I have IFS in my truck now and i put the Dual Conicle bags in it. Well i dont know where to mount shocks. I was hoping that someone here would have some pics of their setup with shocks or be able to shed some light into where i should put mine. Here are some pics. And for ****s and giggles here is the rear fully dumped. -Andrew
look up one of the many air bag companies, find some relocation brackets for an s-10, dual eye-let type shock and weld them on where they fit best. one on lower A-arm other to frame, most likely on rear side of the arm, shouldn't cost to much, under $50 for all.
dude. did you tack the bags to the lower control arms? I have a mustang two front end in my car.. I built a braket off the rear of the lower control arm for the shock.. look at airride's kit for the mustang two with stock lower control arm.. the same kit is in speedways catalog.. its simple and works sawzall
No i welded a piece of flat bar to the top of the lower control arm and drilled a center hole in it to bolt the bottom of the bag to. I wanted to go as low as possible. But anyway, to clear the side of the bag i think that it will be at to much a extreme angle for the shock. But i will got back today and look at it. I was figuring i would have to go off the back side. I will try and get more pics that show it. -Andrew
since your car is front steer, it will be easier to mount the shocks to the rear of the lower control arm, somewhere near the center of the two pivot points. You will need to make a upper mount off the top of your frame. Make sure that you get a shock that has enought travel so that your suspension doesnt top out the shock. Most people are only concerned with going low but dont realize that there is down travel as well. I mount the bottom of the shock first and with the tires on make sure that you turn the wheel lock to lock to make sure that EVERYTHING clears the shock. After you find out where to mount the shock lay the car out and build your upper mount to fit. I usually leave a quarter inch of shaft showing with the car all the way down and the shock fully compressed.
andrew, sorry for the confusion.. it looked like the bag was welded directly to the lower control arm. I dont have photos but the angle on my shock isnt too bad.. maybe 15deg rearward or so which is less than the shocks on some gm pickups stock.. I will admit though I broke a shock mount on the 40 once (on the front) and it didnt seem to ride worse without the shock.. so I dont know if its doing too much.. I used a shock with a straight shaft off the top and the bottom of the shock.. so my lower bracket is a plate (now gusseted) with a hole in it.. and the upper is a similar affair.. only two nuts need removal for shock replacement.. jeff
Looks like it is going to sit right! I agree with most of the comments on the shock placement: aft of the control arms, mounted to lower control arm with a bracket to the frame. The lower control arm is the load bearing member in the system (supports the weight of the vehicle via the spring) and should be used for the lower shock mount. The upper control and joint are designed to take side loads and basically keep the spindle upright. The structure may not be enough to take the shock load. One other note. On the MII front suspension there is a strut rod that goes back from the lower control arm to the frame. It is allowed to pivot in a large rubber donut on stock Ford systems. This strut rod is important to the structure of the lower control arm and must be installed. The pivots on the lower are too close together to withstand side loading without it. It's like pushing someone over if their feet are thight together versus have a wide stance. My .02
This has been my best set up for many years now. We use 1973-1987 Chevy truck front shocks and a few laser cut parts. Rides smoothly, dampened properly and does not take any more than 65-70 PSI for ride height and less than 100 PSI for maximum height. The situation you show in your pictures doesn't compress the bag much over the full suspension travel. It appears that it only contorts the bag. Past experience has shown situations like yours to require in excess of 100 PSI to maintian ride height. Here is a link to a chart showing you your spring rates vs heights and the optimum range they should be used in. http://www.firestoneindustrial.com/Industrial/index.htm
sawzall- No worries i know the pics look realy decieving. I have thought about trying it witout front shocks, but have come to the conclusion that is wont work. The truck has basically 4 in of up and down travel, bottome right now being the ground. Im going to put in bump stops to stop it before that. 1940rpu- I do have the strut rods. I just havent put them on yet. Im wa***ing on the front brackets from speedway. I figured that it would be alot easier that way. I should have those on and in by monday. ELpolacko- Thank you for that pics. The problem that i have is that i am using the stocj LCA so i dont have as much room as you did for your setup. How ever you did bring up a intresting point. Is there a problem with running higher PSI in the bags vs lower? And what would i do to lower the PSI in my bags? What is the maximum PSI the firestone bags take? This is my first Air set up so im learining as i go. I havent thought much about the PSI in the bags. I have mainly been worried about, one my wheel steering clearance in the front, and two bottoming out when im driving. I really dont want to be picking up the reflectors off the freeway. -Andrew
You can mount the shocks similar to what I have done even with stock control arms. I urge you to look at a stock 73-87 GM truck and how the shocks are mounted on them. To see it in real 3D will show you better than any picutre I could post. The upper air bag mount needs to come down. At full suspension compression you should just about have the air bag compressed fully. The data from the Firestone website shows you your 2600 series (26) double convoluted bag has a minimum height of 3" and a maximum of 8.6 and will net you a 1,420 pounds of capacity at 80 psi. What that chart does not tell you is the spring rate and force at other heights and PSI's. I have one and will try and scan it later for you. The funny thing with these bags is the rate the effective spring rate changes. I have battled wits with some of the mini-trucker types on spring rates, load capacity and dampening for years and most of them just don't care to educate themselves. All they seem to be worried about is getting the truck on the ground. I want it to ride properly first and foremost. So it is important to know some things. Past experience has shown me with your airbag selection and the type of vehicle you have you want the air bag to be about 4 3/4" to 5 1/4" tall at your desired ride height. This should net you an effective spring rate of 300 lb/in at 1300 pound of force. Almost exactly what a stock set of Mustang II four cylinder springs produce.
i would go off the back side,when the shocks mocked up,and the front ends up in the air put the side mocked up threw its full range of travel and trun the wheel all the way to the left then the right.if you have clearance troubles you can always run slamspeicalties bags up front with no shocks but they have to be the 4 ply bags...
Have a look at this set up: http://customrodderweb.com/tech/0301cr_lobotomy/ http://customrodderweb.com/tech/0303cr_LobotomyII/ Good luck Vinnie
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