rear air bag set-up on trailing arms

[68 short step]

after reading a gazillan posts on here that have to do with mounting the rear airbag to the trailing arm..i thought you get a 4" bolt and bolt it up, cant be any easier, right....
as seen here
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=129463
but when i called suiceided doors today to order some stuff, the guy asked how am i gonna mount them to the trailing arm... i asked dont they just bolt up through the existing hole with one bolt?? he said no, id have to fab a bracket.. uhhhhhh, am i missing something or is he not familur with these style trucks?

[jlaird]

SD is great, but they are most familiar with mini trucks, specifically S10. I don't think the guy knew what he was talking about.

[68 short step]

well thats kinda what i was thinking... and when i got to thinking i came up with a few questions..1 of which is
-do diffrent manufactures of airbags make diffrent mounting styles?

[pissonNOS]

yes they do

[gringoloco]

Slam Specialties will take a 3/8-16 4" long bolt. Some other manufacturers use studs. In that case, you would have to have something to adapt them.

[SCOTI]

1 bolt through the bottom of the trailing arm & 2 possible choices for the top of the bag: a) 2 bolts through the bottom frame rail + a larger hole for the air fitting; or b) fabricate a 'hat' that bolts to the bag & weld a single stud in the center of the hat to use the original upper bolt hole.

Choice 'B' is easier because you can fab the bracket on a table & it bolts right in. The alternative is drilling that larger hole for the air fitting (easy enough if you can flip the frame; a mf-r if you get to lie on your back to do the job).

[gringoloco]

Cutting the hole is not that bad. I just did them on my pickup. You just need a good metal hole saw and tough skin- watch out for the hot shards of metal flying everywhere

[shifty]

Hey Don, I was yacking with Nate @ Porterbuild a few days ago and he mentioned that he was going to look into making a lower shim like the one you see in the post you linked up above. I was interested in the same deal.

I mocked mine up to the truck with a body washer last week and meant to come in here and ask you other guys what you're using yourselves. So - what are you guys using?

[Ackattack]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

The alternative is drilling that larger hole for the air fitting (easy enough if you can flip the frame; a mf-r if you get to lie on your back to do the job).

yeah...drilling a hole that big with a regular drill bit while laying on your back is a pain

[pissonNOS]

Originally Posted by shifty

Hey Don, I was yacking with Nate @ Porterbuild a few days ago and he mentioned that he was going to look into making a lower shim like the one you see in the post you linked up above. I was interested in the same deal.

I mocked mine up to the truck with a body washer last week and meant to come in here and ask you other guys what you're using yourselves. So - what are you guys using?

couldnt u guys use a hardened washer like i did took a bit of looking but i did manage to find 2 of them

[shifty]

The only things I could really find were this:

http://www.fastenal.com/web/products...ex?sku=0348919

And this:

http://www.fastenal.com/web/products...ex?sku=0348929

The latter of those two is 2"x2", which would be great - but it's for a 1/2" bolt, not 3/8".

The first one is for around 1-1/2", which is suitable also.

I just personally like the look of the machined piece that ARTapparently hands out w/their kits.

[leftcoast66]

I just went to the local bolt and screw place and got a couple of hardened ones. Also I know firestones are the 4 inch long bolt through the bottom the mount them as well. Not sure on the pitch and if its the same as the slam specialties but figured I would post that up incase anyone is using em.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by pissonNOS

couldnt u guys use a hardened washer like i did took a bit of looking but i did manage to find 2 of them

Or go to your local HD/Lowes place & get a piece of 2" x .250" thick steel. Cut of a couple of pieces 2x2, drill the appropriate 3/8" hole in the center, & have some metal left over for making misc brackets/tabs @ a later time.

[shifty]

Good call, Scoti.

I actually already have appropriate stock at the house for this, and a bi-metal hole saw kit I just bought the other day to drill my upper bag mount holes. I hadn't even thought of making my own (duh, I feel like Wil. E. Coyote here...)

[68 short step]

well called SD again today to verify what i was told yesterday.. and the guy i spoke to today told me "yelp they bolt right up with one bolt"... as for the washer, if i cant find one, ill just make it myself, like scoti said ..

[Shane]

Here's another question for you guys ... what would one be willing to pay for a machined washer as shown in Mr. Shelley's pics? I can arrange to have some made, but it would be a situation where all costs were covered. NOT trying to make any money, just asking so I have a baseline to judge whether or not to pursue further.

Let me know by replying here.

[shifty]

If you were to sell an entire hardware kit for, say, my SS RE7-200 bags, including that CNC/machined washer, its respective split washer and 4" long bolt, the two rear upper bag bolts (+split washers?) along with the front upper and lower bolts, I would pay $25 for that + the $5 shipping it would cost.

My logic behind this price is, you're saving me trips to the store, you're saving me hunting online, you're saving me 30 minutes of work time in the garage to fab my own, and you're supplying all the parts I need to bag my truck.

I don't want to hunt out the parts, and I personally like the billet piece I see in that writeup more than I would like the look of a steel piece I fabbed that has potential to rust.

Just my 2¢.

FYI - the diameter on that piece is approximately 2.75" round (I measured 2 weeks ago), 3/8" hole (or whatever you use to fit a 3/8-24 bolt) in the dead center, looks like a beveled outer edge, and it is approximately 1/4" thick.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by shifty

I don't want to hunt out the parts, and I personally like the billet piece I see in that writeup more than I would like the look of a steel piece I fabbed that has potential to rust.

I'm confident the "steel piece" won't rust any faster than the trailing arm it's connected to .

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by Shane

Let me know by replying here.

$10/pair or somewhere close...

[shifty]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

I'm confident the "steel piece" won't rust any faster than the trailing arm it's connected to .

Frame and arms will be powdercoated. Washer probably will not be, unless I can get a freebie out of the shop.

PS - I agree with gringoloco on the standalone price. My $25 was just figuring in the other hardware required.

If there's one thing I've noticed, it's that people will pay a reasonable amount extra if they can buy everything in one place. I personally greatly dislike anything that comes without hardware, and has no quick and easy place to find it. Nothing is worse than hitting several hardware stores trying to find the right parts - this is what happened to me when Brothers sent me radiator core support bolts last year - one of the carriage bolts came with the middle two threads mangled (how'd that pass QC?) and it couldn't be repaired using files, and it prevented me from bolting up my core support. I went to every hardware store in town and ended up having to special order it from a warehouse in TX because it was odd-sized.

Point being: Shopping around for hardware might seem like a menial task for some, but others have a pain with it, and buying a 'hardware kit' to solve all mounting problems is invaluable to some of us.

[68 short step]

10$ for the rear kit and 10$ for the front kit... for a total of about 25$ shipped...if you go more then that $, better plan on haveing " FOOSE" or "SNAP-ON" engraved on it somewhere...

[Shane]

front kit? what front kit?

So the consensus is $10 for a pair of STEEL (which will rust) 2.750" diameter washer .250" thick with a .375" thru hole is fair.

Give me a day or two and I'll let you guys know if it's feasible to produce on short run status. The reason I say that is because the more parts that are run at once the less they are.

As far as hardware, I'm not familiar with Slam Specialty bags so I wouldn't know what to supply. You guys tell me what you need and I can price it as a Grade 8 and combine it with the machined washer.

Stay tuned.

[68 short step]

will do... front kit, i was talkin bout was like shifty said....kinda a off topic ?, but ive read conflicting opions on airlift air bags more specifically Airlift Dominator D2500... how are these bags?

[gringoloco]

[quote=shifty;2626533...Nothing is worse than hitting several hardware stores trying to find the right parts...[/QUOTE]
W3rd. Anyone need any socket head M12/1.75 bolts, 40mm, 12.9 grade? I have 16 extra from a project that needed 4...

Originally Posted by Shane

So the consensus is $10 for a pair of STEEL (which will rust) 2.750" diameter washer .250" thick with a .375" thru hole is fair.

Steel rusts? I'm out. J/K I'll take a pair as soon as they're ready. How 'bout aluminum? 5/16 or 3/8 thick? They would be much easier on your tools...

Originally Posted by Shane

As far as hardware, I'm not familiar with Slam Specialty bags so I wouldn't know what to supply. You guys tell me what you need and I can price it as a Grade 8 and combine it with the machined washer.

They accept 3/8-16 hardware- problem is, depending on your application, the length will vary- i.e. a bolt in c-notch will require a .25" longer bolt up top. That should be the only real variable.

Slams call for 5/8"-7/8" thread insertion, so add that to the thickness of whatever it's being bolted to(likely 1/4"), plus the thickness of the flat/lock washers and you have your shaft length.

So, for the front, you will need:

3/8-16 x 1.25" - 6ea
3/8 flat washers - 6ea
3/8 lock washers - 6ea

Rear will consist of:

3/8-16 x 4" - 2ea
3/8-16 x 1.75 - 4ea (no notch) OR
3/8-16 x 2" - 4ea (with notch)
3/8 flat washers - 4ea
3/8 lock washers - 6ea
.25" thick machined washers - 2ea

FWIW- all of this (except the machined washers) can be had at Lowe's 7 days a week.

[Shane]

Aluminum or steel is ok with me ... you guys tell me the dimensions and the material and I will work on getting it machined for ya. There may be a price difference in the material, but I will let you guys know before hand.

P.s. I agree with Gringo, Grade 8 fasteners can be had at any Lowe's, Home Depot or Tractor Supply and would be much easier for you to buy what ya want and need locally versus me trying to guess.