom with 11,000 miles .No problems at all.Maybe these guys didn't install correctly.The directions say don't drive bottomed out or jack car off ground with preasure in bags.That sucks hearing so many have had failures.I hope I get anouther 11,000 miles out of mine.
I have never installed them, just taken them out. It is entirely possible that it was the fault of the installer (owner, in each case). I can't (wont) say, since several are still customers. If you have 11k on them and they are good, then I suspect that you have a higher level of installation competency than some others who have attempted it.
in my opinion if you are gonna road race your hot rod then spend the money on the shockwaves !!!!! but if you are just looking to raise and lowe your car then dont bother to waste the money!!! shockwaves are outrageous expensive and they get no lift what so ever!!! thats just my opinion!!!!!
Thanks fellas. Going with the slam specialties re6 front and re7 rear; but I know others are good too. Great to have such good input from peeps that have been there before. I will keep you posted on the progress; slddnmatt is doing the install, so I am in good hands. Is the 5 gallon tank enuff? Went with accuair self leveling cuz I do drink a smidgeon on the weekends and have a designated driver that cant hit switches
In my opinion I would use a minamum of 7 gal tanks and at least 2 compressors. I run 2 Viair 400 and 2 5 gal tanks. For bags I use Firestone 2600 lb. double convoluted in front and 1500 lb. sleeves in the rear. For self leveling I use (and have installed afew) Accuair systems. They are spendy but if hooked up right anyone could driver your ride and not damage anything. I run an older style on my Buick but the new ones work nice and if you buy there whole kit you get comp. , tanks , valves , controler and its pretty much pre-wired plug and play, with alittle fabing to mount the sensors wich work off ride height not air pressure which changes with more or less people/stuff in your car. My Buick has more than 25000 miles on airsprings including afew 2-3000 mile roadtrips with few problems. This is just my opinoin on the 4-5 cars Ive done airride on.Alan
I know this is a day or two late but I vote from a lot of experience to call up Reno (Accuair) and pick his brain for what he recommends for your ride. This is all he lives and breaths for and would love to help you get it all right the first time. I have installed a DOZ systems over the years and nothing compares to the quality and function of an AccuAir system and tech support before and after the sale. So where in NorCal are you? Kevin LFD Inc.
I just bought a kit from Mike (Kustombuilder here on the Hamb), he sells Air Lift and the kit has the self leveling gizmo you lookin for. Pretty much plug n play w/ 2 sets of 4 valves each, one comp, a 5 gal tank, enuff 2" lines to do all 4 corners and best thing all electronic shit is pre wired! So you only need to attach a few plugs and clamp some connections and job done! Took me about 3 hours and the set up was ready. If you need more you just need to arrange w/ him. It was alright for me cause my car is light but you prolly could use a bigger tank and 2 comps. Pm him trust me, difficult to beat his deals!
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