Does it really matter?
#1
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Thread Starter
Does it really matter?
Finding the right air shock may not matter all that much anyway.. To some degree it does. Say you want to firm up a FE1 soft ride suspension than KYB would be a better choice than Monroe.. However, educate me if I am wrong in my thinking, let say you have a F41 hard ride suspension and you want to soften it up. You go and install Monroe 822 air shocks because Monroe makes a softer riding shock than others. Then you find out that it yielded little or no soft ride results. Why?
It dawned on me today, as well as it has probably been said in a thread or two on this board, that the shock itself does not determine the rides fate. A computer board, chip, program, or whatever does. You go and buy a cheep flimsy softly made shock to soften up the F41 hard ride suspension and the cars programmed settings pumps air into that flabby mal-sized shock till it'* insides prematurely burst out from the unwanted pressure. Put any air ride shock in there and the cars is going to pump it hard to match it'* designed hard ride community it resides in.
So what does one do? Save your money and disconnect your current air ride compressor. Then disconnect the shock from the lines and get a refill valve kit to fill them manually. Then you can now put less air in them for a softer ride. You may get a warning lite to come on or a code violation. However you can place a resistor somewhere(check other threads for value and location of placement) in there to trick the computer that the compressor is still being useful and hence no error code ect.
The who;e point being that you manually fill the air shocks and use the type or brand to enhance what direction you want to go in if even a shock purchase is really even needed.
Then again I could be all wrong in my thinking and this was just an exersize in hot air movement. Now, how is it--- really? Do tell.
It dawned on me today, as well as it has probably been said in a thread or two on this board, that the shock itself does not determine the rides fate. A computer board, chip, program, or whatever does. You go and buy a cheep flimsy softly made shock to soften up the F41 hard ride suspension and the cars programmed settings pumps air into that flabby mal-sized shock till it'* insides prematurely burst out from the unwanted pressure. Put any air ride shock in there and the cars is going to pump it hard to match it'* designed hard ride community it resides in.
So what does one do? Save your money and disconnect your current air ride compressor. Then disconnect the shock from the lines and get a refill valve kit to fill them manually. Then you can now put less air in them for a softer ride. You may get a warning lite to come on or a code violation. However you can place a resistor somewhere(check other threads for value and location of placement) in there to trick the computer that the compressor is still being useful and hence no error code ect.
The who;e point being that you manually fill the air shocks and use the type or brand to enhance what direction you want to go in if even a shock purchase is really even needed.
Then again I could be all wrong in my thinking and this was just an exersize in hot air movement. Now, how is it--- really? Do tell.
#2
Senior Member
True Car Nut
The pressure controls the level. I have the manual fill on my bonnie, the compressor used to fill it till the sensor leveled out. If you under fill it it may be a little soft but you won't have the trunk capacity. If you're sensor is like mine you can try it easy enough. Just disconnect it from the control arms and fix it in a position that makes the car ride a little lower
#3
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Thread Starter
I pondered on that very thought. Thanks for the confirmation, BTW, my car stays level even with the shocks removed. And that is with FE1 springs in it. Makes me wonder if I could put just a regular shock in it since I do not have to worry about sagging except under a heavy load.
Last edited by LucerneOmatic; 09-05-2014 at 08:07 PM.
#4
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Posts like a V-Tak
Thread Starter
Besides wanting to fill the air shocks so the car is level, how many pounds pressure should the shocks normally need (manual filling) for an unloaded trunk? Thats aside adjusting for your own preference.
#5
Senior Member
True Car Nut
dont know never checked. my wife carries a bunch of junk in hers. like fluids, cold weather stuff, stuff for the kid, etc. i just fill it to a hair over level with the front with that stuff in it
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