Air Bags for Load Leveling

[bajajoaquin]

One of the things my '67 Imperial needs is a set of new rear springs. However, I'm guessing that the rear ride height will still vary quite a bit depending on load: passengers, gas, trunk. Has anyone installed air bags for load leveling? I'm envisioning having springs that take the weight of the car with just driver and half a tank of gas. Any additional weight would result in increased air bag pressure, leveling the car again.

This would seem to address both problems with air shocks: I have to add and remove air manually, and there wouldn't be stress on the upper shock mount it wasn't designed to take.

Thoughts? Experience? Vendors?

 

[67Monaco]

Hers a thread about it;

http://cbodydrydock.com/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?159890.post

 

[commando1]

Genuine "AirBag" brand airbags with compressor and height control is the only way to go.
Stay away fro other airbag manufacturers and anything using hydraulics.

Use airbags as a supplementary leveleling system on leaf spring suspensions and not for ride control as on trucks.

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[bajajoaquin]

Do you have more specifics? I Google "airbag" and get lots of things but not a specific brand of airbag.

 

[patrick66]

I had Firestone air bags on the rear of my old '95 F350 4x4 Crew Cab Diesel pickup. They were great for when I had my camper on the back, a load of gravel, or pulling a car hauler. Each airbag had its' own air supply line, so each side could be adjusted separately. I liked that a lot. I'll probably do the same on my daily driver; a 1986 Ford Country Squire wagon.

 

[commando1]

Do you have more specifics? I Google "airbag" and get lots of things but not a specific brand of airbag.

Oopsl. My bad. I meant to type AirLift brand air bags. Sorry.

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[65sporty]

I have installed a lot of kits on trucks each one made for a specific model like patrick66 had, not sure if a kit is made for your car you may have to use a universal kit and modify it, I like firestone kits for the light trucks and use the bags with dual bellows. good luck

 

[440Sled]

Save your money and just pick up a set of air shocks. They bolt right in.

 

[patrick66]

Air shocks have a weak point - the upper mounting bracket. Airbags use the spring-to-axle mounting points and the upper rear frame, which makes it the MUCH better choice for strength and longevity. Air shocks are a band-aid approach to weak and worn rear springs.

True, air shocks will run a C-note, tops; while a set of quality airbags will run around $600 or so. Quick and cheap, or a little more money and done right?

 

[commando1]

Save your money and just pick up a set of air shocks. They bolt right in.

Air shocks are the worst.
If you can say that, then you could care less about ride.
When used to raise a saggy ***, the ride becomes a Conestoga Wagon.
The air shock range starts at weak and ends at rigid. Period.
The air bag has a uniform rebound rate throughout it's load carrying range.

 

[bajajoaquin]

Although I agree with the overall assessment of airbags over air shocks, I don't agree with Commando. My air shocks (on the car when I bought it) raise the rear end and make the car ride much better. Before I thought about the downsides, I bought a new set to replace these for $30/pr. They really ride nice.

But I recognize that they're not a good long-term solution, so I'm looking to replace them.

From the Air Lift site, it looks like the controller would be the SmartAir 2545 single-circuit system. If I'm reading that right, it's the controller and air compressor. Lines, bags and mounts would be bought separately. That looks like about $1000 for new springs and an air setup. A little rich for right now, but it's nice to know what direction to go.

 

[68Bigred]

Just sharing what I did. I put new leaf springs in and did all new shocks. The only shocks I could find at the time were Monroe and the had coil springs on them. I thought it would be way too stiff but the car rides great. I had a bunch of people sit on the trunk and it didn't sag at all. I bet I could pull good size camper and she wouldn't drag. Hover I leave that to the ram lol. Yes my rear leaks and no the exhaust pipe doesn't hit.

 

[tallhair]

I had airbags on a 93 Dakota and loved them. Separate adjustment for each. I used them for towing like Patrick. They were easy to install and I think they were Firestone also

 

[AAR65]

I have used Firestone air springs on lots of trucks but never a car. But there certainly is roon in the trunk for the pump. And it would not be hard to fit a set to leaf springs. I stopped using the springs when I bought my 2500HD Duramaxx, but overloading a half ton they were required.

For under $700, it certainly would be much less expensive than a full Ride-Tech setup.

 

[440Sled]

I ran airshocks for nearly 5 years and never had any problems. Always rode great and did what I needed them to do, passengers, junk in the trunk, what ever. No issues.