Air Ride on a daily driver

[RussB]

I have just about made up my mind to go with an Air Ride system. I would like some help with how well the air suspension works for a daily driver. I hear a lot about people putting the Air Ride on custome vehicles and hot rods but not as much about daily drivers. I don' t want to put myself in a position of not having my daily driver up and running because of a failure on the air system. Can anyone share their success or failure with putting air under a daily driver? Is it a dependable system? Does extream weather conditions effect the system, really cold or really hot? I just need a little more info before taking the plunge.

[threeimpalas]

An air suspension can work great under a daily driven vehicle, provided that it is properly installed and uses quality components. It won' t be affected in flucuations in the weather and works fine in the heat and cold seen in the contiguous US.

I live in the Midwest where we have pretty cold winters and hot humid summers. The solenoids are unaffected by these conditions; they don' t freeze in the winter, and are unfazed by the moisture in the air in the summer.

[RussB]

Thanks for the reply. I too live in the midwest and it can get really cold in the winter and very hot in the summer.

[kandied91z]

threeimpalas do you have any sort of filters on your system to help with extra moisture caused by hot and cold climates or is everything your given in these (ART) kits pretty much all you need?

[threeimpalas]

I don' t have any dessicant filters inline between the compressor and rest of the system. Haven' t had any moisture problems at all. It probably would be advisable to drain the tank of any condensation once a year though.

[C_Rox]

Most compressors that are sold come with an air filter/dryer already installed on them, to keep the moisture out of the tank & lines....

Keep It Pimpin
C_Rox

[imported_junk_runner_jr]

deffanily drain the tank more often than once a year. I used to run a Viair with no trap and I would drain about a half a cup a week out of mine. I have since upgraded to a York with a trap. It is no where near as bad but I still check it one a week.

[kandied91z]

york, haven' t heard of them...how was it an upgrade and if you had that much trouble with the viar why not put a filter on it?

[imported_junk_runner_jr]

The viair was no trouble I just drained the tank once in a while. I have my pop off valve on the bottom of the tank so I would just open it a little. I still have the Viair in place as a back up. The York is an engine dirven compressor that puts out crazy amounts of air.

[threeimpalas]

deffanily drain the tank more often than once a year. I used to run a Viair with no trap and I would drain about a half a cup a week out of mine. I have since upgraded to a York with a trap. It is no where near as bad but I still check it one a week.

Either you live in an extremely humid place, or you run your compressor a LOT. I wouldn' t get half a cup of water a year out of my 3 gallon tank with the Thomas compressor. Our large 60 gallon, 4 hp shop compressor doesn' t even drain half a cup a week, and it gets used a LOT.

[imported_junk_runner_jr]

alot of both

[MonzaRacer]

Well I never had any problems with the system when I had Air ride one the rear of my 71 Monte Carlo. Its still functional but the car is wrecked so I intend to design a mount and put them on my 75 Monza. Oh and when I get ready I am gonna buld the plates to add Air Ride to the front also. I really dont think you will have any problems with water but you should check for water in system and a little air brake antifreeze could be used in the tank (IF you have water problems!) dont worry it wont hurt the tank or nothing as its only alcohol and evaporates.
as for the York compressor its the old square A/C compressor found on older 70' s Ford cars and trucks. Any good compressor with an oil sump (read : oil pan) to hold lubricating oil for the compressor. But if using one of these I would look for some A/C compressor oil called ROC oil, it doesnt absorb moisture like PAG or Ester oil used in A/C systems. It also has some good points as it runs cooler and lubes better.
Another good compressor used on lots of 60' s,70' s,80' cars is an A6 it also uses a sump holding 10 oz of oil and has good reliability and you can still get them in crome from street rod suppliers too.
I' m adding parralel Air Bars to the back of my 78C10 and soon will add Cool Ride to the front and some solenoids (maybe the leveling system and Ride ProE later too.
Lee

[kandied91z]

sounds like you' ve had a great amount of time with these setups...where did you learn all your info?