frame rubbing hole in airbag

[chad_sslt1]

i currently have an air bag setup on my 94 impala ss. it has the smaller firestone airbags in the front but the frame still rubs a hole in airbag and takes forever to get enough air in the bags to raise it up. i dont really wanna cut the frame, and put the bigger bags in. Is there any other way to fix this problem?

thanks
chad

[Low Rodder]

What kinda of system are you running in the front? Factory Control Arms?

The rise time can be affested by a lot of things. The iron head LT1 under the hood is one reason. Larger air line will help you inflate faster. A higher psi in the tank will help also. Shock selection can affect your rise and release time.

[chad_sslt1]

Just a firestone bag and a shock up front, so it still has the factory control arms. I have 1/2 inch lines. when i had the bigger bags in the front it raised up nice. With the smaller bags, it seems like my 2 viviar compressors cant put air in the tank fast enough.

[Low Rodder]

The larger bags are designed to run a higher psi. If you are inflating the smaller bags to the same psi, they could be pushing past their "optimum" inflation and slowing down the inflation rate as you get higher in the psi range. How much psi are you running?

You can also try experimenting with new A-arms. I'm not aware of anyone that make tubular arms for bags on the Impala but you should check around.

[britt@ridetech.com]

Our CoolRide kits use the 6.5" diameter Firestone air springs. So I know they will lift the vehicle off the ground.

The larger bags are not designed to run a higher pressure. All our kits are desinged to run around 100psi (some are slightly above, some below, but in general). The larger air spring has more volume and is capable of lifting more wieght (when talking about double convoluted style air springs.)

Depending on the system used in your car the air springs may not be placed in the optimal position on the lower a-arm, thereby increasing the motion ratio, requiring the air spring to lift more weight than if the bag were in a different position with a lower motion ratio.
You will also want to check for suspension bind. Did you over tighten the a-arm bolts? Does the suspension move freely when placed on jack stands? Is anything hitting when the suspension moves through full travel?

Are you using Air Ride Technologies parts? How much pressure does it take to get the bag to an inflated height of 5-inches (NOTE: this is BAG height, not height of vehicle).

[chad_sslt1]

when i had the bigger bags in, i could run around 60-70 psi and it rode really smooth. with the smaller bags i have to put atleast 115 psi in just to get the front end up enough to turn a corner and it rides really rough

[britt@ridetech.com]

Are you using our parts? Are they Firestone bags? If not, who's bags are they? What bags were you using previously (you say it rode great with larger air springs). I need this info to tell you if you have the correct air springs. If you have bags that are too small they will not work. They'll take a higher pressure to get to ride height, causing the spring rate to be quite high. The high spring rate produces a rough ride.

[chad_sslt1]

The bigger bags were the firestone 224C 2600lbs, and the smaller ones are the 255C 2500lbs. I ordered them from MIC.

[darren@ridetech.com]

How tall is the air spring at 115psi?

[chad_sslt1]

i have no idea how tall the air spring is. im sure its pretty tall tho. my battery is dead, so i cant even raise it up to check. does air ride have bags that would work better on my car? could i put the shockwaves on the front?

[darren@ridetech.com]

We use that same air spring on that car, but it normally takes less than 100psi to pick it up to ride height. I think that you are having to over inflate the airspring to get it to the height that you want to drive it at. Sounds like your brackets are probably too short. Air spring height will tell us that for sure tho. What size tank do you have?

[chad_sslt1]

well i have 22 inch rims on it, that might make alittle bit of a difference too. i have a 5 gallon air tank.

[darren@ridetech.com]

please......measure you air spring height.

[chad_sslt1]

at 140 psi (which is what i drive it at) the air spring is around 7 inches tall

[britt@ridetech.com]

Yeah, that airspring has an installed (ride height) of 4.5-5-inches and a max height of 7-inches. So you have to overinflate the bag to raise the vehicle to the height you want. The proper way to fix this is to make taller bag brackets so your ride height places the air spring at 4.5-5-inches (which will drop your pressure down to a reasonable range).

[darren@ridetech.com]

That's definitely the problem. It may be easier to put a 2" spacer under the air spring. It will ride a ton better as well. Make sure that the shock is at about mid travel at the same time, but don't let the suspension bottom out on it.

[chad_sslt1]

where can i get 2 inch spacers?