Rat Rod Nation - A place for motorheads
Rat Rod Nation General Area => Rat Rod Nation Intro's => Topic started by: killbilletmarc on May 21, 2017, 04:56:23 PM
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I'm hoping someone has the proper experience with airbags to offer some advice. I have successfully mounted a '48 pilot house Dodge truck on a Nissan Armada frame and now wish to install an airbag suspension. The rear works great, however the front is proving challenging. I began by replacing the spring on the front McPherson strut with an airbag which was designed for such (picture a big donut as it slid over the coil over with mounting perches as you would imagine). While this worked minimally, it did not provide enough ride height adjustment. I then purchased a D2500 airbag, I cut off the lower of the McPherson to which I welded a lower bag "perch". I now have a couple of problems, some of which I think I understand. I don't have the complete airbag tank and pump set up, I simply have a line run to each set of bags with a Schrader valve to fill from my shop compressor, thus I am limited to the 110PSI or so. I gather the truck is too heavy to lift with this limited pressure, because it will not rise at all (bag does pressurize, it doesn't leak). In order to "help" the bag lift the truck (and to test the operation of the airbag) I have used my floor jack to take some of the weight off by lift the truck frame. Unfortunately, as the suspension rises as I add air pressure, the bag shifts sideways, forcing it's way outward as opposed to moving straight up and down as The lower shock mount does not provide enough resistance to this sideways movement. My thinking is I need to weld additional "support", extending the upper airbag mounting surface (actually, on the side) in order to prevent the bag from squirting out sideways. Does anyone have practical experience doing so - does this work? Should I be concerned about wear on the sides of the bag as a result?
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Does the airbags have a hole for a stud? Mine did. It will stop the bag from moving sideways. I carry about 150 in my airbag system. I've run as high as 180. A bit late but If I do it again I'd buy the kit for the chassis I'm using. Airbags will take NO rubbing. A rock got between the frame and my front bag and boom.
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thanks for your reply. It does have a stud, and I used it, but because the lower mount (of the lower shock body) permits movement, the body of the shock actually moves sideways, which still permits the airbag from distorting (greatly I might add) and it squeezes out from the side. I might just try boxing it in with a side support. Thanks again.
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Can you post some detailed pix? I'm confused about movement. Gotta wrap my brain around the problem. I can't visualize it.
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Just looked at your pix. Are you suppose to use the springs ? Maybe shortened? Are you using the stock motor in the stock location?
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It's so ugly to see the bag when it deforms, I hate to replicate it again for fear of damaging the bag. I think I have a solution in mind now though. I'm going to mount a lower perch the width of the bag to the lower control arm. This will provide a wider base and prevent the shock assembly from shifting sideways. Instead of the lower shock body being used to set the height, I will use 2 full width "spacers" both on the top and bottom of the bag. Will update after I can fabricate this coming weekend.
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I think I got it figured out! Thanks again for the feedback.
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kool looking good ready to cruise
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yep real neat.....like to see more.....of that custom grill
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Here's a close up. I had a bit of fun with this.
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IT'S like magnetic, mahn........ 8) 8)
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Love last good.