air bag Question firestone 9000 range!

[sqweaka]

hi all, anyone using a similar set up to the tci kit using the sleave bags?

http://www.totalcostinvolved.com/p/1...-plain-package

ive made my own kit, based roughly on the above kit, to lay my 49 short bed on the ground, which is fine but im not getting the lift hight i was hopping to get
the front of the rear fender is only lifting around 4 1/2" from the deck

i was hoping they would reach around 6"

any thoughts

[slammed57]

yep! I did on my last build 57 chevy truck,
using them on my current build too.

question is what is the measurement of the bag at ride height.....should be right around 8"

second thing, what psi is your compressor filling at?

[sqweaka]

hi mate thanks for the reply
ride hight i want is about where the bags are fully filled 12" 80/90psi
fully deflated the bags are 6" and the truck is on the floor

[slammed57]

yea , that's where your problem is at. you need to either bring the bottom of bag mount up or the top of the bag mount down. the bag needs to be at 8-8.5inches at ride height. also gives you optimum ride/ bag compression.... at 12" your gonna have one hell of a bouncy and stiff ride.

[sqweaka]

i need a login/username for the link mate!

[sqweaka]

just had a look at you build in the signatue bar and your rear bags look like they are squashed smaller than i have mine deflated, i can still just about see the ally tappered cup, but you seem to have the bag all crumpled, ie the cup has gone up inside the bag an inch or so... is that how i should be doing it?

[slammed57]

in my signature pic . I still need to move the top mount up about 2". so don't go by that pic.

heres some info for ya

http://www.truckshop.com/product.php?productid=19531

[slammed57]

that info it says 9-9.5" at ride height. nice ride you got there...I see what your tryin to do according to your pic... but my last truck was 8.5-9 inches and it rode great

[joedoh]

I have used sleeve bags on past trucks and I have to say, I understand why you want 6" of lift but I'm not sure why you need it.

this was my last truck with sleeve bags, showing laid out and drive height.

laid out

drive height

laid out

drive height



I only used about 3-4" of lift to drive, the ride was plush and smooth. If I needed a little more height to clear a slanted driveway I had it.

here is the bag installation, if I recall max stroke is about 7" on a 9000 firestone but you will want to limit it with straps or shocks because it is capable of tearing and will tear itself apart if unlimited.




if you bag is not deflating completely you can test by putting some 2x4 under the tires and letting the air out, if the truck still lays out, you dont have the bag mounts set right and are losing lift. A hockey puck makes a nice bottom bag spacer.

[sqweaka]

i think i need to re make the lower brackets mounted on the axle so when the bags are compressed (aired out) they are crumpled when compressed (4.5") at pessent they are 6" and look like this picture

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=F9...8o6tjsNDNYM%3A

[slammed57]

ok. let us know how it comes out

[sqweaka]

i was concerned than the bags may get damaged over time, being crumpled/ rubbing on the base mount, should i be worried?

[joedoh]

yes, they can go even smaller than that, I think min compressed height on an f9000 is 4.5". I have one in the garage for my 49, I will go dig it out and see.

they have the roll plate on the bottom to keep them from being damaged. you are supposed to have/put a 5" diameter bottom mount/plate under it, and there will be no damage from it hitting that mount/plate. the only thing it is doing is rolling onto and off the plate, there is no rubbing.

edit, 4.5 is what firestone says for compressed height

[sqweaka]

thanks ive never read anything about the size of the basemount! mine is only 4 3/4"

[joedoh]

that might be enough, I have a stack of the plates that come with the ART Air Bar (sleeve bag setup) and they were 5"

remember not to let the deflated bag hold the truck up! use shocks to limit droop.

[sqweaka]

the frame rests on the axle on full drop, im going to add a small bump stop later, once ive fixed the bags

i did think of machining up a 2" tapper'd platform/spacer to go under the tapper'd cup!
it would save me raising the bottom plate upward and mean the bag wouldn't crumple on the base plate

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by sqweaka

the frame rests on the axle on full drop, im going to add a small bump stop later, once ive fixed the bags

i did think of machining up a 2" tapper'd platform/spacer to go under the tapper'd cup!
it would save me raising the bottom plate upward and mean the bag wouldn't crumple on the base plate

you dont need the taper, it doesnt matter if the bag touches the bottom plate. if you think about how rubbing happens, the flexing bag scraping back and forth past a stationary part, that isnt what happens on the bottom plate. the bag rolls down onto the plate, no rubbing at all.

[sqweaka]

joedoh or slammed57 could either of you post up a clear picture of your bags at fully compressed hight! it would help me alot please

joedoh the hockey puck spacer idea... googled them and a puck is 3" (75mm) too small a dia for the dia of the cup

[joedoh]

yes, but we have spent the last couple posts discussing how there needs to be a 5" diameter roll plate on top of the bottom mount and below the bag, the hockey puck spacer goes between the mount and the roll plate. if your mount setup does not have the separate roll plate then you will need to install one.

I dont have a lot of pictures of the bag installed, here is one of the lower mount, you can barely see it just in front of the lower shock mount, you can see it is only about 2x2 without the roll plate installed.


here is the only picture I found of the bag installed and squished

[sqweaka]

thanks for explaining .. again lol, now see where you are coming from re the hockey puck idea, ill have another look at it

[joedoh]

no problem. also make sure your shocks arent locking you out from getting more lift. the ART air bar system I used limits the bag travel to about 4.5 inches when original, you can see I had shocks from a Jeep Rubicon installed with 10+" of travel.

[sqweaka]

Originally Posted by joedoh

no problem. also make sure your shocks arent locking you out from getting more lift. the ART air bar system I used limits the bag travel to about 4.5 inches when original, you can see I had shocks from a Jeep Rubicon installed with 10+" of travel.

Ok I don't have any shocks fitted at the moment
Posted via Mobile Device

[sqweaka]

guys, ive remade the rear axle brackets for the rear airbags, this time i made the distance between the lower plate and the upper plate 4.5" with the truck on the floor! the distance is slightly further apart than the minimum distance 4.3" shown in slammed57 link on post 10 above.. and we have a winner, i now have a max lift of 8" a the running boards which matches the max lift on my xjs front suspension, so im now a happy bunny, plenty lift to get over any large obstacles in the road, and i can lay the running boards on the ground when parked

this place is great, thanks guys

ian

[slammed57]

Sorry i didnt get back with you sooner . i dont have a pic of when the bag is compressed but heres one of the ride hight it should be more or less.

[joedoh]

excellent, and your ride quality will be so much better too! getting the bag completely compressed when laid out is the most important aspect of ride quality, if its not compressed you need more air volume and pressure to lift the truck and that means a higher spring rate: stiffer ride.

glad you got it fingered.