has anyone used air shocks instead of bags

not in 59

 

I used aftermarket air shocks (with a static spring drop) to give a little more height in heavy loaded conditions. We use to do the same thing to vehicles we towed the car trailer with. My car is my daily driver but on weekends a trip with 4 adults and a weekends worth of luggage and coolers in the trunk (HUGE trunk) is common..... a little more air in the air shocks was the answer for me.

 

most guys who tell me they want to run air shocks over bags want it because they see it as the simplest solution. You can get air shocks that will have the load rating you are looking for, they are expensive, but the problem is that your current shock mounts arent intended to hold, or are even capable of holding, the car up.

so you have to change the mounts. The air shocks that can hold up a car are expensive, I said that once but it bears repeating, and they are much longer and bigger than the original shocks that bolt in. you will need to rebuild very strong mounts for these, and will still need the same plumbing and valves and controls to make the car go up and down.

if you are doing it just to do it, it can be done. if you are doing it as the simplest solution, its probably not going to work like you think. If you want shock dampening with adjustable height and simple (well, simpler) install, get a hydraulic setup with accumulators. No springs needed, and will ride outstanding.

 

air shocks are a crutch to help worn out springs , a air spring is specially designed to handle the complete weight of the vehicle , and the bag size, wall thickness and pressure used is proportioned to the amount of weight the spring will see .also air springs have a large base to spread the loads on , a shock stud is only rated for the dampner assy forces not the weight of the car and often mounted in shear . only time I seen air springs on vehicles is when I worked on or drove semis otherwise they tuck them under and you cannot see them , late model cars use them alot and you do not see them . but you feel them when your wallet gets raped when they blow out .

 

I have been bagging cars, for about 14-years. I am over the 200 mark. I have yet to have even one bag that I installed, fail. A few early ones started to leak a little, after about a decade, but slowly. All, every single one, of the bag failures, that I have seen, and/or repaired, were due to improper installation, mostly where the rubber was allowed to touch metal. Every single customer I have had, who brought me a vehicle equipped with Shockwaves, asked me to remove them, and throw them away. That number is over 20. Don't buy them.

 

Why do they ask you to remove them?

 

It is split about 50/50 between leaky, and way too harsh a ride. The bladder volume, even on the largest, is just too small for a heavy car. The smaller the volume of air inside the bag, the more pressure is required to maintain ride height. The higher the pressure, the more harsh the ride.

 

Hey, Gizmo Joe, installing a Chevy into a Ford just completes a streetrod.

 

I saw a T Bucket "rat" once that only had air shocks for springs. Even had that small plastic tubing still. So apparently someone has done it, but it was a scary looking pile and everyone at the show was making fun of the use of air shocks for springs... including myself.
General concensus here on the board - no, absolutely not.

 

Some cars just don't do well with air shocks. For instance, 1955-57 chevy cars, the original shock fastened to the floor of the trunk. I have seen several cases where the trunk floor cracked and tore around the shock bolt holes. And, eventually you had to add a cross member for the shocks to attach to. I had to make a cross member for the '56 Del Ray in my avatar (see pic). Also I had a '55 Chevy Wagon where the floor separated from the body because the floor supported the weight of the rear of the car on the shocks. Yeah! I gave a 350 guy a joy ride in my '55. I banged second gear and the floor came up and I could see asphalt. So check how the top of the shock attaches to the rear of the car before installing air shocks..