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Bags?BenzBoy
@benzboy
Club Retro Rides Member 7
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May 29, 2005 11:22:29 GMT
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I very much want to build a lowrider. The only place in the UK that I've found selling hydraulics and airbag systems is MaxHydraulics but I can't help but think there must be more suppliers. Me and my bro have a half-completed (well, less than half completed really  ) air suspension system, which was an aborted project for the Merc. I'm now looking at the Mazda wagon thinking....hmmmm...... What I really need are second-hand bits, but they rarely seem to turn up! Ideally I need to find some airbags from a Yank tank. The rest of the system I can build from parts in the garage ;D Any ideas? Yank car breakers? 2nd hand airbags? |
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May 29, 2005 12:17:35 GMT
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couldn't somthing be modded from the citeron air suspension?
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May 29, 2005 13:17:50 GMT
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DS engineering might be able to help...Steve (the boss) is a custom/hot rodder/Morris Minor expert underneath all of the Max Power/Modern J stuff. He's based just down the road from me too. www.dsengineering.co.uk |
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Bags?rustingdeathtrap
@GUEST
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May 29, 2005 13:23:51 GMT
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Rayvern hydraulics are the people to see. Cant remember his website though  |
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GrumpyOldMan
Part of things
Addicted to unreliable cars ?!
Posts: 182
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May 29, 2005 14:04:33 GMT
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couldn't somthing be modded from the citeron air suspension? No... Citroens have a hydro-pneumatic suspension system that would be very complex (near impossible) to install to a normally-suspended car. |
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Kris
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,631
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May 29, 2005 14:58:28 GMT
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Panda Matt
Part of things
Datsun Owners Club Wannabe
Posts: 734
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May 29, 2005 15:26:24 GMT
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Dead helpful and knowledgeable as well in my (admittedly limited) experience |
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May 29, 2005 18:46:02 GMT
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Ive never really looked but what about a set of air bags of a late model classic range rover or mk2 range rover. don't know how much they would be from a scrap yard though
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May 29, 2005 20:00:41 GMT
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forget bags mate ;D
if your going for a home developed system could you not use the cylinders from a w123 estate?
should find some in the scrappy, plenty of travel, the back of mines been scraping the floor and at least 2 feet off!
I'm sure your good self or street could sort out the mountings for the cylinders.not sure what else you might need though, me not really knowing what I'm talking about ;D ;D ;D
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Bags?BenzBoy
@benzboy
Club Retro Rides Member 7
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May 29, 2005 22:04:45 GMT
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Thanks for the feedback! I'll check out those links.  tonycocacola - I like your thinking. I might yank the rear suspension out of a 123 to have a look-see. The reason I was gonna go for bags is that it's relatively simple compared to hydraulics, plus the bags can replace the springs completely and won't totally screw the ride up. i.e.: I'll still have some sort of give in the suspension.... I looked at HGV bags but they're waaay too big and of course operate under totally different circumstances (i.e.: under a f*ckin' gret truck!). People who break Range Rovers tend to know the value of the bags and charge accordingly - it'd be better to get a new set of bags at £60 a corner than pay £50 each for RR bags from a breakers  I'll not be ripping the Mazda apart quite yet (I kind of need it!) but as a long-ish term project I just wanted to dip me toe in the water, so to speak.  ;D |
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fantastic idea dean, lovin that. you can get donut bags for the front struts easy enuf i think, there was some on ebay a while back so keep checkin. i think you might have to get rams on the back tho bein leaf springs.was pondering when i had her about the possibilty of capri 2.8i single leafs and lowering blocks.also single leafs are much easier to get decambered than multis.
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"quote hairnet"
I'm not paying nine pound for a pi$$!
[/quote]
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Bags?BenzBoy
@benzboy
Club Retro Rides Member 7
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May 30, 2005 10:24:53 GMT
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Would be great wouldn't it? ;D The "scrappy bag system" has been designed, and consists of an air-con compressor (already fitted to this engine!) hooked up to an air tank (cheap enough new anyway). Solenoids have been sourced by street's mate whose family business is hydraulics and air systems (useful!), so all we really need is the actual airbags  . The compressor would be activated by a pressure switch in the tank, just as in a custom system.... I looked at the compressors sold by MaxHydraulics and I can't see any difference between them and an air-con compressor. They both have an electro-magnetic clutch and are belt-driven. The only difference is the aftermarket ones are £500+ and this pump is free!  |
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May 30, 2005 11:25:05 GMT
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do it do it do it
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"quote hairnet"
I'm not paying nine pound for a pi$$!
[/quote]
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May 30, 2005 13:11:27 GMT
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Great minds think alike, and so do ours If everything had gone to plan the sapporo would be on axle stands at the momment with a set of airbags going in, unfortunatly I'm in the process of moving house so I've decided to leave it for now just incase it wasn't ready for RCS. Basicly what I've found out so far is that if you have seperate coil and damper units fitted all round then it's a fairly straight forward job to replace the coils for airbags but if like me you have mcpherson struts at the front it starts getting more complex. What I've decided to go for is a complete retro fit kit from dunlop which comes with four bags, electric pump, reservoir, full wiring harness, airlines and a switch panel with four switches and two pressure gauges. Then I've got to measure the tyre postition to bottom spring cup clearance and the top cup to arch clearance of the front struts (to maximize the drop) , take the struts off and send them to AVO who will then remove the coil spring cups and replace them with airbag mounts, supply and fit new sealed front inserts and matching rears (mine are shot). then its a case of fitting all the new bits and welding in some bag locators to the rear axle. It's going to work out a little cheaper for me 'cos I'll be doing most of the work myself but it's still a large lump of wedge As for doing it on a budget, phone around the VW/Audi breakers and try and find an Audi allroad (A6 based estate) these came with adjustable airbags allround and you could probably rob the air pump (located on the rear axle) and the reservoir from in the boot. I'd avoid using an air con compressor myself as you really don't need anything that big and you'd also need to keep it lubricated which might affect the airbags? only thinking out loud on this one, I don't know for sure |
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Bags?BenzBoy
@benzboy
Club Retro Rides Member 7
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May 30, 2005 17:38:00 GMT
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Good call on the Audi Allroad . I also thought about Mercedes suspension as the old S-Class had air suspension on some models (but they fetch Mercedes prices!). If I can find a Yank car breakers (or even get some off eBay.com) they could be cheaper. I'm not particularly bothered about it being a fast system, just the ability to slam it into the tarmac when the mood takes me! The air-con compressor should be a sealed, self lubing unit, although there are different types. Some spit oil into the air outlet which means you need to fit some sort of oil catch tank. Using AC compressors for compressed air applications isn't totally new - there was a guy who built an on-board air compressor system into his Land Rover so he could use air tools and pump the tyres up "in the field" so to speak. What's even more amazing about his system was that he used the roll-cage as a compressed air tank!!!  This was always the danger - the 929 is supposed to be my daily hack and here I am thinking of modding it! |
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Last Edit: May 30, 2005 17:38:49 GMT by BenzBoy
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May 30, 2005 17:43:29 GMT
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or u could just drop the curse word in da weeds and leave it there m8 ;D |
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"quote hairnet"
I'm not paying nine pound for a pi$$!
[/quote]
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May 30, 2005 18:01:45 GMT
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Around where I live, the usual lowering method is to leave the car outdoors overnight.
In the morning, it will be sitting around a brick's height off the ground...just remove the bricks and you'll be rollin' on your discs/drums....
*n
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Top grammar tips!
Bought = purchased. Brought = relocated
Lose = misplace/opposite of win. Loose = your mum
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May 30, 2005 19:44:05 GMT
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sorry to go off topic here but I have been thinking for a while now about running an air con pump as an air compressor on my pajero but don't know a lot about them.
I have a spare 35 litre air receiver I was going to mount in my boot. What sort of pressure can they go upto and what is the approx CFM. I just think it would be pretty handy at autotests for tyre changes and air tools etc.
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Bags?BenzBoy
@benzboy
Club Retro Rides Member 7
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May 30, 2005 20:29:48 GMT
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I reckon any air-con pump should kick out enough flow to fill a 35 litre tank. All you need to do is fix up a pressure switch to the tank connected to the electromagnetic clutch on the unit, so when the tank is charged it knocks it off, and when pressure gets low, it activates the pump.
From what I can see, the engine-run pumps on airbag systems are just the same as a Delco aircon pump. Those electric ones don't kick out as much air, but it just means that the tank takes longer to fill when it gets depleted.
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) air suspension system, which was an aborted project for the Merc. I'm now looking at the Mazda wagon thinking....hmmmm......
;D
. The compressor would be activated by a pressure switch in the tank, just as in a custom system....
