The great debate

Airshocks of not

  • Use them

    Votes: 25 18.4%

  • Don't use them

    Votes: 105 77.2%

  • Use them only if you have a small motor

    Votes: 2 1.5%

  • Don't use if you have a large motor

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Use if you have a large of small motor

    Votes: 4 2.9%
  • Total voters
    136
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Badsport said:
NO, 1 leaf per side = 1 set. What you DO want to do if you consider these is to measure and see if these will work. I merely posted the link as another option. I'm not sure if these will work on your springs, they may or may not. There are however add a leafs out there that will work.
Click to expand...


I found some on summit that will fit
 
there are also spring shops that will re-arc your old springs and/or add another leaf to them. They do that on larger trucks and motorhomes a lot, I'm not sure how often on cars though.
 
Save your money,buy new springs.Look at it this way,a leaf spring is a item that wears out.Before you do a v8 swap,you should make the chassis/brakes known good and safe anyway.Be around awhile to enjoy your car.Good luck.
 
What do they exactly to I know they rise the car but how and it that all I need I am going to need to rise the car for the look and to fit the new rear wheels and tires[/QUOTE]

If you are using air shocks to fit your wheels and tires, you are asking for trouble. A small leak that lowers the shocks enough to hit - bad. Too full air shock that blows up on a hard pothole hit - very bad. If your tires don't fit without the air shocks, it would be foolish to try and make it work with air shocks.
 
1973dusterkid said:
well ill have to think about it ever body I talk to mom dad uncles said they had no problems with air shocks
Click to expand...

No offense, but your mom had a chevy. Different style rear. The Duster? Hard to say. Maybe he didn't know better and liked the look. Hell, I know better and I still like the look. I wouldn't do it though. Rear leafs are relatively cheap and is the right way to do it. You can get new leafs for around $200 and install them in an hour and a half. Like my dad always said, "if you don't have time to do it right, when are you going to have time to do it over?"
 
Re-arching works two ways. One way is through cold forging. Basically, the spring is laid over a special anvil, and pounded into the arch you want, being measured a little at a time as you go. This is the cheapest method, and as you might guess does not last long. The second is through heat forging. Pretty much the same method, but each leaf is actually heated, then pounded on, then quenched. It's very time consuming, and does last a long time....but both methods are gauranteed much more expensive than a new set of springs.
 
Try the Monroe Sensa tracs . They look old school but have the high tech performance. I put them on all my cars and love them. They will give you about an extra inch of clearance and the ride is excellent. MMG
 
Good info here, especially the explanation from StrokerScamp.
I just looked at the poll, and 13 people have said to put 'em on. How about telling us why... Is it just "it's your car, do what makes you happy"? You use/used them without any issue?
C
 
i've heard lots about said "SS" springs and they're magical beauty, but have been unsuccessful at locating them. Anyone able to help in this department?
 
I would look for the nearest big rig spring shop. They will happily rebuild your original springs for less than new springs cost and you will also have the option of choosing from whatever ride height/leaf combo you want. Plus,truck spring shops MUST use better quality leaf material so you are almost guaranteed a better product.
 
airshocks & traction bars. two things you don't want on a mopar. unless you like wheel hop, and broken drive line parts!
 
I'm not a fan of airshocks. First, they're a band-aid for soft/broken leaf springs. Used as a car lift device, they destory the handling balance of the car. This is much more of a problem for the canyon carvers than the ¼ mile crowd.

That said, I had them on my '66 GT for a while, because a PO had installed them. I never ran them at full air, so I never had the shock mount probems that others report. They actually made the car feel more stable. The cost of that stability was much more understeer than when I finally straightened it out by replacing the springs and shocks with proper pieces. Was glad to see 'em gone.
 
If you run separate lines you can put more air in the pass side and get a cheap SS Spring-like anti torque-dive launch effect. To lift the car, no. Voted no BTW, but they do have a legitimate drag racing application.
 
StrokerScamp said:
Air shocks render a leaf spring suspension useless..especially on a Mopar. The Mopar rear suspension utilizes non centered rear axle locators. Much moreso than the chebbie. The design takes advantage of the pinion gear trying to climb the ring gear and causing the rear housing to rotate.

When that happens with a Mopar, the rear tires are planted on the pavement. If air shocks are back there, traction will be lost because that planting action will be gone. This is amplifed with the Mopar SS rear suspension setup as those springs are even more off centered than the stock springs.

This is why at the track, you will see chebbies squat in the rear and Mopars rise in the rear. The squatting the chebbies do actually lifts the rear end UP, that's why the car body squats DOWN. It's actually trying to lift the rear tires off the ground. What the hell good is that?!?!?! When the Mopar rear rises, that's from the force of the rear end being pushed DOWN and planting the tires. Very simple concept and chebbie just slam missed the boat. lol
Click to expand...

laws of motion and physics...

every action has an equal and opposite reaction...

the body goes up the tires plant...
 
You got 30+ yr old springs, and they are sagging. Put a new set of springs on with a good set of monroes or KYB's and your done.
Your playing with hot-rods bro, and they cost money to play.
No way around it.
 
i hate air shocks. traction bars, well if set up right, they can work great. even on a mopar. i have actually seen some fast mopars at the track with traction bars and air shocks. i was scratching my head thinking wtf??? but it flat out worked. i could see using them get yourself leveled back out, but not for all kinds of crazy lift. you can find a set pretty cheap on CL or ebay. when i was a kid my brother was using them and i thought he was nuts, he found certain brands he liked much better than others. claimed certain ones actually gave a decent ride.
 
340-4spd said:
If you run separate lines you can put more air in the pass side and get a cheap SS Spring-like anti torque-dive launch effect. To lift the car, no. Voted no BTW, but they do have a legitimate drag racing application.
Click to expand...
Never seen a drag car, at least one that hooked with them in it. If you read Stroker Scamps explaination you will understand why.....
 
****, my dart had beat to death 6 cyl. springs and air shocks on it for 10 years. never had a problem with it. hell it turned 1.69 60 foot times at the track with that set up..lol. never a problem with wheel hop or anything.

if you use them the trick is to not run 100psi in the damn things. thats where you run into problems... if you keep the pressure reasonable you should be fine.

like already stated. you don't want your tires sticking out and to be using the air shocks to clear the tires. if you ever lose pressure in the shocks then the car is coming down on the tires. not going to be pretty..:)


no air...

P1010133.JPG



air...lol

P1010145.JPG



beat to death 6 cyl. springs and air shocks..:)

dartlaunch.jpg
[/IMG]
 
1973dusterkid said:
Because I want more then 5 or 6 opinions I want to know what I am getting my self into and now I know
Click to expand...


But you keep coming back to "mom and dad said." I would think that the 94 votes and they technical explanations would trump some the "I've had good luck with 'em."

Mom and dad had good luck with 'em. What's the mean? They didn't break? Hell, my father-in-law's had "good luck" with air shocks, too, in that he's been able to raise the *** end without having to spend the money on what the car really needed: springs.

Hell, one of my customers had "good luck" with replacing spark plugs every 3000 miles on his pickup, but all that did was delay the inevitable of having to rebuild the engine because of the bad rings.
 
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