I am going to be putting air bags on my 62 Cadillac and was curious if any of you have any feedback on Air Rides Shockwaves? The kit from Air Ride is basically a bolt on but are the Shockwaves really worth the extra money or will basic bags and side mounted shocks work just as well? I mean, I dont think they are charging a premium just because they are chrome.
IMO they are overpriced. Not saying they aren't nice, but bags and shocks get the job done just fine.
I've never used shockwaves because of the price. But i've done and ridden in many cars with bags and regular shocks and they ride nicer than stock, when set up properly. For the price you could buy a separate bag, and a really high quality, or even an adjustable, shock. Plus with a typical bag you can get a number of different ports, (3/8, 1/2, dual 1/2, etc.) which will be quicker than the little fitting on the shockwave.
The shockwaves are nice. They ride well, and are well built. They cost more, and you are paying for the simplicity of installation. They were designed for retrofitting coil-overs. IMO you would get much more adjustability and better performance for your money with conventional 'bags and shocks, but an easier install with the shockwaves. Your choice, hope this helps.
shockwaves also limit the amount of travel most of them get about 4 inches a regular bag gets anywhere from 6 to 9 depending on which bag you use. The only time I use shockwaves are when one of my customers get sponsored by airride.
ive spoke with max at bio kustoms in hemet about my 62. he has told me the best bag to use in the back is a firestone sleeve bag i belive if you call macs springs and tell them you need a 140/95 tapered sleeve bag they know what you need. from what max has told me this bag makes it ride just like stock....also these are the same bags that are on the newer ford expeditions so if you can find one in a salvage yard with good bags you might get lucky
i put shockwaves on my 60 cadillac and quickly took them off. first of all, if you like your car even fairly low its going to bounce off the stops. then it's base on a shitty firestone bag. the only positive-- it was easy and less work. get a good bag (i used slam specialities on the front,) and buy your upper and lower plates. build your cups using them and good 4" steel pipe. if you don't know what you're doing, hire an outfit to help you. learn from my lesson-- no shockwaves. btw: doing shockwaves will cost double plus what my recommended solution should... -scott noteboom
If you want a lot of drop do not use the shockwaves. Like Grunion said they do not have near as much travel as a normal bag will.
If you have the room bags and shocks is way cheaper. In my case there was not enough clearance (turning radius) for the external shock. shockwaves ride pretty nice. bags with no shock bounce all over. My car was almost undriveable at low ride height and 85mph! Now smooth sailing.
same thing, i was going to use regular bags and shocks but didnt have enough space,went with shockwaves,i like em because of ease of install and simplicity,ever thing good has a price
Thanks for the answers guys. Any other recomendations as far as what type bags to use. This isn't the first place that I've heard not to use Firestones. Any others to watch out for?
I researched the three main brands Firestone, ContiTech and ultimately decided on Slam Specialties. I bought them through Alex Gambino an Alliance vendor. He gives great advice and a nice discount. My first call would be to him. The Slam Specialties website gives comparative data on competitive brands and guidelines for what size to order. For a 3800 lb car I went with the RE6's. They are rated to 200 psi pressure, give about 7.2 inches of travel and they have a visibly thicker bag wall thickness. They come with 1/2 in ports but I reduced mine to 3/8 in. and bought a Viair 400 compressor with a 5 gal tank. (Alex's price was $20 lower than the cheapest price for the same brand of compressor I found in 6 months of shopping.) By watching the For Sale link on here I picked up some high quality valves from a fellow HAMBer for $40. I expect a 62 Caddy weighs a lot more than 3800 lbs. I suspect it might go over 5000 so if you have the space go for a larger diameter bag in your front end. Most full size pickups go with 7 in. bags. Pay attention to the load ratings on the Slam Specialties tech page below and you will see what I mean. I found out in my installation that geometry plays a big role in how much air pressure it takes to raise the car. The late model front clip I run mounted the coilsprings closer inboard than most suspensions giving less mechanical advantage raising the car. In my original configuration it took 110 psi to raise the car to driving height without bottoming out. By leaning the bag out 12 degrees from vertical it moved my fulcrum point 1 1/2 inches further out on the lower A arm and reduced the required pressure to 75 - 80 psi at driving height. I fabbed up my own mounting cups welded to the base plates I got from Gambino's. Sound complicated? Maybe, but for me the journey is as much fun as the destination. Slam Specialties.com
I used the shockwaves on my 59 the bolt on kit, and the kit they said was enough was too small to lift the car, unless you want to wait ten minutes for the car to lift. I had them on then needed to remove them and put on larger ones and modify the a arms to allow the larger product. gustet up the upper arms really good because mine started to tear. after working out all of the bugs for the first few months they have been fine for the past 5 years. the firestone bags and waves are a good product as is the others. It is up to you what product you want to go with.
Slam Specialties based out of fresno CA, my buddie did some interior for there work truck. Exellent customer service and like moonglow said, everything is there for you too figure out what you need. They have all you need and then some. Word of the wise run everything at least 1/2 inch. Not 3/8.
I agree, Slam Specialties, best I've installed/used. Running everything 1/2" makes for some fairly fast moves, so it depends on what you are looking for. You can always buy dump/fill controls if you want to slow things down. I'm running 1/2" lines with 3/8" valves right now and am pretty happy with it.
my opinion is that they are fine if you don't have room for traditional bags and/or relocated shocks. if you don't HAVE to use them i would'nt bother. they typicaly do not get near as much lift as a regular bellows style bag, and then there is the price factor. nothing realy "wrong" with them in my experience but if you can get away with running regular bellows type bags and relocated shock i recomend doing so. by the way. the NEW Airlift DOMINATOR series bags have outperformed EVERY bag on the market in durability testing. they are a COMPLETE redesign from the old Airlift bags and are made similarly to a typical Firestone or other brands of bags... only better! they are friggin HEAVY DUTY as far as the membrane goes. the only way your gonna blow one of these is if it rubs against anything. some crazy kids are running rediculous PSI in these things using compressed gas (nitrogen usualy). you know, the kind of crazy kids that hop their cars 6 feet off the ground!!! yeah, they are strong enough to handle that kind of repeated abuse so i think they will work out great for whatever you can throw at them.... sorry to sound like a sales pitch but i just recently got initiated to the new bags and was completely BLOWN AWAY! i've had MANY happy customers purchase these bags over the past several months and they swear they will never buy anything else.
Don't use shockwaves unless you are always going to have the car at ride height and/or have no room for anything else. You must use bump stops and also not let the shocks be over extended. They will come apart if you let them overextend while moving, or if they bottom out. Been there, done that. So I highly do not recommend them for many more reasons unless you just have to use them for some reason. Also, no travel in the front, you can only get decent travel in the rear if you mount them forward of the rear diff on the trailing arms etc.. wil www.sakowskimotors.com
On my 64 cad, I used firestone bags with no shocks up front. The car floated when you drove over bumps. I planned on adding shocks later, but I sold the car. It was a little annoying at first, but I got used to how it drove. I would't waste money on shockwaves. Buy the right size bag for the size car and make your own cups.
I am glad you pointed that out. My decision to reduce mine to 3/8 in lines was based on the objectives I had for my car which were to raise the car to an acceptable ride height for cruising in 5 sec or less; let it back down gently enough not to tear anything up; and lastly to reduce the amount of time the compressor has to work to fill up 1/2 in air lines which in my case worked out to a 56% decrease of volume for 3/8" vs 1/2" lines. It's purely a matter of what you want to do with the vehicle.
I have my bags installed in my 56 Caddy, no problem. I am having hell trying to fit a shock and mount in any location in the front end. Does anyone have ideas or pics? Thanks
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