Air Shocks - - Question.

[RPMagoo]

I have never had air shocks, but might consider them to control rear height. -- Probably Gabriel Hi-Jackers. -- When they are aired up, to raise 1 - 2 inches, do they still rebound, on the down side, similar to a normal shock ?

 

[Runner 68]

Very popular back in the day. Great to use if your leaf springs are worn or shot or if you really want to adjust the ride height instantly.
They can be set up to ride like a regular shock but are a bit of hack. Beyond that, stick with a proper suspension set up with good leafs and shocks.

 

[jimbosride]

I run them on my 65 with new leaf springs. I wanted the ride height and to make it stiffer. I will say they do make the car ride a bit rough. I only run about 25-30 PSI.

 

[YY1]

I've got 70# in mine right now.

Yeah, it's a little "stiff" in the back.

Not terrible, though.

Raised about 4 inches.

There is some rear body roll because they are plumbed together.

Separating them would allow them to not roll as much and also could be set up to work as a "poor man's limited slip".

...but the sacrifice is having to monitor each side, rather than just airing them until you like the way it sits.

 

[padam]

I’ve run them before, but IMO they should be a temporary solution.
Th shock mounts aren’t strong enough to support the weight of the car.

I believe there’s some distortion of the upper mounts on my Charger from it.

 

[moparedtn]

I’ve run them before, but IMO they should be a temporary solution.
The shock mounts aren’t strong enough to support the weight of the car.

I believe there’s some distortion of the upper mounts on my Charger from it.

This is the correct answer. Shocks (and therefore, where they mount on the car) are not intended to bear weight
but instead to control motion of the suspension, especially on our Mopars, where the top mounts of the rear
shocks are not strong enough to support the weight of the car.
Springs are engineered to bear the weight of the vehicle; they're the correct way to alter ride height on the rear.

 

[dadsbee]

I've stated it before here, more than once. My Bee has had air shocks on it since 1979. During restoration the ONLY metal part saved underneath after throwing away the entire floor pan, frame rails and wheel wells... you guessed it! A rear upper shock mount bracket with ZERO wrong with it, welded back in onto the new rails.

 

[MoparLeo]

There have been Readers Digest stories of some people who have fallen out of airplanes and lived too.
Point is, Just because someone lucked out and did something with their car that was never intended to be done and got away with it. Not a good recommendation to do something.
As said before. Standard shock absorbers, or spring dampeners as they are also called, do just that. They do not support weight. Their function is to help keep the tires in contact with the road by dampening the action of the springs helping to control the compression and rebound cycle of the springs.
If you have an issue with vehicle height, start with proper springs or springs with a specific height built into them.
Shock absorbers are hydraulic in function. Even Gas assisted are using fluid and adjustable valving to control the springs.
Air shocks are relying on an internal airbag to lift the vehicle. Resulting in a hard, choppy ride because the shock absorbers can't function as they were designed to.
A very popular band-aide in the 70's mostly but their is a reason that you don't see them much any more. Raising the center of gravity can be very dangerous when cornering and radial tires are able to go faster in a turn than the old bias ply tires of the time.

 

[WileE]

I've stated it before here, more than once. My Bee has had air shocks on it since 1979. During restoration the ONLY metal part saved underneath after throwing away the entire floor pan, frame rails and wheel wells... you guessed it! A rear upper shock mount bracket with ZERO wrong with it, welded back in onto the new rails.

Yup. Here we go again. It's the same old nonsense that's been around since Bigfoot. We routinely did air shocks back in the day, not only on musclecars, but on station wagons to assist on the weight loads ! How many times did anyone suffer "broken shock mounts" on their cars ? Zip, zilch, nada. Sure, it's a stiffer ride, as it is with stiffer springs. Guess what I have on my 55 year-old original car with the original rails and shock crossmember ? Holy cow, Gabriel Hi-jackers !!

 

[Ron H]

Ran air shocks on my Challenger and GTO way back when. Later on the Plymouth I still have until getting HD leafs. Needed them on the Dodge for tire clearance; but when occasionally striking a big bump the tires would take a slight hit. Inevitable on the 2300-mile round trip I made. The ride usually sucked, and on a few occasions remembered some oversteer sensations on the GTO; suppose being a bigger car or slowing down would a helped. Anyway found the new leafs still didn’t get quite the elevation, though was not looking at too much rise. I lost the preference for rears jacked overly high 40+-years ago. Removed the air shocks and machined a new set of shackles about an inch or so over stock, this got the height I wanted.

 

[Cheapsunglasses]

Run air shocks, it’s fine. Espo +2” and air shocks for a few years now, weekly driven, and a few road trips, one having a spare transmission in the back, it’s fine!