How to on our inexpensive airride kit

[way2lo2]

Guys I just wanted to thank you for all the support over the last couple years.
I get alot of the same questions about our airride kit for the 63-72 C10's so I thought I would answer them here along with a how-to. Our Basic $1000 complete 4 way airride kit gets the job done but most guys will opt for some extras like 2.5" drop spindles, lowering blocks, shock relocators, etc.
What we're working on is a bone stock 65 C-10 so follow along as we transform the suspension in about 14 hours from start to finish. Here is the truck last friday when we purchased it at the Charlotte Auto fair.

[way2lo2]

for some reason the rear axle saddles were a little thin where the u bolts go through so a little repair was in order before we started the air suspension.

[way2lo2]

The rear coil springs were on bolted and a template was made to locate and drill in the bottom of the frame, the same bolt pattern that is in the top of the air bag along with a hole for the air fitting to go through . No cups or brackets are used in the rear to locate the air bag. We also welded in a small c notch, we offer bolt in versions as well. In this picture you can see we added a 2" lowering block to get the rear axle into the c notch with the bags deflated.

[way2lo2]

on the front we disassembled the front suspension enough to remove the coil springs and the factory bump stop pads/turning stops. These must go to get a decent drop. The upper and lower mounting plates are positioned on the bottom of the crossmember and the top of the lower control arm, the holes are drilled and everything is bolted together.

[way2lo2]

The first photo shows bump stop mount we removed. You can see that we added a disc brake conversion with 2.5" drop spindles to get the truck a little lower and stop better at the same time.

[way2lo2]

The tank was mounted on the rear crossmember nas we don't plan to run a spare on the truck. There is room on the sides of the frame rails incase you want to keep your spare. We also mounted the compressor on the rear passenger side to keep the noise in the cap to a minumum.

[jmedero]

Nice work borris.
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[lolife99]

Thanks for the write-up!

[oldman3]

Big difference, looks great...Jim

[jd7]

I just went to your site and could not locate this kit ...... found one for $ 1400.00

[way2lo2]

Originally Posted by jd7

I just went to your site and could not locate this kit ...... found one for $ 1400.00

It's for forum members
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[tommyd241]

Originally Posted by jd7

I just went to your site and could not locate this kit ...... found one for $ 1400.00

Link to website?

[kris6273]

Subscribing, just got mine looking to do some air ride but do not want it to lay frame. I think a kit like this would be perfect for what I am looking for.

[CHIZZLER]

great work.

[darkhorse970]

Very nice change in the trucks overall look!
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[YBNORML]

Nice work, and a good kit for a nice price.
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[broey]

Hey Borris, nice write up! Truck came out good!!

[SCOTI]

Amazing what the right stance & rolling stock choice can do for a vehicle.... Well done. This is 'Flip-It 101' @ it's core.

[way2lo2]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Amazing what the right stance & rolling stock choice can do for a vehicle.... Well done. This is 'Flip-It 101' @ it's core.

Scoti, sold it friday, 7 days from purchase in NC to sale in OH

[T Smith]

Nice write up and pictures! Great looking truck too!

What is bit thing that you used to bore the large airline holes in the frame? I drilled mine using progressively larger bits up to 1" and man did that kick my ass, those old frames are tough to drill through even with good quality bits. Laying on my back in the driveway all contorted has a lot to do with it as well.

Any benefit to using those bottom plates vs cups?

Looking forward to pics of the gauges and controls..

[way2lo2]

Originally Posted by T Smith

Nice write up and pictures! Great looking truck too!

What is bit thing that you used to bore the large airline holes in the frame? I drilled mine using progressively larger bits up to 1" and man did that kick my ass, those old frames are tough to drill through even with good quality bits. Laying on my back in the driveway all contorted has a lot to do with it as well.

Any benefit to using those bottom plates vs cups?

Looking forward to pics of the gauges and controls..

The hole saw we use is called Roto-Kut and they work great. No huge advantage to the plates other then a flat surface that doesn't move around.
I'll post controls tonight.

[way2lo2]

Originally Posted by T Smith

Nice write up and pictures! Great looking truck too!



Looking forward to pics of the gauges and controls..

our kit comes with a panel that has the paddle valves mounted and plumbed to the 2 dual needle gauges as shown in the first picture but we can also supply a paddle panel to mount the paddles remotely as we did in our truck and you can mount the gauges where ever you would like. Someone in the past had cut our dash for some sort of switches that weren't hooked up to anything so we went ahead and put the gauges there.

[N2TRUX]

BAM! Now thats what it takes to increase the resale value of a classic truck. I love it when guys comment that your hacking a classic and decreasing the value by bagging a truck. My guess is that you made a nice little profit and one very happy customer....

[way2lo2]

[QUOTE=N2TRUX;6013042]BAM! My guess is that you made a nice little profit and one very happy customer....


Absolutely!

[72BlckButy]

Thanks for taking the time to do the write up Boris. Another great ride rolling out of your shop.