Probably a long shot on here but I know that there are a few of you running bagged setups. I haven't found a good source what are you guys running for the front setup in air bag suspensions.... as in slammed trucks, frame laid to the ground. I've always wanted a lowrider for the next truck. As for the rear, I already figured out that part which is pretty easy. The front is a bit different since I do use my 4wd on several occasions on slippery farm fields. I do plan on putting the truck to slightly lowered height (to which the cv angles allow) when driving but lay it to the frame when I park it. I live on rough roads, I'm getting tired of the stiff ride with torsion bars and lowered shackles. Time for something different.
Air bag front suspension
- Thread starter Ridin'GMC
- Start date
Someone has to be the first.....
I cant say Ive ever read anything about front air ride. Only person I can think of that might've done it was the old member here who had the avi of the low-rider dually. I cant remember his name....might have been from Vegas or Cali.
I cant say Ive ever read anything about front air ride. Only person I can think of that might've done it was the old member here who had the avi of the low-rider dually. I cant remember his name....might have been from Vegas or Cali.
The front will be a little complicated being 4wd. You could probably get air shocks that'll control your ride height. You'd have to remove the torsion bars and mount the shock up from similar to a coil over setup. And then run an in cab controller to control the front and rear.
Could build something like the dual shock hoops that mounts to upper control arm and then fabricate a mount on the frame.
I already looked into that and it's out of the question because it won't carry the weight of our diesel setup, I just discussed this with James to verify if it'll support the weight.
I'll make it work. Anything is possible, it can be done. Just need to figure out how to set it up, which I may have an idea now.
Definitely not setting anything up on the UCA. I don't want to replace ball joints more than I should be.
It does seem that's the best way but in reality it's not. The UCA ball joints are not designed to carry full front end weight. It's more of a floating design since it does not carry weight. Those ball joints are going to kill fast in a hurry with that much weight on it.
Someone has to be the first.....
I cant say Ive ever read anything about front air ride. Only person I can think of that might've done it was the old member here who had the avi of the low-rider dually. I cant remember his name....might have been from Vegas or Cali.
Unless we’re thinking of the same guy I think there was another. Baggedlb7 maybe?
Had brackets from the torsion keys and bags mounted outside the frame.
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I wouldn’t run bags on the uca like Andrew was saying. It already has a hard enough time lasting with 0 load on it. It also see much more change in angle and rotation than the lower which increases wear.
That's almost like a cantilever system. I've thought about it but wondered what the ride would be like, probably be pretty bouncy unless I run a set of very stiff shocks. But the thing is I want to get rid of the torsion bar braket as well for a cleaner frame laying looks. Unless I build a new bracket similar to the transmission crossmember that someone on here is building.
Thanks for the pm Tom but I ended up going just bagged on the rear and doing a static with control arms up front. I also wanted to keep my 4 wheel drive but ended up eating my cvs anyway so I just pulled them out but have been thinking about the RCs.
Just a warning if you plan on driving it allot it is very difficult to keep things in alignment as far as front tire ware goes with bags up front especially if you are going to be off roading it witch sounds like you will be.
I haven't looked into the HD air ride stuff for a while but I will do a little research and see if I cant help out.
Good luck.
Just a warning if you plan on driving it allot it is very difficult to keep things in alignment as far as front tire ware goes with bags up front especially if you are going to be off roading it witch sounds like you will be.
I haven't looked into the HD air ride stuff for a while but I will do a little research and see if I cant help out.
Good luck.
Thank for your input Tim.
My goal was to have the bags adjusted to ride height to where the CV are level when I drive but lower it whenever I want to at low speed cruising and parking which shouldn't hurt the CVs. I don't do offroading on this truck, the only time I use my 4wd is when I'm on slippery farm fields or around my yard pulling a trailer with a tractor on it. I figured with the bags set at ride height for normal driving, it shouldn't affect the tire wear as long the ride height is set where the alignment was set up at. My truck sees 95% street of the time and it spends most of its time on the highway commuting to work and home.
Looks like I'll have my work cut out for me to make it work on the front while retaining the 4wd.
Run the djm lower arms, build a hoop over the cv axle, cut old frame mount off, mock air bag up, build new frame mount and your off and running. Can even run a new shock next to the bag
Funny. I was just looking at the djm lca and thinking the same exact thing. Looks like double convulated bags are better than the sleeve type for the front. Down side is not much suspension travel in case I get into a rough patch of the road.