Rear air shock psi. with leaf springs 71 C20

[it2castelo]

So, today I loaded my truck up with some busted up concrete and noticed it squating pretty good. Looked under it to see if anything was abnormal looking and saw that I had air shocks in the rear. News to me. I was more worried about it running good and not leaving me stranded when I bought it. So I spent most of my time and money on the engine and tranny. Does anyone know what the proper psi is or if this is an aftermarket shock addition? The truck runs great but I rarely drive the truck due to gas prices. When I do, I make it work harded than a Grand Canyon Mule. So does anyone know the psi recommendations for the loaded and unloaded weights. Is usually unloaded but when I do use it, it LOADED.
Thanks
Joe

[buckskins4ever]

air shocks are strictly aftermarket for our trucks........alot of people have swapped out the coils with bags to get a better ride and actually adjust for that heavier load. And all bags will be different as far as ideal air pressure. Do you have a single tube bag or a double convoluted bag?

[SS Tim]

He said air shocks not bags. Air shocks were a factory option on the later C10s. Plus there were aftermarket applications for most vehicles. I'd start with 25 psig and see if they even hold air. The bladders are probably shot.

[buckskins4ever]

Tim your right, I miss read and skipped right to the wrong thing. ....had a brain fart...lol

[k_n_browning]

most need 20 to 25 psi.And that is empty. after that more air more load.

[SS Tim]

Do it all the time. Finally to a point where I am not editing everything. The service manual gives a C10 10-15 psig minimum air pressure but not max. Any ideas, it has been so long since I have used air shocks and those were HyJackers on my Vega wagon. Sixteen bags of horse pellets was a pretty good load for that car.

[Stocker]

Aftermarket air shocks used to come with plastic (nylon?) air lines and for the life of me I can't remember the maximum recommended pressure, but it seems like it was around 60 psi. My '69 El Camino came with factory air shocks with steel lines. I'm pretty sure they had a maximum rating of 90 psi, and I always ran them at 100 psi. Had to make room for L70-15s on 15x10 chrome rims. Those were the days....

[cdowns]

it is pretty much just a seat of the pants adjustment method/// sometimes i aired them up to 100lbs with real heavy loads or when i wanted to look cool with lots of rake