Air Ride Suspension?
October 17th, 2022, 03:18 PM
#2
Administrator
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Poteau, Ok
Posts: 40,618
A couple of close friends did the air ride thing on their vehicles and the shine wore off really quick. Between the harsh ride and part failures they wish they had gone a different route. I've also seen cars that had sustained severe under carriage damage due to not having the foresight of what would happen if the system failed, and the car came crashing down on the pavement when in motion.
October 17th, 2022, 06:49 PM
#3
Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2020
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 1,586
Like anything else, your experience will depend on how well executed the build is. My brother and I have built a bunch of bagged cars over the years (61 Buick 4 door hardtop, 61 Cadillac 2 door hardtop, 64 Impala, 47 Dodge pickup, 53 Chevy pickup, 66 Lincoln 4 door, 65 nova wagon, and 72 vista cruiser to name a few) and with plans to do plenty more. If you are just looking for a neat car that will only be driven occasionally you can get by with a cheap system (4 bags, 1-2 compressors/ tank, and valves controlling the front & rear only or all 4 corners). You can get most of the parts for a system like that for under $1000. On the other hand, you can go with a high-end air management system (Accuair, Air Lift, Ridetech, etc.) with Ridetech shockwaves or something similar all around. This will give you a much more user-friendly system and better ride quality, but cost MUCH more. My Vista Cruiser has $4000 - $5000 of air ride components alone plus the cost of tubular control arms and other suspension components. A good system can also be very reliable. I daily drove my Vista year-round before I restored it (20 deg - 100 deg temps here in PA) and would not think twice about taking it on long trips including back and forth from PA to Ocean City MD many times (about 4 hours each way 70-80 mph most of the trip). A lot of people simply replace the front coil springs with bags and do not take the time to mount a shock. This will give a very bouncy ride on the front and is why many people complain about poor ride quality. Good adjustable shocks or better yet Ridetech Shockwaves (integrated air bag and shock) will give a tunable suspension with very good ride quality. A good air management system will allow one touch ride height settings rather than playing with valve switches each time you drive the car and can provide ride monitoring to keep the car at ride height while driving.
Some things to consider when installing a system:
Run all the lines inside the frame rails or in a location where they will not be rubbing or near exhaust.
Unless you a trying to lay the frame on the pavement, make sure the car will still roll when totally aired out (including room around the driveshaft to let it spin in the tunnel).
Replace all suspension bushings with Delrin, poly, or quality joints like UMI roto joints/ Ridetech R-Joints. Continued up/down cycling will tear up original style rubber bushings quick.
Take the car and get it aligned AT RIDE HEIGHT after the system is installed. The preferred ride height will likely be lower than it was before the system was installed so you will tear up tires quickly if not re-aligned.
Parts do sometimes fail - Carry spare parts so that if something does go wrong you can get the car on the road. I keep lots of spare parts in the spare tire well in my vista in the event of a problem (with 14-inch brakes, no spare that fits the car will go in the well at this point). These include general things like an extra serpentine belt, fuses, relays, and fluids. Also, airline and T fittings / small 12-volt compressor so that I can air up the car in the event of a problem with the air ride system.
Install a tank drain and use it regularly. Just like a garage compressor, the air ride will build up moisture in the tank. This moisture and dirt can get in the valves and cause them to stick.
Make sure there is plenty of room around the bags. This means enlarging the front spring pockets in the frame so the bags will not rub against anything.
Use properly sized bags. Using small bags in the front will mean you need to run a higher air pressure and will give a harsher ride even with shocks
Some things to consider when installing a system:
Run all the lines inside the frame rails or in a location where they will not be rubbing or near exhaust.
Unless you a trying to lay the frame on the pavement, make sure the car will still roll when totally aired out (including room around the driveshaft to let it spin in the tunnel).
Replace all suspension bushings with Delrin, poly, or quality joints like UMI roto joints/ Ridetech R-Joints. Continued up/down cycling will tear up original style rubber bushings quick.
Take the car and get it aligned AT RIDE HEIGHT after the system is installed. The preferred ride height will likely be lower than it was before the system was installed so you will tear up tires quickly if not re-aligned.
Parts do sometimes fail - Carry spare parts so that if something does go wrong you can get the car on the road. I keep lots of spare parts in the spare tire well in my vista in the event of a problem (with 14-inch brakes, no spare that fits the car will go in the well at this point). These include general things like an extra serpentine belt, fuses, relays, and fluids. Also, airline and T fittings / small 12-volt compressor so that I can air up the car in the event of a problem with the air ride system.
Install a tank drain and use it regularly. Just like a garage compressor, the air ride will build up moisture in the tank. This moisture and dirt can get in the valves and cause them to stick.
Make sure there is plenty of room around the bags. This means enlarging the front spring pockets in the frame so the bags will not rub against anything.
Use properly sized bags. Using small bags in the front will mean you need to run a higher air pressure and will give a harsher ride even with shocks
Last edited by Loaded68W34; October 17th, 2022 at 07:01 PM.
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