bags

[dark_cutlass]

i have a '95 2dr cutlass and i'm wondering if it's possible to put air bags on it...isn't the rear suspension different than other cars or something? i don't know, i thought so...just asking if it's able to be done or not, thanks.

[Andrew]

ive never heard of anyone having put an air bag suspension on a w-body, but im sure theres someone out there has done it. there is no kit for this, so you would have to have it custom done. thats some big bills.

[vclifer]

I had a 2000 monte carlo that was bagged and layed on the ground, but i now have a 95 gp 2 dr and i was wondering if anyone else has heard of any other early w bodys on air

[Euro]

ive never heard of anyone having put an air bag suspension on a w-body, but im sure theres someone out there has done it. there is no kit for this, so you would have to have it custom done. thats some big bills.

 

SLAMDIT has a custom airbag setup on his vert.

[Psych0matt]

SLAMDIT has a custom airbag setup on his vert.

 

[intern8tion9l]

x3. it is also super pimp

[vclifer]

no shit, how low can it get??...i want somthing to lay it on the ground not just go to a lower stance

[intern8tion9l]

i don't think you can get much lower than his car....all custom though, it'll cost you

http://www.w-body.com/forum/index.php/topic,46350.0.html

[J]

he is also doing his wife's car as we speak. I've been buggin him for about a year to get pics, and he said this time he will. He also mentioned that things will change and it should be easier to do the second time around

[CSI_MuNkY]

This is funny cause just the other day he posted commenting that he was surprised that we rarely get asked about putting air bags on w's

 

I'd have to say his car is one of my favorites on the board.

 

Jamie

[Euro]

Theres a green 4 door GP that's for sale on AutoTrader here that's got some kind of airbag set up on it. The picture in the ad has it slammed on the ground. I wonder what he used?

[vclifer]

this is my old monte carlo i had custom struts made by silverstar customs down in missippi it rode like a dream and layed the engine cradle on the ground

 

 

 

 

 

i really wish the 1st and 2nd gen suspensions were interchangeable i would order the kit from airlift ive heard good reviews on the w-body set up they offer

[J]

ur GP is hot, it'd look much better bagged! I've been wanting to do bags on my car for at least 5 years, soon hopefully (after i sign my contract for my job)

[Nick1234]

wasn't there a member on here with a red 4 door lumina that had air suispension? or was that something else.

[Dirty Rockstar]

wasn't there a member on here with a red 4 door lumina that had air suispension? or was that something else.

 

Yea, he had a 90 Euro sedan. Was pretty sexy..

 

..I would think about air ride for the car to get the ride height I want.. But I also want ride quality.. I cringe thinking about air bag setups that bounce you and your titties up and down at a rate proportional to your speed..

 

I like the Grand Prix 5 spokes on that Monte.. Very sexy look..

[SLAMDIT]

WTF, I was just commenting on this like u said....

I have air on my 94 and like was stated, I am slowly in the process of bagging my wife's 95. Not that I will ever make a kit or anything, but the ideas I have for my wife's car should make it somewhat cost effective to bag one of these cars, not cheap, but cost effective.

I have over 3k in my setup getting it to the point it is now where it is safe and trustworthy. The hardest part about these cars is getting them to lay out. You can only take so much out of the front struts length until things start running into each other. I can put my back bumper on the ground easy but the front is as low as it can go. I am currently a little over 3 inches from the subframe being on the ground. I can shorten the front strut more but if I did, the top of the tire would rub the bottom of the bag.

this is my old monte carlo i had custom struts made by silverstar customs down in missippi it rode like a dream and layed the engine cradle on the ground

 

 

 

 

 

i really wish the 1st and 2nd gen suspensions were interchangeable i would order the kit from airlift ive heard good reviews on the w-body set up they offer

 

I hear ya man, I wish these suspension systems were interchangable as well, life would be much easier. What is funny is a few major air ride manufacturers will say they have a bolt in kit but they really don't. They are assuming that these cars have the common 2 piece strut where the spring/strut assembly is held to the hub by 2 bolts. The fact is that they aren't and because of that your standard strut bag will not mount up to the car.

 

The bags I have on the front are made by universal air suspension. https://www.universalairsuspension.com/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=29&osCsid=99cfa99dab2ab281f6e6aa8b43dea6a7

 

Basically, thse are put on by removing the coil spring and cutting off the bottom pearch, then welding a lower bag plate on, "dropping" the bag down over the strut, and putting an upper bag plate on and reinstalling the strut. That part is easy and this is how I first did it. The problem was,, if anyone knows what the bottom of a stock strut mount looks like, having a flat bag plate sitting against the 3 inch deep center of the underside of the strut omount won't allow the car to lay out. Basically, if you remove your spring and replace it with a bag, you will be at stock height with no air in the bag.. Not to mention you have the steel upper bag plate binding on the factory strut mount which causes memory steer.

 

Solution, we ended up ditching the factory strut mount and having steel flat round plates to replace them. The plates are bolted in with the factory mounting holes for the upper strut mount and then I have a bearing in between the upper bag plate and strut mount. it works great but the car still doesn't lay frame.

 

This is a short basic description of the front setup on my car and doesn't even scratch the surface of all the shit we went through to get this setup to work. The back is even a bigger nightmare because there is no room between the rear wheel and the side of the car to put a bag over the rear strut. We ended up making trailering arms that the bag sits on and then we welded an upper bag mount along the inside of the frame. Again, hard to explain but basically the bag lifts the body of the car and all the weight is supported on the trailering arms. And don't worry, they are made to withstand the weight of the car and have held up beautifully for 2.5 years now. Even though this design works, I have a better design planned for the 95 and plan on starting it within the next month.

 

Ok tell ya what, if you guys are intrested, I am pulling the wheels off the car tomorrow to retape some of the fittings on the air ride. Why don't I take some pics quick and show the basics of my setup. I am off all weekend so I can post em and maybe do a brief description of how I bagged the car.

 

Sorry for this long post, hope you all werent too bored.

 

see ya,

 

Sean

[J]

pics!!! woot

[SLAMDIT]

wasn't there a member on here with a red 4 door lumina that had air suispension? or was that something else.

 

Yea, he had a 90 Euro sedan. Was pretty sexy..

 

..I would think about air ride for the car to get the ride height I want.. But I also want ride quality.. I cringe thinking about air bag setups that bounce you and your titties up and down at a rate proportional to your speed..

 

I like the Grand Prix 5 spokes on that Monte.. Very sexy look..

 

Done correctly an air ride setup will ride as well or better than any setup you can come up with. Every bag has a sweet spot and if you can find it, it is like, well.... riding on air. My car is very soft when I am crushed and very stiff when I am cranked in the air, but when i am just cruisin, it doesn't get any better ride then an air ride.... boy that sounded gay

[vclifer]

thanks bro i understand what you are saying with the front i spent a good while earlier up under my car seeing what i could do...has anybody tried to run air cylenders in the rear and ditching the strut?! iwas thinking you could make up some brackets for everything to mount in stock locations and still be able to get it pretty low...but pics would be greatly appreciated i really wanna see how your rear set up is

[SLAMDIT]

My rear setup is a bag plate on the rear trailering arm and a bag plate above it on the frame of the car with a firestone 2500 bag. It gets crazy life in the back with it.

My plan on the Wife's vert is to remake the upper arms (don't know what to call them) that come from the center of the car to the hub (they run parallel with the monoleaf) and put the bag on them. This would be utilizing part of the car to made to hold more of the weight of the car.

The bad thing about my current setup is that the trailering arms tend to twist with I have alot of weight in the back. They are strong and won't break with they will flex. again, I have had this setup over 2 years with no issue. I trust it fully but wouldn't ever do it that way again.

I will try my best to get some pics up tomorrow and show all this to ya.

 

see ya,

 

Sean

 

p.s. thanx for all the comments on the whip, i appreciate it

 

 

 

[vclifer]

any luck with the pics?

[SLAMDIT]

I took a bunch on Friday and for some reason they turned out like crap. I am still gonna post em cause they show the basics of my setup but they are not as clear as I would have liked. I would retake them but I just don't have time to take off the wheels again and crawl around it. I don't have high speed at my house so uploading them is not fun. II am tryign to get em upleoaded and once I do I will post em, I promise.

 

-Sean

[Euro]

wasn't there a member on here with a red 4 door lumina that had air suispension? or was that something else.

 

Yea, he had a 90 Euro sedan. Was pretty sexy..

 

..I would think about air ride for the car to get the ride height I want.. But I also want ride quality.. I cringe thinking about air bag setups that bounce you and your titties up and down at a rate proportional to your speed..

 

I think his were actually hydraulics

[vclifer]

you get the pics loaded up yet??