Air Ride Install - '69 Chevrolet SWB Stepside

[texastrendz]

i have welded cups in my a arms and the monroe 33033 layed on the ground with room to spare. i am using factory locations for the shocks also. if you have a problem, take a 33033 out of the box and compress it yourself and measure it. it works, i have them on mine. good luck with build

[VA72C10]

And remember, the cup sits just above the upper level of the lower A-arm and the upper bracket will subtract 1/2" or so from your overall height. The bags are 2.8" compressed right?

[tcb-1]

you guys have done this before, so I am going to listen to you. I am going to wait until I get the bags and the plates on, then air them out. then, I'll measure. I might be getting some measurements turned around

[powell72]

Well Doug, I only have one air ride install under my belt, and it was a while ago, but I agree with Keith and VA72. I think once you get the plate, bag, and cup installed you should be okay compression wise on the shock judging from the pic.
I have no experience with 2600's on the back of a truck, think the ride will be alright?
Progress is looking good.

[tcb-1]

Chris, I think you all are right. I'm going to wait until I get everything buttoned up and then check.

to be continued......

[tcb-1]

always nice to get something new from the UPS truck....

[VA72C10]

9 switches...fun!!!

[kev2809]

same one i got but mine is a 5 button...

[tcb-1]

made a deal with a fellow board member for this switch box. traded my drop springs. thanks Matthew!!

9 swithes is more than I originally wanted, but hey, the more the merrier!

[SCOTI]

I use a piece of 3" square tubing to mock-up my fully compressed spring (air-bag) height. A block of wood would do the job too. It's quick & easy to swap back & forth when necessary.

[tcb-1]

I'd rather have a tooth pulled out with a set of pliers than to drill another 1-1/16" diameter hole through 3/4" of mild steel plate.......

just got one side of the rear air bags installed. the air line hardware required a 1-1/16" hole drilled through the c-notch and frame plate.

wow, that sucked. pics later.

[lyrikz]

AHAHA, i remember having to do that. Oh man, good times.

[lolife99]

I assume you are tired of hot metal chips falling on you also.

The front will be easier,...

[tcb-1]

call me a sissy, but I had on some nice, thick, and LONG welding gloves. my poor Dewalt drill hates me.

I feel for you Keith. you didn't have the luxury of having a bed off so you could see what you were doing!!!!

[tuddend]

I couldn't have found your thread at a better time in my life! I'm knee deep in the process of bagging my '72 short box and I am extremely anxious to see how low you can get on yours. I'm going to spend the money to get suicidedoors wishbone rear end setup and trying to get away with installing bags on my factory arms up front but there's seems to be way too many skeptics up here in ontario who don't think I can get as low as I want. I want to prove them wrong so I hope I get to see yours done before I get to my front end! My hats off to you man, keep going!

[kev2809]

oh man..i hated drilling them damn holes. no lie...i twisted my wrist twice from the drill slipping, cut my wrist because it got caught between the drill and frame (still have the scar), and damn near broke my finger when the bit snagged in the hole and the drill went spinning. but i would do it all over again

[tcb-1]

not many updates, I am just getting over a bad bout of pneumonia. don't do like me guys, go to the doctor when you start feeling bad, not when your laying in bed in a fetal position for 2 days....... but I digress.

I bought (4) 90* swivel push-to-connect fittings for the connection directly off the bags from MSC Industrial. They were a bit more expensive than what other vendors carry, but they are completely brass instead of brass and a composite material. Got a 10mL bottle of Loctite 545 as well.

The bags and bag mounts are completed and ready to install. I need to run by the local Peterbilt shop this afternoon for 50' of 3/8" DOT nylon air line.

Should be able to get the truck off the jack stands and onto the compressed bags within the next few days.

pics to come.......

[powell72]

Glad to here you're feeling better, that's as good an excuse as any to not be in the garage!

[dieselarmy13]

Originally Posted by tcb-1

not many updates, I am just getting over a bad bout of pneumonia. don't do like me guys, go to the doctor when you start feeling bad, not when your laying in bed in a fetal position for 2 days....... but I digress.

My dad did the same thing. Being self-employed with crappy health insurance, he kept putting it off until he finally collapsed. Ended up having a chunk of his lung taken out, but he is doing good now. Glad to hear you are doing better. Can't wait to see Ol Green on the ground!

[jmedero]

I hear you on the self employed thing with insurance and a high deductible.... but hey it could be worse I could be living in Toronto and pay 87% taxes right... lol. My wife is Canadian so I am allowed to make jokes.

[tcb-1]

felt a bit better today, so I was able to finalize the rear and front end bag installs.

the rear was fairly straight forward. I picked up a few 90 degree swivels and a bottle of Loctite and went to town. also found a semi-truck air brake company here in KC that stocks 3/8 DOT tubing for .45 cents a foot, so I picked up 50' and started plumbing.

this photo shows the fitting and mounting hardware. like I said in a previous post, drilling a 1-1/16" diameter hole through .75" of metal was not fun, and is as close to having a tooth pulled as you can get.......that's without anesthetic.



the mounted bag on the trailing arm. OMG Chris, I have a few spots on the frame that wasn't coated!



the rear end done, I moved to the forward end of the stern.......

I drilled a 1" diameter hole in the upper spring perch to allow for the bag's air tubing to exit. on a suggestion by lolife99 (Keith), I wrapped the air tube with a heavy wall 3/8" rubber hose where it exited the spring perch hole....... fuzzy pic of the hole:



here's the bag mounted in the upper plate and the lower drop in cup. this pic also shows the 1/2" npt to 3/8" npt reducer, and the 3/8" to 3/8" tube 90 degree swivel. yeah, I know I got a bit crazy with the loctite.......



here's the finished product. I'm going to detail this area a bit before calling it quits. but it looks good in the dark though . this shows the Monroe Gas-Matic pn#33033 shock installed, the air tube exiting through the spring perch and the bag mounting. Geez, looks like I need to replace the upper control arm grease zerk....... oh well, another day.



then it was time to drop the truck to the concrete. here's the front end aired out bags. I think I'm down 1.5" from my previous static drop. this is about where I wanted it for now. next year will bring cupped lca's, but right now I'm good........



last pic of the night. here are the late 80's GM truck center caps I picked up to mount on these 17" FJ Cruiser rims. don't know if I like the rims naked or with a bit of chrome. then again, I'm thinking I may sell these rims all together and go strick factory 6.5" wides with '54 caps...... maybe with some wide whites. God, I'm fickle.......



now come the raised bed floor project, and the air ride equipment mounting. that's for another day, my friends. I'm hitting the rack.

[Sinister]

Looking good, Doug. I like those wheels with the caps BTW.

[lolife99]

Looks good Doug.
I like the centercaps!
Will those front wheels work without the spacers?

[1958 FLEETSIDE]

I like this bag setup,nice truck

[powell72]

Looking really good, center caps too. I can't wait to see what you do on the bed floor

I'll let the bad paint job and the specs of dirt fly only since you've been sick.