Pat, the answer to your question is that the ShockWaves and air shocks are two different items.....think about it.....

The ShockWaves are intended to replace your springs and shocks. Therefore, they must support the weight of the car on that corner. Regular shocks do not support the car (of course). The ShockWaves have load ratings similar to a spring....1000 lbs per unit or more is typical.

Air shocks do NOT replace springs, they agument the spring by supplying some smaller upward force. If you look at an air shock, the bladder is much smaller diameter than is a ShockWave because the force is much smaller.

Since you have springs, the AirRide is not necessary....gee, you just saved $800 bucks!!

Deflating the Air Rides essentially removes your "spring" and lowers the car to a bump stop. Deflating your air shocks only lets the weight exert on the spring and collapses the spring a tad more....you would have to add weight to hit the bump stop.

mike in tucson