1965 thunderbird

[mxriderae]

Hi guys am new to this forums .. well am working on my project car which is 1965 thunderbird
so am willing to buy airbags for it .. does airride do the kit for my car .. please anyone advise me
the second Q is that i don`t know how does these work .. i will take it to my local workshop to do it for me .. thanx

[mxriderae]

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[svtjackal]

well it's the holidays and they probably are at the goodguys event in iowa give them some time you are not going to find better air bag products anywhere else

i am ready to order a kit for my Lightning and they haven't answer my PM since yesterday but I know that they are busy and I am not going to find a better kit anywhere else.

[mxriderae]

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[Alistair Davidson]

Hi, I have a 62 Thunderbird with Shockwaves and air over leaf, all Air Ride.

I have had brillinat service from Air ride, the parts are excellent and I'm very happy with the result. I had a problem with the kit's install and air ride went out of its way to sort it, and even sent a new bottom mount bracket to New Zealand at no charge to make good.

If you are going to base your buying decison on not getting a response to a post in eight working hours, it's your loss.

[darren@ridetech.com]

Yes, we do make a kit specifically for your car. On the front we use our Shockwaves, part # SKW2023. The Shockwaves have the shock right inside the air spring and will bolt in place of you existing coil/shock setup. For the back we use an Air Over Leaf kit. Part # ARR20500.

[mxriderae]

Yes, we do make a kit specifically for your car. On the front we use our Shockwaves, part # SKW2023. The Shockwaves have the shock right inside the air spring and will bolt in place of you existing coil/shock setup. For the back we use an Air Over Leaf kit. Part # ARR20500.
i saw Scott`s pictures and there is a car as mine .. i want the same setting
and do u have international shipping ?

[mxriderae]

i want this setting

http://www.alshohooh-upload.com/uploads/images/alshohooh-7694c8fa64.jpg (http://www.alshohooh-upload.com/uploads/images/alshohooh-7694c8fa64.jpg)

[LowerdinWeeds]

I own a 66 thunderbird and was looking into this very kit. I believe the front suspension is the same. Just wondering about that pic of the black tbird above... is that car mini tubbed or.... what size rims are those? In order to get that stance would you have to run a straightened rear leaf set up? Or is that converted to a 4 link?
My rears are 20x10 but I still had them made so that there is lots of room in behind the wheels.. lots of dish too.

Here is a pic of my t-bird in need of bags. There are a few guys in a thunderbird forum that I belong to that are interested so instead of being a lerker like I have for the past year I figured Id join and help get some answers for the others.

http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v72/87/20/528525169/n528525169_125272_1245.jpg

[Alistair Davidson]

Hi there

Nice looking car

I'm not sure if you car's suspension is the same as my '62's. I used the Airride front Shockwave Tbird kit, but made custom lower mounting brackets so that the shockwave is mounted down through the hole in the upper A-arm.

Out back is a basic Airride Air over leaf package, with two flattened rear leafs, two-inch lowering blocks, and fabricated single control arms each side to prevent axle wrap-up

I initially used a single leaf, and while it sat a bit lower, the rear leaf cracked after three month's use. The kit's instructions said to use two leafs, which i chose to ignore (:

The air management is a bunch of stuff I got from suicide doors - two Viair compresors, a small tank that sits under the rear parcel tray, and 1/2" SMC valves. No fancy computer, just four two-way momentary on/off toggle switches for the bags, one on/off for the compressor, and two gauges all mounted in a panel that replaces the ashtray in the centre console.

I've done just under 10,000kms in the first year of it being on the road and am pleased with the way it rides and handles, plus I got excellent help and advice from Air Ride. The product has been reliable and works well.

Cheers

[darren@ridetech.com]

Looks good Alistair!

[rally7]

Very Nice! I've got a '66 with the T-Bird Shock Wave setup. What kind of pressures do you run up front. I peeked at the "DO NOT OPEN" package and didnt see the optimum ride height for the SKW2023 shock waves.

[darren@ridetech.com]

Ride height pressure will vary directly to vehicle weight. The easiest thing to do is put it at about 60% travel (just over half way up). I usually just measure from the fender to the ground. Most Shockwaves setups will have about 5" of travel at the wheel. So, that would put you at about 3" from fully compressed and 2" from topping them out. About 6-8 clicks on the shocks will be a good starting point. Drive the car a bit, then remeasure as the suspsension will settle a bit.

[rally7]

So just to make sure I understand this correctly the process would be something like this:

1. Get the car on level ground and deflate the bags
2. measure the distance from the ground to the top of the wheel arch (on both sides)
3. Inflate the bags until the car rises 3 inches from the original measurement (again on both sides)
4. Drive car and then recheck measurements and adjust.

Is that correct?

[darren@ridetech.com]

Yep... but check to make sure you have the full 5" of travel just to be sure we aren't topping the shocks out.

[Alistair Davidson]

I've got a '66 with the T-Bird Shock Wave setup. What kind of pressures do you run up front. I.

Hi
I run 80 to 85psi which I've found to be a good balance between ride and handling. My Shockwaves only have the single adjustment, which I set at 8 clicks.