Air Suspension Q's

[BlueChariot]

1. What's the average cost for a mild setup for 4 wheel controllable air ride suspension?

2. I've heard pretty consistantly that your ride quality and handling suffers a good bit when going to an air ride system. How accurate is this, and is so are there systems which offer the function but retain good ride quality and handling?

3. When going to air suspension, what do you do about bumpstops and shocks?

 

[ES894x4]

there is no average. are you buying parts and building yourself? are you dropping the truck off at the shop? what tubing? how much lift? are you trying to just tuck 18's or do you want to lay on 22's?

ride in a bagged truck, then ride in a static.

you run shocks, nothing crazy there. your bumpstop is the bottom of the frame hitting the ground and laying the truck out.

 

[t0x1k]

I don't have a bagged truck, but my car is bagged. Handling is improved greatly providing you have shocks that are the right type for the height you plan to drive. I run air cylinders which have 2 chambers, pressure and non pressure, the non pressure acts as the shock absorber with a slow down to adjust the "stiffness". Ride quality is A LOT stiffer and your ass takes a great deal of the bouncing on rough roads.

I spent roughly $1K on my set up brand new for a budget kit. Biggest investment is the air compressor, a good small ViAir will set you back $2-300 easily.
Valves I'd recommend 3/8 or 1/2" smaller if you like slow lift and lower. Each valve is anywhere from 40-90 each and you need 2 per wheel.
Tank can be any size, but consider this, small tanks are great cause they fill up faster, but with my 5 gallon tank I can raise and lower my car 3 times before I lose too much pressure. 5 gallon would be the minimum for a truck, 7-10 is best because of the space allowed. Use stainless or aluminum when mounted under a vehicle!
Air line is cheap, you can do DOT plastic and PTC fittings for the cheap, or aluminum tubing and compression fittings for high pressure leak free/maintenance free.
Control is simple, a 10 switch box is a starter allows FBSS etc movement, they're bulky though. I plan on converting to simple console mounted front and rear control. Plan on spending 450+ for a computer controlled auto air ride management system.
Gauges are cheap, a digital will set you back 100+ or 3 dual needle gauges at 30 a piece.

All in all, you can spend 1K or 10K it's your choice, shop around and only buy name brand parts, stay away from cheap knock offs you'll regret it.
http://www.airbagit.com/Default.asp I highly recommend them!

 

[BlueChariot]

Thanks guys. I should point out that this question is in reference to my Vice. I'd like to lower a truck but not bag it. My main concern was the ride quality. I've been racking my brain on whether to focus on total performance or make it a cruiser, but if I can still have great handling on bags I can have both. Another thing shying me away from baggin' it is Ialready want to run a good thumpy sound system in the trunk but have useable space, but I'm sure I can solve that.

 

[1lowgrk]

1. What's the average cost for a mild setup for 4 wheel controllable air ride suspension?

2. I've heard pretty consistantly that your ride quality and handling suffers a good bit when going to an air ride system. How accurate is this, and is so are there systems which offer the function but retain good ride quality and handling?

3. When going to air suspension, what do you do about bumpstops and shocks?

I have a bagged S10 and been in the scene for quit some time, a reasonable price range for quality parts will most likely run anywhere from $1500-$3000. Its all the little stuff that adds up... fittings, air hose, valves, compressor/valve wiring, shocks, switch box, etc.

I spent close to $300 in brass fitting alone, they are DOT approved which is what I would recommend using.

A friend of mine has a body dropped S10 with a built chevy small block 350, shocks in all 4 corners and sway bar up front and rides like a dream and fast as hell! As long as you run shocks the ride is amazing!

I would check out some of these websites (Stay away from AirBagIt.com, nothing but bad news and multiple horror stories)

http://avsontheweb.com/home.php
http://store.gaugemagazine.com/
http://www.newmaticsinc.com/
http://www.waylayedinc.com/Waylayed2010/ww/
http://thecustomconnectiononline.com/

Those are most of the placed I typically order what I need for air ride.

Also regarding putting a thumpy sound system in the trunk that should be no problem. (1) 5 gallon tank, (2) compressors and box/amp should fit no problem in that big ass trunk.

Let me know if there is anything I can do to help you out.

 

[BlueChariot]

Obviously it varies, but about how many hours does it take to install the whole system? I probably wouldn't attempt to do the instal myself, so a ballparked estimate on labor costs would be good too.

 

[1lowgrk]

Obviously it varies, but about how many hours does it take to install the whole system? I probably wouldn't attempt to do the instal myself, so a ballparked estimate on labor costs would be good too.

Since its a car it will be a little more involved because you cant just take a bed to weld a notch in and set up the rear suspension (2 Link, 4 Link, etc.)

I'm not sure what costs would be where you are from, but typically a full air suspension set up labor costs are roughly $1000-$3000, could take approximately up to 40 hours or so.

Just an approximate guess, shop around get different quotes...

 

[LEMONADE]

Quote

i live in Houston the home of ekstensive metalworks. I called them a week ago for a quote to bag my ranger and was told they charge $3750 to install a complete air ride suspension including all hardware and labor. They told me that is the minimum they charge to bag a vehicle. Of course they are a world famous shop and do awesome work. There is a three month waiting list. To get on the list you have to put down a $1000 deposit, which applies to your remaining balance. Once you drop off your vehicle they said takes about a week to complete the work.

I do not work for them, just been in the scene since the early 90's and have seen the work they turn out If i were to pay someone to bag my truck it would be them simply because they have a history of doing good work granted you can get everything to do it yourself for about $1500, but You get what you pay for

Hope that puts thing in perspective.

 

[doorgunner]

$3750 aint bad for quality parts/labor/skilled builders!!!!!!!


that is......if'n you got the money to cover labor!!!!!!