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Leaf springs or Full Air ride?

7K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  bodydroppedsquare 
#1 ·
I have a '29 dodge 4 door, it's going to be a cruiser, not a racer _ever_

I want as good a ride as possible (even though I'm using solid front and rear axles)

I'm thinking of using air springs and 4 links front and rear. I like the idea of adjustable ride height. Meaning I can set the ride height and if the load varies, like I have 5 big friends in the car, the ride height stays the same as if it's just the 100 lb wifey.

The question is will an air bagged car ride better or worse than a well done leaf spring car? is it even noticeable?

I assume a bagged car would be much better, but I've never ridden in one.

Keith
 
#2 ·
427

I can't tell you about the ride, but I can attest to the loaded/unloaded problems. If I put enough leaf spring on my car(46 Ford coupe) to carry a load of people and car show stuff, it sits too high in back when unloaded. :mad: Not to mention the stiff ride.

If I was doing this thing over, I would put air on it just for that reason.

I've been considering doing an air over leaf type setup on the rear to cure this problem.

Go with the 4-bar/air setup IMHO.

Oh, don't forget to add good sway bars(anti-roll bars) front and rear if you do add air.
 
#3 ·
Never had an older car with air but a later model. With air it is kind of bouncy at times, also the thing with air is if you get a leak or bag busts (your ride is on the frame) which is not fun when you are wanting to go somewhere. With suspension you can't really adjust but always able to get it in and go and not worry about popping a bag or an air leak. From my own faults i will always use spindles and springs etc. Just my 2 cents someone else may totally disagree.
 
#4 ·
another option would be to put on bags with your lead suspension. A buddy of mine had a set on his truck so when he hauled something heavy he would air up the bags to help keep the truck level. I think there were brackets on the lower leaf and bracket on the top of the frame and he had air ports so when he wanted air he would just add his compressor to it like putting air in a tire to the desired level and let it out afterwards.
 
#5 ·
In our hot rod shop air is the deal!!!!! Good ride, adjustable height, slam it at the shows, win, win, win. Good ride comes from good engineering, not by accident. About the concern of a leak, or bag bursting. You check for leaks, on the install, if you have a leak, fix it. I drive two of my own custom cars with air ride. One of them over 10years, it doesn't leak, and no burst bags. Don't be afraid, of what you haven't tried. Air ride is the way to go! Check out Air Ride Technologies web site we have a link to our web site from there site also.
Dave Tallant KC Mo
 
#7 ·
So it sounds like air does ride better, cool. I'm pretty convinced.

I am looking at air over leaf, but the problem seems to be the leafs are custom and therefore $$$, might end up even being cheaper to build a 4 link. It all depends on the cost of the rod ends I guess.

I have seen hemi43 web site, very nice buildup, but I did forget he had air ride...

I'm not at all concerned about bags breaking, leafs break too.
 
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