My name is Mike Moore and I live in the hills of Morgan Hill, Calif. I am "waking up" a restored 1963 Chrysler 300H which has slept for 15 years, and hope to get it on the road soon. A big problem I have is that my driveway is very steep and the rear bumper drags going into or coming out of my garage. The vehicle had new springs installed several years ago and rides at the correct height normally. The problem is the huge overhang between the rear axle and the rear bumper. It dawned on me today that a solution might be an air shock or an air lift system. I have been looking at systems and the Air Lift company has a slick air bag device with a wireless controller which looks great-but they don't list my car . I like the idea of a remote wirelesss controller and an onboard compressor. A friend I trust greatly said this is THE place to find a solution from knowledgeable people. Thanks for any advice! Mike Moore Morgan Hill, Ca
An H is a '62, isn't it? Basically, you want a "bag over leaf" system, so do some searches for that. You won't be removing any leaves I don't think, unless you want it lower while you're driving, but you'll be able to add air to raise the rear end up to keep it from dragging on the ground. The mount brackets you will have to fab, no one will make a "kit" for this car, but it's not that big of a deal. Air bag stuff can be cheap if you shop around, don't buy a kit, just buy the individual pieces that you need. Two bags, some brackets that you'll have to make, some air line and fittings, a tank, a compressor, and some kind of controller (I wouldn't bother with the wireless remote BS, just put the valve under the seat where you can't see it but you can reach it with your hand.) If you're resourceful you should be able to set up a system for $500 or less.
Welcome to the board. I had the same issue with my 62 300 Sport back in the early 90s, and my driveway wasnt that steep. Lets see some pics if you have em.
The wheels are off the Chrysler right now, but I'll post a photo on a couple of weeks . Unless you mean a photo of wherethe air bags need to go! Mike
Ooops! I can't move it for a cuple of weeks, then I can take pics. How did you mount your air bags? Our cars are nearly identical. '
here you go. the bottom bracket is bolted to the leafs, the upper is welded to the frame. i didn't do it myself, i drive it a lot so i couldn't afford to have it down for a long period of time in my driveway while i messed with it. so i let a shop that specializes in lowering do it.
and for reference, here is an example of it's range. up: down: sure makes driveways and things like that a lot more manageable.
That's great! What does your control look like? My guys want to have a pendant with the control panel under the drivers seat (I don't want it on the dash). I told them I have no reason to control air independently to each bag, just give me an equalizer pipe so the air stays the same pressure. I also said a preset pressure is ok-I just want to go up to its max, and back to normal height. Thanks , Mike
the controls are manual, just a toggle for the compressor on or off to fill the tank (it kicks off when tank is full, or you can control it independently) and a toggle that when pulled one way pumps the bags up, the other way lets the air out, and it returns to a neutral position.
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