we just got back from freakshow 8 which by the way was friggin awsome lol. i saw a few civics out there that appeared to be bagged which i thought was cool. i asked a few of the guys who had them and they said that they were not the same as the lowrider mini trucks they were just a thing that goes in were the shock was and that they were bolt on or plug and play no welding was needed. they said that if i wanted to go to the track every once in a while they had kits that would let me go to track with bags.

i really want to do this to my civic but i dont even know were to start. i think i want to do a simple kit but i dont want to weld to much or have to fabricate *** loads of things.

does anyone have experience in this field? or does anyone already have this done ? if you do post up a video and a link to the kit or parts you bought to do this ?

 

Before anyone replies with smart-assed, hating replies I'm warning you - DON'T. If you hate airbags, etc. just skip the topic.

To the OP this probably isn't the ideal forum to ask such a question, but we'll see if anyone can chime in with good info.

 

im in for an answer, ive always thought this myself

 

i dont have this done, but ive seen the product you are talking about, Its pretty much a bolt in air strut, Im pretty sure it needed very few modifications to the suspension components. Pretty mcuh run air lines a switch box and tank. But as for the track im not sure??

 

my buddy had it on his car eg coupe. It was nice looking when they worked but if it ever blows out in the front be preparted to replace alot of stuff. Youll rip the front bumper off and take some other stuff to with it. I wouldnt run it on the track also to much stress on the bags. IMO dont do it he didnt like it after a while but he paided so much money he had to roll with it until someone stole his civic and stripped it. Its your car do what you want with it. Also welcome to Honda-tech

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B18C5-EH2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Before anyone replies with smart-assed, hating replies I'm warning you - DON'T. If you hate airbags, etc. just skip the topic.

To the OP this probably isn't the ideal forum to ask such a question, but we'll see if anyone can chime in with good info.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Biting tongue, beginning to hurt, going to another topic.

 

And you're screen name explains it all.

What would you like t know about air ride on a Civic? I've had mine done, pulled it off because I was going to trade the hatch for a minitruck and he didn't want the air ride (needed something friendly for his wife and kid). Sold it before the trade went through and then he backed out. I will be installing hydraulics the next go round.

the following components you need for air:

Tank (size depends on the compressors you will run and how much you'll play with it)

Compressor(s) - These will fill the tank with air, look at the duty cycle and make sure it will handle the amount of air you need as well as be able to keep up if you'll play with the set up any.

Strut bags or air cylinders - Either of these are designed as a bolt in application requiring little to know modification to the suspension

Valves - These allow the air to escape or enter your air lines and air struts/cylinders to adjust the height. They are available in 3/8" or 1/2" depending on preferance and intent, you will run 4 or 8 on a typical set up

Air line - will connect from the tank to the valves to the air struts/cylinders as well as from the tank to your gauge and your air struts/cylinders to gauges. Available in 1/4" 3/8" and 1/2"

Gauges - You need these to monitor the air pressure in each of your air struts/cylinders as well as your tank

Water trap - you should have one between each compressor and the tank to keep from rusting your tank out, getting water in your valves, etc.

Pressure cut off switch - This will be wired in to your compressor and air pressure sensor in the tank to turn the compressor on and off at specified pressure settings

Switch box/switches - These switches will be wired in to your valves to actuate the fill or dump in the valves, the number of switches needed depends on the number of valves you have as well as how much control you want over your set up

I believe I covered everything, but I will double check later on. My set up was:

4 air cylinders
3/8" air line to cylinders
1/4" line to gauges
8 SMC 3/8" valves
4 gallon tank
Firestone compressor
9 switches: all 4 corners, side to side, front to back and pancake

The 3/8" line is overkill, if I had a bigger tank I'd have fully been able to lift the front tires off the ground when filling up quickly. I was able to lift the rear off the ground a 1/4" when airing up quickly. You can run speed regulators to prevent this, since 1/4" valves are hard to find. Valves are also loud when dumping, even louder if you don't have the set up enclosed, they make mufflers for the valves if the sound is an issue.

Pictures - Pardon the paint and body damage, all of it was curtousy of the p.o.






















If you have any more questions, ask and I'll answer them if I can.

 

What's up buddy. Glad your interested in taking a step towards air ride suspension.

I currently have Air Ride on my EJ8, Have had it about 6 months now and couldn't be happier with the system, truthfully.

Check out this website below. These guys have it all and is a good palce for info and products,

It really depends on how much you want to spend- But they are excellent in helping you find what you need. Been buying parts from them for along time, good peeps and great products.

Air ride consist of the basic setup parts. Tank, Compressor, air lines+valves, switchbox and cylinders or dampening kit/spring/bags kits. These are the main parts needed.

It's so easy to install yourself and they are all straight bolt on, no fabricating or anything else needed. Took me 3 hours to put mine in and havn't had 1 problem yet.

http://www.Airbagit.com

I've been using Air Cylinders, which many of the Civics/ Hondas use to this day becuase they are small enough to fit in the room we have available. There's a full dampening kit/spring/bag available for us now to if you want a more expensive system, which is cool but is not needed.

I would say go with a air cylinder setup with some accumulators for a nice smooth ride.

AIM me if you have any specific questions at (TmNMrPeanut) and I'll try to help ya out on what you need if you are really interested or just post the questions here.

(link to cylinder setup complete kits $800+)
http://airbagit.com/index.php?cPath=229_253

You can buy them broken down, or in a package which comes with everything you need.

It's a great investment, and like I said in previous post of mine- From the positive experiences I've had with my system- I'll never go back to a normal coilover/dampening system. I've had it all to, trust me.

It's just much more practical this day and age to be on air. Some of the major advantages will be adjustable height at any time, SECURITY (when your pancaked, not even the best theif in the world can jack your ride, I've had 100x attempts all ending in FAIL!) and of course amazing ride comfort.

Have a great one man.


Starion, nice ride homie. Here's my Civic.




Modified by BlackandMild at 3:58 PM 10/28/2008

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BlackandMild &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It's a great investment, and like I said in previous post of mine- From the positive experiences I've had with my system- I'll never go back to a normal coilover/dampening system. I've had it all to, trust me.</TD></TR></TABLE>
BAAAHAHA

 

To the original poster or anyone looking to go with an air set up, fully reasearch the company you plan to buy from.

AIM, airbagit, or any other name they use is at the bottom of my list. They're customer service has been crap for years, as well as some inferior products (though some of thier products are just fine). Joe Morrow (owner) is supposedly trying to change his ways and make it a reputable company, only time will tell. Do a google search and you'll find many dis-satisfied customers and horrendous customer service, especially when AIM was at fault.

Good to hear everything went well for BlackandMild. Remember though, they don't have seal kits so when te rubber wears out, you'll need new cylinders. Also, if you're not, make sure you lubricate them by pulling the lines off and squirting some silicone spray in to help prevent the rubber from wearing out so fast.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by WhiteOnRice &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
BAAAHAHA</TD></TR></TABLE>

What's so funny? I had Tein Super Street on before I put my air ride in and they are absolutely nothing compared to air. I had KYB/w Eibach springs before that and were still ****.

To the OP, you'll get a lot of hating like this- I'm use to it and stick up for air cause I believe in it and enjoy it myself. The fact of the matter is, the people who hate seem to have never had an air ride system in their car or happen to know anything about the facts to back up the **** talk.

So, be way prepared to have a lot of hatin on your ride. The people who appreciate cars and are enthusest at heart will all compltement your willingness to be different. Not everyone races their cars, I've brought mine to the track to test out the suspension under circumstances such as this and I was pullin in the same times I was originally with my old setup. No difference in performance if you have a well built system.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by starion88esir &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Good to hear everything went well for BlackandMild. Remember though, they don't have seal kits so when te rubber wears out, you'll need new cylinders. Also, if you're not, make sure you lubricate them by pulling the lines off and squirting some silicone spray in to help prevent the rubber from wearing out so fast.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Even if anything happened, it's better paying $200.00 for brand new replacement air clinders (yes, all 4 for $200.00- $140.00 for rears or front only if it happened) then $1,200 for a brand new dampening system that [freak]ed up on you.

I've always liked airbagit.com. Never had any bad experiences with them but there are loads of companies out there. Doing good research is always a plus as starion suggested.


Modified by BlackandMild at 4:29 PM 10/28/2008

 

I had air ride on my old 99 Si, it was fun to pull up next to people at a stop light and slam the car and freak them out, I pieced together the entire kit for $800, mostly from http://www.airridepro.com, I say do it

 

Nice man, looks tight.

 

im baggin mine soon too, to all the haters, look up any kind of pro touring website and look at bagged 4000lb camaros built to shred. its easy to hate what you dont know!

 

i knew i would probubly get some pple hating on this topic but this is a honda forum and this is a topic that has to do with hondas. this is a new thing for these cars and i knew that some would not understand. im just tired of my car scraping and not being able to go in certain areas of the town im in. ive also heard a lot about how comfortable the ride is . thank you to all that have helped so far and if anyone else has a appropriate reply with more info feel free i want to know everything about this .

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nickelz34 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm just tired of my car scraping and not being able to go in certain areas of the town im in. ive also heard a lot about how comfortable the ride is . thank you to all that have helped so far and if anyone else has a appropriate reply with more info feel free i want to know everything about this .</TD></TR></TABLE>

It's all good bro, ****...one of the main other reasons why I got it for was my damn 90 degree driveway I couldn't pull into and the shitty roads here. I felt your pain, but not anymore

It's just not to common in our car models, that's all. Any luxury car, specially V-dubs you see out there, 50% of them are bagged. Air rides really picking up, and people are starting to realize the potential.


Modified by BlackandMild at 2:54 PM 10/29/2008

 

If you're not concerned about sitting on the ground, air struts are definately the way to go. It's a much smoother ride and they mount to the strut tower in the same fashion as stock struts. Air cylinders use bushings tomount and aren't a 100% fit. Over time the bushings wear down, flex and allow the twisting motion on the subframe to tear the mounting holes on your strut tower. Ask me how I know. Don't believe me, ask and COMPETENT shop that has done an air cylinder set up on a Civic. There are a lot of hack shops in the world of air ride.

Air isn't that new on Civics, it's been done a lot since the late 90's. Just most that do it are more concerned with sitting as low as possible vs. just allowing the car to gain access to problem roads and driveways.

If you ever want to do heavy driving and you want the best ride, definately get air struts. They're smoother than stock as long as you get quality bags. I recommend bagyardairride, but they are expensive. They will custom build Bilsteins for your application. They're bags are strong and have the best lift and drop heights I've seen bar none. I was going to re do my set up with thier airstruts before I decided to juice my hatch. My roommate s getting thier airstruts for her 02 VW GTI.

Air has come a long way in the last ten years. A lot more performance oriented vs. just there to slam it to the ground, but remember, air ride first appeared in the 50's on a production car, is used on dump trucks, 18 wheelers, and several other production vehicles today, if you say it's not reliable, you're 100% misinformed. It's as reliable as the quality of products and installment allows it to be.

Don't like hydraulics? Look at your F1 cars and adjustable suspension supercars, they use them. If it wasn't reliable they wouldn't rely on them to lift and lower thier cars.

 

i've had both, air cylinders and hydraulics. i'll compare the two because i think you should consider hydros.

i ditched the air setup for juice for several reasons.

hatch=air, sedan=juice






the spindle would hit the cylinder limiting how low i could go and rubbed when turning dangerous








ride was okay with air, but usually STIFF unless you were at a certain PSI. cannot ride dumped with air, imc. hydraulics on the other hand, ride quality is amazing. the accumulators soak up every imperfection in the road. AND you could drive it on the ground and the ride was just as lush.



these kits all CLAIM to bolt on, but there's always gonna be modifications, guaranteed. both will have or develop leaks. air leaks are harder to find, but god damn hydros make a mess when they leak.

air compressors are loud, slow, and the tanks run out of air quickly. yeah you have to charge batteries for the hydros, but i only had to like once a month.

mechanical whine of the pump &gt; open exhaust valve

i installed both setups myself, it's all straightforward. only pain is mounting stuff like valves, compressors, pumps, etc. i did have to get a battery rack welded to my trunk for the hydraulics though.

if you go with an air setup, you'll eventually want to upgrade to hydraulics. maybe not, but most do.

both are fun as hell. nothing gets attention like adjustable suspensions. harmless attention clowning on trucks is fun, especially the "static dropped" ones lol.


Modified by FOUR-G at 5:39 AM 10/30/2008

 

wow...soooo dump'd

lovin it!

 

I know quite a bit about air ride on trucks, not too much on cars. I had one friend that had air cylinders on his integra (with huge ground effects haha) and his car rode really bad, and he had MAD wheelhop.

Personally, I don't think they make sence on most hondas, for me to consider air ride it needs to lay sideskirts, and 99% of bagged hondas don't/won't.

Look at the ek's. The exhaust hangs low compared to eg's. To lay exhaust wouldnt make your ek that low, about 2.5" lower than what my daily driver is. (00 civic si)

Plus there will more than likely be little problems as time goes on, so maintenance can be a pain depending on the install and the quality of parts used.

I'm not hating, I just don't agree with airride unless it actually makes your car low, and to do that there will have to be some major modifications in the inside sheetmetal.

 

To get the stock skirts on the ground you need to lift the engine. The oil pan sits lower than the skirts, so does something else. I don't recall off hand. The exhaust is simple, get rid of that poorly hung enourmous fart can. :shudders: God forbid they don't hear a Honda from a mile away.

My air cylinders never rubbed, but the front UCA hit the top of the strut tower and kept me an inch higher than I would have been if I clearenced it, then I'm sure it would have hit my spindle.

That's a mighty big set up for a Honda. You can get away with a smaller hydro set up for sure. Cylinders with 20psi ride as good as the best coil overs, aired out, the same as any crappy lowering job, there's no give. Hydraulics will ride smooth with the use of accumulators, at all levels.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by starion88esir &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">To get the stock skirts on the ground you need to lift the engine. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Did you do this? That would be sick, pics please

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by starion88esir &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

My air cylinders never rubbed, but the front UCA hit the top of the strut tower and kept me an inch higher than I would have been if I clearenced it, then I'm sure it would have hit my spindle.

That's a mighty big set up for a Honda. You can get away with a smaller hydro set up for sure. Cylinders with 20psi ride as good as the best coil overs, aired out, the same as any crappy lowering job, there's no give. Hydraulics will ride smooth with the use of accumulators, at all levels.</TD></TR></TABLE>

you probably mean 120 psi? 20 psi wouldn't even begin to lift the car off the ground.

in my case, the spindles hung the car up on the cylinders before my control arms would max out.



but yeah 48v is quite violent on the EF if you're not smooth on the switch. when i put the car back on the road i'll cut that bank in half, mostly for the weight savings though.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kuja396 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Did you do this? That would be sick, pics please </TD></TR></TABLE>

NOT MY CAR OR WORK (unfortunately)! found this beaut on SSM:






check out the rest of his bucket, some awesome work