Air Shocks in the front?

Just wondering about putting air shocks on the front of my truck. I've got them in the rear and love them. Whayya think?

Ok, another one. I was pondering the question, "I wonder how air shocks in the front would be with no torsions up front?" So whayya think about that one?

I need lowered shocks of course for my front. But I was wondering, does it hurt air shocks to be compressed like it does stock gassers?

nah, the little shock replacement air shocks wont work very well on the front, not to mention the shock tower wasnt made to hold the weight of the truck. Niether was the lower shock mount.

To do it right you'd want longer shocks, and to rebuild the upper and lower mounts to hold the weight. Might as well bag it.

Here recently I've seen a thread about "how they did it before bags". Anyone got any better details on how people did air shock set ups then?

I really want to know if air shocks would be "ok" instead of the lowered gas shocks for my front end...with the torsions still in. I don't plan to ride around on the shocks alone all the time, I just like the ability to raise it if needed for a short stint down a road or something....like down dirt drive ways or rough roads etc.

I'd guess my stock gas shocks, Monroe's, are around 11-12" in compressed position right now. Would that be too compressed for a stock length air shock?

I really don't think I wanna bag my truck as I like the handling characteristics of a static drop too much...could careless for having to drop to 30mph to round corners

i just finished putting airshocks in the front of my truck. it wasnt that hard, it just took a little time. i furst cut off the top of the old shock mount and made a bracket so i could fint the airshocks in cause they are alot bigger then stock shocks. the bottom fit right in i just had to stregthen the welds on the bracket. the shocks are in the engine compartment alittle but but it looks good and get me up nicely. next i will make another bracket for drop shocks to take some load off the air shocks. hope this helps man.

you would extend the upper mount a few inches using some 1/4 channel and then gusset the extension to the frame. An air shock small enough to bolt in the stock location would not give much travel, and the upper mount would just bend after a few weeks anyway because it is not made to support the weight of the front end. You'd likely blow a few shocks too by using the small ones.

You would want to use some Rancho shocks made for a Jeep Wrangler, they are about 15 inches long at rest, they'll compress a little more than that under the weight of the front end.

Then you strengthen the bottom mount.

The line on the air shocks is 1/8th, it is better to tap the fittings for 1/4 line.

I am pretty old school myself, and I remember the tech article in MT from 1991 or so, thats pretty much it in a nutshell. I also remember scores of guys thinking they didnt have to do it that way or that little bitty air shocks would hold their trucks reliably, or that the stock upper mount was strong enough, and none were ever right. They either replaced their air shocks every week or so (Rancho used to have a lifetime warranty, but the local auto parts stores wouldnt honor more than twice) or they banged around on their frames.

Incidentally the article also used the torsions to just barely let the truck bottom out too, to take some of the strain off the shocks.

There was a blue mazda on justplaintrick.com that had monster air shocks on the front and rear from like a lifted bronco or something, that was amazing, it would lay frame and then lift to clear the fenders with the tires by something like 7 inches. But, by the time you buy the shocks, the valves, the compressor, tank and valves, you coulod have bought a bag system. Which dont handle poorly unless you share air across the front, so many people confuse a stiff ride with good handling. You are likely riding on your bumpstops right now, which limits roll. Not saying you definitely are, but I have had a lot of static dropped mazdas and I remember the ride.

Nah lol they're all removed or in the case of the rear, cut down to where they might as well not be there

To keep it static I'd just like to get a little more travel outta the front while still going about an inch or so lower to get rid of the fender clearance showing, and in the rear maybe do a small c-notch to give another 2-3"s of clearance there.

I have of course thought about just baggin the front, but if I'm gonna do that I might as well do the rear too And I just really don't care to throw that kind of money into it vs. staying static and keepin my bed and all.

I wouldnt say every bagged mazda owner has said that, My last truck shared front air and had very little body roll. I would take long sweeping turns on highway offramps at 60+ at barely 3 inches off the ground, and barely barely scraped the outside rocker.

I can see having a problem if you dont add shocks, but otherwise bagged trucks ride and handle great. And I've had a few.


Speaking of shocks, if you are static lowered and are still running stock front shocks, you are likely bottomed out on them in corners.


You can bag the front and static the rear, we are doing my nephews in a few weeks that exact way. He doesnt have the money for the rear setup just yet.

Nobody ever wants to cut their bed. I dont understand it, I bought my truck as a second car, not as a hauler. When something needs moved I get the truck that still has stock leafs and a fullsize (90 GMC) bed. That doesnt make my opinion right though. I guess you just have to look at a) how often you actually haul anything, most truck owners only haul an empty bed 90% of the time. and b) what hauling capacity you would actually lose, With a notch cover it will only intrude slightly, you wont be able to move your apt in one trip or haul a couch inawkwardly anyway.


Air shocks are unique, but they wont be a big money saver over the alternative, and the installation will require just as much work. They will be slower acting (1/4" line) and will make you wish you had just bought bags after a few weeks.

Let me ask this "IF" I did wanna bag just the front for now, other than the tank and compressor what would I need? Do I need full control arms or just bag mounts welded to the stock control arms?

When it comes down to doin the rear I'd wanna be able to lay frame, no bd. So anything bought for the front now, I'd prefer to be able to accomplish that task.

Thanx for the advice and stuff Russ, I do appreciate it. This is my first truck lol, (at 31 yrs of age), so of course I have thoughts and questions, and of course a limited budget

you need: tank, compressor, some manual or electric valves, air lines, pressure switch, relay, 10 ga wiring, 16 ga wiring, fuse holders, assorted nuts and bolts to hold the bags, two slam specialties RS6 bags (because buying firestones is like buying a happy meal when a steak dinner is only a few dollars more) upper universal torsion bar mounts, gussets, air fittings kit, relocated shock mounts (MUST HAVE) gas shocks, and a few days of down time.

you DONT need lowered spindles or lower control arms if you keep your head out of your butt when setting the height of the upper mount. In fact spindles push the wheel out about an inch compounding wheel fit problems, and lower control arms complicate bag mounting needlessly.

You DO need to trim the lower arm to clear the lower suspension mount.

There are about 10,000 pictures of completed setups on the web. I can take a few more when we do my nefs setup. He will have around 500 or so in his whole setup, which includes bags, mounts (we got the patterns from a good friends airbag shop and programmed them into a cnc waterjet, nice parts) shock relocators, shocks, lines and pressure switch from the local semi store, wiring and relays from the local stereo store, manual MIC valves bought used on ebay, two compressors bought used from someone local who went engine driven, a 9 dollar wal-mart tank, fittings and hardware from ACE.

DRIVE A QUALITY BAGGED TRUCK FIRST. At 31 you may be set in your ways, I am 35 and speak from experience. You may hate it. I love the restrained ride of bags and gas shocks, and watching people who ARENT familiar with the ride of bagged trucks winch as they see a bump approaching, and their shock when it becomes almost a non-event.

1 hot dawg- I used to have a 93 single cab short bed mazda that was just a beautiful truck- had no rust anywhere, glossy paint. The bed was absolutely perfect- not a scratch or dent. I rolled it bagged in the front and air shocks in the rear becasue I couldn't bring myself to cutting that beautiful floor. It rode nice, and the air shocks over a monoleaf gave me about 3 inches of lift in the rear- and I could put the axle down on the frame from a normal in cab control. I even had side to side- 4 wheel independent. I relocated the shocks up front and used gabriel gas riders from autozone- just changed them out every 6 months with the lifetime warranty--lol. It rode great