72 Charger

[Bill Howell]

Bill,
Nice build. Great to see it near completion.

Question regarding the XV front suspension:
Do you think there is room for air ride? I called XV about it for my project and got a response that basically said they didn't want to discuss air ride and they wouldn't sell their suspension without their proprietary valved shocks (AFCO). Any opinions on clearances?

Thanks, Wes

I don't know. Bret is here this weekend, I will ask him. I would think there is room for their system just looking at it but not sure. I will say this, the car rides great with the Avco shocks, I did have to put heavier springs on the front of it. Firmed up the ride, and certainly helped out in the turns.

Hot Rod shot the car this afternoon and tonight, I am looking forward to seeing the pictures.

[MoparCar]

Thanks,
I'd love to know if their set up (specifically the new titanium series with the remote resevoirs would fit).

I would appreciate Bret's and your opinions for sure!
Wes

[1971CHEVELLE]

Awesome build car looks very good

[bret]

I don't know. Bret is here this weekend, I will ask him. I would think there is room for their system just looking at it but not sure. I will say this, the car rides great with the Avco shocks, I did have to put heavier springs on the front of it. Firmed up the ride, and certainly helped out in the turns.

Hot Rod shot the car this afternoon and tonight, I am looking forward to seeing the pictures.

Although I have not yet fit an actual shockwave into an XV suspension, my visual impression after looking at Bills Charger is that it will not be any problem whatsoever. There seems to be plenty of room for the airspring portion. XV uses an Afco shock, as do we for the Titanium series. Matching the proper length will not be a problem. Our Sales VP Bill Floyd has a realtionship with John at XV and is planning a trip there in the next few weeks to offer info and training on our products so they can make a decision on offering them as an option on their suspension.
I see only benefits with using the Titanium series in this suspension...better suspension control - load capacity compensation - road or track condition adjustments - ride height adjustment. A shockwave would have eliminated Bill's coilspring change entirely...he could have simply increased the air pressure to compensate for whatever load the car was seeing.
From the suspension manufacturers view, I think they may be concerned about the customer "mis-adjusting" the units and experiencing poor performance as a result. I choose to believe that this group is a bit smarter than that.

[MoparCar]

Bret,
I appreciate the reply. That would be great if the two companies could come to an agreement using your titaniums. That would be my ultimate choice. When I asked they said they absolutely would not sell the frame without their afco valved shocks. Perhaps their rear 3-link/panhard doesn't have room for air and they don't want to redesign?? I won't be using their rear suspension most likely so for myself it would not matter. I do understand their commitment to performance and research which could be undermined if someone put poor quality shocks on their set up. Please keep us updated if possible.

Bill-thanks for following up also!

Wes