Air Suspension or Juice Q's

[OMEGA PHX]

I've been researching for some weeks over here and at VSC, I've read all air ride related threads over here and 2kgalant's threads, so I currently been saving for coilovers since well I thought that was my best option, since many members with them say they have the comfortable ride I'm looking for, but I would really like to be able to adjust my ride height on the fly, I already know about Air Runner since that what 2kgalant have's, Easy Street also and AirBagIt since member ricky_db has had a nightmare with them, D2 Air Suspension kit and Universal Air Suspension. Also Nearly all VSC members with Air Runner change everything that come with the kit except for the bags and struts (Air management, fittings, air lines, etc.)

On VSC I read OCKlasse's Juice (Hydraulics) thread and have research that option too since there's a company named Hydroholics that specializes in making a kit that is comfortable, not for making the car dance or whatever like the low riders. I currently have raised $980, basically could buy coilovers right now.
All the Air or Hydro kits mentioned would run me a average of ~$2.5k with the misc. like extra batts for the Juice, except for Air Runner since they are like $4k.

What I want for my car is the comfiest ride I can have and be low at the same time, it have's to be height adjustable, And for show purposes be able to dump the car to the ground not necessarily to have the bumper on the ground but LOW.

With all that said I would like to know if I would be able to Bag or Juice the car for around $1.5k I would like to piece together a kit, I have thought about buying the D2's C/O and keep saving money so i can buy the D2 bags and install them in C/O's, or using UAS bags on some AGX's. If I go with Air since I could make the install with my dad, if I go juice then I would need a intaller who probably will charge me like $500+ since some cutting and welding is needed.

Please TGC help me pimp my ride lol sorry

Wise men of our forum speak UP.

[Censee]

i believe no matter what...for adjustable ride height and comfort.. would be better to go with a great coil over set up..maybe the teins..ive riden in a a galant on bags and the ride is HORRIBLE to say the least, it was a tgcfl member back in 2000..if u wanna drop it to the floor for shows u can just adjust the coilover height so u can be on the floor...with my coil overs i can literally put my kit on the floor (not that i would want to) but im just saying....in my opinion the ride comfort of bags or hydrolics (whatever they call it these days) isnt worth it, and i know most people eventually have tons of problems with them anyway..and as a daily driver its just a bad idea. back in the day when i forst got my 8g i wanted to bag it as well, as a matter a fact my first 8g back in 99 looked identical to ures,but after looking more into it i decided not to...just my 2 cents

[OMEGA PHX]

i believe no matter what...for adjustable ride height and comfort.. would be better to go with a great coil over set up..maybe the teins..ive riden in a a galant on bags and the ride is HORRIBLE to say the least, it was a tgcfl member back in 2000..if u wanna drop it to the floor for shows u can just adjust the coilover height so u can be on the floor...with my coil overs i can literally put my kit on the floor (not that i would want to) but im just saying....in my opinion the ride comfort of bags or hydrolics (whatever they call it these days) isnt worth it, and i know most people eventually have tons of problems with them anyway..and as a daily driver its just a bad idea .just my 2 cents

I know with C/O's I could have them at ride height and then slam the ish for shows, I think the ride comfort of bags and hydrolics have changed over the years, although I know at a low drop I can't ask to have OEM comfort, my ride comfort at the moment is horrible i think I can't get anything worse, also I don't like the aspect of the problem that come with installing all those parts since its just more stuff that can go wrong and take a crap on me. I think a kit that come already for the application would be more reliable, but damn I want ride height adjustment on the fly so if theres a obstacle like a speedbump or a steep entrance i could raise it and go through,

I don't know I'm really confused about what to do and I get anxious and want to buy something already lol but thanks for the opinion, and Congrats for the COTM lol

Coilovers 1 Air/Juice 0

[kingscratchie]

I can honestly say I have never ridden in a Galant w/ air, but my truck (an s10) is bagged all the way around and on 20s and rides smoother than a caddy or extremely stiff depending on how much psi I want to run to the bags.

Of course all my suspension is from suicidedoors.com and not cheap at all but for me being in the mini truck scene it's well worth the money.

My Galant is my daily and I will eventually lower it a lil more and do some work to it, but I will not bag it since it's my daily. More than likely you will run into problems with both air and juice, but juice would be easier to fix/find since you just have to see where the fluid is leaking from lol.

Just keep doing your research and see if you can find someone with a bagged/ juiced car that will give you a test drive so you can see how it feels.

[OMEGA PHX]

Thanks for the info, appreciated.

So air for a DD is a no no, I really don't have any1 with bags over here, everyone is all about cutting the springs over here lol, I've seen a pair of hydrolic G's but I don't know the owners personally, and i bet they don't have the accumulators (works like a shock/spring to give the ride comfort I'm looking for. I think I'll be ordering the D2's soon then.

[ricky_db]

well ill go ahead and add my .2 on bags
56k reading (get some pop corn)

Bags can be driven daily without major problems (given you have the right setup)

More specifically you will need a dependable system like one of the new air manifold systems or just the old tried and true brass air valves. this is where 60 percent of my problems came from.

(From what i have learned)the does and don'ts of air valves:
DO use teflon tape on ALL lines that hold pressure (to prevent leaks)
a water trap is a must (to keep the moisture and water out of your tank and valves) that was my major flaw once i started disassembling my valves i found they were rusted on the inside and given they were spool valves that caused a lot of problems with the seals and general operation of them.
Do NOT use the plug and play connections or push in connections (over time the teeth wear out that hold the line inside the connection) i (think) this is caused by it having to latch on to the tube every time you go from a complete dump to having pressure in the line, so they slowly chew away at the tube then on day they just say fuck it and pop off
(this happened to me many times on the freeway lol fun shit dragin ass in the middle lane) so just use regular compression nuts
Air line: ONLY use DOT approved nylon reinforced lines especially from the compressor to the tank and from the tank to the valves (no reinforced line can not handle all that pressure and will often be the wrong side inner diameter which is crucial for the compression nut to work right).
As far as my suggestions.
I would suggest you have two compressors (quicker refill time and a if one goes out you wont be screwed)

on to the bags
we are very limited to the bags that work

Airbagit:
their front bags ride like butter (smooth) but even a monkey can get that right all it is is a bag over a regular strut (non adjustable)
they have two sets of mounting holes giving you the impression that you can mount in the upper set of holes and get the extra inch or two of drop out of them. BUT you cant if you use those hole you can kiss you axles boots goodbye (learned that the hard way on both sides smh)

their rear is air cylinders which are a bitch. i was buying new ones every 3 or 4 months about 65 bucks a pop. until i called them and was like what the fuck? thats when they told me to add a little motor oil to the cylinder to lube it up. after that i didnt have anymore problems out of them (besides clearance issues) they are 4 inches around and on a full lay out my rims rest on the cylinder and on heavy compression my rim would scrape it cutting a hole in it.
Ride quality with them is a little harsh given they cant expand like bags do so you will need to have another air tank i think its called a accumulator, to give the air somewhere to go during heavy compression
their valves are spool type they may have changed them now but at the time they were and had their patented suck ass plug and play connections

easystreetair:
has a much better kit all around
adjustable dampener bags for the front
and adjustable dampener air sleeves for the back
they were using the tried and true air valves but i think they recently switched over to the air manifolds too.
their front bags lay out lower than airbagits w/o any type of modification
but with the added comfort level in the rear with their sleeves you loose a little bit of drop i get maybe a inch to a inch and half lower in the rear with my cylinders.

UAS:
im giving them a try when i hit the states
they are a total do it your self type of job which in all for i can set the bag to any height i want and weld that bish in
BUT their bags are to wide to use in the back due to the way our suspension is set up (i will double check later)

All the other air and juice kits i have no idea about so i cant comment on them i know the fundamentals and it just looks to me like (some) of them use basically the same types of valves and such so your just paying a shit load more just for the brand because they cator to a specific market (the ballers)

[OMEGA PHX]

Nice thanks for the info.