so when you attach the foot pump and then start to pump is that the psi in the shocks??

 

If you buy a foot pump that has a pressure gauge on it, then yes- the pressure indicated on the pump's gauge is the pressure in the air shocks. You will lose a little of that pressure as you disconnect the chuck from the Schrader valve, so fill the shocks a few psi over the what you actually want to to carry. Almost all 12V tire compressors have pressure gauges on them as well.

 

I suggest you use a good hand pressure gage on the fill valve AFTER REMOVING THE AIR SUPPLY LINE to get a true reading on the AirLifts. There is enough pressure drop in the small connector lines for the foot pump to read 8 to 10 psi higher than the lifts unless you wait a while.
And thats why the instructions caution against using service station air pumps. They flow so much air they just pop the connecting llines off because they can't meet the flow.

 

I suggest you use a good hand pressure gage on the fill valve AFTER REMOVING THE AIR SUPPLY LINE to get a true reading on the AirLifts. There is enough pressure drop in the small connector lines for the foot pump to read 8 to 10 psi higher than the lifts unless you wait a while.
And thats why the instructions caution against using service station air pumps. They flow so much air they just pop the connecting llines off because they can't meet the flow.

 

I suggest you use a good hand pressure gage on the fill valve AFTER REMOVING THE AIR SUPPLY LINE to get a true reading on the AirLifts. There is enough pressure drop in the small connector lines for the foot pump to read 8 to 10 psi higher than the lifts unless you wait a while.
And thats why the instructions caution against using service station air pumps. They flow so much air they just pop the connecting llines off because they can't meet the flow

 

07fitsport-
The fact is, these shocks are intended to compensate for temporary overload conditions by adjusting ride height with air pressure. The air pressure has nothing at all to do with shock performance in damping of compression and rebound. They are larger and heavier duty than the stock shocks, which is a major bonus.

As long as you have the minimum pressure in the system recommended by Monroe, an error of plus or minus 10-15-20 psi is not going to make a damned bit of difference. If you are overloaded with people or cargo and the rear of the car sags, PUT MORE AIR in the shocks. That's it. Done. How accurate your gauge is makes no difference as long as you don't under-inflate or over-inflate. If your present gauge or compressor or pump makes those conditions likely, get better equipment to maintain the pressure.

 

radareclipse-
I noticed this when you first posted your photos. Your installer made a mistake by running your air line through the sharp-edged hole punched into the body sheet metal, without using a rubber grommet (2nd. photo,near the fill valve). Road vibration and wind under the body will cause the rigid plastic air line to hammer on the edges of the hole. Eventually that line will leak.

Thought that I'd better bring it to your attention before mahout tells you the same thing three times.

 

The air pressure indeed changes only ride height, not shock characteristics. However, even small changes will affect the ride height enough to alter the handling characteristics. The AirLifts just change the spring rate; increasing with pressure.
So a good accurate air gage to check pressure in the AirLifts is very important if you want repeatability. And it was for much longer than temporary. I've had two tow trucks that had AirLifts more than 10 ten years useage.
Next time watch NASCAR crew chiefs change air pressures in tires even just a half-pound to change the handling characteristics. Changing ride height and spring rates are critical and so is monitoring the AirLift pressures likewise.
Back in the old days we too used AirLifts to alter handling; knowing what pressure yields desired handling is just as important to the Fit driver with a heavy back load.

And yes, you can change the spring rate enough with 20 psi to cause handling to be affected; but unless you run at the limits you won't likely notice much.

 

Now the questioner is going to think that a +- 10psi error is going to flip him upside-down on a freeway offramp. If this guy were able to judge how to alter the handling of his car, he would not have asked the question that he did. Not putting down the question or questioner.

To make this "Rocket Science", first, you need a rocket.

 

Thanks manxman. Already removed them altogether. I love spending money. Actually I hate it. I just put Skunk 2 Pro-C's on it. They got put on Friday but I haven't picked up the car yet. I took it to a friends shop and they still had to do the alignment. I hadn't been under the car at all when the Monroe's got put in, so until the car hit the jack stands to do the Skunk's I wasn't able to shoot pics or have the time. The mechanic thought he was doing a good job running the hose lines thru those holes. Oh well. This has been a good topic and it's been fun playing around trying for a solution.

 

Question, I was wondering if raising the ride height via air shocks would change the spring rate in any way?

Realizing the springs determine the ride height and handling characteristics, wouldn't using air shocks to raise the back end result in unloading (de-compressing) the rear springs to some degree?


.

 

The air shocks raise the car the same way that using a floor jack on the center lifting pad does. So the answer to your question is yes. That's why mahout was saying that the shocks can alter the handling. The other aspect is that by raising the mass and center of gravity by overextending the shocks, you can really affect the handling badly. So use your head and be conservative.

 

[quote=manxman;335334]Now the questioner is going to think that a +- 10psi error is going to flip him upside-down on a freeway offramp. If this guy were able to judge how to alter the handling of his car, he would not have asked the question that he did. Not putting down the question or questioner.

Actually, if he were running races at a track he could do just that. Fortunately, he probably isn't doing that. When NASCAR pit crews screw up a pressure change by just 1 psi the chances of hitting the wall can increase dramatically. Few of us ever drive that close to disaster - and survive unscathed.
Vehicle handling adjustments are indeed as complicated as rocket science. We haven't quite caughht F1 yet but we're gaining.

Here's a couple titbits of info you may enjoy:
1. The person or persons who made aircraft flight practical and headed to the industry we see today was not the Wrights, who lost when they fought to maintain wing-warping. The one who made the aircraft business was Alexander Graham Bell (yes, that one) who invented wing flaps for Curtis.
2. The one or ones who pushed into supersonic aircraft flight was not Chuck Yaeger, who flew the XS-1, but the engineers at Bell and Jeff Ridley, Chuck's flight engineer, who designed the XS-1 with rotateable rear aerilons in addition to the usual flaps. Without that, which we kept secret for many years, Chuck would have crashed when he penetrated the sound barrirer just like DeHavilland, and others.
Ain't the History Channel just great.

 

[quote=mahout;336138]I also saw that History Channel show, fascinating stuff in my opinion.

 

[quote=mahout;336138]I also saw that History Channel show, fascinating stuff in my opinion.

 

I'm working on this project right now for an event tomorrow. The only issue I have found is the Monroe spacer/washers don't quite take up all the space if installed with the cup side facing inward on the bottom of the shock. With the cup facing out they are too wide. With one out and one in they are still a little loose. It looks to me like I need to put two thin washers inside the cups to make up the difference.

Has anyone else done this or is the small amount of wiggle room not an issue?

Thanks to Manxman and all for documenting their installs to make it possible for the rest of us.

Thanks.

 

Hey dj (my initials also),
The extra washer inside the cup won't hurt, but I just tightened the lower bolt with enough torque to squeeze the lower bracket flanges together enough to eliminate rattling. If you ever switch back to a shock that needs the original space between the bracket flanges, they can be bent outward again with locking pliers.

 

Thanks for the tips. I ended up using an extra set of thin washers on the outside of the cup washers. No extra space.

My only issue now is getting air into them. I pump up to 90 and check the pressure in the system and it was 10. I then checked the fittings to make sure they all looked good. Nothing was pinching the lines and the o rings looked good. Tried again with 90 and it was 12. Jacked the car up to get weight off the shocks and tried again with 90 and got it to 27. Any ideas? The other issue I had was with checking the pressure. The nipple is so recessed that my pressure gauge does did not touch it to release some air to check the pressure. I shaved a little off the end of the threaded section and was able to get readings. Maybe my pump is having the same issue though it works fine on my bikes.

 

How did you mount the filler valve? I have more than enough length of valve stem to attach any pump or compressor. As I mentioned in the DIY, I use a $10.00 Ace Hardware foot pump and it works perfectly. The problems that you described don't make any sense to me unless you have a strange mounting method for the fill valve. I don't recall anyone else posting problems like yours. Let me know if I can help any further.

Oh, the other thing is, there is so little air volume that is held captive in the hose and air sleeve system, just removing your pressure gauge, or your pump, can result in the loss of 5-10 psi (pull the filler hose or pressure gauge away very quickly). So inflate the system about 10 psi higher than you actually want. When you pull the hose or gauge away, you will lose the extra air. Despite posts to the contrary, + or- 10-20 psi won't make any difference at all in ride height or damping performance.

 

I mounted it just like radareclipse further up the page. My issue looks like too much length of threads. The threaded area is so long that I think the brass pin inside is not getting properly opened to fill the system with air. On my mountain bike the brass pin can easily be touched with my finger tip while the pin inside the airshock fitting is about an 1/8th of an inch below the end of the threaded area. Guess I can shave it down a little more and see if that helps. I need to get up in 6 hours to drive to tomorrows event so I'll check in the morning if anyone has any suggestions. As of now I at least have 27PSI so I should be fine.