Steel Soldiers::Military Vehicles Supersite - View Single Post

m16ty · 03-25-2009, 22:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mbsk01

While I am no authority, I do have a fair amount of experience w/air ride and air spring suspensions.

It seems to me that going to an aftermarket air-ride system on a deuce would severely limit the articulation of the rear axles. Keep in mind that air-ride systems use leveling valves to determine the amount of air pressure that is applied to each axle (though it is typically 1 valve per tandem). You could, in theory, install 1 leveling valve for each airbag, but then you would have to have a baseline for them to somehow know whether to inflate or deflate.

I'm not saying it's impossible, or even unreasonable, just that unless you want to sacrifice 6X6 action for a smooth highway ride, it may not be worth it.

BTW- I've been working for >5yrs in an 18-wheeler trailer repair facility.

Air ride is great for on road but it doesn't work good off road. I'd still like to see somebody do it though

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My experience is it will help the ride some but not as much as you think. We had a '83 Frieghtliner with Rayco spring suspension on it that was very rough ridding. We aquired a air ride cut-off and installed it hoping it would give us a smooth ride. It does ride some better but it didn't help as much as you would think. Don't know if it helped enough to go through the trouble if I had it to do over. Most modern trucks have air ride cabs and I think that helps more than anything with the ride.

As I was typing this it got me to thinking

. How about a air ride cab? I think that would be easier to fab up and you wouldn't loose off road capability.