Airride for 68 Camaro yes or no?

[Moabdude]

Dear Friends,
I like my camaro lowered. driving a lowered car is not as comfortable as driving a nearly stock heigth car. that is why I am thinking of buying the shockwave+strongarms for the front. just a push on the button and up it go's.

for the rear I don't want to spend the $2k for the Airbar system.
I am thinking of buying just the shockwave 7000, cutting my monoleaf in half and use the front part of the leaf instead of the 4-link.
Crazy idea? yes of course.:yes:

any suggestions?

[TravisB]

It will ride and drive twice as good as stock with that set up if not better.:thumbsup:

just re read the post....I am not really a fan of the leaf cut in half but I know it is done on a regular basis.

[GM Muscle]

you would have to build a pan hard bar for lateral stability.. ive seen ppl just build a swedge tube type control arm to go where the spring used to be and build a torque arm and panahard bar.. then just mount shockwaves.. its still gonna cost you some money..

[Tony@AirRideTech]

I would not cut the leafs.... what you are refering to doing is essentially turning your leafs into locating bars. If you have any kind of horsepower this is going to really suck. If you were convinced to go that route you need to look at using a quarter eliptical spring.... Now if it were me.... I would save up the couple of hunderd bucks and go for the AirBar and just replace the leafs all together. By the time it is said and done.... you will realistically probably not be much farther ahead of where you would have been anyway.:D

[Efi69Cam]

Dear Friends,
I like my camaro lowered. driving a lowered car is not as comfortable as driving a nearly stock heigth car. that is why I am thinking of buying the shockwave+strongarms for the front. just a push on the button and up it go's.

for the rear I don't want to spend the $2k for the Airbar system.
I am thinking of buying just the shockwave 7000, cutting my monoleaf in half and use the front part of the leaf instead of the 4-link.
Crazy idea? yes of course.:yes:

any suggestions?

You would still have to fab a stronger mount for the coilovers. The orginal shock mount is designed for a shock, not carry the weight of the car.

[Moabdude]

Yes, that is right. I can not put the whole weight of the car on the original shock mount position. I have to make brackets on the frame I guess.

For the front I can go with the Shockwave+strongarms.
But for the rear: how can I level the car up and down without spending the big $$$$$.

[TravisB]

Yes, that is right. I can not put the whole weight of the car on the original shock mount position. I have to make brackets on the frame I guess.

For the front I can go with the Shockwave+strongarms.
But for the rear: how can I level the car up and down without spending the big $$$$$.
you could just bag the front and lower the rear........lots of people do. Or you could run a monoleaf, block it down til it sits low enough and use an airbag to raise it back to ride hieght.

[J2SpeedandCustom]

Or you could run a monoleaf, block it down til it sits low enough and use an airbag to raise it back to ride hieght.

I second Travis' recommendation. We did just that on a 68 for a customer. We used the Airride first gen kit. Bag's and shocks for the front and air over leaf in the rear w/blocks. Complete kit with compressor unit was like $1500ish. Car drove like a dream... :yes:

[HRBS]

I third Travis's suggestion.... we just did exactly that on a 69 Mustang. Mono-leaf and 1" block, older style (cool ride) bags with shocks in the rear. The front we put in a set of shockwaves. The whole system is simple, functional and less expensive than a more involved system.

[mstennes]

Not to be a smart ass but the Peterbilt Air leaf does just what he's thinking of doing and it works pretty good there in that aplication kind of a "best of both worlds" suspension, it gives you the ride of air and the contol of leafs. Now I dont know how it will work on a car but in theory it should work and maybe hes on to something. In reality it would be cool but the amount of work involved and experimenting to get it dialed in, I would pass and just buy a known system that works.

[TravisB]

From what I have seen peterbuilts leaf is different than a regular leaf that has been cut in half. Will it work-yes, will it be scary-yes, if he had the proper leafs-it would work fine

[darren@ridetech]

Beyond the crappy instant center and the possibility for spring wrap and wheel hop.....it'll work fine.

[Tony@AirRideTech]

Like you know anything ...." Chevelle Boy" :D

[Moabdude]

Okay guys, I have monoleafs. I think I have to de-arch them 1 or 2".

so for the front I can go with this;
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v415/bramrook/Diversen/airridefront.jpg

and for the rear like this?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v415/bramrook/Diversen/dynamicimage.jpg

someone else got any pics?

[Marcus SC&C]

driving a lowered car is not as comfortable as driving a nearly stock heigth car.

Let`s back up a little here. That`s a wildly general statement and although it is often true it certainly doesn`t need to be. If a car is lowered properly it can ride much better than stock. Correct spring rates and even more importantly shock dampening are the key.
If you don`t mind me asking how much is your car lowered and what combination are you running now (springs/rates,shocks etc.)? Airride is one possible solution but certainly not the only one. Mark SC&C

[deuce_454]

all the suggestions about airbags seem to have been centered arround parking a lowered car, and raising it back for driving.. if you want to drive a lowered car, id save some of the money, and get a well setup spring and shock setup.. for the money you seem willing to spend you could even fix some geometry and get racically better handling.. on the other hand if you are going to airbag it, go all out.. dont skimp. if you half-ass it it will drive acordingly..

[Leadfoot1]

Cool discusion!

While we're at it.... I was discussing this with a friend last week;

I'm really looking to put the Airbar under mine and he was concerned about my goal of 800 ish Horses and of the bags ability to transfer the power down the right way.(on the track- think 1/4 mile here as he has a 69 Olds drag car and i was telling him i was gonna kick his butt!)

Any comments here? He told he tought i'd be better served with the coil over set up from Alston because he was afraid of air bags blowing up! 'Got me thinking there....

I mean, i mainly want to drive the hell out of it but still want to be able to put slicks on and do a run once in awhile.

Lead.:lateral:

[darren@ridetech]

Moabdude, That CoolRide kit up front works really well, but on the first gen's you have to worry about losing turning radius with the relocated shocks. This is normally only a problem when using the large GM single piston caliper. I would consider the Shockwaves.

As far as horsepower goes we have several company and customer cars running in the 6-800 horsepower range.

[Moabdude]

okay, so I will go with the shockwave in the front. but what about the Airride strongarms? I might aswell buy the complete set shockwave+upper/lower strongarms.
I have speedtech tubulars upper and stock lower controlarms now. are the Airride strongarms as strong as the name says? and do they offer the same steering improvements as the speedtech tubulars?

and for the rear: I want to go with the stock monoleaf+airbag. what airbag do I choose? the 7000 series or just a standard airbag+shock?

anyone suggestions?

[darren@ridetech]

As long as the speedtech arms correct the ball joint angle and add caster, you could keep them. The 7000 series Shockwave would be nice on the back, but you will have to fab. the mounts, I wouldn't count on the oem mounts being strong enough. If you want something really easy the Air Over Leaf will work. Use part # ARK2004, that will give you the under frame mount for a 2.5" wide leaf.

[kennyd]

i would recomend the air-bar on rear. this set up was clean , easy to install ,looked real good under the car . we used it under a 68 and then changed the rear axle to a narrowed 9in and it sat perfect . it also allowed us to tuck a 20 under the rear and not show the tire .

i looked at the fatmans set up with the 1/2 leaf and coilover under a 69 and thought with any power this would axle wrap real bad .

[Moabdude]

Just ordered Strongarms+ shockwave and air over leaf for the rear, 400c Viair compressor, 3 gallon tank, etc..

I am saving now for the Airbar:yes:

[Steve Chryssos]

Just ordered Strongarms+ shockwave and air over leaf for the rear, 400c Viair compressor, 3 gallon tank, etc..

I am saving now for the Airbar:yes:

:thumbsup: Much more safe.

[darren@ridetech]

Thanks. If you need any help with the install just let me know.

[customcam]

i would recomend the air-bar on rear. this set up was clean , easy to install ,looked real good under the car . we used it under a 68 and then changed the rear axle to a narrowed 9in and it sat perfect . it also allowed us to tuck a 20 under the rear and not show the tire .

i looked at the fatmans set up with the 1/2 leaf and coilover under a 69 and thought with any power this would axle wrap real bad .
Any pics kenny? ;)