air shocks

Cobain03

Active Member

Aug 27, 2003

996

0

36

Lexington, Ky

Nov 21, 2006

#1

• Nov 21, 2006

• #1

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

The Answer Man

Founding Member

Apr 8, 2001

2,458

1

56

North Atlanta

Nov 21, 2006

#2

• Nov 21, 2006

• #2

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.

 

M

mustangman70

Founding Member

Dec 30, 2001

1,235

1

0

St pete, Florida

Nov 21, 2006

#3

• Nov 21, 2006

• #3

Ive heard the ride quality is horrible...

 

R

Ronstang

New Member

Apr 4, 2004

1,294

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0

Houston Texas

Nov 21, 2006

#4

• Nov 21, 2006

• #4

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

Active Member

Nov 19, 2004

1,258

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36

Aldergrove, B.C. Canada

Nov 21, 2006

#5

• Nov 21, 2006

• #5

mustangman70 said:

Ive heard the ride quality is horrible...

Click to expand...

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.

 

G

Gud T.B. Blown

Member

Dec 9, 2004

583

1

18

Nov 21, 2006

#6

• Nov 21, 2006

• #6

allcarfan said:

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.

Click to expand...

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

 

T

truck90278

New Member

Jun 4, 2006

382

1

0

Redondo Beach, CA

Nov 21, 2006

#7

• Nov 21, 2006

• #7

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

 

Cobain03

Active Member

Aug 27, 2003

996

0

36

Lexington, Ky

Nov 21, 2006

#8

• Nov 21, 2006

• #8

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

 

C

C0V3R

Member

Feb 14, 2003

524

0

16

Australia

Nov 21, 2006

#9

• Nov 21, 2006

• #9

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.

 

6

65mistress

Member

Aug 17, 2004

405

1

17

Generica USA

Nov 21, 2006

#10

• Nov 21, 2006

• #10

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?

 

B

bnickel

Founding Member

Aug 21, 2002

5,640

3

77

lubbock, texas

Nov 21, 2006

#11

• Nov 21, 2006

• #11

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.