Air bag question. With photos.

[crazy old man]

Hi everyone.

Thank you for all answers, even those roasting me. AMy and all iinputs appreciated.

In the process of overhauling my 1985 C10.
As you can see the truck is axle flipped and is C-notched.
The exhaust will be relocated.
Do I have enough clearance with the air bags?
Never done this before.
The frame and under carriage will be laser cleaned for paint, soon after airbags and exhaust.

Cheers

 

[crazy old man]

One more picture

 

[78C10BigTen]

Im no expert but if youre relocating those exhaust pipes, i think youd be fine. I know theyll (the bags) squash and expand more with the truck weight on them empty but it looks good from here. lol
Also: do you have full droop bump stops to keep the truck up when all the airs out? I deal in 18 wheelers everyday at work and dropping and raising the bags to hook trailers is why i ask.

 

[78C10BigTen]

Maybe somebody like @Tank6x2 could offer help, pretty sure hes bagged.

 

[crazy old man]

Im no expert but if youre relocating those exhaust pipes, i think youd be fine. I know theyll (the bags) squash and expand more with the truck weight on them empty but it looks good from here. lol
Also: do you have full droop bump stops to keep the truck up when all the airs out? I deal in 18 wheelers everyday at work and dropping and raising the bags to hook trailers is why i ask.

Hi 78C10. Thanks for your thoughts. Yes I have rubber stops under the C-notch they just do not show in the pictures.
The top of the air bags with out pressure are at the top of the frame. The truck is sitting on the wheels with out the box. I'm going to raise the rear about 2" with the air bags so it rides level and adjustable for loads.

 

[Tank6x2]

Hi everyone.

Thank you for all answers, even those roasting me. AMy and all iinputs appreciated.

In the process of overhauling my 1985 C10.
As you can see the truck is axle flipped and is C-notched.
The exhaust will be relocated.
Do I have enough clearance with the air bags?
Never done this before.
The frame and under carriage will be laser cleaned for paint, soon after airbags and exhaust.

Cheers

IMO not without heat shield providing adequate protection exhaust temp near that bag will cause the bags to go through too many heat cycles causing not only the bag to lose its malleability but create dry cracking/ heat fatigue of the bag material, so if your relocating the exhaust it’ll be ok, the bag diameter changes roughly 1- 1-1/4” when flattened out in diameter, give yourself enough room that you won’t be looking for it, get ready to fit, fabricated modify, tack, test, modify and reset. Thanks for the nod @78C10BigTen - got a build feed under “ Stormin Norman “ starts out pg 5 of feed, it’s a external 4 link setup that’s a one off- mix mash of welder series links and custom water jetted dog ears for the Axle setup.

 

[electoqute]

Relocate the bags on the spring side/ outside of the frame. Unless you want alot of axle flex. You can use off the shelf bracket for helper springs in a bolton kit. Smoother ride and more stable. Airbags require minimum 6" clearance with a heat shield for exhaust. Unless you run under the axle you won't have enough space

 

[TotalyHucked]

That's definitely not enough clearance from the exhaust, that bag'll be melted in no time. If there's gonna be exhaust within ~6" or so of the bag, there's a high likelihood of it melting. Here's what I ran on my '85 with a notch/flip kit, it worked great. It's for a '99-07 truck with a flip kit, took minimal modifications to work on my square.

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Had to cut off one leg of the brackets (it would've hung down in the notch) and open up the holes for the bolts so I could use the notch bolts. Then used washers to take up the gap from the other lower leg to the frame rail since it didn't sit on the notch.

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Had to elongate the upper bag mount hole so that it would sit straight up and down

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Worked great once I was done

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Even had clearance on the pass side shock

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[TotalyHucked]

Then just ran the lines out to the tag holes. I always have a small electric pump on me for emergencies, so I didn't want to bother with on board air

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