Corvette IRS Air Suspension

[turbohacker]

I just recently aquired a 1985 corvette. Im going to be building a complete frame this summer with the help of my bro (he does this for a living and owns a frame jig, he works on only c4 stuff) My question is..

What do you guys think about using an air piston similar to a hydrolic ram to lower the vehicle? The ram would be mounted directly above the mount point for the mono leaf spring and would lower the truck by pulling (fighting) the leaf up. This would allow me to retain the corvette handling when the air rams inlet was open, (always open air valve so there is no resistince when driving) but when i want to lay out i can COMPRESS the air ram and PULL the truck down. When the show is over, i just release the air from the ram and the spring bring er back up to ride highth! What do ya all think?

Sorry about the pic quality...

[turbohacker]

No Ideas at all? does anyone think this would work?

[mycool72]

WOW...well since you asked for opinions ill give ya mine...the key word here is fighting. I understand what your saying and the idea behind it but you are pretty much describing an air suspension. Why not just go with bags? If you think it will not handle well then i'd have to argue that some supercars have air suspension and do obviously well around turns. IMO if you are going to be building a frame then you should just go ahead and build up a rear air system with it. If you look in the suspension part of the forum you can get some ideas and there are a couple of members that have already done air on this rear end and it looks sooooo sick! Later

[abadsvt]

In my own opinion if you really want an adjustable ride height but still maintain a good-excellent handling I would look into Air Ride Tech's dual adjustable shockwaves. That way you can adjust the compression and rebound of the shocks and dial them in to achieve excellent handling. Shockwaves have been installed on very high end builds where people with that kind of money could afford any type of suspension yet they still go with ART shockwaves. Again this is just my opinion and looking forward to seeing some pics of your build.

Josh

[sneakysnake]

Would an air "ram" be stong enough to suck the leaf spring down?You might consider a setup like this and use a bag instead of a coil over.
Not my setup by the way, I only wish.LOL

[turbohacker]

Thanks for your input guys, i will probobly just look into some shockwaves. Although they are gonna cost me 1600 bucks all around, i do agree with the obvious advatages. I just dont have that kind of money. but i do agree with you saying that they look good, id love to do a cantiliver one like abdsvt, his is *****in!

[stockish shawn]

Air bags work realy well on vehicles with sraight axles or a structure sutible to fabricate hangers on. the C4 corvette has a forged aluminum knucle that was never designed to have the wieght of a corvette let alone a pickup hung or pressed on the shock studs. The c4 corvette is an exeptional handiling suspension when you install it on more rigid frame than chevy did between 84-96. the ride hieght is adjustable with ease and the ride can be softened by narrowing the spring. Check out newman car creations to see how it can be done the right way. For you air bag guys can I suggest calling reno heon at accuair control systems, his control system and valves are miles ahead of air ride technology's systems. And be careful putting to much torque on the dana 36 rearend that came stock in the automatic corvettes. And big bro's time isn't cheep, maybe you can come sand on my 70 4x4 or mow my grass and wash cars

[texanidiot25]

Don't expect corvette handling out of the stock vette leafspring, it's not sprung to handle our truck's weight. I'd honestly run an air bag system like many other vette-backed trucks on the site so you have an adjustable system that can be tuned to both handle tight and sit low.

[stockish shawn]

C4 corvette springs are available in many differant spring rates to adjust any needs. Ive built 75 plus frames for early corvettes 55-57 chevy cars and trucks and a chevelle. A stock composite spring will hand the wieght of the truck and if the ride is to soft order a new spring

[abadsvt]

Hey Stockish, I noticed you are in Paso. Do you work for newmans car creation? I meet Paul Newman once at his shop. Very nice guy and very knowledgable. Just curious. Later

Josh

[stockish shawn]

yes for a few years, not anymore. he is one of the smartest in the industry with a resume a mile high. I didn't mean to come off araguant I just don't think air bags would work best in a grand touring setup with C4. I dont mean air bags wont work I just prefer letting GM's engineers spend the r&d money trying to figure out what the best combination of unsprung wieght and handiling charictoristics can be ubtained using a certain medium (ie bags or coilovers to a composite leaf). If an on the fly ride hieght is what is desired than bags would be the best solution. To each is own just my one sided opinion. I enjoy seeing what others have come up with and the creativity involved. You have to build what makes you happy because at the end it is only you that you should aim to please.

[vettezx-6]

I have a C4 and read some of the corvette forums from time to time. From what I have seen, alot of the guys on there replace their mono leaf sprigs with coilovers. This is especially popular with the guys who road race, so I would think that there has to be some benefit to it. Air bags have never seemed to be real popular probably because there is not really any need for adjustable ride height on a vette. On a truck I would vote air ride all the way though.

[dobajara]

I realize that this thread is old but Boyd Coddington's setup on "Cadzilla" might work if you go with coilovers. He mounted the upper coilover attachment to an "L" bracket with 3 holes. The L was mounted to the frame to pivot, an auger rod end was bolted to the top of the L and the coilover was bolted to the bottom. The electric auger motors, one each side, were used to rotate the suspension down while parked. No air, no oil. The augers were off of some type of tractor. Good luck.

[ccreddell]

Kevin at LFD did a sweet IRS swap, that may or may not be what youre looking for-(scroll down toward the bottom)

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...306237&page=17

[JELLY]

Anybody know the width of a 70's vette rearend. Got a line on a cheap one and wanted to see if it'll work in my truck. Thanks.

[independentcustoms]

Originally Posted by JELLY

Anybody know the width of a 70's vette rearend. Got a line on a cheap one and wanted to see if it'll work in my truck. Thanks.

If I remember, I'll measure the one I have in my shop in a few hours and post it tonite

[68jewel]

You may want to look into a set similar to sneakysnakes setup. I will be doing a Dana 44 rear on my 68 with shockwaves using a Porterbuilt C4 Rear Dropmember. That takes the guessing out of all the work. You may want to contact Nate and he'll give you more insight on it. His system is a direct weld-in.

[JELLY]

Thanks independent.

Looks like flatout engineering has a bolt in for my truck but i'll have to make some changes to bag it.

http://flatout-engineering.com/products.html