Thread: Air Suspension Setup

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This winter I am going to put an air suspension in my Studebaker. I have figured out the air bag part of it but need to do some research on how to plumb the controls. Right now am pretty well set on using the Dakota Digital pressure set up. What I need to know more about is the valves, sizing, what to consider when I'm plumbing and wiring such as should I put the valves close to the tank or close to the bags?

Any suggestions on good resources to learn thes things?

thanks

Pat

Air ride is the thing I know the best. Ok before I answer the valve sizing question I need to know what are your intentions with it? Do you want to be able to park and air it out and that be it, or do you want to be able to sit there and play with the switches at a light to get the cute girls attention next to you? Also do you want front and back or do you want front back side to side?

As far as where to put the valves it doesnt really make that noticeable of a difference so put the valves somewhere where you want them. With the speed of the setup air pressure is more important than location.

Plumbing them is something that can be tricky because theyre so many ways to do it. Once you figure out where your tank and valves are going to go I can help you figure it out. One thing I do recommend is to go with all PTC (push to connect) fittings. They make life a lot simpler because you dont have to worry about as much air possibly leaking out when you are putting it all together.

Thanks for the reply! I am not all that keen on playing with it at a light. I mainly want to be able to set it down low when I park, then be able to raise it to a drive height or lift it up to get a jack under it or get over an obstacle. I want it to ride decently, meaning comfortable. I want the suspension to handle fairly decent and control the rear axle. Currently my axle wraps up pretty bad on hard acceleration. I think I should only need to change the ride height 2-4 inches at the most. I do want FBSS control. My plans are as follows:

Background, the car has orginal 1953 Studebaker rear springs designed for a 90 horse power 6 cylinder. It has lowering blocks to lower it. The Front suspension is from a 1968 Chevy Nova and has 2 inch dropped spindles.

For the rear, keep my leaf springs, but have them de-arched flat and have a thicker leaf placed just below the main leaf. Then us something similar to Air Ride's Air-over-leaf set up to bring the ride height back up.

In the front replace the coil springs with some sort of shock in spring like Air Rides Shockwaves or Air Lifts similar unit.

I am working on a deal with a guy right now to get a Dakota Digital ODYR-24-1 controller that works on air pressure. I will also get 1) vair 380 200psi compressor, (4) SMC 3/8" valves, (4) SMC 1/2" valves, a bunch of brass fittings. all fittings needed for his project that he called off. There is one pressure valve for a bag and one for the tank. I will have to get 3 more bag valves.

I plan to put the tank and compressor in the trunk on the shelf up above the rear axle. I am not sure how big a tank to get, not more than 5 gallons for sure, but am wondering if 3 would be enough, I notice that Air Ride has a 3 in many of their kits. Would it be a good idea to build a rack to put all the valves on and keep them in the trunk too? I guess I would have to run much longer dump lines to get back to the valves though. Also in most of the pictures I have seen, the Air Ride (Ride Tech) systems only seem to have a single line, how does a dump valve work with that? Do you know of any generic plumbing diagrams? Any recomended vendors for both prducts and advice? What about a drier?

Here is a pic of the current ride height. Lots of questions, appreciate any advice you can offer

Pat

On my GMC I'm using ART's big red valves. For dumping air the valve is open at the bottom. I have air coming from the tank to the valves and then an airline to the wheels. I'm only using one valve for the front and one for the rear. I'm running 3/8 lines. I have a five gallon tank and just raising the truck to ride height lowers the tank pressure enough to kick the compressor on. If you put the compressor in hte trunk keep in mind that it is very loud. My compressor is under the passenger side of the cab right under my passengers feet. It can drown out my dual Flowmasters.

Some things to keep in mind! When mounting the compressor, mount it to a solid location like a frame rail or if you put it in the trunk we usually mount it to a piece of plywood covered with vinyl or leather. I would always recommend you use a four way valve set up if you have bags in all four corners. This will eliminate any possibility of air transfer, causing body roll or the vehicle to sit with a lean. One other thing I would only use a D.O.T. approved airline and fittings.

http://suicidedoors.com/how_to/wire-diagrams/8valve.gif Shows you the basic setup. I normally run the valves right on the tank whenever I set up air for people.

For the valves you are getting the 1/2" valves are rather fast I would run the 3/8" for the fill valve then run the 1/2" on the dump valve and run http://suicidedoors.com/12NPTValveFlowControl.php some of those to slow down the valves and make them more quiet.

Since you have decided to stay with the leaf setup, ART's air over leaf you mentioned is a good setup for you. Switching to air wont help the axle wrap though, you may want to upgrade to a 4 link setup. A triangulated 4 link would be great if you could fit it.

You could go with a 3 gallon if you would like, since you arent worried about using the air ride to show off with.

The shockwaves are very nice and have a great ride. They are a little on the pricey side though. You could also think about getting bag cups and run an air spring up front with a relocated shock.

Like jeremy said you may want to mount it to something like a piece of wrapped plywood.

Im not entirely sure what you meant by 3 more bag valves though.

Hopefully I didnt confuse you on any of this. Anymore questions feel free to ask.

has anyone had any experience with company they seem so much cheaper then some of the big names. Ed ke6bnl

http://www.airridepro.com/index.asp?...&Category=2182

Thanks for the info it helps. When I said I will have 1 valve and need 3 more, I meant 1 pressure sensor. That's all he has. For the axle wrap, with the extra spring leaf and the bags on top of the spring in front of the axle, it should act almost like a traction bar pushing the axle down when it tries to wrap up. The guy I have been talking with has a strong LT1 in his 48 Studebaker and claims it works well for him. My initial thought was to go with a triangulated 4 link, but that would be a lot more $$ and I would have to re-do the back half of my exhaust, plu farm out a lot of the work. Doing it this way I can do most of the work myself and save enough to pay for the front. If this does not work that may be a plan for the future. You guys are a big help as I plan this thing. Thanks again.

Pat