[leejoy]

A buddy and I were working on his 55 chevy wagon lastnight. He pulled out a set of air shocks and we installed them. His 55 is a saturday night cruiser - not a drag car. We got talking a bit. Not really sure why we put them on, other than they came with the car project when he bought it and they fit.

Questions:

1) what is the purpose of them
2) what if any, is the benefit of them
3) where do you begin adjusting the air pressure PSI - what determines the setting
4) should we be using them or not

[S10 Racer]

Originally Posted by leejoy

A buddy and I were working on his 55 chevy wagon lastnight. He pulled out a set of air shocks and we installed them. His 55 is a saturday night cruiser - not a drag car. We got talking a bit. Not really sure why we put them on, other than they came with the car project when he bought it and they fit.

Questions:

1) what is the purpose of them
2) what if any, is the benefit of them
3) where do you begin adjusting the air pressure PSI - what determines the setting
4) should we be using them or not

Air shocks were very popular back in my days of the 60's & 70's. They are used to adjust the way the vehicle will ride. I would start by airing them up until you can see the rear of the car raise up about 3 or 4 inches. Take it for a drive and see how it rides. If it rides too firm, let some air out, if it bounces too much put more air in. It may take a few times of doing that to find the best pressure. After you get the car to ride the way you want, check the air pressure and see where it's at. That way you know how much pressure to put in them again if you have to.

[JeffB]

Usually they were used to gain tire clearance or when a lot of weight was being hauled to prevent sagging,another use "back in the day" was to run separate lines in order to improve weight transfer on the strip to offset "torque twist", never run them empty keep at least 20 psi to avoid damaging the air bladder.A lot of guys wanted the old "Funny Car" look and used the air shocks for "Big Meats" in the rear and "skinnys" up front with a "tail up" attitude.

[302 Z28]

They were misused to gain tire clearance , when they failed which they did all the time it either ruined the tires of caused body damage.

Vince

[eloc431962]

yep vince is right. seen alot of quarter panels messd up by running to large a tire with air shocks.if i buy something with them on it i take them off.just my opinion. cole

[NEW INTERIORS]

I agree with vince..To many people used them to put bigger tires on there cars.And when they failed,It would cause ''A LOT'' of ''TROUBLE''. I never did like them,And never will. And no it didn't happen to me!!!!!

There place is in the garbage can...