I have a question regarding the best way to mount the airbag plates on a three link system. As the suspension moves through its travel, the angles between the bag plates differ. I have them tacked into place illustrating each of the options. basically, I would like to know if I need to set up the plates for the air down position, ride height, or split the difference. Here are some examples... Here, the plates are set up for the air down position and here is that same set up at ride height. At ride height, there are distortions in the bag due to the mismatched angles. I am not sure what the bags can absorb, or how much of a difference that would make. Here is the other example of the plate set up for ride height... And here is what that looks like when it is aired down... I was thinking about splitting the difference in doing something in between. What do you guys think? peace.
is there any way you can run your bags on the front of the axle instead of the back, ride and lift will greatly improve speaking from experance
Not easily and without creating a lot of extra structure. It is a wagon and I can only go until the diff hits the floor. (I am not opposed to this however, if it is better) However, the problem I am currently dealing with, with the plate angles, would also increase. I know that lift would improve if I mounted them to the front,but I was told that they ride better mounted in the back. This would be my first bagged ride, so I don't know what to expect or how they ride. It would sure be a lot easier to figure out the pan hard bar if the bags where front of the axle that's for sure. Thanks for your reply peace
Set your brackets so the bag isnt distorted at ride height.Thier is always going to be a little varience on air down and up. But the ride height is the sweet spot.
Actually its best to set the bags up so that the upper and lower mounts are parallel when the bag is fully compressed. Most bags have and internal bump stop, and if the bag is crooked when all the weight is on the bump stops it tears them up. I don't know about air lifts though, I never use them. I hope yours don't loose the rings. I'd switch to Con***echs or Slams if you can. Anyways, according to Firsetone an air bag can take as much misalignment as 2 inches at ride height, and up to 30 degrees difference in mounting angles. That doesn't mean you should misalign them 2 inches, but they can handle it. They just don't like to be at weird angles when they are fully compressed. They can however be slightly offset when compressed, but the top and bottom need to be parallel.
Very helpful . I wasn't digging the fact that the plates would touch on one point when compressed (if aligned at ride height). I wasn't sure of how much misalignment they could take. Thank you for taking the time and giving a thorough answer.
Twisted Miniz is right. The crucial elemnt is having tha bag aligned when compressed. If it is not it will bind and could break the nylon interstructure causing fatige, and could even pull out of the crimp on the top or botom. Due to suspension travel the angles will change when lifted, a good eye and some common sense will let you know if its lmit is maxed. If that is the case you may want to bring the brackets dow to raise the ride heigth. That would make tuning the "sweet spot" a whole lot easier. Lower air pressure=better ride.
if they are way off kilter when its compresses you will tear the body from the crimp around the plates. Ive seen alot of hacked up air ride and that is the most common problem.
i hate to disagree with you guys but it is slightly more important to have the bags at least semi aligned at ride height. your (typicaly) not driving down the road, and exerting the fources of such on the bag, when the bag is completely deflated. granted you do not want it at such a bad angle at full compression that it would cause any issues. i've been doing air ride suspesion installs since about 1994 and have had to correct many a screwed up install as well after damages have occured. i typicaly split the difference when i do a setup like this. a comprimise, if you will, between level at ride height and level and full compression. the ride will be superior if the bag is aligned at ride height but if you are going to completely deflate your system often a comprimise is necesary. as for "losing the rings" on the Airlift bags. well that did happen for a while when they had a bad batch (albeit a large bad batch) but that was actually a very long time ago and the problem was resolved. it is of little concern any more since the introduction of Airlifts new DOMINATOR series bags which have so far out performed EVERY other bag on the market (and replaced the old crimp ring style bags). they realy are the ****. if you have not seem them yet you should look into them. i even heard rumor that the dousche bag that owns AIM is trying to steal the design. back on point. it is my opinion and my experience based on my years of experimentation and the ten plus years i've worked with and picked the brains of the Airlift engineering staff and installers that splitting the difference in a situation such as this is the best course of action. you just need to use a little common sense and realize that a drastic angle at either end will likely cause problems. good luck with your install and feel free to PM me with any questions.
I agree on the splitting the difference. The bag can take a little deflection, but I have always been told that at ride height it will ride best if they are close to parallel. However, the airlift ring issue is still an issue. I have still read a lot of people having this problem more recently. I personally use firestones and love them. Slams have proven to be a good bag too. I have yet to get my hands on one of airlifts new dominator bags though. Maybe I will give those a try on the Econoline. Later Chad
let me know if you want to try them... as for the crimp ring issue it is possible there are still some bad bags out there but i have found in some of my experience that many of them blew when inflated beyond the 100psi MAX recomended and marked right on the bags... thats not to say that some did not blow at lower PSIs because some of that "bad batch" where doing so.. it was just not a design suited for high pressure application.... none of that matters much now as those bags are discontinued adn the Dominator is set to Dominate (pun intended ) the industry. 600 PSI restrained max! http://www.easystreetair.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=742 http://www.easystreetair.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=59
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