Jessica gets her Air Bags

[MeenZ28]

Here's an interesting question that maybe someone could chime in on. How often should the tank be drained of water? I'm hearing differant things. Some say everyday. Others say once a "season" whatever that means. I only ask because it's going to be a hassle to do it since the drain is at the bottom and the tank would have to be compleatly removed from the car to drain it. That is going to suck if I should be doing that every day....

[C2YT]

Not sure how often, but I know there is a little yellow bottle you can buy at autozone that gets rid of water in the tank.

[MeenZ28]

Little yellow bottle? Really? Any idea what it's called and how much $$$ it runs?

[C2YT]

Here is the link, its called Heet.

http://www.autozone.com/fuel-and-eng...estid=12697211

[MeenZ28]

I appreciate the help, John, however I believe that is for the gas tank, not an air tank. Unfortunately I doubt that pouring in a bottle of liquid to remove liquid is the right idea in this case.

[C2YT]

OHHHHHH I TOTALLY MISSED THAT IM SORRY!!

[MeenZ28]

No worries, bro. You were trying to help and that is appreciated. No harm no foul.

Kinda reminded me of a story I heard back in the day about a guy who accidently poured a couple of bottles of NOS energy drink into his gas tank thinking they were fuel additives and started freaking out... funny shit. Stupid ricers.

[WMCC Gary]

I have only drained mine 2 or 3 times since it was installed almost 20 year ago. My drain is in the bottom too so I just pull the line feeding the valves and turn the compressor on.

[DynoDave]

As yours is a daily driver, this "interval" might not apply, but I think I'd want to do it once a year, especially if being put away for the season.

[MeenZ28]

So after doing some research I came up with a solution to this drainage issue. Ran over to Home Depot yesterday and got a few things from their plumbing department.


(1) 1/4" NPT male to 90 degree 1/4" NPT female angle fitting
(1) 3" male to male 1/4" NPT straight extension
(1) 1/4" NPT ball valve.


Viola! Easy access tank drain....

[DynoDave]

[MeenZ28]

The Air Ride is done! Busted my ass this weekend and it took till the sun went down on Sunday to finish it. I'm uploading pics tonight and will post the process when I get home from work. I'm very happy with the outcome. She's not laying frame but has a very nice very low stance when parked and even more surprising is how good she feels when driving too. Not as bouncy I thought it'd be. Good and solid. Stay tuned.

[MeenZ28]

First was disassembly, not difficult as I have done this a few times before.

Then remove the A-arms.

Once they were out. I had to install the brackets. The hole from the bump stops index they're position then 2 holes for the bolts are drilled in the back of the a-arm. I swear these a-arms are made of tank steel. Was a ***** to drill threw them. Nonetheless - Done.


The bushings were as old as the car so I bought new poly ones (mentioned earlier in the thread) and new ball joint dust covers (just for looks) and ran them over to the shop to have the old ones pressed out and new pressed in. The a-arms are ready to go back in.

[MeenZ28]

Now it's time to focus on the spring pockets. The instructions state that the outer edge of the pockets need to be trimmed so the bags don't rub and burst - makes since. The pictures they provide in the instructions are very clear so I did the best I could with my grinder and a cut-off wheel. Please don't hate on the sloppy cuts. It does the job.



I cleaned up the cuts with my dremel and some sand paper after words too. Just as added piece of mind (and stupid me I didn't get pics of it) I got some plastic door edge protectors at Autozone and slid those over the cut edge too. Looks down right clean. Then if you notice in the first pic there, I had to drill a hole up threw the pocket into the engine compartment for the bag's bolt to go threw. Passenger side was cake but damn was it nerve racking on the driver's side since the fuel lines run over that frame rail. I thought ahead, unbolted the fuel lines, pulled them up and wiggled an old fuel filter under them to give me some room to drill. Worked great!



With that the bags are installed in the pockets...

[MeenZ28]

Then it was just a mater of wrestling the a-arms back into the car and bolting the lower part of the bag to the bracket...

Then the fun begins. Running the air lines to the back of the car. I didn't take any pics of that cause frankly it took way too long and was very frustrating. Wouldn't be so bad but I was trying to be careful so that the line wouldn't rub on sharp corners or bends and tried to avoid the exhaust as best I could. But in the end it was done. I then drilled a couple holes in the plastic panel in the trunk and rubber gromets and the compressors and valve body is totally hidden.