Its time to upgrade my suspension a bit. I'm doing a 4 link in the rear, and the question of whether to do the Air Ride 4 link with Shockwave 9000s or adj. coil overs is on my mind. I'm also thinking of replacing the torsion bars with shockwave 9000s (custom install) to go along with one of the projects I'm working on.

I've heard that bagged trucks have horrible ride and that the ride is improved... I'm not interested in bags to scrape pavement or to bounce the truck while driving, but just for the tunability of ride height and rake for traction, etc.

Any and all suggestions welcome, please chime in.

 

I guess I'm old school, but I prefer coil overs in your situation over air bags on all four corners

 

I'm gonna say 'bags.....a properly set airbag suspension is more than equal to a properly set up coil-over suspension (along with being ALOT cheaper AND more adjustable). The horror stories you hear about bouncy rides and horrible handling come from the airbag suspensions that are set up in the wrong way for the application (bags that are undersized, incorrect mount points, etc), you CAN build an air-suspension that will handle extremely well, have alot of adjustment, and lay out....but it takes someone who KNOWS THEIR **** to fabricate a suspension lke this.

My advice is to get ahold of someone like M.I.C. or Ekstensive Metalworks and talk to them about what you want the truck to be able to do once it's 'bagged....they can advise you on the best way to accomplish this

 

I have to put my vote to bags as well. Yelo covered a good many points on them. You can ask some of the guys on gmfullsize as well since most of them run bagged suspension. Most like KP over Air Ride, at least for the rear. I read somewhere a while back where they were doing a road course comparison and the ran the car stock around the course and then did a Air Ride install and ran the car. The same drivers shaved about 5 seconds off their overall time. Like Yelo mentioned though, it has to be set up right.

 

for you airbag guys,

how do these systems perform in a Drag Racing setup?

or when the front is set up to resist compression/extend rebound dampening(ala 90/10)?

 

i say bags also, Ive seen tests before and after on a 97 camaro ss, NBS chevy truck and a 63 impala. All handeled better and were significantly faster on a road course. But on a drag strip ? thats a good question. The shockwave kit is pretty expensive too.

 

No differently than a properly set up conventional spring system.....an airbag is an AIR SPRING. as long as your shocks have the correct dampening and rebound settings for your application an airbag suspension will perform exceptionally in a drag-race setup. That 90/10 comes from the SHOCKS, not the springs....NEVER rely on your airbags for dampening, doing this is what causes all of those myths about ****-poor handling !!

 

come on dude, why do you think I was talking about dampening, lol, did I give you the impression I didn't know how that worked?

I was just wondering if there was some characteristic regarding a bag that would show up under these conditions/usage

 

I've got more faith in you than that man....I was just putting the knowledge out for all to see.

AFAIK there is no characteristic that negatively affects lauch in a drag racing setup...in fact, the bags will probably affect the launch less than a comparably set up spring car due to less weight and a more neutral attitude

 

whew!