front air shock

does anyone know if u put air shocks/strut in front do u have to take out torsion bars on a 1987 Mazda b2200

Got a picture of what you have in mind? If you are replacing your factory shock with an air shock, you should keep your torsion bars for sure.

no pic in mind but ya i was planning on replace stock with air so thank you for the info on this

Yeah the air shock would be to weak to lift your front end by it self. I've seen dual air shocks work but why not just use air bags? Air Strut Bags would be OK by them selves but I don't think that's what you are looking at running.

Not to mention the upper shock mounts on these trucks isn't the strongest so who knows how long you could run it like that before snapping/bending the mount. The only way I see it working (for a longer amount of time) is to strengthen the upper shock mounts by welding in some braces. And if your gonna go through all that u might as well just put some bags in there.



Fred

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^^^ what he said. the metal on shocks is ok but one good bump and the metal will bend in a u shape. I bent it with channel locks when I trimmed the corner for upper arm cleaarance. that's like 1/8 inch stuff so be careful or brace it.

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k knowing that i think i will just do bags but how do u mount the upper front brackets and how to keep sway bar any pics and info would be nice and tip of bag to use in the front

Putting air shocks on the front of a B is nothing new. It's oldschool. That's what we did before airbags. I used to have a standard cab I called "Spumoni" because every body panel on it was a different color.

It had air shocks front and rear. The rear would raise around 4" and the front had 2.5" to 3" lift.

Basically you'd set the truck up as low as you'd want to drive it with no air system, then you'd be able to get over speedbumps/potholes etc. by airing up with the air system.

The rear was easy, just bolt on.

In the front, you'd have to cut the top of the shock mount off, cut a hole through the inner fender for the shock to come up through. Then weld in a taller, stronger shock tower. You also have to open up the "D" shaped hole in the upper control arm for airshock clearance.

It worked good and looked cool back in the day. Not fast at all with the 1/8" air line and manual valves!

I've actually thought about putting airshocks on the front of my project "lowx4", just for some easy, adjustability. Full airbags are alot of work to do if you don't intend to lay frame.

orangemazdab2000 thanks for the info do u by chance have any pics of the truck and the front set up?

Here's the only pic I have of "Spumoni", I don't have any pics of the airshock setup.