bumpstops/how to limit suspension drop?
 

What are you guys using to limit how far your air bag suspenion drops (to keep it off the ground when it's slammed)? I've got some rubber bumpers (bumpstops) on mine now, but they aren't designed to hold up the full weight of the front end of the truck. I need something "stiffer" that won't compress so much when the front is aired out. I know there are many "air baggers" that aren't concerned with such issues (or safety for that matter) but I am.

DJM sells those little flat red bumpstop replacements, I am sure you can adapt that to work. you are using tubular control arms right?

personally I would rather air out and let the truck sit on the chassis when its parked, but thats just me...

No, I'm using stock a-arms.

I'd personally rather have the suspension/chassis off the ground if a bag/air line/valve would fail while going 70mph down the highway.

did you remove the stock bumpstop bracket off the lower control arm?

Here is how my Air Ride bags work.the bottom of the bag is supported by a round cylinder like thing, the top of this clyinder bolts to the bottom of the bag and the bottom of the thing sits on a plate attached to the a- arms. When installed as it came from air ride I had about 31/2 inches of clearance under my front cross member when all the air was out. Air Ride says you can go lower by cutting a piece off the bottom of the cylinder thing, i believe its 1" down for each 1/2" cut off .My cross member now has 2 1/2" of clearance. With all the air out it can not go any lower , so bump stops are not needed. If your truck goes on the ground with the air out you must have done something to the bags to make this happen. I cant emagine any system would put you on the ground with the air out ,Man if you lost your air while driving you would be in deep do do and so would the company for allowing that to happen

I modified my front suspension cross member to achieve a lower ride height and when aired out with no bumpstops, the lower a-arms easily set on the ground. (Even with the stock cross member, the a-arms would hit the ground.) This is my concern. When parked I want it to sit as low as possible without anything touching the ground. I currently have about 1.5" of clearance at the lowest point but the rubber bumpers I'm using aren't going to last very long with all that weight sitting on them.

Yes I did... they were coming in contact with the air bags. "Lost Wages" suggested a poly bumper that wouldn't flex like the rubber ones I have which makes sense. That should solve my problem.

my setup is not an air ride kit, for that same reason of air ride not letting you air out completely. I setup my bags and I set it up so it lays crossmember in the front and chassis in the back. You cant steal a truck thats on the ground, now can you?

This guy was layin' frame when this happened...

http://www.queensu.ca/security/graphics/int-0399-01.jpg

bwahahahaha, nice

Slamed67,in your 1st post you say you are concerned with safety, then you later say you modified your truck so it sits on the ground when aired out. One who is concerned with safety does not create a situation which a least can wreck your truck and at worst can kill you. If you install a bump stop (which can fail) you are stoping the down travel of your cross arm before you are completly aired out. Why not reenginer the system so when you are aired out the cross member has the same amount of clearance as it would with the bump stop. If you are concerned about your safety you also must take into consideration your scrub line. Yor scrub line is where your veh sits if the air is out of your tire. With my 2 1/2 inches of cross member clearance , if get a flat and the air goes out at the same time my front cross member will be on the ground. Not by much but it is something I think about. Hopefully if it happens on the highway i will just skid to a stop leaving a lot of sparks. in town I am always looking for man holes and rough pavement.also am usually going 25-30 MPH and a air loss/flat might wreck my front end but it wont kill me I hope. Remember the rule of 5 ,when you change something there are usually 5 other unseen things that change with it.

hey slammed,
here is a link that will show you all the poly bump stops. I bought some myself for my project. Read there discriptions, some are not recommended for control arms. Im using the 9.9102 in the front and 9.9132 in my c-notch

http://www.energysuspension.com/bsp2.html

I designed my front suspension so that it rides at a certain height when the bags are at ride height (see pic below). A kit like ART sells sets the ride height too high in my opinion. Also at ride height I have no scrub line issues and I think the odds of having an air bag/air line bust AND have a tire go flat at the same time are slim to none. I don't see how a properly installed bump stop can fail. I understand your concerns but also I'm not your typical mini-trucker whose only concern is "tuckin' 22's". Once I get some better bump stops installed I'll feel very confident in the safety of my truck. I'd show you pics of how I modified my front suspension, but you'd probably cringe ;)

http://www.jayspot.com/images/truck/.../xmember46.JPG

I used my original bump stops but took the rubber off them and shortened the height of them. Then i used a small piece of small tire sidewall and drilled 2 holes in it and drilled 2 holes in the metal bumpstop and used a tie rib thing to attach. It is nice when i slam it down not all spongey and it is quiet.

Oh ya by the way slammed67 i did the 1.5" raising of just the upper spring pocket on my front suspension like yours and it works sweet! But i had to angle the ball joints 15 degrees not sure if you did that on yours or not. I also hogged out the lower control arms and made a pocket so my bag sits even with the bottom of the control arm not the top like alot of peoples.

there is another, just as easy way to limit your crossmember from hitting the ground.
if your using factory a arms and you welded plates over the spring pockets then on the crossmember plate weld a peice of square tubing to the bottom of it with a airbag bracket on it and this will let the air bag decompress but limit its drop.also however big you make the bracket and tube you will get more lift. if you are doing yours like i am then this should solve your problem just as easy as extending bumpstops.

I'm not quite sure I understand what you are saying. Do you have any pics?

I dont have any pics. on the plate you welded, if you did, on the bottom of the spring pocket, you can weld a peice of tubing on the plate with a bracket on it and connect the top of the air bag on the tubing with the bracket istead of the plate with holes to connect it. hope this helps

Not to be a dick, but you obviously havent been around air at all besides what is on your truck.

You have the coolride kit and it lays frame for the other trucks its out for, now since these trucks have the crossmember issue, it doesnt, unless you cut the cups or run smaller tires. Air systems are design to lay flat. Read around the ART site, roadgrater kit for the s10 lays the rear on 20's, their coolride kit lays the front flat on 20's (depending tire size, but a nice tire so you're not on bands, require a little of cutting of the upper cup). Same goes for just about every other setup. Now for the hot rods or older cars, it doesnt lay b/c you have to back stuff up, most ppl dont wanna loose inner fenders, etc. So they let their wheels rest on them. Now there are some setups that wont layout without a lot of work and some that will. Air airbar for the s10 (the one that has no notches) is just made to go low, but can layout with mods. Same goes for the shockwaves, they dont lay out but they also dont have much stroke to them.

I don't care to get in the pissin contest about design. I will show y'all how my 77 is done and I have "road tested" it. The set up pictures allows my truck to go down with a little over an inch of clearence on the stock fender liners. It will still roll when aired out. I recently blew a line on a road trip and can attest to this working very well....

BTW- That was a "before" pic of my suspension. It's much more detailed now... :cool:

Its not a pissing contest. It seems everything that is disagreed on in your eyes is a pissing match. That just seems to fuel it.

Okay so you dont lay out. umm... congrats? Most air setups will lay out and are designed to. go talk to Tony, they design the Roadgrater to LAY OUT. The airbags will LAY OUT unless you have a 50" rim/tire diameter. You're just so use to fullsizes, older ones to boot, that take more work then say a newer truck. Of course there is cuttin or trimming associated with stuff, but hell, who is gonna sell you a notch in the rear and say "dont cut your bed! let it sit up 5" higher then stock!

A quote directly from AirRides FAQ's section: "Failure can happen, but it is extremely rare. We require that the vehicle have at least 2" of ground clearance when the airspring is fully deflated. This helps prevent a major problem in case of a system failure."

Their systems might be 'designed' to lay out, but not when driving down the road. Bumpstops of some sort enable you to safely negotiate a failure should one happen. Have you talked w/Tony lately?

N2TRUX:

Thanks for the pic. That is basically what I have on mine now but the rubber bumper I'm using is way too soft to support all that weight. I think all I need is a poly bumper and I'll be good to go.

Yes the only experience I have is with my present system ,so I dont have enough knowledge to get in a pissing contest. The original poster said he was interested in safety. If a system is set up so that the crossmember hits the ground when all the air is out , it is not safe while moving if you loose your air.

When you post comments like- Not to be a dick, but you obviously havent been around air at all besides what is on your truck. I pretty much consider that calling someone out. Where I'm from that's classified as a pissin contest.

I suppose that- Okay so you dont lay out. umm... congrats? is supposed to be an insult. Sorry to say buddy, but it didn't fly. My truck is where it is because it was designed that way. I had a reputable shop install my system. I set certain peremiters on what I wanted it to do. They system they designed did exactly what was asked for. If I had asked for a system that would "lay out" I would have gotten that. :cool:

The one on mine survived about 5 miles of abuse on a recent road trip. My exhaust broke and moved close enough to an air line to cause a blowout. I rode the shoulder at an idle for 4-5 miles before I found a decent place to get off the road. The only thing that got damaged was one of my rear bumpstops. The bolt that holds it on got bent a little..... :rolleyes: