shocks

[Russ Minard]

is anyone running shockwave air shocks on their t? if so, what do you think?

[Bill Cleveland]

Russ -

You might get more responses after the Nats are over, but . . . IMHO, T-buckets are generally so light that the air shocks are sort of over-kill. The people at Ride Tech can probably help you engineer something suitable if you are intent on going that route. Keep us posted!

[Mike Blanche]

Actually, I think air ride is the ideal solution for a T bucket, espcially on the rear. Yes, they're light, but if you have a 15 gallon tank, it's like adding a third passenger. Or, if you hook up a trailer. Being able to adjust is a real help. That's why I finally gave up and went to air shocks on the Tub T. The new sedan will probably need it, too, and for the same reason. Put anybody in the back, and you're down on the bumpers.

[Lugnut]

Buy yourself a pair of QA1 adjustable shocks and save the money you'd spend on air shocks...you do NOT need air shocks in a bucket. Want a smooth ride, buy a Cadillac or put a longer frame under the bucket body, but hey...it's your money so spend it all......I have a longer frame under my bucket body because the body is longer, and I also have QA1 shocks on ALL four corners and my bucket ran and rode smooth.

Lugnut

[Mike Blanche]

Just as a technical point, if you can adjust the spring on the QA1, then it will work. If all you can adjust is the damping, then they'll have the same problem any other shock has. Remember, a shock doesn't support any weight, just damps out the oscillations of the spring. To support more weight, you need a stronger spring. On the Tub T, when people got in the back, I flipped the switch and added more pressure to the air shocks. Worked great, mainly, and my transverse spring was serving only as a panhard rod, keeping the axle positioned properly.

The ideal situation would be an air shock that automatically adjusted, such as the air springs on the back of my truck or, on a smaller scale, the back of the cab on my truck, or on an even smaller scale, the rear of my '87 Cadillac Brougham or Fat Pat's pimpmobile Lincoln.

Just in passing, at least the 5-generation El Caminos came from the factory with air shocks so that they could ride like a car but still carry a significant load.

[Lugnut]

Mike...this is all well and good if there is weight ....but what in the hell kind of weight is in a t-bucket??? I kno wof two and "possibly" three things that add weight to these useless vehicles: 1) engine 2) full tank of fuel and 3) MAYBE the passengers.

Oh well to each their own...

Lugnut

[Bob Lemke]

Mike, your right on. I have the 4 spring Jag rear end. I wanted to set the spring pre loads to handle a heavy passenger for some spirited cornering. Instead of scaring a real passenger I loaded (3) 90 lb bags of cement on the passenger side and got it dialed in. Problem was when I removed that weight, during heavy cornering solo on a not so smooth road, the rear end would skip/slide. I gave up, set the pre loads back for solo use and don't bother to corner aggressively two up anymore. Air shocks would probably give me the flexibility to corner hard solo and two up.

[Mike Blanche]

Just the variation between a full tank of gas and a nearly empty one can make a big difference. But you're right; on most T's, probably setting it up to ride a little harsh with just the driver and a nearly empty tank would mean you wouldn't be bottoming out with full tank and Fat Pat in the right hand seat. Maybe.

But on the Tub T, I've carried 3 adults in the back seat, and that's a LOT of weight. If I put enough spring on it to support that, the springs were completely non-compliant with just me in the car. If I set it up so that it rode good with just Dottie and me, it rode with the frame on the pumpkin with two people in the back. See the problem? QA1's wouldn't touch that problem, and getting under and messing with a spring adjuster every time you wanted to carry a passenger wasn't going to cut it.

[Big Bill]

Mike you are entirely right I drove a 27 full fendered T touring for twenty years and played with all types of springs but was never happy until I switched it to air lift air bag system with a pump started with a manual switch then wired in a switch that worked off of the height of the ride just like a caddy then if people got in the back or I hooked up my trailer everything stayed level with a wonderful ride. Until you ride in a T with air suspension you have never rode in a comfortable T. We drove it all over the country nearly 100K and would still have it today but got tired of carrying everything in to motels every night because you couldn't lock it up, so sold and bought the plymouth.