To all you full size chevy (impala's & caprice) owners with air ride....

I was wondering how much air it takes to get the car to ride height? Also does the front go up equally?I have a 63 impala on air and i have the air valves centered in the front so there is about equal amounts of air line going to each bag but it always seems that the passenger side goes up first, and i mean by a lot. I know some are gonna say cause i'm sitting on the driver side but this is from outside the car.... And my next question is i am running slam bags re's and it takes about 70psi to get the car off the ground and about 90psi for it to be enough for ride height. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated..

thanks

Josh

sounds like the bag isnt fully compressed when laid out. you switch from 13s and 18s in your profile pics, if it lays with the 18s and then you switch to 13s the bag isnt compressed as much as it was with the 18s... if its not fully compressed it will have to fill up that much more before the bag starts to lift the car.

you could have a balljoint binding causing it to come up un even. or the cups no seated the same way. does it sit level once both sides have the same psi?

I don't have the 14's on it anymore, 18/20. And it lays out on the lower a-arms (with stock bump stops removed and perches cut off). And no it does not sit level with same psi, one side needs more than the other. And when its laid out on the arms, its still has psi in the bags, not sure how much cause i'm at work and i havn't driven it in a few months but i know its 40 psi +.... I was just curious cause i have read on her some of the guys with full size trucks being able to ride on 20-30 psi and i figured the full size trucks weighed more than mine..

thanks

20-30psi?? They must be dragging the whole way, I am running 70-80 psi with Re8s and thats tucking 1" of tire.

Also my truck uses about 5-10 psi more on the passenger side then the driver side.

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ImpOnAir said:

I don't have the 14's on it anymore, 18/20. And it lays out on the lower a-arms (with stock bump stops removed and perches cut off). And no it does not sit level with same psi, one side needs more than the other. And when its laid out on the arms, its still has psi in the bags, not sure how much cause i'm at work and i havn't driven it in a few months but i know its 40 psi +.... I was just curious cause i have read on her some of the guys with full size trucks being able to ride on 20-30 psi and i figured the full size trucks weighed more than mine..

thanks



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your cups are not right. id say they are too short and not in the same way or different lengths, they are angled on these cars so it may be twisted. if your bag was fully compressed (3inches tall when laid out) a r7 would start to lift the car with just 15-20psi easy, maybe even less.

Hmmmm, i will check out my cups then, the front kit was from air ride technologies. Just upper cups and a plate across the bottom a-arm. Its been bagged for about 10 years but i have changed out valves a few times and re painted the car so all the components have been out several times. Plus the first time it was bagged i used the firestone bags. I appreciate the responses i just figured i would finally ask to see if anyone else had any of these issues. Ill have to take a look at the cups and plus i will have to have the car up on some ramps so i can watch to see if anything else binds when lifting/dropping.

thanks guys

Josh

You need to put the a sway bar back on the front and ALL YOUR PROBLEMS WILL BE GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everybody takes them off due to wheel fitment thinking the sway bar does not matter when in fact that is what links your front wheels together. How bad does it lean when you turn a corner with low air pressure?

Sounds like your problem stems from a myriad of things
, including the fact that you have a single valve in the front, you should have a valve for each wheel, and no tee fittings, you can also use an aftermarket sway bar setup, the factory one wont work

Adding two additional valves will not make the car raise level in the front, due to the weight difference on the passenger and driver sides. The factory sway bar with very minor modification will completely solve your problem. You said you had air ride technologies brackets, they make a sway bar for your ride that will work.

I do have individual valves up front for each wheel but i do have only one air line running to the front and then teeing off once up front. So just to recap, i have 4 valves up front, 2 per wheel, and one air line from back to front to a tee. lol The sway bar is on it, now it is the original one though. thanks for all the suggestions fella's...