I was driving my '66 truck tonight and I went over a speed hump and the front passenger side of my truck dropped and I heard the air came out of my shockwave airbag. I took some photos. Does anyone have any ideas what may have caused this? It looks like the airbag just folded. Do I just buy another one and keep on trucking? Thanks for any help. Is there a heavy duty airbag that would work better than the Shockwave? I am posting a photo of the broken shock and the one on the other side of the truck.
is that a air ride technologies shockwave or that other company. ive ran lots of ride tech shockwaves and had no problems. beware of the knockoffs.
your airbag is probably fine, its the internal shock that crapped out. If its an actual Air Ride Technologies I would call them. They have been alot of help to me in the past. If its from airbagit.com then you may just have to buy another...
To be fair ive heard a lot of guys with shockwaves havin the same issue. Apparently theyre not meant for heavy veichles. Youre better off with conventional bags and relocated shocks. And yes, its the internal shock that broke.
take it off and have a feel inside, if there is a shock inside it might just need slotting back in place, if not then i would junk it and buy another infact i would buy another one anyway, your life is at stake here and its not worth worrying as i have had a couple of bags explode on me and its not a good ride when it does
knock off or not, it is broke. there is a shock internally in side that makes up your shock wave. that has broken. the air you heard, is likely the shock shaft that punctured the bag. get it off, and replace it. if you can find out what company it is, it may be fixable, if not, just buy a new one.
Thanks for the help guys. I really appreciate it. After reading the replies I think what may have happened is the bag over extended when I went over the speed hump and folded on itself. I had no idea that could happen. It's a little alarming. When the bag folded over the rubber part was punctured by the bolts on the control arm so I think I need to just replace the whole thing. I'm wondering if there is a heavier duty part that could just bolt on to replace the shocks I have? Is there a vendor here that sells these pieces? Thanks for the help guys.
the shaft of the internal shock broke and because of the design, the bag folded. there is no support for the bag other than the internal shock which does not like lateral loads. I have never used these as I am not a big fan of the design, too much load on the shaft in a direction that it was never intended to take. I also don't like the fact that if one part fails you have to replace the whole unit, as you as having to do.
[QUOTEthe shaft of the internal shock broke and because of the design, the bag folded. there is no support for the bag other than the internal shock which does not like lateral loads. I have never used these as I am not a big fan of the design, too much load on the shaft in a direction that it was never intended to take. I also don't like the fact that if one part fails you have to replace the whole unit, as you as having to do.][/QUOTE] X2. I don't like the whole idea of a vehicles weight relying on shock pins or bolts and bushings. The weight of the vehicle should be on more of a positive mount, like a coil, leaf, or a normal bag mount.
X100! Get ridetech shockwaves or if those are ridetech shockwaves call them and I bet they would replace it. They are great guys to deal with!
Yes there is, buy a regular bellow bag and relocate the shocks, you will have more travel and less chance of a failure. BTW, its impossible that the bump caused the assembly to over extend, it simply failed because of its design.
X2. I don't like the whole idea of a vehicles weight relying on shock pins or bolts and bushings. The weight of the vehicle should be on more of a positive mount, like a coil, leaf, or a normal bag mount.[/QUOTE] It's not the mounts that are the problem, have mounted countless coilover shocks on racecars for years with no problems. Where you run into issues is, unlike coilovers with springs which act in a linear way (following the up and down movement of the shock), in an airbag setup the shaft of the shock is now loaded in a way that it was not designed for, keeping the air bag's side loading in check, this is a recipe for disaster, as witnessed above. Conventional bags and relocate the shocks, best solution.
The shock probably broke inside. I have had two replaced for that same problem on my 59 chev. Not a big fan of the Shockwaves but I have not replaced them yet either.
If you have not contacted us yet my direct number is 812-481-4732. The shockwave in your picture is a older Varishock based shockwave. We no longer use the Varishock in our shockwaves but do have a program for guys who are out of their warranty. The new FOX units carry a million and one mile warranty and in most cases will outlast the vehicle they are installed in.
We aren't going to deny that their have been issues in the past. But as with any business knowing what causes failures is what leads to bettering the product. In this situation I would believe the shock was driven at or close to full extension which over its life broke the shock internally. This day the shock finally allowed the shaft to pull out of the body and it collapsed. But that is clearly just going off the photos and not speaking with the OP. I also noticed something in the photo that looked menacing. The clearance from the top of the bag to the frame in one photo looks like there may have been some side force that could of played a factor. Who know may just be the photo angle. Either way, we are here to assist.
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