Straight axle air ride question

[52bombshell]

i am thinking of running a air ride system on my 52 f100. im going to convert my axle from parrellel leaf to hair pin raidius arms. with the bags on the middle of the axle under a crossmember. now will the hair pin radius arms be good for the raising and lowering of the bags. i figure the wheels will move forward and backword with the lift which doesnt worry me at all. i just want to know the hair pins will hand this and work with this type of system. good and bad opinions wanted

 

[PA41]

When my son started bagging his trucks he would just remove some of the leafs off the rear axle, and bag the axle. The leafs would hold the axle position, and provide a sort of 'limp home' option if the bags gave up.

The hairpins or 4 bar/tracking bar suspension should work too, but the bagged/leaf would work and be easier.

PA41

 

[52bombshell]

any pics of this setup??

 

[hotrod preacher]

i am thinking of running a air ride system on my 52 f100. im going to convert my axle from parrellel leaf to hair pin raidius arms. with the bags on the middle of the axle under a crossmember. now will the hair pin radius arms be good for the raising and lowering of the bags. i figure the wheels will move forward and backword with the lift which doesnt worry me at all. i just want to know the hair pins will hand this and work with this type of system. good and bad opinions wanted

if you're talking about doing the front this way, might i suggest a 4-bar set-up it will keep the front end geometry (steering) a little closer to tolerable in various states of altitude.....

 

[52bombshell]

i was thinking the same thing possibly shorter top bars then bottom bout 70 percent shorter then the bottom arms then running a panhard bar on the front as well if needed

 

[wahoo172]

I am not sure if this is frowned upon, I just reread the rules and did not see a ban on posting links to another site.... so here goes.

This guy Mike makes crossmembers that are designed for air ride, here is the link http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=159011

I bought one to use in my car, its really quality stuff I highly reccomend him and his product.

 

[BUSTEDKNUCKLE]

Maybe this will help if your ready to go the distance........

 

[3kross]

There's also a company called CEN PEN he made the orignal front air bag crossmember i'v used a few with both hairpin and four bar with no issues.

 

[atomic1]

Hey wahoo, i bought the same xmember from Mike. Am still working on the project so i don't have it mounted or anything. Do you have any pics of your setup? Did you mount to shackles that run thru wishbones? Also, was wondering where to mount shocks and what you used to mount the bones to axle?

 

[White Trash Renegade]

Man I do not like how those bags look when they are relaxed! Those Slam Bags are very stiff and shouldn't sit like that! From my experiences with air ride on minitrucks, you want the bag to be as flat as possible all the way through it's travel. Just my .02. You really don't want bags to twist like that, eventually they will tear.