1 ton 'bags

[red caddy]

I've been scullin' on the idea of air baggin' the rear of my '86 GMC narrow,134 in W/Base, dually. Airride offers a bolt on kit that looks OK, but since I do a lot of towing with this rig, it looks a little light. I would favor a watts link rather than the panhard bar setup. I want the option of a "boulevard" ride around town but not lose any of the dually stability with the 32' tag or 40' gooseneck on. ( I don't need to "lay frame" or dump it to park at the tastee-freeze, this one is never gonna be a show truck. LOL) The stock springs, with the short wheelbase, are chippin' my teeth. Another side benifit of losin' the leaf springs is that I could trim the flatbed about 18 inches shorter for a more "bobtail" look and not have to park in the far corner of the wallmart lot on a barley pop run...
Any body done this ,or seen it done? as usual, any help, silly ideas, or just snart azz coments are appreciated. let the bench racin begin... Thanks, RED

[smashingchuck]

Red-
Sweet truck and I like your way of thinking. You could build your own parallel four link, or there are several shops out there that will build you what ever you want to your specs for less than the price of a full ART "kit". Not to dis ART at all, I have one of their weld on universal kits and it's great.

So, build this four link out of some beefy bars, put some nice big shocks on it, Use some big sleeve bags over the axle, and you're set. I would run a watts link out back. For air management I would run a York engine driven and a back up electric with at least 10 gallons of air. Use digital gauges ( much easier to run wires then air lines for the gauges in the cab). Up front run upper and lower plates with 2600 pounders and you're good to roll.

[ENHANCED AIR RIDE]

What we have done and like Air Lift does is a long 2-link and panhard with the large lobe sleeve bags behind axle.

[Tony@AirRideTech]

"Light Duty" ??? Ive got our system on my 1 ton crew and it is plenty... way plenty to be able to take anything this thing as able to stock trim.

[Bob@ProAuto]

I've got Air Ride Technologies on my 93' 454 Crew cab dually, front and rear. It's my daily driver and tows an enclosed car hauling trailer, on occasion. Been on for over 2 1/2 years without a problem.

[red caddy]

Tony, do you guys make a kit specifically for the 73-87 GMC 3200? I crawled around the web site a while but couldn't find the heavy duty stuff. I'm thinkin' along the lines of a heavy 2 bar with a watts link and big donut bags behind the axel, what do you think? I'm not sure I want to mess with the front end at all, should I ? Thanks, RED.

[Senator350]

depends how much money you want to save!

you can build your own 4-link. I have a 4link calculator that i DL'd from somewhere online, so i'm sure you can find one too.

local spring shops should be able to point you to the right bags (maybe firestone) for real hauling capacity.

york compressors and SBC write ups can be found online...

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by red caddy

Tony, do you guys make a kit specifically for the 73-87 GMC 3200? I crawled around the web site a while but couldn't find the heavy duty stuff. I'm thinkin' along the lines of a heavy 2 bar with a watts link and big donut bags behind the axel, what do you think? I'm not sure I want to mess with the front end at all, should I ? Thanks, RED.

Go to AirRide Tech.com. Find your vehicle (GM C30 rear); look for p/n ABAR 11004, It will look very similar to this (same idea but the pic is for a later model). Pricy? Yes. But, ART's kits are easy to install & well engineered..... not to mention proven.

[red caddy]

OK then, nothing like a little sticker shock to get the ol' heart thumpin', The whole truck ain't worth that much.

Anybody want to help with the design of a 2 bar, rear sleeve bag, watts link setup ? I'm thinkin', start with 2 X 2 X .250 wall sq. tube, 1 in. heim ends and 5/16 plate for the spring perch/axel cage and front pivot mounts. I assume that longer is better, so the front mount points could be as far forward as the trans X member. Move one rear shock mount to make both point forward. The total suspension up travel, from stock ride height, should be around 7 or 8 inches, I think. Is this gonna be a big deal with pinion angle?

Is the parallell 4 bar setup (airbar style) a better deal ? Enough to be worth the extra fab work ? I have lots of steel, welding wire and time, I don't have 2K for the kit, so I gotta go old school (cheap), anybody Wanna help? Thanks, RED.

[ENHANCED AIR RIDE]

If your gonna do a 2-link with rear bags, Watts link is gonna be a PITA. I would just do a panhard and run it over top of the axle. Maybe run the super pivot joints instead of the heims (less noise and more durable). I would consider 2x3 or 3x3 for less flex at bag mt. and the same or similar for an upper xmember. Im just north of you in Largo off US19 and Ulmerton. Got tons of parts and could do the install if you dont feel like it. Funny im actually going to Venice to pick up a motorhome tomorrow.

[red caddy]

OK, I've been thinkin' again, (yea,I know, dangerous) A long time ago, I owned a '64 C-20 camper special. The rear suspension was coil springs and long trailing arms.

I added a Helwig sway bar and "inside the coil" air bags. (Hey, it was the '70's) Anyway, I dropped on a 14 foot, slide in, camper and a right side gas tank. I Towed my dragster trailer all over the west and never had a problem.

Fully loaded, the ride was very smooth, no sway or "buckboard" bounce. I sold the whole rig when I found a deal on a Freightliner toterhome and a stacker trailer. I've always missed that rig.

I got to wondering if that trailing arm suspention and X member could be slung under my 1 ton, with air bags in place of the coil springs or better yet, moved behind the axel? As I recall, those arms were pretty heavy duty pieces of formed channel, easily boxed for more strength if desired. Not sure if the axel tube diameter is the same or not, but that seems like a minor problem to deal with.

What do you guys think of this approach? Please point out the hard parts or drawbacks. Maybe I just need to change my med's again... Thanks, paul

P.S. When I call Enhanced Air ride, who do I ask for?

[smashingchuck]

Sounds much better than just a plain two link. Seems like a lot of members on here might just have their stock suspension to give away as well.

[RunninLo]

ok if I may so politely I'd like to insert my personal $0.02 in. My personal air ride vehicles have included my 1992 bagged and bodydropped 1 ton dually crew that was a towin sob as well as my '72 suburban and my new pig rig an 89 gmc 1 ton crew dually.
The 92 had a two link off the stock spring hanger up front. they were heavy gusseted tubular links. I also fabbed up a watt's link for it that works great. As mentioned it was/is a towing machine pulling a bumper pull two car trailer.
for my new (old) Dually I have decided that for good driveline health I will build it with a beefy parallel 4 link and a watts. probably a sturdier version of the set up in the burb.

I like the factory set-up in 2link rear trucks but there is a reason they're only on half-ton truck and they can bind the pinion angle as they travel. Usually not a major problem if you always air up to drive.

IMHO if you want to bag it the stronger more reliable set-up is going to be the parallel 4 link. A extended panhard would be suitible for your fenderless app but I found that due to tight clearences on my past dually rear fender a properly set-up watts was a must to keep from pushing on the fenders.
and for the record if you're gonna bag the rear you might as well do the front to keep things level when the air is out. I HATE the mid 90's continentals with rear air that got all draggin butt when parked for too long

Josh

[Senator350]

give me a saggy assed markVII with a 302 a n y day!

[Tony@AirRideTech]

personally I wouldnt use a 2 link at all... Dont get this confused with the GM trailing arm system. Those are two entirely different animals. If it were me, I would set it up with a four link, panhard bar and F2107 rolling lobe airsprings. That way will also not loose any load carrying capacity and get a great ride quality. I have no concerns over running a panhard bar. If you have the room to install one right, they work great with minimal lateral deflection. My dually probably shifts maybe a 1/4" through out the range of travel.

[RunninLo]

Originally Posted by Tony@AirRideTech

My dually probably shifts maybe a 1/4" through out the range of travel.

man I wish I had that much room my 92 with the BD would rub to insides of the fenders both sides when laid out. it had to stay centered there or I would've blown a fender off. I just found out I'm getting it back so I'm gonna mod the fenders for clearance for 19's. Just my opinion but I don't like the look of the 10bolt SEMI wheels on these trucks, well at least not yet.
Josh

[Tony@AirRideTech]

I dont care for it either.... it starts to look a little cartoonish

[HotRodYJ]

A simple and cheap way to get a good ride would be to ditch the upper overload springs, and most of the shorter springs. Only leave the 2 or 3 longest leafs in the packs. This would seriously lighten up the spring rate in the spring packs, then add a set of air bags to get back the load capacity and adjust your ride and height. The remaining leaf springs would locate the axle, but the bags would do most of the spring duty. A long traction bar would then be a good idea to handle axle wrap since the spring pack would no longer have that ability.

I'm concidering this route on my 94 dually. I'm not interested in lowering it at all, but the family would appreciate a better ride.