Can someone give honest opion on wether to get air rides or coilovers. Pardon my stupidity but don't they do they same.

 

Coilovers (expensive ones such as Tein, JIC, Cattman) are meant for handling purposes. NOT for show.

Go airbags, they're not at all intended for handling but will make your car look "supa doopa fly" .
-Cyrus

 

Go air. unless you want to setup for better handling

 

depends what u want....

are you going for looks or performance?

if you have air ride it is not recommended for taking hard turns or anything like that. i had air ride and i loved it. i am more into the looks over performance.

i know jason had it (thebigsadler) and he got rid of it i think becuase he was getting boost and knew air ride wasnt stable enough for the setup he had.

air ride is good becuase u can control the height of your ride. as opposed to coilovers wehre u have to manually set the height at what u want.

Tom

 

does air seriously reduce handling ability?

 

if anyone out there has air on a 5th gen, what kinda kit do you have and where did you get it from? im thinking about it, but i dont know too much about where to come across a good kit.

 

this website has them

http://www.justairbagit-store.com/pr...=2000&x=14&y=8

they are $1395.

 

I got bags on my 5th gen. I dont know if i would reccomend it because i have had ALOT of problems. I wouldnt do it again.
Lam

 

I would go coilover hands down, way much better handling for the same price. Air is cool for show.

Cheers

AA

 

thats what i hear, alot of problems, are they major problems, or things you can look past?

 

yeah i saw those, but i heard you can find them for cheaper...

 

they are totally different. coil overs lower the car but are more performance based, and very stiff. Then, air bags are more for show. yes the car can go low, and its nice it can get high to go up drive-ways, but the car will sway when driven hard, and isnt race oriented. South west auto has two good air bag sets, a basic set (up/down motion, normal tanks, etc), and an advanced set (up/down and left/right motion, chrome tanks, nicer remotes, etc)

 

http://store.yahoo.com/southwestauto...ismax100b.html
southwest has it for 5 dollars cheaper then the nicer kit is more

 

Coming from someone who has had air ride 2 times, total of nearly a year and about 5-7 other suspension combinations here are my thoughts:

Air ride: What can I say..? It is a crapload of fun, but is not something you should think is going to be completely flawless. On the opposite spectrum of things, it is not something I had TOO much trouble with. There are issues, mainly the fact of getting the kit on and getting all of the kinks out. If you think you are going to buy a kit, put it on over the weekend and have it perfect the next day, you are in for a big kick to the *****. It takes a while to get all the leaks out, to make sure all your wiring is right and to just have everything in sync (haha..).

With air suspension, you definitely are becoming a huge showoff and will turn all kinds of heads. I can't tell you how many people you will have drooling all over the place and constantly asking you "you got hydros on that thing??!!" It is a ton of fun to mess around at stop lights or while driving on the highway, and always a plus to set the car nice and low when you park it. However, it can be kind of embarassing at the same time if you cylinders leak or your compressor is weak and the car slowly drops or makes lots of noise. I finally bought a $300.00 compressor, $100.00 in metal fittings and $200.00 cylinders for the rear to stop all of my issues of dropping and leaking. You really need to buy all the good stuff first and realize that the cheap way will only lead to problems.

As far as car shows go, it is so much easier to roll up and hit the switches and lay your car out then it is to raise the car, lower the coilover and repeat to bring it back up. If you do not daily drive the car or have to constantly worry about the roads you drive it on you will be fine. Air ride is very smooth and highly adjustable while driving so you don't have to worry about scraping or whatnot, but it does not handle well. It is not scary, but it is not the most responsive suspension. Another thing is that all of the air ride kits out for our car do not bring the car as low as a set of JIC's will take it (simple design), but it's hard to drive around all the way down with JICs or air ride.

Coilovers - If you do the coilover thing, it's JICs/Tien's or nothing at all. And for me personally, the JICs are just unreal. The adjustability factor, the ride quality, the ride height:drive quality ratio and the overall product appearance are well worth the money. If you drive your car a lot, and you enjoy actually driving your car and not just having it as a shiny object, this is the way to go. I drive my car, everyday, tucking tire all around. I have about an inch and half of tire tucked in the rear and just touching the tire in the front, and the ride is perfectly smooth. The front was lowered slightly with the spring purch because it had to be to get that low, but the rear didnt have the spring purch touched, so the spring rate remains the exact same as if it was all the way up.

These are just my personal opinions, take them for what they are worth to you.

As a last note, pricing on air ride, with everything done right and all the best stuff (southwest autoworks) you will pay around $2500-3000.00 (this is based on what I personally paid and installing it all myself). This being with digital air gauges, great cylinders, great brackets, thick bags up front, all metal fittings, a big compressor, a good tank, a good pressure switch, strong and reliable valves and switch box or other switch operation. I had my air ride wired to a car alarm remote for $400.00 and it was the best investment for air ride I had made for functionality. I will tell you that you will pay another $500-1000.00 if you get it all done custom, so that you can lay a lot lower than just to the tire or edge of the rim.

The JIC's will run you $1800-2000.00 depending on your connections or group deal prospects. And you can ride around at the tires with great ride quality.

 

I'd PM Jason (thebigsadler) on this one. He's gone through more suspension setups than just about anyone here.

He's had 2 airbag setups at separate times. Ride sucked on both, reliability sucks. Imagine not being able to drive with people in your backseat because you're afraid you'll blow the cylinders. Imagine breaking suspension mounts and chasing down slow air leaks. And not only does the car ride like a 70's Eldorado with handling to match, it was almost impossible to get the car level when riding.

The only cool thing was the ability to raise/lower the car at will.

He's on JIC's now and very happy.

 

yea sadler has kind of done it all with 4th gen suspensions. but dont bug the man too much

 

whatchu talkin bout willis?

 

i think your own words sum it up pretty well.

 

These are just my personal opinions, take them for what they are worth to you.

As a last note, pricing on air ride, with everything done right and all the best stuff (southwest autoworks) you will pay around $2500-3000.00 (this is based on what I personally paid and installing it all myself). This being with digital air gauges, great cylinders, great brackets, thick bags up front, all metal fittings, a big compressor, a good tank, a good pressure switch, strong and reliable valves and switch box or other switch operation. I had my air ride wired to a car alarm remote for $400.00 and it was the best investment for air ride I had made for functionality. I will tell you that you will pay another $500-1000.00 if you get it all done custom, so that you can lay a lot lower than just to the tire or edge of the rim.

The JIC's will run you $1800-2000.00 depending on your connections or group deal prospects. And you can ride around at the tires with great ride quality.[/QUOTE]

Thank you I do look around and read different post and you do make sense. Yesterday I was talking to my bro and we had this discussion about it and we were talking about leaks and this and that.

I think I will go with the coilovers but now I have another dilema. JIC or TEIN? I know that both are really good for our car but is there a major difference in ride and how high or low can you drop the car?

 

Thank you I do look around and read different post and you do make sense. Yesterday I was talking to my bro and we had this discussion about it and we were talking about leaks and this and that.

I think I will go with the coilovers but now I have another dilema. JIC or TEIN? I know that both are really good for our car but is there a major difference in ride and how high or low can you drop the car?[/QUOTE]

if your gonna go coilovers i heard JIC's are better. One drawback the teins have is that it uses the stock strut mounts, (i believe), and I also think youll get lower with the JIC's

 

Damn but price is a factor so I may go with the TEIN.

 

Tein's adjust just like ground controls/weapon R's and other stuff, it's the same lowering of the spring purch and shortening your spring rate.

If you really want to get the best suspension out there and not have to worry about a crappy ride or about blowing struts, get the JIC's. I have 2 friends with Tein setups and they are pretty low, but have to be so god awful stiff at there lowest point, it is not a fun ride. Tein's are more track oriented in my personal opinion. JICs can be stiff if you want, but don't have to be.

Spend the money. Get the right stuff.

 

You say the rides are stiff as hell at the lowest point, do your friends have the dampering controls with them? I am just asking trying to get as much ino as possible

 

Yes they do. The thing is, the tein's lower/raise like normal coilovers, so it will get really stiff when it is really low to avoid blowing the strut. For our application, the JIC's are the option because of the shear weight of the car.

Do you know how each coilover differs in it's lowering abilities?

 

to be very honest no I do not. That is why I am aking which ones to get. I know that so many people have tried and are still trying to do things to there car and I am greatful to learn from trial and error

 

I got the JICs on my 5th gen, I decided on them due to the reputation for quality and what sadler is talking about, you can lower them by two methods. I'm low and i still have full strut travel. Its a comfortable ride as coilovers go. I can't tell you how much fun it is to drive this thing now. As for price, it is a bit steep, I just waited around to find a hot deal.

 

One other question for the guys with coilovers, I have noticed that you are in Fl. and I am in NY. Now knowing that with all the potholes here in NY, in your opion would you still go with the coilovers?

 

<-- JIC in CT

 

Andrei

 

Ditto, except I know that I wouldn't do it again. Go coilovers.

Edit:I agree with this too, with respect to my car, not Jason's (never rode in his).

 

how low are you??..pics?

 

HOT DAMN - peddy....dog - get bags!! your car would be 200% hot!!





BTW - gsumax....whats your AIM/AOL sN?

 

yeah i want bags soo bad, but nobody recommends them!!i dont know what i should do.....

 

i think bags has a gf

 

har har har har har... that's great.

 

lol

 

Haha, good one Doug - fiance now!



EDIT: peddy - dont listen to them.....get bags

 

yeah, im in the process of saving, whether its JIC's or AIR bags. Ill make up my mind down the road.

 

Hehe - I swear dude - your **** will be so hot. We'll fly down Barret w/ a skidpad underneath your exhaust...

DRAAAAAAAAAG that sonabiatch!!




Lets get paintin ****

 

lets do it this weekend, if its not soo DAMN cold and sleeting...let me know your schedule