over the weekend i installed a set of airride technologies shockwaves on my 65 buick, they have gotten rid of all of the bounce in the front end but now i need more air to get the lift i need out of the car. i put in a new pressure switch thats adjustable and set it around 180psi which seems to lift the car enough but the compressor has a really hard time of keeping up. What is everyone running for there cars. do you have one or two compressors and how big of a tank? trying to keep it clean in the trunk so i didnt want to go overkill before but i really need more air so it back to the drawing board
Do you mean it takes 180 PSI to get your car off the ground? Should be more like 80 PSI. You need to check your airsprings, if they are near full extension it takes considerably more air pressure to get any more lift. They should be totally collapsed (1 1/2" tall) when you let the air out and should be about 60% (4") extended at ride height typically. It may be the bag is undersized for the weight of your car.
10 3/4 to 11" is the measurement plate to plate for most fronts and that is at ride height. You should shim the shock wave to obtain that and play with air pressure for ride quality. (75-80 lbs) usually.
im sure the front isnt taking the full 180 to lift its just between my compressor and small tank (i thinks its a 3 or 5 gallon) i have to have that much pressure to get to the front and lift the car. i am running 1/2" line to each bag up front so it has to fill the line as well as the tank. im just wondering what compressor i should run to keep up with my system
On my '65 Rivi I run 75/80psi front and back on Firestone bags. Are you sure you have your gauge downstream from the solenoids/valves?
i have one 450 now and was thinking about going to a second one but i also thought of going to a larger compressor. i do not have gauges in the car at all. the bags are not taking 180psi its the tank that i am filling to 180 so i have enough pressure there to be able to put somewhere around 75-100 in the front bags. my old setup was a little slow to pick up as well and the were standard 2500lb firestone bags. i just installed the shockwaves in the front which is a 2500lb firestone bag that has a shock running through the middle. it has restricted my lift some and i had to re-design how they would mount to the lower control arm so i could get the car to sit on the ground
Doin the shockwave thing too as well as mods to lower arms to get her back onto the ground. post some pics of the arms when your done
If your tank is up at 180 PSI then all it's going to do is send more air down the line quicker - if you leave the solenoid open for any period of time the air pressure will equalize. If you're saying that you had to put the 180 PSI in the tank to go from 0 PSI to "ride pressure" without the compressor cycling and taking time to pump up then try adding more volume to the holding tank. Think of it this way - say you've got a 3 CuFt air tank at 180 PSI, and say each shockwave has an inflated volume at ride height of 1.25 cu-ft. Add in the volume for the "big" air lines from solenoid to bags at .5 cuft - so you've got 3 cuft in the front 'setup' - imagine if the car is sitting slammed with 0 PSI in the front. Now - open the valves and let the air equalize - the remaining pressure in the 'system' will now be 90 PSI as it's volume just doubled. Take the same setup with a 6 gallon tank at the same 180 PSI - the 'system' will be at 118 PSI - all before the compressor has time to cut in. That said you should be able to drop the pressure to around 135 PSI to achieve the same results - reducing the 'strain' on the compressor. Where on the lower control arm is the shockwave mounted and at what angle is it mounted at? The further out towards the tire the less pressure it has to put on it to keep the front end "up" - it's a simple leverage problem and if they're mounted inward too much - well then it's going to take more pressure to lift......
Your compressor is sufficient your 180psi switch is over kill and will shorten the life span of the compressor. A five gallon tank is sufficient for your needs. As said before look at your mounting positions on the bags.
viair 450's are only rated to 150psi, run a 480 if you want more psi. 3 vs 5 or 6 gallons makes a big difference, find out which you have and if it's a 3 do at least a 5 gal.
Not to hijack the thread, but has anyone had luck with the shockwaves? Do you like them better than bags w/ separate shocks. I'm thinking of using those on my 63 Lincoln, but I don't want to limit how low it can go (which is what your a-arm redesign is probably addressing). I imagine the compressed height of the shockwave is quite a bit taller than just a bag. The high price tag on the shockwaves is a little hard to swallow as well. Just curious as to how great they are for the money. Nick
Or you could run an engine driven compressor. Air Lift has a nice one. And yes if you can run shockwaves, do. Tim
ok well i just purchased to viair 480 compressors and i have a larger tank lined up to go in the car. as for the shockwaves i drove it sunday and monday and it rides alot better than before. the only reason i went with them was because there was no room to mount an external shock unless i did something crazy like making a bracket into the engine bay and mounting it off the upper a arm. the lower arm is not like an a arm setup it is straight into the frame with one mounting point and doesnt fan out to mount a shock too
Why are you running 1/2" lines? I run 1/4" with no tank and I have no prob lifting to max, but i have just bags....
how long does it take you to lift up w/o a tank? I'm setting my buick up w/ 1/4" lines, but only to make it smoother up and down, my truck has 3/4" hyd lines w/ some 3/4" fills and some 1/2" dumps and would practically hop the back till i put shocks on it... obnoxiously loud too....
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