This will be an article that hopefully helps others looking to achieve the same goal I set out for myself (for now) I wanted to keep my car 6v for right now and to finally install my 12v air ride system as a Christmas gift to myself. I wanted it to be a manual system - easy to use ,easy to fix and no ******** electric valves to get stuck and mess with. The 12v generator/alternator and changing the bulbs and putting resistors in is fine but the alternator is around $600 - so lets make sure my air ride system is functional and to my liking for a year before going to 12v, maybe next winter. For this system you will only need to drill one hole in the firewall, one hole on the bottom lip of the dash, four holes in the trunk for the compressor mount and four holes for the tank mount. That's it. You won’t need to cut or weld anything on the car. I don’t like using gas shocks and welding ******** brackets. I had my factory shocks sent to apple hydraulics in NY for rebuilt exchange ones ($750, I believe). Mine leaked bad, you don’t have to do that if yours work. This kit and the steps that follow will get you 1" from the torque tube hitting the floor of the car. I will be showing pictures and rough step by step procedures to help make this easy. I learned some things I had to overcome; the bags and cups valves and all are the same 6v to 12v - what the key difference is using a 12 compressor. I have two optima red AGM 6v batteries in my factory battery tray (yes, they fit trim a slot in bottom foot) run in parallel to keep the current to the car 6v but this gives double the CCA for longer, stronger cranking on the starter when starting the engine. I then took two standard 6v golf cart batteries that you can add water to, since they hold more reserve power run in series which gives my output 12v to the compressor. Now the car’s 6v batteries trickle charge feed to the 12v batteries in the trunk through a 40A converter box with a diode in front to keep from back feeding. In short ignition on the power system, 6v feeds 12v. When the tank pressure switch gets to 140PSI, it flips on the 12v compressor which fills the tank to 175PSI and kicks off. The generator of the car has been rebuilt and puts out 40A max current. So lets begin… Here’s a list with prices (not including tax and shipping) as of January 2026 and some notes per each to save you aggravation: BOSS air ride suspension front and back - $890: Comes with 2500 front bags which they used to keep the clearance good and to avoid cutting the front pocket lip which you have to do with 2600 series bags (website says kit is 2600, that's wrong). Comes with 2600 series bags in back. They include the cups/plates and hardware, along with some airline and cutter. To note, it took me 2 days and multiple phone calls to BOSS - the front bags come as 2500 series bags and everything online says 30-45PSI will run our cars at ride height, that's correct for the 2600 series bags which are larger volume (think of it like a hydraulic cylinder on a dump truck). The bed lift cylinder is m***ive, takes 200PSI to lift a full bed of dirt, yet the cylinder on the front to run a plow is tiny and takes 2000PSI to lift the blade. So I bought a 150PSI compressor, built the system, pushed 45PSI and the front of the car would not go up. When I called, BOSS said the 2500 bags need 140PSI to go up to ride height and the bags have a 600 PSI max and 1000PSI blowout. So I then used the shop compressor with a gauge and ball valve and pushed 180 PSI into my four gallon tank, then hit the front switches at 120 PSI. The front bags started working at 140PSI. I’m at ride height, so now I have to buy a 200PSI air compressor... So the moral of the story is, you need to run a 200PSI air system for this kit to work. AirJax fourplay valve body with the underdash mount - $320: An awesome product. Will handle a 200PSI system, great valve body, simple and easy. Lets you run four bags independently which keeps from bleeding bags on turn etc... and lets you run dual needle gauges to see each bag PSI. BOSS air ride suspension dual needle gauges - $105: Great gauges. To note, orange needle is front and green is rear. Bag riders H20 separators (2) - $70: Buy the 1/4" - they fit nicely. They have push drains on bottom and they swear 1/4" wont slow 3/8" line flow (even though I dont see how it doesn't) but 3/8" separators are too big for how I run things. Viair 480C 200PSI compressor from horn blasters for - $347: A constant duty 200PSI with 23A max draw works great. Also quieter then expected. Bag riders 4GAL polished tank with end fittings - $160: I don’t like the fittings to all be on the bottom; the end fittings let you keep it looking sleek. It has one bottom fitting for the tank drain line which works perfectly. Viair 140/175 pressure switch - $30: Get the 1/4" thread. Bag riders drain kit - $20 Amazon 50' roll 1/4" DOT airline: $27 NPT fittings get br*** - $200: All are 1/4 air. You need (5) 3/8npt to 1/4 air, (1) 3/8 npt to 1/4 air 90 degree bend, (4) 1/8 npt to 1/4 air, (4) 1/4 npt to 1/4 air Then if you want to run the accessory block like i did it’s a three way, 1/4" npt block with (2) 1/4 npt by 1/4 air and (1) 1/4 npt to 1/4 air 90 degree bend Braided wire sheathing 100' - $20 on Amazon Total, roughly: $2200 REAR: previous tapered lowered impala springs being removed Let's start with the back. Put the car on the lift. If you need to have your factory shocks redone, then you need to pull the wheels off because the shocks’ bolts are through the backing plates, otherwise skip that. Take two cork screw jacks and put them under the axle, raise the rear to take tension off the coils. The bottom bolt comes in from underneath - there's a hole for access and for the top bolt you have to go up through spring with a swivel and extension - super easy. Then pull the springs out. The bolts the kit comes with in the top plates are the wrong thread; the car is fine thread, I believe and the bolt is co**** thread. Again, super easy. I take a tap that matches the bolt on the plate and run it up through the welded nut of the upper spring pocket on the back. Then ***emble the rear BOSS bags and thread her up in there, the bolt is long enough that you can now put a nut on top of that end of the bolt to really lock her in. Then for your bottom plate, jack the axle up, and put the bolt through the lower rear spring pocket. Then put the nut on and you’re done. When I went to run the lines, my hands and arms couldn't get to the fitting which made putting the lines in the bag fittings (as they are in the car) the hardest part of this whole thing. I had to chisel the spot welds of the little triangle braces on the rear crossmember and bend them down to make the connection to the fittings, then tack weld it back and it was done. FRONT: Now for the front, again not complicated. If you have to have your front shocks rebuilt, then you have to remove the upper cam bolt which also does your front alignment - that is a little tricky but there's a short video on YouTube on how to do it. The upper spring bolt is one of the shock bolts but if you’re not getting them rebuilt, then it’s even easier. Put a corkscrew jack under the inside portion of the lower control arm and undo the four bolts, then slowly let the jack down. Fish yourself up in through the spring and take out the upper spring mounting bolt, make sure to save it. Again, the BOSS kit has the wrong bolt but we aren’t going to tap this hole into a hard to find shock, super easy fix. Thankfully the factory bolt is long enough. You need to cut the spot weld on the BOSS upper cup bolt then get that bolt out. Take the Buick bolt machine with the head down or grind it down some so it can sneak up into the upper cup plate - you'll understand better when you get your hands on it. Then go ahead and tack weld it in place. Now ***emble your front back and cups and screw her up into the upper mount. Swing the lower control arm up and bolt it back together. Now have the fun time of finger fighting the airline into the fitting - you will get it. UNDERDASH: Take 15-18' of airline and sheath it in the braided sheathing for the back and 10' of the same thing for the front. Then run your lines starting from the bags - take the back lines to the p***enger frame rail and run them along fuel line and up front body mount to where the heater core is and leave them long. For the front, take the driver back line through the front crossmember to the hole on p***enger side then up and under the factory battery tray to the heater core and leave them long. A key focus on clean discretion. I didn't want anyone to know that I was running an air ride and wanted it kept hidden. You can't really see any of my wires or hoses unless you're looking hard. Next, under the heater core drill a hole (I believe it was 1") and put a grommet in. Then fish your lines through. The fourplay valve will need a spacer made of aluminum. I did on a lathe which you can do with saws and a grinder. If you look under the dash (center of the radio), there are factory empty screw holes. We are gonna use them. The goal is to mount the valve body and our dual gauges right there. Lucky for us the mounting slots for the under dash bracket line up with two of the holes, which is great. Measure from that underdash where the holes are to the bottom edge of the dash facing us. If you look at how the bracket for the valve body and all go together, this will make more sense. You need to make a spacer out of aluminum block the same width and length as the mounting bracket. Space down the thickness of that dash difference and cut slots in it - just like the underdash bracket (which I failed to take pictures of). Look at the valve and bracket on the AirJax website. Screw the spacer and bracket up in the screw holes (I tapped up to #12 screws to be stronger) and mount your valve body on the face of the bracket and you’re done. For the gauges you can make a bracket like I did or just buy one. I was going to jewel the face of mine but we didn't have a jewelling rod for a mill. If you have a mill and tooling, all this fab stuff is easy. If not, saws and grinders and drills will get it done. Then mount the gauges next to the valve body. You will have to drill and tap one screw hole toward the column for the gauge bracket, it’s no big deal and then that's all done. Then connect your lines accordingly. I left two paddles in the front right, two in the back. The left of those are left side bags and so forth for the right. The needles I have are green for the back and orange for the right - do whatever you want here. MANAGEMENT: Now for air management. Set the tank and compressor how you see fit. I used the upper parcel tray of the trunk area. Grenade Garage made me (and can possibly make you) floating mounts like he did on a ‘50 Buick he has on YouTube. I recommend watching. Your compressor and tank can have nutserts put in them like I did or simple bolts and nuts which you will need a helper for. For the line from the tank to the valve, you have to drill a hole toward the driver side through the parcel tray of the trunk and install a grommet. The dryers for the airline one go under the dash, right before the valve body and the other goes to the right of the tank coming from the compressor. Your oil filled gauge goes on the left of the tank and your pressure switch goes on the right of the tank, very simple. The tank drain goes on bottom. You will need to make 1" aluminum block spacers to pick the tank up so the 90 degree fitting for the tank drain line doesn’t hit and act as a fulcrum. I used a vintage thermos cooler to hold the batteries, relay, and converter. The cooler is exactly perfect and the bottom narrows a hair to squeeze the batteries so they don't slide around inside. Everything fits nicely. The converter fits to the right and relay and I had space to put a accordion style 1/4" airline in to use to air up my tires or someone else's if need be. The tank drain line will act as an emergency air up if your compressor fails and an air out with the splitter block to give air or blow something off or up. The bottom of the trunk has factory drain plugs. All I did was pull one and install a grommet to run my wires to and from the cooler. It’s super easy. See the diagrams I have posted for details. Everything goes in the cooler to keep it simple. The fuse from the car’s batteries is up by them and hidden under the p***enger air intake. Here is air out: Here is ride height:
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