Air Suspension
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Cargo Master
Joined: Sep 2005
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Air Suspension
OK guys, I should be starting my frame off on the 65/66 F100 4x4 in a week or 2, the chassis is a 79 150 shorty.
I have a couple of small projects to finish up then I'll get started.
I was thinking it may be fun to add air suspension. Don't really need it, the only 4 wheelin' she'll do is Snow days in the winter, and the Dunes in the summer. But I thought it would be cool if she sat down when I shut her down, and jack up to Ride Height when I start it up.
Anyone have suggestions on parts to use?
I have a couple of small projects to finish up then I'll get started.
I was thinking it may be fun to add air suspension. Don't really need it, the only 4 wheelin' she'll do is Snow days in the winter, and the Dunes in the summer. But I thought it would be cool if she sat down when I shut her down, and jack up to Ride Height when I start it up.
Anyone have suggestions on parts to use?
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Joined: Jun 2015
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From: Jax
I am assuming you are keeping it 4x4...never seen a smaller truck with airbags that was intended for lift(assuming thats what your plan is), only bigger trucks. Most of my experience with air suspension is sitting the truck on the ground.
If you are doing a lift on the truck and using leaf springs in the back you could always do the air over leaf setup to give you more lift on top of your lift and then lower it back down to your original lift when parked. Up front would depend on what setup you put up there, would be alittle more work. Air ride is definitely fun imo and with the technology out there where you dont even have to hit a switch anymore for your ride height is even better, like with accuair's elevel setup you preset your ride height so when you turn the vehicle on it lifts it up to that height for you to drive and when you shut it off it lets all the air out of the bags.
If you are doing a lift on the truck and using leaf springs in the back you could always do the air over leaf setup to give you more lift on top of your lift and then lower it back down to your original lift when parked. Up front would depend on what setup you put up there, would be alittle more work. Air ride is definitely fun imo and with the technology out there where you dont even have to hit a switch anymore for your ride height is even better, like with accuair's elevel setup you preset your ride height so when you turn the vehicle on it lifts it up to that height for you to drive and when you shut it off it lets all the air out of the bags.
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Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 1,240
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From: Chino Hills
I had a 74 K20 I built for a bit, and did not like the standard spring ride. So I contemplated air ride.
In order to get air ride to work you need to come up with a link suspension for the front. You can either copy copy Ford F250/350 SD's or the Range/Land Rover design. The rear is easy for good performance. A basic HD parallel 4 link works great. A tri-angulated 4 link or 3 link work better, but provide packaging issues under certain circumstances. Then they only work better when pushed. Either set up requires it to be fine tuned for optimal performance.
Then I realized I wanted my K20 back as the C20 it was before. So I sold it, and got a Focus St for reliability. Now I am looking at Ford 80's/90's crew cabs. I hate cars
In order to get air ride to work you need to come up with a link suspension for the front. You can either copy copy Ford F250/350 SD's or the Range/Land Rover design. The rear is easy for good performance. A basic HD parallel 4 link works great. A tri-angulated 4 link or 3 link work better, but provide packaging issues under certain circumstances. Then they only work better when pushed. Either set up requires it to be fine tuned for optimal performance.
Then I realized I wanted my K20 back as the C20 it was before. So I sold it, and got a Focus St for reliability. Now I am looking at Ford 80's/90's crew cabs. I hate cars
Thread Starter
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Cargo Master
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,954
Likes: 64
I am assuming you are keeping it 4x4...never seen a smaller truck with airbags that was intended for lift(assuming thats what your plan is), only bigger trucks. Most of my experience with air suspension is sitting the truck on the ground.
If you are doing a lift on the truck and using leaf springs in the back you could always do the air over leaf setup to give you more lift on top of your lift and then lower it back down to your original lift when parked. Up front would depend on what setup you put up there, would be alittle more work. Air ride is definitely fun imo and with the technology out there where you dont even have to hit a switch anymore for your ride height is even better, like with accuair's elevel setup you preset your ride height so when you turn the vehicle on it lifts it up to that height for you to drive and when you shut it off it lets all the air out of the bags.
If you are doing a lift on the truck and using leaf springs in the back you could always do the air over leaf setup to give you more lift on top of your lift and then lower it back down to your original lift when parked. Up front would depend on what setup you put up there, would be alittle more work. Air ride is definitely fun imo and with the technology out there where you dont even have to hit a switch anymore for your ride height is even better, like with accuair's elevel setup you preset your ride height so when you turn the vehicle on it lifts it up to that height for you to drive and when you shut it off it lets all the air out of the bags.
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Cargo Master
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,954
Likes: 64
I was hoping somebody else was playing with it already and had some info.
I've already been playing with the idea of building my own frame on this project. I just have to figure out how to rate air bags for lift and strength.
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Senior User
Joined: Jun 2015
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From: Jax
If you are building a frame i would just go all out and lay it completely out when parked and then set your ride height to where you want. Accuair setups would be great for programming your park and driving height. Most projects i have seen or been around when it comes to a frame build and air bags, the goal is to lay the project out on the ground and then ride as low as possible when driving. For air bags i would look up slam specialties and read up on their selection of air bags. I ran their re7s up front on my s10 and firestone f9000 sleeves in the rear and never had an issue with either one. The s10 was like that for 6 years(daily driver) and was traded away with the same setup as day one of my air suspension journey. Will mention on that setup i ran no shocks up front and the re7s would "float" like a big body caddy down the hwy. Cant wait to get my f100 bagged.
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Thread Starter
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Cargo Master
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,954
Likes: 64
If you are building a frame i would just go all out and lay it completely out when parked and then set your ride height to where you want. Accuair setups would be great for programming your park and driving height. Most projects i have seen or been around when it comes to a frame build and air bags, the goal is to lay the project out on the ground and then ride as low as possible when driving. For air bags i would look up slam specialties and read up on their selection of air bags. I ran their re7s up front on my s10 and firestone f9000 sleeves in the rear and never had an issue with either one. The s10 was like that for 6 years(daily driver) and was traded away with the same setup as day one of my air suspension journey. Will mention on that setup i ran no shocks up front and the re7s would "float" like a big body caddy down the hwy. Cant wait to get my f100 bagged.
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