Air Shocks in the front?

Well, now, if only I knew someone personally bagged already close by lol. LUV2SPARK is up the road, and I'm gonna visit him soon, so maybe I can talk him into a ride

Used to have a shop right down the road that did air ride systems but at the time I just "I can't do that" and so never visited them...and now they're gone

Is there a book somewhere? lol.

[quote](because buying firestones is like buying a happy meal when a steak dinner is only a few dollars more)[/qoute]

lol I like that thinking.

And how the flip are you going to use a wal-mart tank?

This is the first I've heard of "universal upper torsion bar mounts" so what are they, where can they be found?

Cutting the rear really seems to be becoming less of a deal to me, since really I don't hall much unless it's wood or something I'm working on at the house. I was thinking of a lawn tractor, but right now I pay to have mine done cuz it's cheaper than buying one for myself

The rear just really is more of an expense to me, and more down time than I can afford atm. This is my daily driver so I can't have it down long, cept maybe over the summer while the wife is out of work, (assis. teacher). If I could weld, that would help too.

Thanks for all the info.

Yeah Mad, I too am mono'd in the rear and got the air shocks back there, but I probably have the weight split 50/50 on the shock and on the leaf it self. I just like to have it low, yet use the shocks to keep me from banging the frame as little as possible.

The front shocks, only 2 months old (Monroe Gas)..if that, are of course blown already I believe. Nailed a big pot hole one night on the right side and so if that side wasn't blown already..it is now

Look in at bags, I been told elsewhere here, to go with 2500's in the front and 2600's in the rear. That's pound ratings I suppose.

But what difference does the PSI rating mean though? Like lookin at CSC's SS bags they list them by PSI, 200=$76 and 400psi=$110.

psi is how many pounds per square inch the bag can handle, You should never have to go above 200psi unless u really wanna hop the truck.

get slam specailties bags- they ride like a dream. Firstones are ok, but slams are the best. Most of the time people use 2500's in the front and 2600's in the rear. I use 2500's x4 inch my new truck, but it has an rx-7 rear end.

Yeah size would be the other question. I have stock rearend of course and wanna lay frame, so what height bag would I need? Front vs. Rear?

Is the actual plumbing for a 4 wheel system like Suicidedoor.com's pic:



How much can I pick up at a local hardware store, like HD or Lowes? Or even an electrical supplier if needed. Are Asco valves fine, or should you actually go with a Viair brand or something?

Its not really the height you are looking at, for the front anyway, its the installed/inflated diameter. Firestone "2500lb" 255c bags are 6.4 inches in diameter, and thats about the biggest that will fit without rubbing either the balljoints or the frame. But Slam Specialties RE6 bags are only 6 inches in diameter, giving a little more wiggle room (the geometry of the front end means the closer to the fulcrum you can mount the bag, the more lift you will get with the same stroke). And speaking of stroke, the Firestone bag has a max stroke of 4 inches, with geometry that means about 7 inches of lift. The Slam RE6 has a full inch more stroke, which means about 8.5 inches of lift. For the rear use the RE7 or RE8, they are even bigger and have even more lift, because diameter is not a critical measurement in the rear. I built my own 4 link from 1.5x1.5x.25 and mounted regular Firestone "2600lb" 224c bags on the bottom link bars and my bodydropped truck lifts almost stock height. BTW, 2500lb and 2600lb are terms created by AIM back in like 1996 and have nothing to do with how Firestone rates their bags, just an interesting piece of trivia.

I am using SMC 10mm valves from Suicidedoors.com, cheap enough I think they were 32 each. For independent front control you will need 4. For front and rear independent you will need 8. I am running 6, independent front and shared rear. They are pretty quick for 10mm valves (3/8 ), even with slowdowns on the front I still bang the crossmember.

You can use brass fittings from Home Depot/Lowes/Ace Hardware, I have and the only drawback I have found is that they are compression fittings so you need a new ferrule every time you take the system apart. With PTC fittings like gravitywerx.com sells in kits, you can just pop lines off and reassemble them in about 2 seconds, very handy and not that much more expensive. They even sell prepackaged fitting kits complete from compressor to bags.

You can get universal torsion mounts just about anywhere, of course I would recommend because they have helped me out so much. You will have to cut away part of the factory shock tower to install this upper mount, the bottom mount is usually just a flat plate with a hole in it. There is quite a bit of fabrication required, its not a bolt in system, but if bolt in is what you liked you'd be driving an S10 like every one else, right?


Did I miss anything? Jim (madlowmazda) is a mazda guru, he has great advice and a damn cool truck.

edit: Oh yeah, the wal-mart tank. Easy, you just take off the tire chuck/pressure gauge fitting and screw in a tee, one side for the comp and one side to the bags.

Wow great reply. I really appreciate you guys helping me out.

Yeah, Jim's Mazda is sweet, and his help in the FE3 swap has been tremendous and something I may use in the future myself.

Thanks to you both, and anyone else that contributes.

So, here's what I see I need so far, or my basic shopping list:

Viair 450...$210 w/PSI switch
8gal tank (is there an advantage over the smaller 5 gal? I want to mount it under the bed of course.) ...$60-$80
Total of 8 3/8" valves Brand to be determined...$35 or so each.
RE6 SS Bags for front ... $150/pr
RE7 SS Bags for rear ... $150/pr
PTC Fittings from Gravity-Werx.com
1/2" DOT Airline $30/50ft.
Gauge(s) $30 or so.

lol that's around $650 for the front alone (averaged). Not including the brackets and torsion kit.

Then I'll just have to figure how/what to do in the rear. I'm really clueless as to where to begin with that.

And I need me a welder

sorry for the confusion, the brackets ARE the torsion kit. Its called a universal torsion bar minitruck airbag mount, all it means is that its a universal bracket that is the same for every truck that came from the factory with torsion bars.

And you dont need 8 valves till you do the rear. Just 4 for the front, 2 up, 2 down.

A welder is a great purchase if you like doing your own work, dont skimp though if you plan to do more than just a bag kit. I "overbought" my welder a few years ago, bought a 220v Lincoln mig instead of the 110 flux, even though all I NEEDED was the 110. Then a year or so ago I decided to build my own frame, was I even glad I spent the extra.

If this is all you are planning on doing though, it would be a lot cheaper to rent or borrow one. Here is a funny tip, you can get your shock towers all cut and get the brackets ready for welding, then put the torsions back in and drive it to a welding shop to have the welding done, drive it home and install your bags. It is a little bouncy without shocks, but it doesnt keep you from working on and driving the truck at the same time...

Russ I think you about got it- very complete as usual! I agree on the walmart tank. Back in the day when I bagged my first truck I bought the kit from MIC with paddle valves and it showed a red tank in the picture on the back of minitruckin magazine. Well they sent me the walmart tank with the stickers ripped off it. I literally saw the same tank at walmart for 15 dollars at that time. They are cheaper than a value meal at mcdonalds now. Just pull off the restrictive tire infaltor valve and walla- custom air tank!

Suicidedoors.com is another great place to buy airbag parts. They have awesome shipping prices and times, and are great about customer service. They have your torsion bar bag kit for mazda fronts for around 50 bucks for all the metal you will need. All their stuff is lazer cut and .25 inch thick- nice stuff.

Yeah I added in all 8 didn't I lol. Yeah so that puts it around $500 for just the front.

I figured that was what you were talkin about since I've been lookin at the things online. It's only like $60 or so, so not too bad

Don't know that I'd ever build my own frame, but yeah I guess who knows. Only things I'd like to do is get it bagged and do some shaving and stuff.