Does anybody run air shocks?

Mr. VanDii · Post by **Mr. VanDii** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 5:23 pm

So my Bronco was a party today, & I was taking that time to cycle the suspension to full compression and full droop and see how things jived. Long story short, I found out why coil springs aren't used in longer travel applications. So I'm trying to figure out how to squeeze more wheel travel out of my Bronco without spending a ton of money. I started to do research. I came across the idea of air shocks that I had seen some people use on their off-road rigs and rock crawlers, I had even seen some race applications. I haven't seen a lot of air shocks being used in the desert go fast crowd, I can't seem to find any answers as to why that may be. With all that said, would anybody here happen to have the knowledge as to why air shocks aren't used more often?

With that said, I'm probably going to go hunt down some coilovers after all is said and done...

Tchajagos · Post by **Tchajagos** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 7:47 pm

Coilovers use coil springs.... I'm guessing you mean stock coil buckets and lift springs. You can run lift springs but you have to limit the travel. Use limit straps to limit the travel so the spring doesn't pop out. You will want them with coilovers springs too so you don't over extend and damage the shock. Air shocks are emulsion shocks. The nitrogen and oil are together in the shock body. When the shock is soaking up tons of bumps the oil becomes aerated and this reduces the dampening of the shock significantly.

FUFIMI · Post by **FUFIMI** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 8:21 pm

No I think he means to just run a shock with no coils at all. A bunch of people run them on pirate, they say they use them for light wight rigs, which eliminates the idea to use them on a bronco anyways.

http://img1.pirate4x4.com/forum/general ... -buck.html

FUFIMI · Post by **FUFIMI** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 8:22 pm

Also if all pressure is lost, then nothing will keep the truck up. That could lead to huge problems

Tchajagos · Post by **Tchajagos** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 9:02 pm

Air shocks are ran w/o coils yes but they are still an emulsion shock as opposed to a remote piston design like a reservoir shock.

Tchajagos · Post by **Tchajagos** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 9:04 pm

Sorry, floating piston. Not remote piston.

Mr. VanDii · Post by **Mr. VanDii** » Tue Jan 12, 2016 5:35 pm

That answers alot. I see these things on rock crawlers and go slow rigs alot. I can see the aerated oil becoming a big problem offroad! Dampening and rebound control is sorta important.

To hear that air shocks are emulsion type is disappointing. I originally thought that they were coilovers with gases used in place of the coil spring.

I had seen that Honda had used air forks on their MX bike with good success and thought "Hey! Maybe this can be a good idea!"

Looks like the only way to get more out of the front is coilovers. I'm finding myself disliking the way the geometry comes together on coil springs and Bilstein 5100. Really, The shock is fully collapsed before the beam hits the bump stop and at full compression the coil seat tilts back significantly AND sits behind the coil bucket. That coil spring better be good at yoga!
This is on a Bronco with lift brackets and extended radius arms, I have C&T beams ready for installation, but I expect the same result with coil springs.

damon1272 · Post by **damon1272** » Tue Jan 12, 2016 8:18 pm

You should be able to get 12-14 inches of travel out of a coil spring no problem. They are a solid suspension and have been used for decades ala Auto fab and Spirit to name a few. Limit straps and bump stops, and the right length shocks are key as with any set up. Though the coil over is a much cleaner set up. You will get some hinkey looking spring movement but it works.

Mr. VanDii · Post by **Mr. VanDii** » Wed Jan 13, 2016 8:05 am

I was contemplating a 6" or so lift spring in a taller bucket. I have some nice 14.3" stroke 5100s in the back of my Bronco that cycles 17" with my home-brewed set up. I wonder if I could do something similar with the front.

I could use this, but I think that the shock needs to mount more... diagonal?
http://www.ballisticfabrication.com/Adj ... _1868.html

This is my rear shock, I wonder if I can use these on the front?
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/bsn-3 ... /overview/

These would be good springs, I think.
http://shop.broncograveyard.com/80-96-5 ... nfo/33510/

The rest would be 1.75x.120 DOM tube

All in all, I expect it to take ~$540 plus ~$150 for engine cage tube and such, and 2-3 weekends.

What do you guys think

Tchajagos · Post by **Tchajagos** » Wed Jan 13, 2016 2:06 pm

The cut/turn will be a little different than drop brackets, geometry wise. What length coils do you currently have? Those bronco graveyard springs are a nice coil that work well with a 4" cut/turn once they settle. If you are looking for more than 12" travel then you will need to change out more stock components.

Mr. VanDii · Post by **Mr. VanDii** » Wed Jan 13, 2016 7:46 pm

Tchajagos wrote:The cut/turn will be a little different than drop brackets, geometry wise. What length coils do you currently have? Those bronco graveyard springs are a nice coil that work well with a 4" cut/turn once they settle. If you are looking for more than 12" travel then you will need to change out more stock components.

I'm currently running ProComp's 4" lift spring.

I found out about the Bilstein 7100s. Bilstein makes a set that is valved 360/80 with a 14" stroke that I'll use for the front, which is the same valving as the Bronco 5100 replacement.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/bsn-ak7114s

I'm thinking about bastardizing my front all up. New 14" stroke shocks, 6ish" lift springs sitting in taller buckets, atop my C&T beams, limit straps and maybe new bump.. though the bump stops will take a bit of research. I will either find a nice cheap alternative to high price performance suspension, or learn why you should just fork out the dough for the performance folk's hard work

I'm hoping to achieve ~15" of travel. That'll jive well with the 17" out back.

S00TLYFE · Post by **S00TLYFE** » Tue Mar 01, 2016 10:18 am

: image.png (836.01 KiB) Viewed 1596 times

Was thinking about running these with the deavers and solo stage 1 kit I got going on the front of my bronco instead of the 5100s it comes with. The price is right and these are rebuildable, but I am worried that the 12" won't be enough...should I just bite the bullet at buy the 14" ones?

I'm still brand new to this whole part of the game so looking for even noob advice here.

Tchajagos · Post by **Tchajagos** » Tue Mar 01, 2016 2:40 pm

You would have to cycle your suspension to know. You might have to build a new coil bucket to mount those on.

Mr. VanDii · Post by **Mr. VanDii** » Tue Mar 01, 2016 9:32 pm

I've heard bout alot of people running 12" stroke shocks with high success. I did hear that a 2" shock bod is still just 2". And therefore, wont see much improvement. I'll be running 14" 2.5 King smoothies next with some interesting bastardization. I'll post about that progress and then, shortly thereafter, be able to tell you why you shouldn't do it.

Mr. VanDii · Post by **Mr. VanDii** » Tue Mar 01, 2016 9:33 pm

Tchajagos wrote:You would have to cycle your suspension to know. You might have to build a new coil bucket to mount those on.

You would, with out a doubt, have to build a shock hoop, in the very least.