StrongArms? Cool Ride?

[Riveted1]

So I saw the thread by Shifty about the good price on StrongArms. Got me thinking that I could probably afford them. So now I have a couple of questions...

A) If I'm doing just a "regular" bag setup on the front of my '67, ie no crossmember drop or dropmember, will I need (or want) the extra camber adjustment that the StrongArms provide?

B) If I do go the StrongArm direction, I noticed that it is only $200 more for the full Cool Ride setup for my truck. The Cool Ride setup comes with shocks, a relocated shock mount, bags, and bag mounts. That would be cheaper than buying the StrongArms and piecing the rest of the front setup together. Is there any reason not to go with the full Cool Ride kit??

[lowrollin70gmc]

I'll take a whack at A)

A cross member drop and/or dropmember don't really factor into the camber correction here, as they move the entire suspension up into the frame rails, regardless of where the a-arms are. I just completed a 2" cross member drop with stock arms, but the tubular arms would be nice.

If your regular bag setup is to get the front cross member on the ground, you could use improved camber, but it is not absolutely necessary to get the cross member on the ground. I found that the stock arms don't give great amounts of negative camber when aired out (compared to some late model trucks), and that's not where I plan to drive, so I believe stock arms can suffice.

Just my 1.5 cents, and I believe there are a few threads discussing the arms further (and more technically), I just don't remember their location at the moment, but if you search you should be able to find them.

[BigTex]

Riveted1 - I'm right there with you. Its almost a no-brainer to go for the coolride add-on at only +$200. I've been researching the same thing and had the same questions you just asked, but thought of a couple more:

Are there bags available that would ride better, perform better, last longer, etc... than the bags that are in the strongarm kit with coolride? (that are reasonably priced)

How much suspension travel does the strongarm / coolride bags setup provide? Would other bags offer better range of travel with the strong arms.

[Riveted1]

Lowrollin,
Yes, you are correct about the crossmember drop/Dropmember. I posted that thread kind of quickly... I just want to put the crossmember on the ground (or so.) So what you are saying is that it's not necessary, but would be nice to have the extra camber adjustment. But I guess the question is, is it worth >$700 for a weekend cruiser?

BigTex,
Out of all of the posts I've read, most ppl say to go with the Slam Specialties RE7 bags. They say they don't have problems "ballooning" and they come with an internal bump stop. IIRC, the Cool Ride kit uses Firestone bags. But I would suspect that ART has their s**t together, and don't know if this is enough reason to spend the extra money for the SS bags/KP brackets/shocks, etc.

If I don't go w/the StrongArms at all, I will probably just go with the SS bags, brackets, etc from KP.

[BigTex]

That brings up one other thought I had with the "complete" cool ride kit: shocks -are these any good? Looking at airrides site, they offer adjustable valved shocks as options for the coolride kit. You cant get those from stylin trucks site.

[jlaird]

the short version:

A: NO

B: YES

The standard shocks that come with the kit will be monroe's. They are good shocks for bagged suspensions. You probably would not notice a difference between the firestone bags that come with the kit vs. the more popular Slam Specialty bags. If you have the dough, GO FOR IT!

[SCOTI]

Apparently Firestone bags also have the internal bumpstops which is why their minimum height is listed @ 3".