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Thread: Air Suspension

  1. #1
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    Air Suspension

    I have been doing some research on Suspension, particularly Air Suspension. I am wondering if anyone has installed Air suspension, if so any feedback about it. I am also interested in a dialogue involving peoples thoughts on the pros and cons of such an install.

  2. #2
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    Dan Ruth built Hot ROD Lincoln with air ride. You can talk to him @ Innovative Rodding Specialtists

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    Seasoned Citizen NAZ's Avatar
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    Air suspension can be cool for a hot rod. You can adjust the ride height on the fly which helps maintain the low stance and still get up and down the parking lot apron. It also works great for towing. The first thing I did when I got my new F550 home was pull all the steel springs out of it and install airbags -- really makes it ride better and now I can make the rear end squat when I back up to my trailer. No more cranking on the landing gear. However, air suspension is not at all a good choice for performance. The spring rates constantly change due to heat, both ambient and friction generated heat. So if you're building a street rod and not too concerned with handling a air ride suspension would be a cool option. But if you're building a track car you will have your hands full trying to tune it.

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    I called Ridetech and they suggested using Shock Wave 7000 with a 3 gal. tank. I called FF5 and they just said they had never set one up like that which doesn't tell me if it will actually work. I have just ordered my kit so I have a week or two to finalize my build. What do you think.

    Muggs

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    Seasoned Citizen NAZ's Avatar
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    If you're looking for a "bolt-on" solution this is not it. The 7000 series is a claimed 4" diameter (but is that the max pressure diameter or the diameter with no pressure?) which is ~¾" larger than the Koni coil-over shocks the kit car was designed for. That extra ⅜" per side footprint of the Shock Wave 7000 will require you to fab new brackets for the rear to eliminate interference with the solid axel (not sure on the IRS). If you have the skills & tools this is not scary but will add some engineering work to ensure your design is robust enough to handle the cantilevered loads. These shocks might fit on the front if you modify the chassis mount as there is not enough room to simply bolt them into the original location. The shock info on their website does not give enough information for me to determine if these will even work for your application. To start with I would get at least the following info before I purchased one as a test sample: What is the max static pressure these are rated for? Is there a chart showing effective spring rates at various static pressures? What is the actual max diameter of the bladder when fully compressed and at max pressure. Need a detailed drawing of all the exterior dimensions to design fitment modifications. Most anything can be done with enough talent and money. If Dan Ruth has already done the work to adapt air ride to a 33 Hot Rod you would want to at least touch base with him to see if he sells a kit, can do the work for you, or is willing to give you some direction. Good luck, sounds like an interesting project.

  6. #6
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    @Muggstang I would like to hear more about your conversation with Ridetech. I know they built a Hot rod, and I am assuming they used their equipment. This would lead me to believe they would know the exact dimensions and measurements in order to make it work.

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    When I called Ridetech I did not feel like I was getting the whole picture. He seemed more like a sales person than someone who had knowledge of how the product would work. As for their hot rod, they highly modified it and he said it had no relevance to our type of build. I am calling Dan Ruth today to get some knowledge about what is possible. I called FFR yesterday and they said they had never tried it so they were not very encouraging. My main concern here is parking lots and speed bumps and I am not sure if coil overs will give me the adjustments necessary to put my mind at ease. Would the double adjustable shocks from FFR help with this concern?

  8. #8
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    From a performance point of view coil-over shocks are the way to go. There is a vast variety of performance shocks that work as coil-overs. FFR offers a couple versions of Konis for the 33HR and you really can't go wrong with these in a street rod, regardless of if you go with single or double adjustable. You should be happy with the base model coil-overs in the kit until you start using the car for some form of racing and then you may consider some advanced tuning aids available from other style shocks. As for parking lots and speed bumps, don't expect air ride to be the end-all just because it's an air spring vs. a coil spring. Setting up a luxury ride suspension requires more than simply a change from coils to air bags. Also don't expect your 33HR to give you that tuna boat float like a early model Cadillacs did -- this is a light car with limited travel to absorb bumps and that won't change with adding air ride. The biggest benefit I see with air ride on one of these cars is the ability to adjust ride height on the fly. You can get that killer low stance when you park and raise the ride height to get up and down parking lot aprons without scraping. There is a cool factor to doing that that may or may not be worth the trouble. I would suggest that you build the car with the single adjustable coil-overs provided in the kit and modify the suspension later if you want something different. Build the car and have fun with it and make modifications later. Are these projects ever really done?

  9. #9
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    IIRC
    Dan Ruth said it was a terrible ride when it had the bags on it. Do call and chat with him, he is a hella good guy and fun to talk to.

    The ridetech 33 build was detailed online and they changed so much on it that it really does have no relevance to a FF kit when they were done with it.

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