Home-grown Air Ride Set-ups

[Alvin]

I know this has been done thousands of times, but I really need to know my options at this point. Just this afternoon I had my truck laying out in my driveway without any springs in it, just the way I like it to sit.

What I was hoping to find out was if there is a cheaper way to get Air Ride on my truck than going the $925 route provided by AirRide Tech. I'm not looking to lay frame, or rocker, or anything for that matter, I just want the truck to sit low, and ride low and on air (bumpstops are kinda hard).

So if I could get some prices for systems you guys have pieced together I would appreciate it. I'm pretty limited on fabrication ability, but any ideas are welcome. Thanks in advance.

[67shortie]

Sorry I can't help with your question Alvin, just noticed you have about the same amount of 'stuff' in the back of your bed than I do in mine
Ain't projects fun, and it seems to be when the truck is torn down for something, all sorts of stuff seems to end up back there :p

[dmurphy68]

Alvin if you want to piece togather a set you will spend about the same for the set from airride. the set they have for a grand is very good and worth the money. If you want to do it the piece togather route than look in the local paper and talk to friends. get you some 2600# bags and then you can get you compressior. you need a tank and valves all your line and gages. I pieced mine togather back about 8 yrs ago and had well over $1500 in it but the kits have come a long way. Just rember you get what you pay for

later
Darren

[68C15]

realistically you have 2 options. either "fabricate til you puke" or spend some cash. the kit from ART is very good. they have done all the engineering for us. minor fabing needed. from what I hear they have good instruction on where to cut etc.. right now I have 2600# bags in place of rear springs. I bought the kit out of a catalog 4 years ago for a '80 3/4 ton. came with comp., lines, valves & gage. cost $800. was just a helper type set-up. in otherwords, the kit from ART for $1000 is a very good deal. the parts sold by themselve comes to more than that.
BTW with bags in back I can lay frame on top of axle tube.

[FRENCHBLUE72]

You may want to spend some time on the 73-87 board as they seem to have a lot of air ride stuff for sale pretty often...

[67chevemall]

The cheapest way is to use the gas station's air compressor!
Put the valve in the cab so u can go down and pull into the gas bar to go up!
4 bags and some line!
Cheers

Glug Glug Glug

[Slammed67]

What I was hoping to find out was if there is a cheaper way to get Air Ride on my truck than going the $925 route provided by AirRide Tech.

$925 at ART is only going to get you bags, brackets, and shocks. You'll still need an air compressor, tank(s), switches, vavles, gauges, and air line/fittings. To get a nice complete system from ART, you're probably looking at around $2000, possibly a little less than that.

I recently added up the cost of my current air ride system and compared that to a comparable system sold by ART. My cost was about $1500 compared to ART's cost of about $2600. Keep in mind however that I spent many hours putting my system together and have reworked the system a couple time to get it how I want it. So if time is money, the cost is probably about the same I just like doing things myself. Plus I couldn't justify paying $50 for 40 feet of 3/8" air line at ART when I can get 50 feet for $27 elsewhere. Or paying $75 for a 3-gallon air tank at ART when I can get the same exact tank (minus the ART logo) for $37. You're not only paying for a complete engineered kit but also customer service and the ART name. If a component of my system breaks I have to deal with it myself whereas ART would most likely take care of the situation if you bought one of their kits.

Just my $0.02.

[Alvin]

Thanks for all the comments guys. I've definitely got some thinking to do.