Bags vs Coils: Ride quality vs price

[Longstep70]

So I'm looking at the suspension rebuild ahead of me and keep coming back to the question of Bags vs Coils. How do they compare?
Is the ride quality substantially better with bags? They are quite a lot more expensive than coils but the tuneable ride height would be nice to have.

[67Fleet]

Yes, if done right they ARE that much better. You're gonna pay a premium for them, but it will be worth it. It's relatively easy to set up these trucks for bags though, and there's multiple options for components/manufacturers so the sky's the limit as to what you want to do and how much you want to spend. Also, depending on how low you want your truck to be able to go, you may need to do extensive chassis fabrication as well.
If you decide to stay with a static suspension, there's also tons of options for you. It really depends on what you want to do with your truck and how much money you want to invest. Any way you look at it though, the 67-72 trucks are comparitively less expensive to lower than the newer trucks which makes it nice, plus there's tons of parts out there to do it with.

[Longstep70]

Thanks for the input.
I've searched a lot and read back through the suspension forum here and learned lots from previous posters. Mr Shelly's excellent FAQ on installing bags deserves a mention.
After all the reading though, I had the feeling I still wasn't sure how much of a change I was going to feel going from springs to bags. I want my truck to be a daily driver so a nice ride is important.
Is your truck bagged?

[Phatt47]

If you can get your truck to sit right - the way you like it -with springs then I would go that way. I like my truck to be in the weeds when Im at a show or slow cruising so I installed air bags to achieve the look I like. My truck rides fine with the air bags , but I also had a truck that had 3" dropped spindels and 2' lowered springs it too rode fine I just got tired of always being on the look out for things sticking up tha could cause damage. I struck a man hole cover one time I sort of bumped and slipped over it but it sure scared the hell out of me. I put 250,00 miles on that lowered truck so it can be done ,but my next one got bags and I now drive worry free.

[Longstep70]

So are you saying the ride difference is pretty slight? Do you tweak your ride height much on a daily basis or do you just keep it at a setting and then slam the truck for you shows or whatever?
When you say this: "If you can get your truck to sit right - the way you like it -with springs then I would go that way"
You kind of hit on one of the reasons I was asking about bags because I spent a long time messing around on my Camaro with different springs and blocks and so-on to get the ride height I wanted and then I ended up scraping something like you did and wishing I could raise it up a bit.

How big of an air tank and compressor are you running?

[Phatt47]

Will try to ans your ?. On tweaking; You have to establish what you want your ride height to be and have you front end allignment work done with the vehicle set at this height. You can go up or down as wanted but you cant ride around at anything except ride height or you will QUICKLY wear out your front tires. My first year I thought it was cool to ride around town with my trick below ride height. 3000 miles later I was buying a set of front tires. So after I put the new tires on I went back to the allignment guy and lowered my ride height a bit I now ride with 41/2 inches of clearence under my cross member , instead of 51/2". When coming back to ride height you do it with the pressure guage , when the guage on my truck says 85 lbs Im supposed to be at ride height. I dont know why but 85lbs does not always give me the 41/2 inches I need. So after I raise my truck , if Im going to go a long distance , I check my crossmember height with a guage I made .It has a 41/2 " piece of wood on a 4 foot long stick (I keep this behind my seat) I slide this under the crossmember and make sure i have my proper ride height. Air Ride has a gadget which will do all this for you but it is kind of pricey. I use an Air Ride ARC1550 compressor and the the two gallon tank. So far it has worked very well.I could give you some more info if you want to go further into this.

[Longstep70]

That's great info. Thank you.
I hadn't thought of the alignment and tire wear issues but what you're saying totally makes sense now I do think of it.
I should be getting into this deeper over the holidays so I might be asking for more info in the near future; if that's cool with you.

-Andy

[67Fleet]

Longstep70: My truck is static at the moment. I plan on bagging it eventually for the same reasons mentioned by Phatt47. Speedbumps especially suck. I'm happy with the stance, but I like to push buttons. I need air. Problem is....I need money.....

Phatt47: The reason you're getting different ride heights with the same pressure probably has to do with ambient air temps, barometric pressure, and other factors beyond your control. Also, what brand and type of pres gauge are you using? And do you have FB or FBSS?

[Phatt47]

I use the guages from Air Ride . Not sure what you mean by FB or FBSS. I only have bags on the front got mine before the shock wave came on the scene , I think it is probably a better choice as it eliminates the shcoks whish were a bear to get attached to the a arms and the frame. Im running an 80 Camaro clip with Fat Man narrowed tubular a arms. With all the air out my front bumper is 3" from the ground. I checked with the Air Ride rep and he said it does not hurt the bags to ride with the air out its just a little rough but does not hurt the bags.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Phatt47

....Not sure what you mean by FB or FBSS....

FB = Front/Back adjustment only
FBSS = F/B/Side/Side (4whl adjustment)

Originally Posted by Phatt47

....I dont know why but 85lbs does not always give me the 41/2 inches I need. So after I raise my truck , if Im going to go a long distance , I check my crossmember height with a guage I made .It has a 41/2 " piece of wood on a 4 foot long stick (I keep this behind my seat) I slide this under the crossmember and make sure i have my proper ride height. Air Ride has a gadget which will do all this for you but it is kind of pricey.....

That's a simple & slick idea.

[BigSky71]

Originally Posted by 67Fleet

Yes, if done right they ARE that much better.

I am just about finished with my chassis build [ART RideProE]. I chose bags to have the really low, aired out stance, but have wondered how the ride feel will be.

ART has put marketing out lately about how your bagged ride can handle too, so I am hoping for a good ride that corners comfortably too. I formerly ran a static 3/5 drop which was an ECE coils kit w/ big front sway bar. I liked the way that setup handled, so I hope my bagged setup is similiar.
Can anyone comment on their experience of ride quality of static drop vs. bagged?

[67Fleet]

If you want ride quality, I'd suggest Slam Specialties RS72 bags. They are a sleeve type bag which will also give you more lift. As a general rule, sleeve types ride more plush than convoluted type. ('stones)