Anybody using air shocks on the rear of their shoeboxes? I was thinking about using Gabriel Hi-Jackers. I could use a part number if you've got one. I'd like to use them to get up and down my driveway without ripping my bumper off. thanks
on my old 53 Chevy, I had those same Gabriel shocks. I always planned to bag the car, but I ended up selling it to a HAMBER. Anyway, I had a steep approach to my driveway, and the car was slammed, so I had to come up with something temporary...and that's what I used. Just found a small compressor and wired it up to a switch under the dash. Rise time was about 2 or 3 minutes.....Literally. Its super slow, but it did the trick. To get the car back down only took about 10 seconds. Its not the preferred way to do it, but if you don't ever plan on bagging the car, it does the trick in the meantime to get up and down steep driveways without your bumper s****ing.
That's exactly what I need it to do. I have no intentions of laying frame or hopping side-to-side. I just don't want to get stuck half way between my driveway and the road.
That's how I'm gonna do my Olds. But I'll add a storage tank so I don't have to wait for the compressor to pump the shocks up.
Let's discuss how to mount air shocks where they work to dampen bounce and work to raise the car. And which type need how much travel. I haven't put that much thought into it yet, but am curous...
I put air shocks on a '60 T-Bird I once owned. They had no air shock part number available for a '60 Bird so all I did was took the part number for regular shocks and cross them to other cars, the rear shocks for a Tarino are the same as the Bird and they had an air shock number for the Tarino, yep that's the air shocks I used. Worked great, you know all the stuff your woman needs to take when you go to a car show or run, she just about drug my lakes pipes off!!! Those air shocks saved the day.
I didn't get real radical with the mounting....just something plain and simple in a "stock mount" type of location. No wierd angles, no complex geometry. Still though, even with air shocks, its still gonna ride rough. Not terrible, but it will be noticeable. Any lowered car does if its not on a decent air bag setup. Chili Phil....I like the idea of the tank, but the problem with the run of the mill air shocks that you can get at an Auto Zone or Murrays or Pep Boys is this.......they still only have a 1/8 air line hook up to them. I'm sure it will make things a lot quicker, but you're still going to be limited to a 1/8 inch supply fitting. But, with as slow as mine went up with a pretty decent compressor....I'm sure that tank will quicken it up a TON.
I have a 60 ford wagon thats low but drivable but when we go on a trip we have a cooler of food and water , pop and at least 3 suit cases plus a case just for the her make up. and 7 hangers for shirts and pants. Books and magazines. large purse, second purse for knitting. and thats just if we go for 2 days . thats when the air shocks come in handy.
Would it be possible to mount a set of airshocks along with the stock gas shocks? Basically if the air shocks didn't have any other affect when not pumped up, but allowed you to raise the rear about 2 inches? My car is going to be kinda low. I'm not sure exactly how low yet. My driveway isn't steep but I'm sure I'll encounter a few some where down the road. Thanks Bryan
Thats a good point. I'm not much for suspension technology but I'd be interested to hear why it wouldn't work. The only downside that I can see is that the stock style gas shocks will still hold the car a little higher even with the air shocks let out than air shocks let out alone. I have a shoebox and plan to use air shocks with an onboard compressor for the time being as well. How did you guys get them to dump? I was thinking solenoids in the line as small as I could get and then adapters to get down to 1/8". Or do away with the 1/8" fittings on the shock itself and run bigger line.
even without air pressure, the air shocks are still shock absorbers, just without the "lift" of the airbags built into them. just run with 5-10psi for normal driving and it wont raise the rear, then inflate them for those times when extra clearance is needed. a quad rear shock arrangement would likely be too harsh.just my .02 edit; i would plumb a valve to the atmosphere from a tee in the line to dump
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