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sup yall...
hey im really thinkin about bags and im just wondering who else is seriously think about doin it.. or allready has done it.. ive seen alot of people talking about it but no results...anywayz... people that are gunna do it what are the prices like and how much work is it to install???
Hope yall can help (grey..2k1civic ???)

 
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your looking at at least $1500-2500 just for the parts. lots of labor. i was at a car show last weekend and i was talking to a kid with a 00 si on bags. it was tight as hell but not worth it

 
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I'm seriously thinking of doing it. Take a look at Joe Vitale's ride at www.lowonair.com (he's known as lowonair here on 7thgtencivic.com) for some pics. I'm planning on doing a bag over shock setup. Probably bags in front and tubes in the rear (I don't know which is better where yet). I'll have a small storage tank mounted in the back under the car (I don't want it to be visible). I'll have a small compressor mounted somewhere near the tank (this should all fit under the car opposite the muffler). Then you need hoses leading from the bags to these selenoid valves. They can be anywhere you like, but the hoses should be equal in length for front and for the back. You need one valve to release the air from the bags into the air (haha) and one valve that opens up the path from the storage tank to the bags.

That's basically what I'm thinking of doing. The mounting of the bags in place of the springs will be the hardest thing to do. I'll either need to custom fabricate some kind of brackets, or maybe I could find the right size bags so that I wouldn't need to do much custom work. I don't know the details yet. I want the switch to look OEM. I'll probably buy one like the cruise control switch and mount it in the empty location. I'll rub out the cruise control text and put in ride height (or something else) in the same font. Should be cool. I'll have it activate the inflation valve on being depressed and activate the deflation valve on being un-depressed (I'm missing the appropriate word here). I also need to have the compressor activate when the pressure is too low so that it can add to the storage tank and de-activate when the pressure is too high so that it can stop inflation of the bags (I'm not sure how to do this yet, probably some sort of pressure trip switch).

Then you need to wire up the selenoids that control those valves to that switch (they better be 12v selenoids, I don't want to play around with voltage regulation). The bag over shock setup is nice 'cause space isn't wasted and they'll be inline with the direction of suspension travel. This will be tricky to make too though. The seal betwean the shock and the bag must withstand the pressure of the inflation and of the spikes in pressure over bumps. The shock will need to travel in and out, so it has to be within the bag. The bag will basically act as a spring would and the shock will dampen the compressions so that the ride isn't too bumpy. I have to figure out the stock spring rates in front and in back and buy bags that have the same spring rates at a certain inflation pressure.

Of course, there are probably details that I haven't mentioned, but this for the most part is it. A pressure guage for the whole system would be nice as well. This would help in calibration at the onset, and then maybe you can have a different control system that lets you raise and lower the car as much as you like? I only need up and down though. My setup will cost me a pretty penny. I'de say $150 - $200 for the compressor (maybe less if I buy used). The selenoid valves might be $50 - $100 a piece for ones designed especially for air rides. I'de either get ones that I could make myself, or ones not meant for air rides (maybe this price could go down to $25 - $50 per selenoid and valve). Then there's the hoses, probably braided stainless steel is what I'de go for (mcmaster.com is the place to buy); this could be had for around $100. Something cheaper is possible, but why not splurge on something that's going to look good? Then there's the tank. Anything could be used as a tank. Even a discarded fire extinguisher. All it needs is the right pressure rating. This could be anywhere from $25 - $50. Then there are the bags themselves. They go for anywhere from $100 - $200 per bag.

So, the total for the endeavour is anywhere from $700 - $1400 just for the parts. Then there's all the fabrication... Sounds kinda icky, but the results will be nice. Plus, the air bags (air springs is the correct term) will ride better than stock if their compression length is the same. There's a type of air spring out there that has a compression length almost as mush as a hydraulic setup. I need to do more research, but this is what I have my eyes on.

 
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i've been looking into this too, alot of places have bolt on parts so you wont need custom fabrication. unlike grey's they replace both shock and spring. i have no idea how grey's would work, cause where would you but the bags and where would you put the shocks? well i guess its a different kind, cause they have so many different type of airbags.... there's your standard airbag(also like 3 different kinds), air cylinder/air rod, n there's air struts. the ones i were looking at are airstruts. costs about 1500-2000 for a slow set up, if you want a faster one it'll probably be $500 more cause the fast valves are 100 each n you need 4. oh n they already have pressure regulators(makes sure your bags have enough pressure in them). oh n for air struts you dont need selenoids, i think you need them for aircylinders tho.

 
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I have looked into to this for a long *** time.... and from what i found out from a couple places in cali that i get parts from is that yeah they make the tubes for are cars but the rod will break in half with in six months For a good set up it would cost me 1200 which is my cost, kit retails fro 2k. I finally found a good shop in dayton ohio that has a bag over strut. I plan on going down there this friday to check there cars out.

John

 
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First of all, I hate air bags. They ride like sh ***. Maybe you should have bought a minitruck? But you seem to be putting a lot of thought into this, so here are some things you might want to consider.

How are you going to put shocks in the middle of bags? Im pretty certain that you are going to have to buy strutbags or air rods. Those arent cheap. Now, you've got the right idea with stainless hoses if you can find hose with the right fittings for everything. The biggest problem with air ride is melted hoses. That and leaks from those 'push together' fittings.

Have fun turning!!! With a single valve settup like that, everything is linked together, so when you go to make say, a hard left turn, all the air will be pushed out of the right side bags and into the left side bags causing body roll... the way to solve that is to either have one valve set per corner, or maybe to link each side into a pair.

Dont skimp or buy a used compressor, thats the first thing that will break. Make sure you look at the compressors duty cycle, which says how long it can be used, if you repeatedly exceed that duty cycle, you will not have a compressor anymore. Also, make sure you isolate it as much as you can. Compressors vibrate a lot, and are VERY loud if not isolated from the body well.

Put the largest tank you can fit under your car. This goes along with the the compressor thing... you will be suprised how little a 3 gallon tank will raise your car. Also accumulators are worth considering, they will help smooth the ride out a little.

 
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<< Have fun turning!!! With a single valve settup like that, everything is linked together, so when you go to make say, a hard left turn, all the air will be pushed out of the right side bags and into the left side bags causing body roll... the way to solve that is to either have one valve set per corner, or maybe to link each side into a pair. >>



Oh yeah, I forgot that you have to isolate everything, or else the air in each bag has a way to escape into the other bags. Hum... Four valves it is then.



<< Dont skimp or buy a used compressor, thats the first thing that will break. Make sure you look at the compressors duty cycle, which says how long it can be used, if you repeatedly exceed that duty cycle, you will not have a compressor anymore. Also, make sure you isolate it as much as you can. Compressors vibrate a lot, and are VERY loud if not isolated from the body well. >>



Okay, thanks for the tip. I'll isolate the compressor from the body with a rubber mounting plate, or maybe I'll hang the compressor sort of like an exhaust hangs?



<< Put the largest tank you can fit under your car. This goes along with the the compressor thing... you will be suprised how little a 3 gallon tank will raise your car. Also accumulators are worth considering, they will help smooth the ride out a little. >>



Really? Hum... Yeah, I heard that from others too, but I discounted it thinking that maybe they were talking about continued use. Maybe not though. Thanks for this tip as well. Bigger is better I guess? Although if I had a compressor that filled up the reserve tank fast enough maybe I could get away with a smaller tank?

 
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first i hope this thread stays up for a while cuz its gunna take me a while to save up the bones.thanks for all those tips cuz i didnt realize how much work there was to this... here in houston there isnt crap on bags so ill have to talk to alot of people to get some progress done on it... maybe ill take it out of town and talk to some body shop.. cuz all the place around here dont know crap.i cant wait to see some of yalls set-ups when there done... good luck...hope someone gets it done so all the mess-ups are figured out before i try... thanks again.....
~Shane

 
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My brother in law owns a shop that does this kind of custom work, and his suggestion was air rods all the way around with accumulators, two 5 gallon tanks and two compressors. He said that one five gallon tank would probably get the car up once, maybe twice before the compressor would kick on.

 
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Do you have a picture of an air rod? What is an air rod? Can you describe it? [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/IMG]

 
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air rod / air cylinder - pretty much the same thing.... just different manufacturers calling them different things

 
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Here's a pic of an air rod or air cylinder. You will probably want to use these on the back. You cant use these on the front.

 
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air rods are like air bags but they are not fexible, they're made of metal not rubber or whatever airbags are made of. they replace the shock, not too sure how it would work with lowering tho, cause it'll only go as low as the springs allow... so ya i think the best one would be strutbags. n of course you get seperate valves for all corners, what idiot wouldn't... n tanks dont costs that much anyways so shoo i'd get my whole trunk full of em, hehe j/p. but ya i would have atleast a 5 gallon with 2 compressors. its not like imma be switching every second, i could wait till the tank re-ups