stepside airbag setups

[love it loud]

Anyone out there have any pictures of, or even own, a 73-87 stepside on air bags? The reason I am asking is because I have a wood bed in my stepside and the last thing I'd want to do is cut a big hole in the floor for the suspension and pumpkin to poke through. Any ideas how low you can go before the diff contacts the bottom of the bed? Planning on going with a 4-link and also wondering where to mount the bags/shocks seeing as the majority of installations seem to mount the bags on step notches over the axle, but I would hate to hack up a beautiful wood bed for a step notch. Thanks for any info.

[N2TRUX]

I can't help with step side pics but I can show you my fleetside. My 77 Cheyenne is "almost" as low as you can go without cutting the bed. I say almost because I could probably get another inch front and back but I want it to roll when aired out. If you took all the stops out it would go down a bit more.

[Low84]

n2trux, do you have pics of the rear setup?

[bodydropped]

raise the bed floor or do a metal false floor with wood on top of it and my truck sits a little lower the n2truxs but im not runnin 20s but mine is 2 linked with the rear end on the frame and i have to notch the bed for the center chunk to miss it

[love it loud]

N2TRUX, that's perfect!!! After hundreds of hours into the frame and suspension, the last thing I want is for anything to scrape the ground, especially if something were to happen at highway speed.. so I want a minimum 1/2-1" clearance when completely aired out in case the worst should happen.. now, i was planning on going with airlift 2b7 front bags and airlift 2b6's in the rear.. but I read somewhere else that people have had problems with these? Any recommendations? I want the bags to inflate/deflate quickly, but also have good control to get them set at the right height, so I was thinking 3/8" line and valves.

[r0lf-]

I run 1/2" line and 3/8" valves. Its pretty fast, but pretty easy to control once you get the hang of it. Man im so tempted to throw in an AOL setup on mine for the time being, but im gonna wait and do a leverage 4 link setup and do it right the first time.

[love it loud]

Originally Posted by r0lf-

I run 1/2" line and 3/8" valves. Its pretty fast, but pretty easy to control once you get the hang of it. Man im so tempted to throw in an AOL setup on mine for the time being, but im gonna wait and do a leverage 4 link setup and do it right the first time.

Why waste the money on 1/2" line and the required reducers to mount it to 3/8" valves? Air only flows as fast as the smallest opening, plus the smaller the line, the easier it is to route it and stuff.. Maybe there's a reason for it, but I can't see one from a price or fluid mechanics point of view..

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by Low84

n2trux, do you have pics of the rear setup?

Yes if you follow the link in my sig above you can see more. I wanted my set up to be as simple as possible. Here is what we did....

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by love it loud

.....the last thing I want is for anything to scrape the ground, especially if something were to happen at highway speed.. so I want a minimum 1/2-1" clearance when completely aired out in case the worst should happen......

Trust me, it can happen. My exhaust p[ipe pulled loose from the catalytic converter and the hot air from the exhaust got one of my lines hot enough for it to blow. I drove on the shoulder of the road for 5 miles at an idle to get to a safe place to sit and wait for the wrecker to show up. It may not look as cool as trucks that are laying rocker when aired out, but I won't be stranded by the road if the system blows either.

.... i was planning on going with airlift 2b7 front bags and airlift 2b6's in the rear.. but I read somewhere else that people have had problems with these? Any recommendations? I want the bags to inflate/deflate quickly, but also have good control to get them set at the right height, so I was thinking 3/8" line and valves.

I can't give an honest answer on the 2b7's or 2b6's since I have no experience with them. As you can see I'm running Firestone bags since thats all that Air Ride Technologies sells. With the Air Ride "Big Red" 3/8" valves my system is as fast as I would ever want. It dumps from ride height to aired out in about 2 seconds. I takes a quick finger, but I can control it enough to fine tune the ride. Anything bigger is fine for clowning, but is more than most people need.

[Low84]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

Yes if you follow the link in my sig above you can see more. I wanted my set up to be as simple as possible. Here is what we did....

Thanx alot!

[bodydropped]

Originally Posted by love it loud

Why waste the money on 1/2" line and the required reducers to mount it to 3/8" valves? Air only flows as fast as the smallest opening, plus the smaller the line, the easier it is to route it and stuff.. Maybe there's a reason for it, but I can't see one from a price or fluid mechanics point of view..

3/8s r slow and 1/2s are alot faster than them but i seen ppl run 1inch hydralic line for the air lines and it was quick to lift and lower

[bodydropped]

also u can by drag blocks made out of plastic to keep u from fully layin out because theres a guy here set up for a 20/20 combo but runnin 18/20 so he uses them to stop him from fully layin out

[r0lf-]

Originally Posted by love it loud

Why waste the money on 1/2" line and the required reducers to mount it to 3/8" valves? Air only flows as fast as the smallest opening, plus the smaller the line, the easier it is to route it and stuff.. Maybe there's a reason for it, but I can't see one from a price or fluid mechanics point of view..

Since the ID of a 3/8's line is not 3/8's. The OD is. So a 1/2" line would have a closer ID to 3/8's then the actual 3/8's line would. It matches up quite well. It all ends up being the same size corridor for the air in the end.

[love it loud]

Originally Posted by r0lf-

Since the ID of a 3/8's line is not 3/8's. The OD is. So a 1/2" line would have a closer ID to 3/8's then the actual 3/8's line would. It matches up quite well. It all ends up being the same size corridor for the air in the end.

Thank you VERY much r0lf-, I appreciate the explanation. That makes much more sense now, I did not know line was measured OD and valves were measured ID. Why can't there just be a happy measuring standard for plumbing!?!?!?! lol