Why Are People Bagging Hot Rods?

yeap... its got my vote.

 

build it...and they will hate! its proven.

who gives a fuck if someone likes air ride. they may possibly have it for the ride quality and adjustability, you know rough roads never have loved low rides. so what if they built a custom frame and don't want the shit catching pot holes on the way to a show they have never made the track to....or even home from work.

fact is, it's what someone wanted and more than likely they have a reason behind it....whether you understand it or not.

 

To each their own, blah, blah, blah. Who the hell cares?

As far as weight is concerned, the compressors today could fit in a 7 year old's back pack. I would challenge the fact that rubber air bags weigh more than coils or leaf springs. The air tanks likely weigh about as much as the wheelbarrow full of shit half the guys hack off of their cars to get them low.

In my opinion, the biggest travesty is all of the clean, original cars with botched hack job bag set-ups done by backyard builders with a $200 home depot Lincoln MIG welder.

 

I wanted to say the same thing, except for the part about having a '38.

 

I know its a little off topic here, but we had a show a couple weeks back and one of the guys that showed up was in a 32 roadster in black gelcoat with an ugly assed IFS hanging out front. Nasty sounding SBC and good looking set of wheels and tires (well... good looking for radials) He built it his way on a dodge truck frame,kinda slapped together a 32 roadster for well under ten grand...I see this guy driving his car everywhere and always smiling....point is...he built a car and is out enjoying the hell out of it...it rides great,handles well and looks mostly like a hot rod....he knows its a little ugly,but he's still having fun...I have sold many cars just because they didn't ride worth a shit....so if putting bags on a hot rod works for the guy building it and it rides nice good for him...he's the guy that gets to be seen driving it! .....now don't get me wrong...I am not building a fenderless roadster with big ol airwaves on the front, but I would consider building one with a hidden air suspension if it meant better ride and handling.....hhmmm...now you got me thinking!

 

didn't the ala kart have some sort of air bag suspension?

 

If airbag technology was a viable option back then, Henry would have used it. Bags ride nice. I totally agree on fenderless should have them hiden though.

 

my puppy drags asss he must have bags

 

Fenderless could get away with it using those airbag transverse leaf replacements, the one I've seen in person could be disguised quite easily.

Just like any other modification, there's pros and cons.

 

well... I come up with the thinking that no bags for fenderless cars is good then FATABONE pops up with his tasty lime green model A coupe and blows my thinking all to hell.

so now I must change my thinking to bags are OK on fenderless cars as long as I don't see them and as long as they are not used to put the frame on the ground or drag a club plaque whilst cruising.

of course that's just me and what I like. the rest of you go ahead and do what you want.

 

Bags..........Paper or Plastic?.......Thats all I know!..................OLDBEET

 

Who cares!!! Bags ride nice, no matter what they are on! I agree that bags look horrible on most of the fenderless applications, but if you hide them right....its cool in my book. Not everyone wants to follow a cookie cutter method of hotrod build.

Its called progression folks, when its done right, you dont even know its there. Plus....transverse leaf front ends tend to ride like shit.

My fenderless 41 chevy project has bags hidden in the front crossmember. When the bags are down you would have to be 6" tall to notice them. When they are aired up, I would have to point them out to you while kneeling down for you to notice. anything that shows now will be covered by the radiator, headlights...etc when the truck is done

 

Bags are cool to get attention when parked but do NOT belong on traditional style rods OR customs.

 

Funny that this topic came up... I just got a set of bags for my 36 this weekend... Not because its easier or necesarilly better (but it is) but because I wanted to... So I can have some ridability.

 

My 30' sedan is bagged in the front and rear.......I wanted a low driveable car that would ride good. At ride it sits higher than some traditional suspended cars that I have seen.

It was a lot harder to design and build a bagged fenderless car, (that the bags are hidden ) than the typical tranverse leaf. It does have split bones, F-1 steering, Firestone bias-plys, and a Steel body. Not tupperware...

And I know some don't understand the Farmall grill. So what..... It hides the electric fan quite well.

And it has a Ford 351W with a C-4 and a 10" stall convertor, I like them too. I'm building the car for ME.

And no it is not just a "Rat Rod" it is under construction,I'm continually correcting those that say it is just a rat. I have all the patch panels for it. And yes it will have shinny paint this winter. Hopefully large metalflake green. Some might say it is not 60's enough to have metalflake???

I have chose to build what I want. If others like it it is a bonus.

 

In my opinion, There is only one reason to bag a hot rod.......monkey see monkey do. It's just another fad, that will date the build era (and it won't be 1950). Something that someday someone will have to undo. There is a small window for a hot rods ride height. Too high looks bad and too low (below scrub line) looks stupid and DANGEROUS. Set the ride height between the two extremes, and skip all the B.S.
K.I.S.S.

 

Well said fatabone! Unlike you,not everyone utilizes technology for the same purpose,however some do use it,to make up for crappy planning and engineering,which is wrong and often dangerous.When used properly,bags have many good uses.

 

again...adjustability, morecomfort, leveling for when you got a bunch a shit in the back,


maybe need an extra inch of clearance for the speedbump in the liquor store parkinglot?

 

Just cause bags are more comfortable doesnt mean I want my wife to gain 30 pounds just for a smooth ride.. haha..I cant stand bags but hey.. who cares.. u want em run em.. I would not run them if the car was given to me.. 4 link w/ coil overs and slam it.. fuk it if it draggs across driveways and speed bumps....low life foo!.. I like tail dragger/sleds anyways.. just dnt like bags..

 

All of these cars have airbags on the back.....I guess they all suck!

Of coarse I don't care what a bunch of keyboard hotrodders think. I build cars the way I want and if you don't like it...tuff shit. My cars are built to be driven and get driven hard.

I use bags cause they are cheap, easy and give a nice ride. There is a little adjustability too. I hide them infront of the rear and use shrader valves to fill the bags.
Clark

 

For the guys that don't bow to peer preasure ...here's how I do my rear suspensions.
Clark

 

I can't tell..do you run a panhard bar with that setup or is the triangulation enough to keep it in place???

 

I always thought it was out of place on a fenderless car, BUT recently there is a HAMB'r in the classifieds making a really clean looking front setup that I think doesn't look bad at all.

 

Yep, they all suck, especially the blue one... you should get rid of it immediately, PM me with your price...

Todd

 

Yeah, personally I'm not a fan of air bags on a hot rod. If you can hide it well and fool everyone then there's something cool about that, but most guys can't hide it and it just ends up looking silly.

Most hot rods in my opinion look best when the wheels fit perfectly in the wheel well, and at this hieght the car is perfectly drivable so I don't see the need for bags.

I build stuff that other people don;t like and other people build stuff that I don't like... and as much as I hate catch phrases "To each his own."

 

Here's my hidden setup. When the stainless "springarms" are painted black, they will nearly dissapear, and you really won't be able to see the bags(there is a piece of all-thread in there now.)

Having said that, I am using this on a not-so-traditional car; the Plymouth will have a dropped axle and reversed-eye leaf spring, and will not be suicide mounted. I'm building the other car quickly so I have something to have fun with, and take my time doing the Plymouth more period correct.

 

Back in the summer of '59 my Dad took me with him to the GM training school in Glendale for a mechanic's training class on the Cadillac air ride system. I was 11 years old and had already dne a vrake jub on the family '52 Mercury so I thought it was way better than "regular elemenary school".
I think they had QC problems with the systems then, plus there wasn't a reservior tank in the system and people with Caddys didn't like having their car laying frame every morning if/when the bags leaked. Actually, t was probably more a case of not liking being ridiculed by the neighbors about it since Caddys have always been about "status"

I only told that story to convey that I've considered air ride to be a vieable a "normal" and acceptible type of suspension for a very long time.

But this thread isn't supposed to be about air ride on Cadillacs.
It's supposed to be about airbags on HOT RODS, and I'm still curious as to whether anyone is running them on a competitive record holding or race winning HOT ROD?
MOst of the cars I've seen on this thread so far are first STREET RODS, and HOT RODS second, or only a "hotrod" in looks.

(I'm defining street rod as any hotrod style car with a license and legal to and is driven on the street, not in the street = billet hangup.)

SO, anyone got an example of a built for and drag raced car, actually raced oval track modified or record contending dry lakes or Bonneville (type) car that is air riding?

Yes, I'm genuinely curious...

 

Try to drive in Detroit !! Bags good

 

They have no place on a period car if your thing is classifying cars into little niches. Personallly I despise all things remotely lowrider due to my allegiance to sound engineering and form over function, so I will never bag anything of mine ( just for looks sake anyhow). I hope this is the last gay crossover mod from the lowrider crowd that becomes socially acceptable here. If not I am gonna goosestep over to a new board where you can only build one car one way every time. wink, joking, sarcasm

 

Although not "hot rods" -Bracket racers/drag cars have been useing air bags in the rear for decades.

"SO, anyone got an example of a built for and drag raced car, actually raced oval track modified or record contending dry lakes or Bonneville (type) car that is air riding?"