Check out this suspension

[N2TRUX]

Is it reliable? If the bags arent rubbing then yes, it probably is. Is it something I would recommend? No, not at all. I'm not sure why its clipped with a car crossmember, but thats not even relevant. The whole system just looks cobbled together.

[blime81]

Originally Posted by richards72chevy

Attachment 812509Im not trying to bash his set up.I was just curious to see if you guys thought this was reliable.

Does it look reliable? It looks like its already bent! That ball joint is not SUPPOSED to be pointed that way.

It's not about bashing somebody. It's about safety, if one of those bags fails on the freeway at speed it may not be the guy that cobbled that mess together that will die.

I'm not an engineer by any means but there are reasons why people bag trucks in similar fashions on this board and it isn't because a vendor here sold them something.

Now I'm sure someone will post how they have riding like that for X number of years, 10s of thousands of miles and everything else. Good on ya, when the wheels fall off I hope I'm not around...

[scotts62]

Originally Posted by blime81

Does it look reliable? It looks like its already bent! That ball joint is not SUPPOSED to be pointed that way.

It's not about bashing somebody. It's about safety, if one of those bags fails on the freeway at speed it may not be the guy that cobbled that mess together that will die.

I'm not an engineer by any means but there are reasons why people bag trucks in similar fashions on this board and it isn't because a vendor here sold them something.

Now I'm sure someone will post how they have riding like that for X number of years, 10s of thousands of miles and everything else. Good on ya, when the wheels fall off I hope I'm not around...

When they are laid out like that the ball joints do look to be aimed that way and they all do because the air suspension changes the geometry as its laid out. Now the bag setup i wouldnt go with but if it works for X number of years and functional then more power to them. Looks like they have beefed up the arm. If all i had to worry about on the road was a gobbled weld then i could live with that.

[OJ1988]

The balljoints are not angled that way because it is 'laid out' Look at the a arm. There is a sharp bend in the a arm at the ball joint part.

Negitive comments? Yes. But they are a little different than, "those rims suck" that paint is ugly" Those negitive comments are viewed as criticism that is not constructive.

But negitive comments like "that is unsafe" those plates are not strong enough to hold your suspension together" Are useful comments that are there to help others avoid the mistakes of a poorly designed or build suspension, that WHEN fails can lead to serious damage to the vehicle, driver, passenger, and bystanders.

ITs not always sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes someone does something wrong, and someone needs to let them know it is not safe, or even up to the task at hand.

[OJ1988]

Originally Posted by JNJchev77

And... It looks like they're running a big block

And nitrous to boot!

[scotts62]

Angled worse than his, all stock '74 with drop spindles

[blime81]

Originally Posted by scotts62

When they are laid out like that the ball joints do look to be aimed that way....

I just looked at mine layed out and maybe it's the angle of the shot but it still looks wrong to me. Perhaps it is at a safe angle, however as mentioned the stock upper arm wasn't designed to take a load on top of it. Perhaps he has beefed it up, but I don't see it.

I guess my concern is that people see pics like this on the net and start cobbling poo together with no solid design behind it. I see no valid reason (i.e. more lift, better ride, lower ride height, lower cost, etc) to bag a truck like this and I stand by my statement that it looks to be unsafe and poorly engineered.

When these things catastrophically fail people begin to make assumptions like:
Airbag suspension is unsafe. No matter that it is .01% that is the problem.

We all know that assumptions only lead to more laws, harassment from law enforcement and so on. One only need to look at firearms laws and lifted truck laws to see where I am going with this.

In the same manner that we tell someone how nice their ride looks or what great welds they have, we also should not hold back from saying when something is wrong, unsafe or should not be duplicated.

After all how many threads pop up here with "Show me pics of your bag setup so I can get ideas to weld up my own?"

Sorry for the rant and I'm not banging on you Scott I just respectfully disagree with your "more power to them" comment. The last thing either of those trucks needs is more power....

[blime81]

I don't mean the steep angle from the ground like that 74 shows. That looks fine to me.

I added a line to show where my concern lies. Perhaps it's the angle of the shot but it looks bent upwards from the downward pressure on the upper arm and is exactly where I would expect it to fail.

[OJ1988]

Originally Posted by blime81

I don't mean the steep angle from the ground like that 74 shows. That looks fine to me.

I added a line to show where my concern lies. Perhaps it's the angle of the shot but it looks bent upwards from the downward pressure on the upper arm and is exactly where I would expect it to fail.

Attachment 823932

Exactly. It's not the angle of the arm we are talking about. Look at that first pic of the front. The a Arm is clearly bent at the Ball joint.

[Dunenutt]

Seeing things like this makes me glad they inspect airplanes!

[smbrouss70]

That's the way they are stamped from the factory. Although I will agree that it is not designed to hold the weight of the vehicle.

[OJ1988]

I still see that a arm is bent beyond stock in the first pic. Bent at the a arm more than the factory shape.
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[chevyrestoguy]

I've got a bigger issue with the upper bag mount. It looks like it's maybe 3/8" plate, welded only on one end at the forward cage bar, which is clearly kinked as you can see in the picture (look at the tube right where the spark plug boot is). At ride height, with all the weight of the front suspension and big block, it's trying to tear that upper mount off of that forward cage bar with the up/down motion of the suspension. Also, it looks like the bag is making contact with the balljoint, which will definately rub a hole in it over time. Hopefully, it'll finally fail when it's parked, and not at 70 mph down the freeway.

The upper control arm may have been pie-cut to flatten out the surface where the bag is mounted. It may not be bent. If it IS bent from the suspension geometry, then it sould have a gnarly crack at the apex of the bend. Control arms, as shown in smbrouss70's picture, have stamped shapes to eliminate the possibility of bending. They are actually quite strong, as long as the combination of the spring and shock have done their job in cushioning the forces that the suspension sees everyday.

Out of respect, I hate to critique other people's work in a public forum, but someone needs to politely pull that guy aside and give him a very respectful lesson in physics.