Front Air Suspension

[Rider90]

Just throwing ideas around...What if I wanted to convert the front suspension to air bag suspension like the rear? I'm sure the ride would be great, but it would handle horribly right? Has anyone done this?

[FordNut]

Just throwing ideas around...What if I wanted to convert the front suspension to air bag suspension like the rear? I'm sure the ride would be great, but it would handle horribly right? Has anyone done this?It would be difficult, since the shock is inside the coil spring like a coilover.

[David Morton]

Not just difficult, it would require a redesign in order to work properly. But I wonder why anybody would want to, or think they need to do that unless they're thinking "low-rider", in which case they'd be better off with hydraulic lifts.

The air bag thing is for rears because that's where the trunk is and that's where the loads change. And to answer the question, I think it would hurt the handling.

[Warpath]

There are spring over shock air bags such as this one from Air Ride (www.airride.com).

http://www.airride.com/productinfo/productimages/SKW1000.jpg

I am not sure whether one of these would fit inside the crossmember. If it did, you would need custom mounting points top and bottom. The bottom (to the LCA) would be pretty easy. The top mount would take some effort. It is had to say whether handling would get worse without comparing the spring rate and shock damping of both MM vs. Air Ride set ups. If designed properly, it may be possible to improve handling. Just because it is an air spring doesn't mean it's worse.