Air bag suspension parts sourcing and plubming

[Figuarus]

Hey guys, I'm sourcing parts to run airbags on the rear of my 64, and i'm having a hell of a time trying to find info on what air valves and how to plumb an airbag system.

I've been doing some reading, and most of the questions asked are what bags/kits to use, how they bags themselves are installed, and reliability concerns. I haven't really seen anyone ask how to plumb the system.

I have some airbags, i have a compressor, I have the airtank, and a guage panel (2 dual needle gauges with 4 switches for individual bag inflation/deflation).

What I still need (and am trying to figure out) is what kind of air valve i will need to control the bags individually, how many valves, and how to plumb everything so I can make it work.

At the moment, I'm only going to plumb the rear air bags, since I plan on swapping the front end suspension to something newer and will plumb airbags for the front at a later date.


So, to recap, air valves: what kind, and how many for individual airbag control?

Second, how should I plumb everything? Can someone provide a basic diagram?

[mehoff400]

to control each side individually you will need 4 valves. one for up and down on each side. plumbing should be pretty straight forward.

[Figuarus]

Originally Posted by mehoff400

to control each side individually you will need 4 valves. one for up and down on each side. plumbing should be pretty straight forward.

So, if thats the case, how would I dump air? wouldn't i need two valves per bag? one to inflate and one to deflate?

[mehoff400]

yes exactly... 2 valves per side one for up one for down

[RKO]

On my daily driver I have air bags on both front and rear I have both rear bags plumbed together and both front bags plumbed togetpher I have two air pressure regulator one for the rear and one for the front along with two gauges one for front and one for rear
Real simple set up and I can adjust the height by changing air pressure.
I don't see a need for separate controls for each bag
I haul with It and never had a problem with being level

[Figuarus]

Originally Posted by RKO

On my daily driver I have air bags on both front and rear I have both rear bags plumbed together and both front bags plumbed togetpher I have two air pressure regulator one for the rear and one for the front along with two gauges one for front and one for rear
Real simple set up and I can adjust the height by changing air pressure.
I don't see a need for separate controls for each bag
I haul with It and never had a problem with being level

The reason i want individual airbag plumbing is that I don't have to worry about air transfer between the bags during corner. It would in effect, act as a pneumatic sway bar.

If that's the case, just 2 2-way valves would work then, correct?

[RKO]

You would have to be in a hard corner for a long time for that much air to move. That's what a seat bar is for. I can take any corner as fast as any car with no problem. I just put the sway bar on and can't tell any difference
Eight valves seem a waste
I have about 600 dollars in my whole air system

[RKO]

Large trucks are plumbed this way and they go around corners all the time
On the 66 I'm building now I'm going to use load level valve so I don't have to do anything
The valves cost about 40 dollars and they have a dump system in case you want to dump all air

[Free Candy Inside]

Here's how I did mine. I ordered 3/8 SMC valves because I wanted mine to have decent speed up and down. I later slowed my dump/down valves down.

If you look, the lower valves are on a T fitting and are the dumps. The ones above it are the fills if you will. When the top valve gets voltage it opens up and pressurizes the air line including the T fitting and the dump valve. When the dump valve gets voltage it opens up allowing the air in the air bag and the line to escape. I am using 8 valves so I can control each individual wheel. 1 fill and 1 dump per wheel. If you wanted to go cheaper you could get away with only 4 where 1 valve raised both wheels and one dumps. Only issue with that is you don't have individual control. I have had leaks in the past where you just need to add air to the leaking bag. Without individual control, you add air to both only if you only need it to one.

[Free Candy Inside]

Here's another pic. I ran my compressors into water traps and then into the tank. On the top of both pics is a reducer and then my pressure switch. I have my compressors on relays and I wired mine up slightly different. I am running power all the time to the relay and then wired the negative/ground to the pressure switch. With the pressure switch being the ground it is less likely to burn up so I've read/bean told.

Hope this helps some. I'm also running a AVS switchbox. I originally made my own which worked well but the AVS 7 switch box is well worth the $85 off Amazon in my opinion.

[uppster]

Glad you asked that question. Where do you get these parts, is there a online catalog with pictures for folks that have never used bags before?

[joedoh]

Sounds like you need a pressure switch and valves and line. I always get my individual parts at gauge magazine store.

http://store.gaugemagazine.com/

you can get manual paddle valves from them, made by firestone, I ran a set of those back in the mid 90s on my toyota. they werent super fast but were super reliable. there is also a set of manuals by little larry (littlelarry.net) that come as one setup with 4 bag control. Some people dont like manuals because of running all the lines in the cab, but manuals are reliable and work great in the cold of winter.

Originally Posted by RKO

You would have to be in a hard corner for a long time for that much air to move.

as someone who has had a lot of airbagged cars trucks, this hasnt been my experience. with shared valves on the front and rear, the front was more than happy to lay over on the outboard side in a turn, even with a swaybar installed. now this wasnt even on a 60-66, so I am not saying you arent right, but all the cars and trucks I ran 2 valve systems on the front had a big problem in turns.

in the rear on some setups I have run 2 valves and it was fine, but thats still not a huge savings, running 6 valves instead of 8.

Originally Posted by Free Candy Inside

I ran my compressors into water traps and then into the tank. On the top of both pics is a reducer and then my pressure switch. I have my compressors on relays and I wired mine up slightly different. I am running power all the time to the relay and then wired the negative/ground to the pressure switch. With the pressure switch being the ground it is less likely to burn up so I've read/bean told.

both of free candys posts, this is all great advice, especially ground switch to relay, it will last a long time. he also tells you how to plumb up the electric valves if thats the way you run. remember to have airflow run in the direction of the arrow on the valve. my electric valves always behaved a little better with a little backpressure on the dump valve, so maybe figure running a simple barb fitting and some water hose on the dump outlet. with out it you might notice the valves dumping randomly.

I would run the water traps after the tank, before the tank they catch a little water but not all of it, and the goal is to keep water out of the valves. think of your home compressor system, water trap goes on the outlet, not between the tank and compressor.

[Chevy Fleetside]

http://www.67-72chevytrucks.com/vboa...er.php?u=26371 Chief might be able to help you out. send him a message and find out.

[RKO]

Question ???
What advantage is there in having each bag on a separate valve. I can see front separate from back
You have twice as many valves and if one side leaks the other side is doing all the work
Does not look safe to me
Also it seems over designed. And making things more difficult with a lot more to go wrong

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by RKO

Question ???
What advantage is there in having each bag on a separate valve. I can see front separate from back
You have twice as many valves and if one side leaks the other side is doing all the work
Does not look safe to me
Also it seems over designed. And making things more difficult with a lot more to go wrong

for air transfer in corners mostly, also for individual control. you would be surprised to learn that even having just a driver in a truck can make it sit unevenly.

[Mackie]

I bought my components from, what used to be, *****************. Now named Thorbros. I went with Slam Specialties 7" bags...rear only.

(not letting me post url)

[Free Candy Inside]

What Joedoh said is correct. I was having weird issues with my rear bags when I hit the switch they would dump longer than I wanted. I thought it as a voltage issue but it end up being a backpressure problem. I bought some 3/8 bass end caps at lowes and drilled a 1/8 hole in the center and put them on the dump valves. Problem solved.

[rcnutt]

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