air bag question - help please?

[67dragtruck]

Air bags are a bit out of my element, but I'm very interested in putting them in my truck.

My question is regarding size needed to get a good ride. My truck never hauls anything other than 2 people, other than hauling ass. So do I really need bags as large as the 2500 or 2600. I don't know if a bag that is sized for just what it is carrying will ride better at 100 lbs of pressure or will a larger bag ride better running at less pressure. I have know interest in doing tricks with it, I just want adjustable ride height and to slam it lower when I park it.

Anybody have any advise?

Tom

[smashingchuck]

2600 up front, and 2500's out back if you are keeping the stock trailing arm set up.

[67dragtruck]

I guess I forgot to mention a few things:

I have a Mustang II setup in from Fat Man Fab's.
The rear frame is step notched and I have coil overs in the rear with the factory trailing arms. The step notch will alow the tag bracket to get about 6" from the ground even with 33" tires.

I'm thinking about putting the bags on the rear and just taking the springs off of the coil overs since they are still excellent shocks.

I have looked at the kit from Air Ride for the Mustang II and it looks very easy to fabricate the pieces to go on top of the bags and the shock brackets.

What do you guys think. I have seen the bags for $60 each and seen valves for reasonable prices too. It looks like it would be pretty cheap to piece up a system compared to buying the kits from Air Ride. It looks to me that the kits you buy are just very expensive because of using larger valves and compressors to make them jump around and do tricks. Am I looking at this wrong? I would love to have some of your opinions.

Thanks,

Tom

[Slammed67]

The step notch will alow the tag bracket to get about 6" from the ground even with 33" tires.

Tag bracket?

[bagged87chevy]

For the 25's and 26's question. The bigger the number the more height you get. 26's are the way to go. And from my experience it is cheaper to piece together an airride system. At least go with 3/8 valves though or you will be dissapointed. 1/4 is super slow. Also look for the cfm of the valves some 3/8 valves are faster than others.

[loweredd]

piecing together IS the way to go. Dont let anyone tell you different.

[BigChevMan]

Originally posted by 67dragtruck
I guess I forgot to mention a few things:

I have a Mustang II setup in from Fat Man Fab's.
The rear frame is step notched and I have coil overs in the rear with the factory trailing arms. The step notch will alow the tag bracket to get about 6" from the ground even with 33" tires.

I'm thinking about putting the bags on the rear and just taking the springs off of the coil overs since they are still excellent shocks.

I have looked at the kit from Air Ride for the Mustang II and it looks very easy to fabricate the pieces to go on top of the bags and the shock brackets.

What do you guys think. I have seen the bags for $60 each and seen valves for reasonable prices too. It looks like it would be pretty cheap to piece up a system compared to buying the kits from Air Ride. It looks to me that the kits you buy are just very expensive because of using larger valves and compressors to make them jump around and do tricks. Am I looking at this wrong? I would love to have some of your opinions.

Thanks,

Tom

Well here's the rub on this whole situation. Yes...you can piece together a system. However...you need to make sure of a few things.

First would be that they are properly designed for the application. While the bag may be designed to support up to 2600 lbs at it's maximum, the actual spring rate isn't 2600 lbs. It's a progressive rate spring that you control the spring rate by changing the pressure in the bag and the location of the bag relative to the control arms. Buying kits from Airride or Airlift is a good solution because they have already done their homework on the angles and compressive forces exerted on the bags.

Second...Airride Doesn't make kits that hop and jump around as far as I know...probably never will. They are far more into the streetrod crowd who are interested in a low stance and a quality ride.

Third...when you go with Airride you know that your getting quality...and first rate customer service. I can point you to a person who bought some shockwaves from another person and had a problem with them. Airride warrantied the shockwaves for this person even though he wasn't the original purchaser and didn't know the previous history of their usage. Not many companies will do that.

So all in all...you get what you pay for I guess.