Air Shocks or Rear End Lifts

[Sonny Black]

"back in the day" Sonny used air shocks on one of his cars...separate air lines ...90/10 on the front...I would screw around with the shocks to get the best bite...but never used much air in them...it had a nice ride on the street & also worked at the strip.

never had a problem......:sunny:


:sFl_america2: happy Decoration day!!

 

[Hemirunner]

I facepalm every time I read one of these threads. You guys sure keep us Mopar people in the dark ages. Purple shafts, J-converters and air shocks...... rock on......

 

[Cranky]

I facepalm every time I read one of these threads. You guys sure keep us Mopar people in the dark ages. Purple shafts, J-converters and air shocks...... rock on......

Well, why mess with something that works!? Actually, there are a new era of purple shaft cams....at least from what I'm told lol.

 

[WP29440SE]

I facepalm every time I read one of these threads. You guys sure keep us Mopar people in the dark ages. Purple shafts, J-converters and air shocks...... rock on......

my wife knows what a purple shaft is , but what is a "J converter" ?

 

[Cranky]

To the best of my knowledge, it's factory for the first race only converter offered by Mopar. The original designation was 069J and is around a 9" in diameter.

 

[dieseldazzle]

I facepalm every time I read one of these threads. You guys sure keep us Mopar people in the dark ages. Purple shafts, J-converters and air shocks...... rock on......

Hemirunner, I respect the piss out of ya man but to label everyone as you guys then say mopar people, makes no sense my man.

Last time they made B body mopar was over 30 years ago man....

Some folks like their nostalgia.

There are other mopar forums that are out of the "dark ages" then again...ive seen twin turbo e85 sequential injection cars on this very forum...

 

[Sonny Black]

Dark ages??? Take me back!....love old school! BTW I run a 484 purple...4 speed T 10 in my '63....so what!:usa2::icon_cool:
you just don't get it?.....I also don't run a bottle:no:...that is for baby.:argue:
Born on Dec 3rd 1962

 

[Cranky]

I own some newer Mopar iron but it's no where near new anymore. My newest car will be 16 pretty soon and the next in line is my diesel pickup being nearly 19 and the Dakota yard cart will be 21 in about 4 months. My Belvedere is approaching 50!

 

[dieseldazzle]

Dark ages??? Take me back!....love old school! BTW I run a 484 purple...4 speed T 10 in my '63....so what!:usa2::icon_cool:
you just don't get it?.....I also don't run a bottle:no:...that is for baby.:argue:

Trust me sonny, I get it. Thats why the car in my avatar has a stinky carbd engine in it and is 90% the way it came from the factory....I DO GET IT even though I wasnt even alive to enjoy it until 1976

....some dont....sucks to be them.

 

[Hemirunner]

I'm just razzing a little. :icon_super:I went through all these parts back in the day. I just prefer to leave super stock springs, air shocks, purple shaft cams, j-converters and N50-15's in my past! LOL I guess my days of nostalgia are still ahead of me!

 

[WileE]

Dark ages??? Take me back!....love old school! BTW I run a 484 purple...4 speed T 10 in my '63....so what!:usa2::icon_cool:
you just don't get it?.....I also don't run a bottle:no:...that is for baby.:argue:
Born on Dec 3rd 1962

I'm so Old School, that the textbooks were printed by hammer & chisel. And, That.. is a stunning car.

 

[GetX'd]

I'm just razzing a little. :icon_super:I went through all these parts back in the day. I just prefer to leave super stock springs, air shocks, purple shaft cams, j-converters and N50-15's in my past! LOL I guess my days of nostalgia are still ahead of me!

I hear you Hemi - I would like to leave some of it in the past too. I just haven't found a suitable option besides selling the brand new tires and wheels I bought. I'm short barely an inch. I already have custom made leaf springs new on the car. I just need a little extra lift - if you have any options short of new wheels - I'm all ears. Air shocks worked back in the day - why can't they work today? I hear what everyone is saying on this thread but am hoping for an alternative that fits my needs.

 

[Cranky]

Nothing wrong with the old school stuff. Air shocks went by the way of the dinosaur because imo, so many abused them and messed up their cars. It's really no different today except for all the warning labels lol. What surprises me today is all the cars with hydraulics....the low riders and the hoppers (whatever they are called) and the list goes on. The old school cams...they did their job but today's cams are better at it. An alternative that fits your needs.....re arched springs, added leafs or air shocks or a little bit of all three would work.

 

[GetX'd]

Yes I'm still messing with this idea of air shocks. O'Riellys sells them for my car.

BUT - has anyone ever heard of shock extenders? They sell those as well and they may just give me the additional lift I need to fit my tires on the car. I only need an inch or two. Would that be a better more modern option for me vs. air shocks?

It seems folks are kind of down on the idea of air shocks as not being good for the car and an outdated solution.

How about shock extenders???

 

[Cranky]

Can't use the shock extenders on your present shocks and you shouldn't need extenders with air shocks. The extenders are for using normal shocks on a car that's already up high due to springs that have much more arch than stock springs.....like Super Stock leafs.

 

[Riverdawg]

Have you thought about narrowing the rearend so you can use the disc brakes and the rims/tires you have? Just a thought.

 

[GetX'd]

Have you thought about narrowing the rearend so you can use the disc brakes and the rims/tires you have? Just a thought.

Yes Riverdawg I did think about narrowing the rear so I could have both the brakes and the wheels. I'm just not familiar with how much work that is - or cost cause I don't have the skills to do that. Thx for bringing it up - I'm going to look into that solution when I go up to MN in a couple of weeks. It is a viable thought. I was just looking for an easy way out.

 

[coloradodave]

^^^^^What Cranky said. Shocks with or without extenders are not designed to hold the weight of your car. If you really do want to do this on the cheap, try a set of extended shackles (Summit/Jegs/local auto parts) for the rear of the leaf springs. They will get the rear end up 1-3" depending on which hole you use. Be advised that it won't take too long for them to flatten out your leafs. If you do use them, you may have to add shock extensions to avoid topping out your current shocks when you get on it....Good luck.

 

[Photon440]

While the shock mounts aren't designed to support the weight of the car, they do in fact support the loading of the shock on a compression stroke, which on a rough road can vary from a couple hundred pounds to over a 2400 pound load per cycle over a fraction of a second, depending on the stiffness of the shocks. While this isn't a static load, it is still a push up and pull down stress on that member, mostly push up as the only 'down' force would be the weight of the rear axle.

I doubt that a few hundred pounds of constant air-shock loading will greatly affect things - I know they didn't on my car. With my air shocks stiffening up my rear end, I remember flying down some really bumpy roads while my friend in his car ('73 Mach 1) had no hope of chasing me as his car bottomed out like crazy.

 

[Mopar-Charger]

This is for cranky, but it might help the

Here it is with stock shocks and leafsprings

This is with Air shocks and stock leafsprings (can't really tell, but it went up about 2" with 50 PSI in the shocks

It's dark so cruddy pictures, but this is with the Heavy duty leafs and airshocks (40PSI). It's 5 leafs bolted at the bottom of the rear shackle with a 2 inch lift. Gained about 4 inches with airshocks empty, and 6 full.

Here's my other charger. leafsprings and worn out shocks.

Hope this helps

---

I've ran 50 PSI or under for about a year and a half now. Bottom mounts are straight, shocks comes off very easily. Front end doesn't notice anything from the lifted back. Grabs fine on the street.