Why dont they invent

[Roadrage David]

Frond schok absorbers for cars that have ground clearens problems when they drive in the streets.
So that they can be raised and lowerd at will when entering the track ore highway,ore come of level roads, without loosing shock absorber quality(no highjacker stile crap).

Its nice to see al these aftermarket divelopmends in the pro-touring seen, but changing from koni ore other shocks and 2 inch drop coilssprings, to a air ride and ore coil over suspention to raise the car for 2 inches in a ecspensif thing!!!!!!!.

coil overs arend practicel anyway for that matter.
air ride is but $$$.
why thusend somebody come up with a fricking good working schokusorber that sits ore is mounted on the traditional way thats works properly and hase a lifting ore raising capasety on top of it to raise ore lower the car at will ore something like that!!!!!!!!!!!.

[Vegas69]

Because that is not a shocks purpose.

[Roadrage David]

i meen on top of the schok so that it woned heurt the intergrety of the schoks performance.

[Bill Howell]

They do, as in air ride.
Works great, they have three different settings.
One for 4x4 stance to load and unload easy, get over speed bumps, etc
Two for regular ride height, where you leave it most the time
Three for sitting on the ground at a show or where ever.

Seriously, best of all worlds IMO. Plus did I mention the ride???
After putting it on the Goat, I am convinced for a driver there is nothing better all around.

[79T/Aman]

it would have to be the spring that is adjustable to affect ride hight, but then the shock would also have to have a greater working range

[Roadrage David]

it would have to be the spring that is adjustable to affect ride hight, but then the shock would also have to have a greater working range

i was thinking more like a little air ore hydralic cilinder/ piston combo mounted ore integrated on top of the shock, and conected to a pump that should be activated bij a flip of a switch.
so no more compleat ecspensif suspention conversions just a shock change.

[TonyL]

You're actually describing the air ride shockwave 9000 type shock. This is a rolling bladder mated to the top of the shock.

Its valved in such a way that it performs well in the up or down position.

[Jim Nilsen]

I might be be wrong here but I think what you are really wanting is a way to raise or lower the body on the frame and not do anything that would change the suspension at all ?

If this is the case then what you have to do is design the car with a full frame and a basic seperate body that is physically able to be raised or lowered.

This would make designing a car that would be much heavier and have to be able to adapt to the changes dynamically.

Ripping a car apart and putting the right components on can do what you are asking for and those components are the air ride suspension components so readily and fortunately available at the touch of a phone or keypad to place an order for most cars and if it isn't available for your car they will be more than happy to help you adapt.

The world has given us what we wanted , now we just have to be able to afford it!!!

[Roadrage David]

You're actually describing the air ride shockwave 9000 type shock. This is a rolling bladder mated to the top of the shock.

Its valved in such a way that it performs well in the up or down position.

Will it fit inside the coil spring???? and wil it perform as a koni shock. thing is im going to runn the cannonball run europe!. witch is 3000 miles long tru diferend countrys.
i dont whant to bang up and ruin the bottom of the car the headers ecetera. sure you drive high way mainly. but plenty of speed bumps and steep drop ofs and ferry crosing ramps ecetera along the way. like said before im dropt 2 inches in the frond and whould like to raise it 2 inches while driving when nesersary. without changing the intyer frond suspention .i got perfect working Speed tech arms hodskish coil springs .i just cant understand why there is no universial mounted""shockwave""ore schok that can be bought without haveing to buy a intyer new frond suspention. with all sorts of fansy asesorys that emty my walled just to raise the dam thing 2 inches......

[TonyL]

will it fit inside the springs? No.

It will replace the spring though. Use the shockwave *instead* of a conventional spring. Will it work for that race? AirRideTechnologies have been beating the heck out of these shocks on every track that will let them race, and winning most of the time.

Their is the conventional "airshock" that guys used to use back in the 70s here in the US to "jack" the rear of the car up in the air though. (google "monroe air shock") There was usually some crude lines that went to a Y with a schrader valve in it that allowed you to raise and lower the car at will. Im certain that it could be made to do what you want and work inside the hotchkis springs you have. The valving of the old school airshocks most certainly aren't meant to be raced on though. I'd ask what Bret at Airride thinks.

[JMarsa]

This gives you an idea.



--JMarsa

[TonyL]

This is what a typical "air shock" from the company monroe looks like david.



Now, this WILL fit inside your spring. and it *is* adjustable and will lift your car up in the event you need it to. You'll need to invest in a compressor, solonoids and controller and possibly an air tank, to make it react faster. But it *would* work. The only variable is that I dont know if these shocks would work well in a road race situation. They are designed for pickup trucks that are overloaded. Air is added to the shock to raise the rear of the truck back to level. These are typically valved stiff, due to the loads they have to deal with, so you may have to replace them after the 3000 mile event.

[Roadrage David]

Thanks Tony i feel like im in between a rock and a hard place. i need the stifnes and the ride handling of the Hodskish Coil/ Koni shock combo (ore better)and there durabilety.
thuse the air ride shokwave diliver the same!!, and JMarsa thats what i mend i do NOT what to buy new arms ecetera just to raise the car.
without taking ANYTHING AWAY from the ARI Ride stuf as i think it looks the bisenis, but i find it rediculess to pay so mutch and need to put in a new frond suspention just to raise the thing 2 inches..
PS Tony i would use the raising of the front only when enter the ferry and leaving it , and when we go off the highway and acounter less then disireble road conditions. will this monroe shock fit and keep the same stance the car hase now??.
And will it operate as a normal schok when deflated.. Tanks David

[TonyL]

yes it will work for you then. The shock only performs poorly when inflated. Otherwise it's just a normal everyday shock. measure the length you need, and check with monroe to see if they have an air shock that will fit. You'll have to fab up the controller and compressor, but it should not be hard.

Just remember, this is NOT a performance shock by any means. Run this at your own risk.

[bret]

I don't disagree that the shockwave/StrongArm solution is a bit expensive, but when faced with the alternative of less performance/quality, it seems to be the best choice.
I am interpreting that you are choosing to run a stiff coil and shock setup to acheive the handling performance you want. This works fine on a race car where ride quality and adjustability are not a consideration. The shockwave system works with a softer spring rate and allows a stiffer swaybar and an adjustable shock to offer the versatility needed for real world road conditions. Even in the racing world many well known teams have gone to a softer coil and have tuned their cars to track conditions with swaybars and adjustable shocks [or by changing shocks if class rules don't allow adjustable shocks].
The unique benefit of the ShockWave is "in car" adjustability of spring rate and ride height, along with "under car" [so far] adjustability of the shock valving. You are not just spending money to get a couple of inches of ride height adjustability...you can actually tune the ride quality and handling performance of your car much more quickly with the ShockWave system.
I hope this eases the pain of the expense in some way. Good Luck!

[Jim Nilsen]

yes it will work for you then. The shock only performs poorly when inflated. Otherwise it's just a normal everyday shock. measure the length you need, and check with monroe to see if they have an air shock that will fit. You'll have to fab up the controller and compressor, but it should not be hard.

Just remember, this is NOT a performance shock by any means. Run this at your own risk.

Monroe air shocks only work in the compression stroke which when air is added they raise up the car or truck. the more weight you have the more air it takes and the ride is like being on a sponge. There is no rebound valving that is appreciable unless they have rengineered them from the ones they made years ago. this could be possible but for what they are designed for I doubt it. Call Monroe and ask.

I have also never seen front air shocks as an offering from them.

I can remember having them on my 73 Camaro and when you hit a bump the rear end would raise like it was bouncing off of a trampoline. In the corners it would lean like no other. I removed them after 1 month and had my springs arched to have the bigger tires clear the wheel fender lip. I was never so glad to wear that set of tires out and go tires that fit in the wheel house and Gabriel strider shocks that were adjustable.

Air shocks are not the answer but air ride is !!!!!

I know it is a lot of money but so is wrecking your car when you lose it in a turn !!

I would go to air ride if I could afford it but I am going to see if the fiberglass transverse Corvette factory stuff will compete first.

Goodluck on your decision.

You are stuck between a shock and a low place !!!

[TonyL]

I just want to be very clear here. air ride technologies airsprings are the best way to go, without a doubt. Especially since the car will be driven hard.

airshocks are NOT meant for this, but may work. Is all I am saying. Major advancement have been made since the 80s on these things. ( I used them on a dropped and C'ed 90s chevy truck in the late 90s) And they were fine for that.

When deflated, they were normal shocks. When aired up, (and the bed was empty.) the ride was horrible (but look at that sweet rake!) Since David is only looking for a way to raise the front for a few minutes while he loads and unloads his car, it *may* be a viable option.

/*may*
//AirRide is better. Better than coils to me.

[Jim Nilsen]

If the main problem is just for loading and unloading. I remember seeing a place at SEMA last year not this year that had some ramps that were made of foam and poly exterior that weigh almost nothing. I don't think they weighed more than 4 lb ea. and were just short enough to get in a trunk and a raise height of 5 in. or so. They also came in many different styles,colors and designs. The one thing for certain is that they were very light and strong.

The main reason the lower height ones were made for was to get low cars up high enough to get a jack under them. They were definately something that everyone with a low car would want in their shop and could be used to solve the loading and unloading problem he has.

For the problem of going off onto bumpy,dippy, potholed roads air ride is still the only good solution $$$$

I found them: www.raceramps.com

Xmas presents to ask for !!!

[Roadrage David]

i am used to the coils spring schok ride and stifnes. its a good firm ride. its a low ore no matinence at al.
again a schok that would work and has a raising capebilety would be great.no coil sping will deflate nor will the schok stop working if the air system to control it breaks douwn........ im no engeneer but it would not be to mutch of a hasle to invend sutch a schok. if you see whats been invented for this seen alredy.

[Jim Nilsen]

OK Here goes, This is my 2,000th post and I hope it is worthwhile.

I saw it in my mind and I hope you get the idea.

If you make the shock mount on top or bottom a clevis . You can then have a cam that it is mounted to that could pivot 180 degrees in rotation that depending on the distance from the center would move the shock mount as much as you want. If the shock was a coilover it would work for sure but a standard shock would probably just readjust itself to the ride height like usual.

This is a lot like the principal used in a lot of clamping devices like that of a DeStaco clamp. It is also like that of some of the quick release vises I have used over the years.

Just a simple hole that you stick a rod in and rotate it 180 degrees with a locking mechanism on it at the end.

If I could draw it for you I know you would have the lightbulb turn on.

I hope you can visualize it and figure out how to do it. I know I could do it with the tools and materials I have in my garage right now.

This could also be done with the top of a spring pocket to raise and lower the spring and then you would just need a shock that had the right amount of travel.

It could be used on the rear leaf spring mounts to do the same thing. It is rather universal and something that would be more of a utility patent than a design patent since this type of device has been used for years.

So there you have it. take the idea and run with it. You can be the first until someone steps up and says they did that a long time ago and proves it.

If you guys don't understand what I mean I will make a drawing and post it up. I really do think you can figure it out from here .

I also now recall seeing an adjustable spring pocket someone designed years back that they raised and lowered the car with by screwing it up or down, The only drawback to it was that the alignment went to crap when you moved it.