Airbag Suspension

Not since the Gasser days has anything revolutionized stance like air suspension. It's all the craze; lay frame on Sunday, drive to work on Monday. Alternately, jam nationwide on the Power Tour to see if the bags can handle some roadweariness. Plenty of readers did just that, demonstrating that today's hottest look (airbags and huge-inch wheels on an otherwise stockish odd rod) could also prove to be the most practical look-bitchin'/really-drive-it formula to cross our pages in some while. That surprised us a bit, because we thought that air suspension might not be truly scienced out yet. Readers proved us wrong, and we picked up some tips and tricks along the way.

For you cave-dwellers, here's the deal with air suspension: The car's original front springs (usually coils) are replaced with airsprings of the type similar to those used in semi-trucks. In the rear, the installation depends on the suspension type. For coil-spring applications, an airspring simply replaces each coil. For leaf springs, you can remove several leaves from each pack and install airsprings between the axlehousing and the frame; the leaves still locate the rear axle, but the airsprings suspend the car. A third common option is to use a fabricated four-link setup in the rear that's suspended by airsprings rather than coilovers.

With airbags in place, an onboard compressor system is usually used to pump them up to the desired pressure, which determines both the ride height and quality. Add more weight, and all you have to do is pump more air into the bags to maintain an even keel. Bleed air to drop the car down to its stock bumpstops and look way cool. The best plumbing setups isolate each airspring to prevent bag-to-bag air transfer, to allow for height adjustments on each corner of the car, and to allow for quicker air release to drop the car fast.

The systems are not complex, but it's critical to have them designed properly. Buy a complete kit and you'll be happier than if you patch together a system together with a mishmash of parts. It seems that cars that came factory-suspended with coil springs offer better results with bags than do leaf cars, which can require a custom four-link system for max drop. The guys we interviewed had done their conversions before the new shock-within-an-airbag systems were available. Those latest setups, such as the AirRide Technologies ShockWave, offer a true bolt-on installation for factory coilovers, and on original coil-spring setups, they eliminate the need to relocate shocks from inside the front coils where the factory often put them. A custom-fabricated system also brings the challenge of dialing in your choice of ride height while setting the airbag at an optimum height and pressure. No matter which route you choose, expect to fork over the cash for some sway bars and good shocks. Readers told us so.

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