Those early Benz's are hot dropped like that!
Those early Benz's are hot dropped like that!
I don't have much to add other than these.
I learned the other day that a 2008 Lincoln Navigator can be lowered roughly 4 inches simply by pulling the air compressor relay. Now I'm wondering if that chassis makes more sense under a squarebody Dodge than a Crown Vic.
In reply to wheelsmithy:
As someone who has several 85-93 Dodges with Cummins power, and also is working on a couple CV swaps, including one into a poptop Ramcharger-
The 12 valve will eat an 8.8 alive. They regularly pound the carrier bearings out of a Dana 70 (BTDT). The Vic front end isn't nearly as robust as you would want with with the 6bt on top. 500lbs is a light estimate. You are 600+ pounds heavier when all is said and done. Which, to put in in perspective, is more than double the weight of your 4.6. Yes. Add another 4.6 on top of the hood of a CV, and that should give you an idea of how well it will turn, stop, and drive.
wheelsmithy wrote: I looked up hard parking, because I had no clue what that meant. According to urban dictionary, it is tricking out your car (usually Honda) with race parts, then not racing. I don't plan to do any of that.
It carries some ricerish implications but it basically means some kind of showoff parking - "laying frame" or on the other end of the scale, lifting the car up on racing jacks.
Kreb wrote: I have a cousin in New Zealand who is very into air-cooled Porsches, and somewhat surprisingly, bagged Porsches are fairly common down there. I think that they like the looks, but they also like the adjustable ride height, so that the same car can hit the track and navigate rough backroads, steep driveways and speed bumps.This is what he uses: http://www.airrexus.com/
Actually that's the big problem with any kind of air suspension and why we're not all driving around on air springs right now - higher is harder and lower is softer, so basically it allows you to choose between "good performance driving" and "useless hard parking," rather than "good performance driving" and "good obstacle clearance."
If you just want to get over speedbumps etc, the best setup is to use traditional coilovers with air cups, which are basically pneumatically expandable spring spacers (that act just like regular spacers when not pressurized). The cups aren't meant to be driven on much while extended though.
In reply to Cooter:
Thanks for that. The gross overloading of the P71 front suspension is what led me to airbags, and feedback, especially in context, like that is exactly what I'm after. My thought was an 8.8 should hold up to 450 or so ft/lbs. I have certainly heard of a 9" being okay in there somewhere.
Any chance of pics/build thread on that Ramcharger?
I like this guy. I'd prefer a multi-link over truck bars, but he has way less attitude, and way more skill than I was finding on other videos. There are several.
What I will say from my video viewing is that everyone seems to set up airbags where the two mounting plates are parallel when it is collapsed. I'm talking about front A-arms in particular. As the ride height goes up, the upper and lower plates get further and further from parallel. Seems to be no big deal. This was one of my bigger questions.
One of my favorite Stanceworks builds.
All this thread is doing is successfully reminding me I have a bunch of air ride gear and a vehicle that would look great bagged and increase its utility function! Stop bringing it up, I don't have the time, money or patience to see it thru to fruition at this stage.
In reply to daeman:
Wouldn't dream of anything like that.
In reply to daeman:
I was going to pm you about selling some of it off but then I noticed that you live down under. Dreams dashed.
Say hi to Marty and Moog for me. (Sorry if that is an old joke).
So the Galaxie is currently sitting on factory replacement springs that A) haven't settled and B) are probably 25% thicker than actual factory springs. This is making me think that I need to pull those out, throw some bags in, plumb to the trunk and just adjust height at home. That wouldn't cost a ton and would get the first step of air ride done.
In reply to wheelsmithy:
No wheelsmithy, that's a bad wheelsmithy, no!
Seriously though I'll probably go down that path one day, but engine and drivel one are a higher priority at this stage.
In reply to singleslammer:
Yeah, shipping would kill any kind of deal I could cut you. You'd be able to bag your galaxie on the shipping charges alone I suspect.
Lol, I wish I knew those guys personally, they're my kind of peeps.
singleslammer wrote: So the Galaxie is currently sitting on factory replacement springs that A) haven't settled and B) are probably 25% thicker than actual factory springs. This is making me think that I need to pull those out, throw some bags in, plumb to the trunk and just adjust height at home. That wouldn't cost a ton and would get the first step of air ride done.
Yeah, Should this be something I eventually choose to pursue, these
are $78.99 each with an 8" max diameter, and 3055 lbs load rating at 100 PSI. I'm thinking buy 4, plumb to 4 schrader valves, and enjoy. Great for old Galaxies, and POS trucks.
These aren't quite as big but Airmaxxx seems to have an OK rep and they are less than half the cost of the ones you posted.
I can't let it drop. Forget the frame swap, Just the bags would make my truck much more enjoyable to drive.
To that end, I have a question for any willing engineering types. 4-link kits aren't much more than buying the components separately. So, I'm looking at parallel with a panhard. Does 1/8" (0.156") wall thickness sound adequate for a 3/4 ton truck? The truck has a big rear end (heh heh), and could as now, occasionally be loaded up with gravel, sand, or whatever, honestly, up to and beyond its payload. 
By the way, singleslammer, that bag kit looks excellent.
This guy looks to be using a parallel 4 link setup with a c-notch over the axle. No idea on the front.
If you find or make some digital templates for the 4 link setup, I will make them for really cheap. I have this CNC plasma cutter that I am itching to inbox and fire up.
Thanks for that Chadeux. That looks to be the exact kit I've been eyeballing
Photo pasted for future reference.
A bit pricey, buy definitely the easy button.
Hard to justify when you've got this:$360 on ebay
In reply to Singleslammer: I appreciate the offer. Will get back to you when/if this elevates itself from a mere bench build.
Again, notes for myself later, looks like a Dana 70 rear axle.
So what you are all saying is that taking this from photoshop to reality is not only possible, but fairly easy.
In reply to Groats:
I didn't think that was shopped. Just make sure you start with a 2wd, the 4wds are harder to lower and you'll pay more for features that'll be wasted.
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