air shocks

[Cobain03]

i was thinking about putting air shocks on the 65 and decided to do a search. turns out people dont like them. Why is that?

if i do deicde to do them, what brands do you suggest?

 

[allcarfan]

air shocks...as in the ones you pump air into and it adjusts ride height a bit, along with ride quality?

If those are the ones, we had them on an 80 camaro years ago....a good novelty item...thats all ic an say...haha.

 

[mustangman70]

Ive heard the ride quality is horrible...

 

[Ronstang]

Air shocks are for ONE thing.....adding load carrying ability to a vehicle with a trailer. Even then they are marginal at best. In the 70's idiots used them to raise their cars up in the back to get huge steamroller tires under their cars because they were so wide they stuck out past the fender.

Either way the ride is terrible and they can damabe the car by tearing out the mounts in the body.

The big question is WHY do you want them? You have tons of choices in suspension components these days (something we did not have in the 70s) so you should be able to get the desired results you want with the correct product. Air shocks are NEVER the correct product.

 

[krash kendall]

Ive heard the ride quality is horrible...

They don't dampen much. We had them in our old Cadillac and they were really handy for adjusting the ride height when the trunk was loaded for a long trip. It originally had an automated system, but when that failed the PO installed a manual regulator so you could adjust them on the fly with the on board compressor. Not really good for a performance car though.

 

[Gud T.B. Blown]

air shocks...as in the ones you pump air into and it adjusts ride height a bit, along with ride quality?

If those are the ones, we had them on an 80 camaro years ago....a good novelty item...thats all ic an say...haha.

Ride quality,what ride quality. It's like riding in a buckboard wagon.

 

[truck90278]

Agree with all the above. When they are inflated, they have been know to break mounts

 

[Cobain03]

in all honesty, the ride quality isnt that great anyways. you roll over a twig and you bounce. i probably have the orginal shocks. why would you do them? for 140 bucks you have an adjustable suspension. dont like the height, adjust it. by the time you buy new springs, leafs and new shocks, you've added up in money

 

[C0V3R]

They are terrible for ride comfort and handling. If you need to raise the car get new springs.

As for shocks, I've been quite happy with my koni reds. Spend the money once and do it properly.

 

[65mistress]

What about the AirRide suspension? I have been in a Mark VII with air suspension and they ride just awesome, is that the same kind of ride quality that you get in an Air Ride system?

 

[bnickel]

i can tell you from experience that they can rip the upper shock mount to pieces. i had to have the shock mount repaired which cost more money than it would have to change the srpings, however when i put air shocks on my car it was the late 80's and there weren't any options for new leaf springs that i was aware of. it's not like you could go to the dealer and buy new ones either. at the time having the re-arched at a spring shop was cost prohibitive for me. i wasn't one of those idiots that added them for tire clearance either. although the tires would rub the top of the wheelwells if i hit a bump it wasn't because they were too wide for the car it was because the springs were too worn to hold the car up and provide adequate suspension dampening. the tires i have now are much bigger, wider and taller than the one i had at that time.