Mustang Air Ride? - Lateral-g Forums

wiedemab · #1 11-16-2006, 05:09 PM

I'm really seriously considering putting Air Ride on my '89 Mustang. Any thoughts. I'd probably bag it and then save my money for some good double adjustable Bilsteins. I thought about their AirStruts and shockwaves, but after talking it over with them, I think the separate bag and strut is a better way to go (CoolRide). My car is mostly for ripping around on the street, but I will probably try to hit as many of the RTH type events as I can. The AirRide gang put some pretty good times down at RTH2. I'm just really diggin' the slammed look when parked.

Any thoughts are welcome, but I'd rather not get into a technical discussion about the progressive nature of airsprings versus a coilover spring. I'm aware of these things, but for my application, I think it would suit me pretty well. That being said, I've never owned a car on air, so opinions are welcome.

If anyone has any pictures of a Fox Body Mustang on air, I'd love to see some.

OK - Dinner time

Later,

Brandon

JohnnyGMachine · #2 11-17-2006, 11:57 AM

I spoke at length with the guys from Slammed Specialties. They have been trying to do something like this. They were one of the sponsors on the Magnum and Mega Cab truck.

http://www.slamspecialties.com/

or email Nick at [email protected]
1-888-352-5225

Their air bags are their own design and are very durable and they are know to have the most travel out of any air bag on the market. Give them a call and see what they have to say. I have an 85 Notch back that I started asking them about as far as possibilities in the future with making an air bag system that works with a separate coil over.

J

wiedemab · #3 01-01-2007, 07:03 PM

This was my quick little update on my web site.
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Well, I've been tossing around the idea of putting Air Ride on my Mustang for a while now. I finally decided to go ahead with it. After talking to Darren at Air Ride Technologies, I decided to go with their CoolRide setup. For now, I'll just keep the shocks and struts that I have, but I'll be looking into some double adjustable Billsteins.

Along with the ART CoolRide, I purchased a 3gal tank and a Thomas 317 compressor off of Ebay. I also sourced the digital pressure gauge and the Asco 3/8" solenoid valves from Ebay. I mounted it all to a piece of 3/4" MDF and used the original trunk carpet to cover it.

I test wired the entire setup before installing any of in the car. If anyone is looking for a way to simulate a car battery for such purposes- here is what I did. I bought a 450W ATX computer power supply. It put out 20A on each of 2 outputs. It worked really well for testing the compressor, solenoids, gauges etc. Once I have the entire management system complete in the car, I'll proceed to tear down the suspension

__________________________________________________ ______________

I'm going to have a buddy of mine laser out a stainless switch panel that will mount under my ashtray door, so they can be hidden.

Side Note: whatever paint is used on the Firestone air tanks does not like to be painted over. I sanded it down and sprayed some primer over it. It curled up like I put stripper on it. So the I ended up having to strip it all to bare metal and start from scratch. It ended up being a bunch of work for something that will be hidden in the trunk, but oh well!

Later,

Brandon

wiedemab · #4 02-03-2007, 08:38 PM

Update: It's back on the ground. The front tires actually bottom out into my inner fenders, so I have to be gentle when laying it down. My quad shock will also bottom out into my rear brake calipers.

I've got some details to button up, but it's nice to see it back on the ground.

Let me know what you think.

TravisB · #5 02-04-2007, 10:28 AM

well it sounds like you better do away with quad shocks.......since they aren't needed! lol

And better do somethin with wheel wells in the front since it not layin frame yet! hah j/k man looks like it is sittin on the ground for a stang

wiedemab · #6 02-04-2007, 11:36 AM

I flipped the quad shocks when I had a different set of wheels on it. If I flip them back around the other way, they'll clear. I'm pretty sure that the front bags are bottomed out, but the tires are also squished against the plastic wheelhouses. I also put Steeda X2 balljoints in the front. They give an extra 1/2" drop plus help the geometry at ride height.

What is your opinion on the front tires hitting the wheelwells when aired down. Should I worry about this in the case that I blow a line? A couple of people have told me to put bump stops to keep them from hitting (but then it won't go near as low). If I blow a line, it would tear the hell out the wheelhouse. I can get to the line connection on the bag, so I could replace the line and manually inflate the bag if I absolutely had to.

Oh yeah, the roof is 49" inches off the ground when its layed out.

Later,

Brandon

TravisB · #7 02-04-2007, 01:08 PM

if there is ample clearance around the bag and you have a pressure switch on the compressor which I am sure you do you shouldn't blow a bag. All of our cars lay frame...if they were to ever blow a bag it would get pretty nasty but if set up correctly it shouldn't be a problem. I would leave it the way it is.