Caddy help

[frog_spud]

I have a 76 Cadillac Eldo convertible. I' m pretty sure there isn' t a kit offered for it. Does anyone know how to set-up a bag system on the front of these. Not sure on location and angles to mount a bag or shockwave. I' m sure that with a 500 cu.in. engine and mile long nose that it isn' t the lightest either. Just needing some help and/or suggestions.

Thanks, Brook

[ShadyGirl82]

if nothing else...
i dont know where yoru from. but the shop of drop (in PA) can airbag ANYTHING!!!
412-377-4469
or shopofdrop@hotmail.com :)
i dont think they have a website, but im not 100% sure...

[frog_spud]

Thanks, but that' s a little far. I' m from MO, just a few minutes south of KC, but i' m not looking to hire a shop. I know how to use a welder and trust my work over anybody else' s. Just thought somebody might know about how to go about this. Oh well.

[B.J.]

??Coils front and rear, right?? You might check out or installers kit' s. I would suggest something like the F6873' s all the way around. As far as ' bag angles, you' ll want to fab the brackets so that the bags are as square and as vertical as possible. And of course, not rubbing on anything.

http://www.ridetech.com/productinfo/customcomponents.asp

[Mick]

Hey

I have a 74 eldorado convertible and I am trying to bag her at the moment.

The rear is easy of course, for the front I am thinking of using Shockwaves mounted to the existing shock absorber moint on the lower A arm and then making a new top mount that is taller and further outboard than the existing mount.

The main issues are:
The shockwave may not be long enough to clear the upper A arm
The shockwave may be too big in diameter to clear the upper a arm
The 6.5" shockwave may not handle the weight (depends on the leverage of the A arm).
The shock mounting point on the lower A arm may not be strong enough to carry the weight.

What do you think??

Mick.

[Mick]

Rear end is coils, front end is torsion bars, due to front wheel drive. There is a big drive shaft running thru the centre of the A arm, which is where the air bag should go. Problem.......

[B.J.]

Mick is right, those are all potential problems...I suggest checking out the tech. info for the ShockWaves and do some measuring to see where/how they' ll fit.

http://www.ridetech.com/productinfo/shockwave_techinfo.asp

[Mick]

Can you get a Strongarm made up to replace the upper A arm?? This would help - it would give the shockwave more clearance.

Does anyone know what the front axle weight is on one of these big boats??

Kerb weight is about 5000 pounds, I a geussing maybe 3000 pounds on the front axle??

[Mick]

One more thing - what is the diameter of the shock absorber part of the shockwave?? it is not on the tech page.

Can you get a shockwave that has about 9" clearance from the bottom mounting point to the bottom of the bag.

In the catalouge the max distance is 6" .

[darren@ridetech.com]

I think we may be able to accomodate that. give us a call.

[Mick]

Its a bit hard to call due to time zone difference, but I will try tomorrow morning.

In the mean time if you have a drawing of SKW1025 with dimensions that you can email or put on the web site that would be handy. Looking at the picture it looks about perfect.

Also will the F9100 bag be suitable for the rear end of the caddy??

Thanks
Mick.

[darren@ridetech.com]

That is kinda what I was thinking of.

[Mick]

OK, Does not look like the long shockwaves are gonna fit, even with custom upper arms there is not enough clearance to get the shockwave past the driveshaft on the RH side due to the torsional absorber on the driveshaft.

How about this-

Use the medium length custom shockwave mounted to the upper A arm just outboard of the ball joint. Use a custom upper mount way up high near the top of the gaurd.

The main problems with this is that:

1) The upper A arm ball joint is much smaller than the lower. I would geuss that it is not designed to carry the weight of the whole car, the lower ball joint is (the torsion bar is connected to the lower arm.)

2) The leverage of the mounting point on the upper arm is much worse than the point on the lower arm. There is not enough room for an 8" bag, and the 6.5" will struggle due to leverage.

My proposed solution to this is to leave the torsion bars in place and wind them right down, I think I will have to make a new adjuster nut that allows the car to lay the rails (or go within 1" of the ground). That way the torsion bars are still carrying a lot of the weight of the front end (estimated 3000 LB).

The question is: how will the air spring react to only carrying a varying proportion of the front end of the car - when the ride height is low low low the torsion bars will carry a lot of load, jack her up and the shockwaves will carry a lot more of the load. I geuss this coudl make the ride a lot harder?? Will this even work???

Also am I right about the upper ball joint?? will it handle what I am thinking of.

Sorry about the long post dude, but I am dealing with a complex install here!!

Mick.

[Mick]

Any chance of a reply guys?

Mick.

[darren@ridetech.com]

Sorry Mick, didn' t see the post. I think you are correct about the upper ball joint and to go along with that the upper arm is not desinged to handle the weight of the vehicle.
On our dually kit we use a 1/2 ton torsion bar along with a Shockwave and it rides great.

[Mick]

Echoing what homegrownhalfton was asking - can I use the shockwave as a compression bump stop, or do I need an external one?

Can the shockwave act as the upper " bump stop" or travel limiter if you like. I am not phrasing this well.... With still using the torsion bar the suspension will want to travel past the max length of the shockwave - is this ok??

I am planning on running 6.5" shockwaves on the front, 7" bags on the rear and I am very restricted on space for a tank. What is the absolute minimum tank size that you would run to inflate this combo?? I was hoping to get away with 2 gal - what do you think??

Mick.

[darren@ridetech.com]

The Shockwave does have and internal bumpstop and can be used as the extension limiter. But if the Shockwave is able to bottom out or top out while driving it will eventually damage the Shockwave. I would recommend at least a 3 gallon tank. I don' t think that a 2 will be enough to get the car up in one shot...but that just depends on the air pressure needed.

I am very restricted on space
What are you talking about...It' s a 74 Caddy!!! Too many dead bodies in the trunk???

[Mick]

The trunk in the convertibles is pretty useless, it is not very deep for starters, then a lot of room is taken up by the roof, then you have a big muther fokka spare tyre on one side (mine does not have a space saver) and then mine is on LPG (i think you guys call it propane), and the LPG tank is like another mother fokker big spare tyre on the other side. Then you have the big arse jack to lift the thing, then you have the fiberglass covers that go over the roof well when the roof is down.

So I need to either mince the dead bodies, and pack them in around all that stuff, else I prop them up in the front seat so I can use the car pool lane, although the flies are annoying when you stop at the lights.

So basically I should fit an external bump stop and extension stop?? How the hell do you make an extension stop??

Mick.

[darren@ridetech.com]

No. You don' t need extension limiters and bump stop as long as you drive it at ride height.
BTW mate this is an American forum...it is spelled " tire" .[8D]

[Mick]

No, I' m sorry but tire means " to grow weary" . The round black things attached to your rims are called Tyres. :D

Lets get this straight - either you can use the shockwave as a bump and extension stop or you cant. To say " you can use it, but dont use it" is not real useful information. She is so heavy that she will bottom out even at normal ride height, especially on these roads out here.

I think i will fit a compression bump stop that acts on the lower A arm anyhow, just to aviod big stresses on the upper A arm, but you need to tell people exactly what the gear is capable of in service so that we can build a reliable system. This has got to last a long time, this is gonna cost big $$$$ and I dont want to be replacing the shockwaves in a few years because she bottoms out once every 100km. (62 miles!!)

Cheers
Mick.

[darren@ridetech.com]

Ocassional bottoming out will not damage it. It' s the constant bottoming out when driven deflated that will cause the damage. Same on the extension. It doesn' t matter what kind of shock you have. If it is not used at the proper height, either the shock or the mounts will break.