Thread: Air Bag question

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I was wondering if there are "shockwave" type air bags that don't require a compressor and lines to run, just a valve stem like a tire has. I'd like to just air them up and down manually like air shocks. I'm completely un-educated on air bag set-ups, so please bear with me. Thanks

Wholesale parts people like JC Whitney and PEP Boys offer them. They've been around for years with either independent carriers or ones that fit inside the coil springs. 4X4 supplier stores have some different styles as well.

Cool man, thank you for the quick reply. I'll check it out

To spend $1000 on a set of shockwaves and then use schrader valves to fill them just seems like it's missing the mark....

but to answer your question, you could just run 1/8 lines to them and put a schrader valve somewhere just like you would with some air shocks.

Ive done that smashing chuck, all i had money for starting out was for the shockwaves and then later on i added the valves and compressor

Exactly ,bags now ,controlls later .
Its hard to be cool without the compressor controller ,but its easy to be smooth as a caddy!!!!

I am always interested to see discussions about air bag suspensions. I have visited different web sites devoted to them and hardly ever read anything negative. I am curious as to why. I cannot believe that every installation is perfect. Or is it that people don't want to admit that they spent a whole lot of money on something they are not happy with. Well, I for one spent a lot of money on a complete FBSS system for the Willys. I had both 12v compressor and an engine driven compressor, an nice Air Ride control system,and a lot of quality parts. But, I was very disappointed in the overall handling and ride. It was neat to drop it in the weeds at the shows but on the highway it rode terrible. I could never quite find that sweet spot of comfort and driveability. It either rode semi smoothly and was a hog in the corners or handled well in the corners and like a lumber wagon on the rode. I had front and rear sway bars but it didn't help. Add to that the fear of loosing a bag or a line or any number of other components the would leave you stranded waiting for a flat bed, and it was just not worth the aggravation. I took it all off, sold it on ebay at a loss, and installed coilovers all around. I like the ride height adjustment, the solid feeling to the suspension and the security of mechanical linkages on the suspension.
I guess it was not my cup of tea and definitely not my area of expertise.
John

i am also looking for information on am air bag system for my streetrod? i am not having any luck on information on installing? i cannot find any place on line with information or any type of book? i need to know what i do in the rear with leaf springs? do i take out all leafs but the main one then go with a bag? or mono leafs? and a whole bunch of questions on wiring and layout.and so on.

Nitro and Oldskl, call 865-689-1179 and talk to Sean. They sell, build and install EVERYTHING. Awesome work coming out of their shop!!

Nitro and oldski the set up your looking for is not what is sold for a basic instalation. You also have to think that the heavier the car the more air you will use to keep ride hight. I just had a talk with one of my clients just yesterday. He has a 01 chevy 3500 dually that had air ride installed and he had mentioned to me that it rode like crap unless you put 500# in it. I told him that it the rear bag setup. But without changing the four link I couldnt help him. But If you take in concideration the weight and the bags used you can get a great ride with good performance. If anyone needs help on this subject or parts even I run Insane Auto Concepts www.finalfab.com. Just call or email and I will do the best I can for you.

Oh and another thing If your using shock waves just cus they have shocks or ease of installation I think you will be making a big mistake. I have had no luck with them and often have taken them off to use our setup. The customer liked the ride a whole lot better too.

I have about 120 bucks in the rear bags and associated parts ,then about 2 to 3 hours fab time ....I am using a shrader valve currently,but may get a compressor later and some controllers.
Take a look at my pics in the gallery .now that its back.

I looked at your pics of the truck. Those trucks are great to bag! Are you gonna do the front too? I see those parts all day long and most of the time I have them in stock. Not to mention I sell Brake conversions and boosters for that truck too. How low are you going? As low as you can with the stock suspension?

I tried to find some airshocks for my firebird, and found out something:

the airshock fad is GONE.

Bags DO sound pretty neat, but ultimately it IS a BAG.. and eventually a bag rips. I'd recommend designing a suspension with that caveat in mind.

I sell the all bags. Slam specialties, firestone, conitech.. Just to name a few. But the ones I recommend is slam specialties. They are a 3 ply (layer) bag with steel rings in between the upper bellow and lower bellow plus on top an bottom. I have seent these bags get abused by air hoppers running 3000 psi inlet pressure on the higher rated bags. I would have any problem with recommending them to even my grandmother. LOL No really nothing goes wrong with these other than misinstallation mishaps.