need help airing up

[jott_06]

I just bought a 1997 sonoma with full air ride suspension. It has air ride technologies lower control arms, bags, and bag brackets in the front. and a mono leaf setup with airlift 2600 bags and a monster c-notch in the rear. It has all 1/2 inch valves and 3/8 line. The problem i'm having is that i can pump the rear all of the way up with about 60 psi in the tank but it takes around 140 to get the front clear up. If you try to pop the front up with anything less you can only get it a few inches off the ground. What can i do to speed up the front of my air ride. It also takes my viar 450c compressor close to five minutes to fill the 5 gallon tank with enough psi to lift the front

[bagged69c10]

It definately shouldn't take the compressor that long. You either have leaks or its just wore out. As far as the front goes thats about right. Theres probably only about 60 psi actually going to the bag if theres 140 in the tank. Nice lookin truck.

[jott_06]

ok cool. the compressor probably doesnt take 5 minutes but its at least 3. I kinda get tired of sitting there waiting for it.

[Painter D]

2600 lbs. bags in the back. What size bags are in the front?

[Slmd92DIME]

take your air filter off of your compressor and put your finger over that hole. If your finger feels like it is holding pressure when you take it off then you comp. is wore out and it letting air backfeed through it. If you dont understand just try it and you will know what i mean.

[smashingchuck]

sounds like you want an engine driven compressor. And sounds like you need a four link

[jott_06]

Well i got a bolt on triangulated four link with the truck but i'm going to wait till next summer to put it on. Plus the rear doesnt have a problem airing up at all. just the front. And i'm not sure what bags are in the front. The guy said the front of the truck was done when he got it and he just did the rear not to long ago so he didnt know what bags they are up front.

[jott_06]

also does anyone know if the air ride tech. lower control arms take a special ball joint or can i just go to the parts store and get regular s-10 ball joints? One of my ball joint boots has a rip in it

[Tony@AirRideTech]

Are you saying that it takes 140PSI front pressure to get the truck up? If it is.... something is definitely wrong.....

[jott_06]

i can get the front up with less than 140 but to get it all of the way up it takes 140 psi in the tank. I need at least 90-100 psi to get the front up high enough so i can drive it. It doesnt make sense to me because the rear will air up with about 60-80 psi but what do i know.

[Painter D]

I had a bagged s-10 at one time, and it had 2600 lbs. bags up front. If I remember correctly it didn't take 140 psi to get the front up, I think it only took about 75 psi. It was 10 years ago so I can't remember that well. Either way since you don't know what bags are up front, if you have the 2500 lbs bags up front I do remember it took quite a bit more psi with the smaller bags. That may be you're issue.

[camaro__thunder]

It is the size of the bags. Most people put 2500's in the front of a S10 I always go with trimming the fron more and install 2600's so it doesnt take as much pressure to lift. The rear is getting better lift because of the 2600's and the lift ratio of your rear suspension.

[RunninLo]

The major benefit of the 450C was it's duty cycle. It actually pushed a lower CFM of air than most of the viair line but was 100% duty cycle meaning you could run it non-stop. the majority of the viair line was 33% duty cycle so while you filled faster you still had to wait the cool-off period between cycles.

On one of my rides we did a viair 450c with a 7 gal. tank. From dead empty to 145 psi takes a little over seven minutes. I run a 120 on 145 off switch and that cycle seems to be about a min and a half maybe two. I haven't put a stop watch on it. That set-up has been in place since 2001 and it still has the original compressor. I have heard stories of people burning up their viairs but I think it was mostly the old 300,400 with the low duty cycle and people not letting them cool. If you're going to be switch happy and run that compressor get the 100% duty cylce. long term benefits outweigh a lil bump in CFM.

One last opinion and I'll go away get a link set-up of some variety in the rear. Mono leafs are cheap and quite a few people do them but there are two major problems with that set-up. First problem is with just the mono leaf is called axle wrap. as you put power to the wheels the axle wants to twist the other way. with only a single leaf there isn't enough strength and it will actually wrap around the axle tube. Think spaghetti rolled on a fork. it can be a traction killer and all that twisting will eventually break the spring. even if your S-10 is a 4banger it will still have the power to twist the spring.
last problem is your airbag is actually supposed to be taking the place of the spring. They're often refered to as airsprings. The reason your mono leaf will allow your truck to drop is because it is drastically overloaded. leaf springs are not made to cycle several inches and are hastening their life very quickly by doing so. Think of a piece of 20 guage steel that you fold in half and then bend back and forth. Eventually the bend will become work hardened and brittle, eventually breaking. A simple switch to a link set-up will allow the air spring to function normally, eliminate axle wrap, and look cooler too.

Josh

I agree it sounds like you may have 2500lbs bags up front and it may be worth it to make the switch. Don't forget to trim/gusset upper pocket. even my old dually with a 454 only took 110 psi to get up.

[Painter D]

That's what I thought too.

[protrash64]

I just got done with my truck, a 64 Suburban. I used dual 400c's. They fill the tank very quickly....2minutes roughly. At 150 psi full pressure my 'burb JUMPS up from being aired out. I have 3/8's valves and 1/2" line. Maybe you have 1/4" line to the front....1/4" sytems are very slow, but the control is nice.

Something to check anyway.

[Frizzle Fry]

My BBC Burb/Tahoe will probably hop the front off the ground with 1/2" valves and line if I tried (never wanted to). Even with the lines necked down to 3/8" it's still too fast for me. I'm going with 1/4" hardline next. So, as others have said, you must have something else going on there. Maybe small bags?

[ZZ4Blazer]

Having 1/2" valves and 3/8" line also isnt very optimized. To take full advantage of 1/2" valves, you would need 5/8" lines/fittings. (since 5/8" line will have an ID of 1/2)

[jott_06]

Thanks for all the info guys. I think i do have small bags up front because there hasnt been any cutting done on the front spring pockets as far as i can see...
RunninLo...I got a bolt on triangulated 4-link with the truck that i plan to install this winter. so hopefully that will help the rear out some

[RunninLo]

Originally Posted by jott_06

RunninLo...I got a bolt on triangulated 4-link with the truck that i plan to install this winter. so hopefully that will help the rear out some

Good deal. It'll be a simple fix to upgrade the front while slipping the 4 link in. I think you'll be extremely happy with the improvements. Good luck and I'd be doing the board an injustice if I didn't suggest a few pics while you're getting it done

Josh