50 Chevy air ride rear suspension

[50 F1]

A friend of mine is planning on putting air ride rear suspension in his 50 Chevy Business Mans Coupe.   He has never done it before and is looking for information. He would like to find a site on the internet that gives info on what bags are best for different application, what air pressures, what ride height the bags should be set at for the best ride when its at ride height.  He already has mounted a triangulated 4 bar set up.

I spent about a hour on the internet looking for info but i could not find much.

Has anyone got a site I could tell him about or any knowledge about this.

All he want to do is cruise at ride height that he has set up and then if he is at a show let some air out of it so it will be lower.  And he just wants to do this manually with some kind of dash mounted pressure gauge and control.

Thanks Mike

[rumrumm]

I would recommend this website:

www.ridetech.com

I have not used their products, but they have a fairly extensive website with a lot of information.

[GPster]

Rod and Custom is working on one of those old Chevys and had an article not long ago where they were using a rear suspension set-up like the old Chevy trucks (and NASCAR) that had the long traction arms and coil springs. I think the set-up kit was going to be used with air bags. Start him looking at R&C of about 6 months ago and that may give him some help. I'll look through my archives (stack of magazines) and see if I can't narrow down a date for you. GPster

[enjenjo]

To do what he wants to do, and if it's rear only, it's fairly simple. For the control, he will need two electric dump valves, and a single pole double throw switch. One valve airs it up, and the other lets the air off. A gauge mounted in the car will give you an idea of the pressure on the rear bags, however the pressure needed will vary with the load. Two passengers, vs four passengers, a trunk full of luggage or even a full fuel tank can change the ride height. If he doesn't want to bother manually adjusting the ride height, he can use a leveling valve in the rear, and it will self adjust going down the road, and he can still override it when parking or cruising.

[GPster]

Rod and Custom is working on one of those old Chevys and had an article not long ago where they were using a rear suspension set-up like the old Chevy trucks (and NASCAR) that had the long traction arms and coil springs. I think the set-up kit was going to be used with air bags. Start him looking at R&C of about 6 months ago and that may give him some help. I'll look through my archives (stack of magazines) and see if I can't narrow down a date for you. GPster

I checked back issues and it wasn't what I thought. It was in an issue in the middle of 2011 and it was in an older Chevy. It appears to be a somewhat adaptable kit by the Jemanez Bros. It was with air bags so it might be good reading but if he's already made a 4 link set-up  hes probably well on his way. GPster

[50 F1]

Thanks for the info. I will give it to my friend.   Haven't seen him much lately, I have been hauling corn and sugar beets. Got a rain day today.

Thanks Mike