ok, here goes...

I want a low stance, probably about 4" drop, but if you saw the state of some of the roads over here in the UK you would see why I want the ability to raise it off the floor some way too.

My local council seems to have taken a rather radical approach to traffic calming too. There are more speed humps and zig zigs in the roads than street lights.

So it seems to me that If I want to get past the end of my road, I need a decent amount of air between the bottom of the truck and the floor, or I need a way of raising and lowering the truck to get over the obsticals. Hense the Air bag option.

Re the ride issues, arent the air bags just supposed to replace the springs? so the ride is still very much dependent upon a decent set of shocks. I have some rancho air adjustable shocks on my 4x4 which seem to work really well. I would have thought that a combination of adjustable shocks like these and air springs would be a good combination. So when lowerered you would firm the shocks up and when raised soften the shocks.

Looks like I have a lot more investigating to do....

 

I'm with ff56. Set the height and leave it. I have always thought of the air bags as a gimmick for attention. But if you seriously want a good ride, forget it. When I was in HS, no self respecting trucker would have ever thought about putting air bags on their ride. That was exclusively for the low riders with gold spokes. Every vehicle I see with air bags seems to be very stiff as it bounces down the road. Maybe the cost/manufacturer determines the ride quality. Just MHO. Jag

 

How well a shock works is dependent on how well it's valving matches the spring rate of the spring it's controlling ("shock absorber" is a major misnomer since it does not absorb anything or have anything to do with shock. "Spring oscillation damper" would be the name that matches it's fuction.) If the valving is too stiff for the spring rate it doesn't allow the spring to absorb the bumps (the spring is the real "shock absorber") but transfers the road variations to the chassis, actually shocking your backside. On the otherhand if the spring rate is too high and the valving too soft the oscillations canot be controlled and you bounce down the road like a rubber ball after every bump.
Aftermarket bag kits are air LIFTS not air SPRINGS. The spring rate increases dramatically as you add pressure, so how do you choose shocks, they are going to be either too stiff when the truck is lowriddin' or too soft when raised. Also where do you mount the shock? Street shocks typically have about 8" of total travel available. If you mount them centering travel at normal ride height, you can only raise or lower the truck 4" from that stance AT REST without damaging the shock, or + - 2" to allow for 2" suspension movement while driving on pretty smooth roads. Hit a 2" high speedbump or a 2" deep pothole and there goes your shock.
Air shocks are just shocks with airbag springs inside, adding or subtracting air does not change the valving.

 

You may want to look at Air Ride Technologies web page www.ridetech.com or call them at 812-481-4766. I am not a fan of aftermarket air suspension ( we do have a production auto with factory air ride and it rides great in fact at 50 mph it drops one inch ) but that being said you don't have to explain your decision to anybody just do what you are comfortable with.

 

I guess I'll put in my 2 cents here. My opinion of airbags is that they look awesome on cars or trucks. Anyone who puts airbags on their vehicle, most likely is installing them not for daily driving or commuting, but that occasion cruise to the burger place, cruise nights or car shows. Their purpose is to have their vehicle stand out amongst the other customs. Airbags is a modification. Just like with lowering, removing springs, rearching, your ride is effected as is the travel and stiffness. I have always been partial to lower stance vehicles, something about the low appearance makes the vehicle appear custom. Some people get off on having 8" lifts and being in the air. It really depends on the person and your likes. Some people are never happy with the 3-5" drop and feel the need to set the frame on the ground. I've always been concerned about the guys with the expensive tires on their truck with airbags. I don't think you can keep the alignment correct as in lowering the truck and therefore will probably go through a set of tires quickly. Then again, if you have the money to install airbags on all fours, you can afford to replace tires. I'd love to do airbags but have been procrastinating about the amount of modification it will take to install them. Not to mention the horror stories I've heard about installing them. Maybe some day. For now, I'll play with the leaf springs and worry about bottoming out over bumps.

 

Air bags. Yea, that's the ticket. Very cool to see a truck on the ground when parked. For now cash is stopping me from taking that leap down, lowering the volare front will have to do.

 

Imlowr2,
Good point on the alignment issue! You are going to gain or lose camber and possibly even toe as you raise and lower the vehicle, which in turn is going to additionally affect the handling and tire wear. IMHO air lifts are strictly a show mod, not practical for a daily driver.

 

One last thought, from me anyway, ''I still don't get it'' when I see something sitting on the frame it just looks like it's undriveable.................

 

Fatfenders56, I agree with you. I have been to a few shows recently and seen a few trucks with just the front on the floor with the back still in the air and that just looks damn weird to me.

I may have come across as one who is looking for the on the floor look. But thats not what I am after. I just want a low stance on my truck.
As I stated earlier, if I get my truck low how I want it, I will inevitably be grounding it all the time on all of the Pot holes and speed humps in my neigbourhood.

My aim is just to be able to raise from the otherwise normal driving stance. I have been thinking about this a little more and based on what I have seen in the way of OE fitted systems to Range rovers, I might see if I can make my own system from a broken Range Rover. They are now of the age where there are qute a few being broken.

So then I would have an Air Suspension rather than just an air raise, Lower, Hop type system. My only concern is that the truck front end probably weighs a lot more than the Range rover, so will probably have to look at beefing up the front.

cheers
Lee

 

Lee, sound slike a decent plan to me, I know that driving is always that much more enjoyable when you aren't dragging all of your hard earned work on the pavement. It sure sounds like the roads you have across the pond are very similar to what they call roads out here in the great southwest.
I would bet that the weights between the Range Rover and your Ford are comperable. I'm sure that one of the 53-56 wizards around here can give you the specs for the Ford.

Good luck with it
Bobby

 

I know I'm going back to the airbags again. This question came to my mind. When you lower your truck using springs, etc. They recommend you put a wedge under the shock plate to correct the angle/ pitch of the rear end and transmission. (you destroy U joints without it) What do guys with airbags do since their stance is consistantly different? or does it matter?

 

My guess would be to set up the pinion angle to normal drive height (whichever height you decide on for normal cruising). The rest of the time you will probably not be driving much or at speed so it might not be a factor.

The lowriders around here with there hydraulic systems do not give any thought to pinion angles, caster, camber, etc. You should see some of the morphodites running around with their skinny little tires rolling along at all sorts of funny angles.

Bobby

 

ever wonder why NSRA & SEMA are constantly fighting laws about suspension mods?

 

I like a lower stance, not ground dragging, but using the air bag suspension system is not what I intend to use. If this type of system fails in the deflated mode you can't drive your vehicle. What I'm looking for is a system that compresses the normal suspension to lower the stance of the vehicle. Has anyone designed / used such a system?

 

Yea, it's called 50 sand bags in the bed!! Jag