I've been searchin through the tons of great info on bagging 54 front ends, especially Rustypipes thread. But in all the info Ive found, nothin addresses the issue of shocks on the front with the bags! Anyone got input? Rustypipes? Alex? Ive gotten two sides of this, some say that the Firestone Air Ride bags run stiff enough to make shocks unnecessary. On the other side a good buddy of mine said that the shocks are not just a ride, but a saftey, issue! Do they make internal shock bags thatll fit the stock 54 front ends?
I have seen shocks added (however you can) to the front to support the movement of the susp. Just get some basic shocks and figure out how and where the best mount will be and make some mounts. You can run without them, an old friend drove a 63 Impala around with just bags for a few months, then installed shocks to help smooth the ride, didnt lose any clearance or bag movement just smoothed the ride while traveling.
I would like to run with no shocks, it just cleans everything up and makes it simpler. But I dont want to sacrifice safety either!
Your car will bounce up and down like a basketball going down the road .I would sacrifice the look for the safety and ride.M 2 cents
I've bagged many vehicles and haven't run shocks in the front on most of them. As long as you don't need lots of pressure to raise the front (like200lbs) it will ride fine, kinda floats like old big cars do. The back is a whole nother story though.
It floats like old clapped out big cars.... cars with bad springs and beat shocks... why is the back different? both ends should have shocks...
Every time I read these contradictions of automotive engineering and safety rules with flippant comments like "always done it" and doesn't ride so bad" etc. I pray I'm not the guy that they hit when the bad thing happens to teach them a lesson.
You should run shocks in the front for sure. I had a bagged late model Buick that had no front shocks. It rode fine, but there were times and roads that it wasnt the safest car. Mount it on the rear side of the LCA and up to the frame, you could actually make similar mounts as to how the sway bar connects to the LCA. From what I can tell anyways.
Definately shocks!When I bought my 54 F100 it had no shocks in the frontend and the first offramp I took I hit a pretty good bump and went for a real scary whoop-dee-do!Got to bouncing real bad.I'm now putting shocks in!
Shocks. And bump stops that'll keep the frame off the pavement when a line fails or the bag lets go. Don't think that can happen? Look at all the early 90's Lincolns running around on the snubbers 'cause the airbags fail.
run the shocks.......even though mine does not have them yet. its not that i do not want them just have not gotten to it yet....have driven 100s of miles without them....rides great...but after reading the post im getting of my lazy but and fabbin some brackets......
I run a Malibu front clip with bags on my 54 and bought the shocks and brackets from Air Ride but I opted for the stiffer KYBs they sell. The car rode stiff as hell but cornered like a sportscar. Using an old Monroe catalog a local parts guy gave me I found a pair of gas shocks with the right amount of travel and mount configuration. Unfortunately because of some other work in progress I haven't been able to drive it to see if it helps the ride. In any event I would not drive any car without shocks on it.
I can't imagine not running shocks. When i put in the MII in my 51' the last thing i did was mount the shocks and before i did i messed around with the suspension and it was extremely bouncy, once the shocks were in there was a HUGE difference!! SHOCKS FOR SURE!! And it looks good too!! Ian
I don't have any on mine yet, but I plan on adding them. It's a little bouncey, less if I air it up a bit, say 110+.. I'm a big fan of slam specialties bags, I feel like they ride a little stiffer.. But yeah in my experience it's not completly unbearable, but there are times when I really kick myself for not getting around to installing them yet.. You DEFINETELY want them on the rear though.
I realize that bags don't bounce as much as coil springs but that's not an excuse for not running shocks. As many have already said; use shocks front and rear. This shit of running without shocks in mini trucker bull shit.
Dale 48 - Is whoop de doo the technical term for that maneuver? haha Well im glad I got such a resounding response. Im surprised this topic hasnt really come up at all, considering all the tech stuff Ive found has said nothin about shocks. I figured maybe they were making internal shock bags that would fit the front end like the shockwaves for the rearend. Anyways, thanks for all the info!
Nawww,it's not the technical term!Best way I could come up with saying something without expletives! Just to put it this way, what happened caused me to almost lose sphincter control!
It has come up before, and the debate was a little more colorful than this one. But suffice to say "it needs shocks" anyone that says different is full of shit. We went through putting Shockwaves on the front of the Rivullac and it made a huge difference in the ride.
shocks for sure . i put them on a 66 caddy i bagged for a friend of mine.. also converted the strut arms to a-arms . i couldnt build anything without shocks ..doesnt make sense .
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