Air Ride Suspension Info Wanted

I am seriously considering a limited setup for the front. This would allow me to raise the front for air dam clearance.

Fran Hall at Race Car Replicas (http://race-car-replicas.com/) has developed a system that sits between the spring coils and can be actuated to increase height for clearance etc.

Julian

Man I always love that site. I will deffinantly look into it. I am also thinking of going with a cable shift. They have a shifter set up for that as well.

Gary,

My feelings on cable shifters are pretty mixed due to the fact I have been unable to get the Ultima set up the way I'd like.

There is a lot of discussion on cable shifters in general on www.GT40s.com many people using systems borrowed from production cars like the Toyota Tercel of specific years. What I'm saying is there is a whole gambit of solutions out there from cheap to exotic if you do some research.

The CNC Perfomance guys www.cncperformanceparts.com do a nice ZF system (I have there ZF cable end with a Superformance shifter & cables to use on my GT40 at some point when I do the transaxle swap).

For the Ultima I am actually looking at the Mastershift, which converts a H pattern to a semi sequential either with a conventional bump shifter or paddles. They advertise as supporting the ZF too, www.mastershift.com. I assume it still relies on cables, I'd prefer a positive actuator that bolts directly on the transaxle linkage.

Julian

Not exactly an "air ride" system, but check out Dick Koch's post on the shock technology he put into his radical twin turbo Pantera:
http://realbig.com/pipermail/d...December/117033.html

Here's an excerpt, but follow the link above for the whole story...
For those of you that want to keep abreast of the latest auto technologies available, you might be interested in the 3rd generation implementation of the Magneshock which gives the promised increased user control of important shock variables.

Dick Anderson, the inventor and developer of the packaging and user programmability aspects of the shock, is the friend of mine who , as you may remember, worked with me to install the Magneshock system in my 74 Pantera several years ago.

See http://home.earthlink.net/~arkoch/images/Shocks/ to view a few pictures of the shock selection controls, both on the dash and the steering wheel, and the placement and installation of the shock computer control unit. The steering wheel switches allow the driver to instantaneously change the shock settings from 3 of the 5 user shock setups saved in the shock computer unit, giving the driver 3 distinct shock setups to match road or track onditions. The dash mounted switch that is to the right of the AC fan switch allows the driver to switch between 1 of 5 user shock setups saved in the shock computer unit.

Julian, Garth, I will deffinanlty check out those links when I get a chance. It is something I want to do. Been busy all day block sanding. Just got primer shot again at 7:30pm. I'll be busy a couple days.

I did see Jerry at PI had the paddle shifter in the red Targa. You can see photos of it on the PI page. I don't want a paddle shifter but I want the torq rod gone. I like the cable set up for the paddle shifter though.

Gary

Pros: I think it just looks bad-ass with the car parked and the front end an inch off the ground

Cons: Since it is so low, beautiful women flock around at car shows wanting to sit right on the hood for photos, prone to damaging the hood

Well, I suppose all the above is left up for interpretation pro or con. From experience on my 5S cars, I would not have a air dam car without some type of elevation set up. I have just seen too many cars banged up at the chin, and it just looks like crap.

On my red 5S, I have aluminum suspension shocks, but have independent raisers that are separate from the shocks where I can raise the car from a button in the car when I need to. Then when you lower it, it sits back on the normal suspension again. Positive is that it allows a couple inches rise when needed and it allows it to sit back on the normal suspension when done...negative is that it is a little slow and takes about 15 seconds to raise the car (however, maybe some independent systems made now are quicker).

On my black 5S it has the actual "Air Ride" system which allows the front of the car to raise and lower very quickly all within one unit, not separate like the red 5S. Con is that my set up doesn't have an automatic ride height setting, so I basically guess at what height I want it to ride based on the pressure needle reading on the dash, general appearance of the right height and how it handles. Way too high and it gets a little squirrely, and way too low it gets too firm. However, I choose to ride pretty low, right where it handles real well. I was talking with the air ride dudes at car show booth, and they said they have systems that go right to exact ride height if you want.

I like your pros, and cons -- maybe the cons better. I'll just add reinforcing to the hood (LOL)!

Jan, do you know what system would work well in the confines of a Pantera L? I am assuming that all four corners would receive an air ride shock of some kind. Any information on what manufacturer to go to would be extremely helpful. I definitely like the idea of how your black 5S is done -- like you say, the only thing to make it better would be to have an indicator of actual ride height on the gauge.

Thank you,

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by DeMopuar:
I like your pros, and cons -- maybe the cons better. I'll just add reinforcing to the hood (LOL)!

Jan, do you know what system would work well in the confines of a Pantera L? I am assuming that all four corners would receive an air ride shock of some kind. Any information on what manufacturer to go to would be extremely helpful. I definitely like the idea of how your black 5S is done -- like you say, the only thing to make it better would be to have an indicator of actual ride height on the gauge.

Thank you,

Mark

I thought the company was just called Air Ride, but it is probably Air Ride Technologies in this link http://www.ridetech.com/shop/

If you have a hot rod shop in the area maybe check with them, you know the homie dudes that do all the air bags on their hot rod low ridas. At least you could bounce around some ideas with them. I understand there are kits now that raise the car to exact ride height, so no guage needed or any guessing like me. I would just go with them on the front though, why would you want them on the rear?

Air Ride is actually based near where I work. I see them at the car meets out here. They do a lot of muscle cars. They have a catalog you can request with all their stuff. For doing just the front I could get by with just a small compressor, small tank and a fairly simple set up. They just needed to know shock length and travel.

I've always toyed with the idea of lowering my car just because of the look. But, all of you that have low cars or have lowered their cars know the problem that comes with a low or lowered car -- scraping.

There are now two products on the market that I like that solves this problem. You can set your ride height as low as you want then use one of these two kits to raise the car up to 5 inches to clear driveways, speed bumps, or ramps on flatbed tow trucks (to name a few examples). One kit uses air, the other is hydraulic. Both have their advantages and drawbacks. The nice thing about both kits is neither interfere with suspension setup when not in use except for acting as a metal spring spacer.

The Umbrella Auto Designs kit uses air. Check out their video demo on YouTube.
http://www.umbrellaautodesign...._patent_pending.html

The Ram Lift Pro kit is hydraulic. Check out their video demo on YouTube.
http://www.ramliftpro.com/

I prefer the ramlift because it is hydraulic (no air tank required). Also, if the system fails, you are already at ride height.

This public service message is for your information only and does not constitute an endorsement by me for either product

That's a pretty interesting way of doing it while still being able to use coil overs. I wonder if full travel is reduced by the amount in the addition of the spacer. I have no interest in lowering it but I would like to raise it. I have been considering creating a data logging system to log ride height at speed to measure aerodynamic effects. A simple read out would make adjusting it for air ride simple. I am working on a near zero bump steer which will be nice so changes of height don't effect toe.

Here is a photo of my black 5S front airbag/strut shown when lowered, and when raised it can extend upward about 8 inches or so.

Do you know the specific part number, airbag/shock you are using?

quote:

Originally posted by comp2:
Do you know the specific part number, airbag/shock you are using?

I looked for a part number and at least from the angles I can see, I don't see any part number. I am sure Air Ride may know if you print the photo and took it in along with Pantera specs for a shock.

Jan,

Thanks, this will get me going in the right direction! I will get on the horn to Air Ride or whatever they are calling themselves today and see if they can identify the shock. I wonder if they have any internal information on what would work on a Pantera? I will try to find out......


Mark

quote:

Originally posted by DOES 200:

quote:

Originally posted by comp2:
Do you know the specific part number, airbag/shock you are using?

I looked for a part number and at least from the angles I can see, I don't see any part number. I am sure Air Ride may know if you print the photo and took it in along with Pantera specs for a shock.

Thanks, They should be able to point me in the right direction. They will be able to point me the right direction when the time comes.