Bagged 1984 cutlass -> Experts please :)

[Andre]

Car: 1984 Cutlass Supreme Brougham, 305, 200R4

It's time to bag my car, I'll be honest i'm pretty newbish when it comes to this.

So far this is what i've established, please correct me if I'm wrong;


- These cars are relatively easy to do in comparison to some other vehicles.
- I'm not looking to lay frame, so It shouldn't be necessary to C notch. i'm content to use the bump stops (or modified bump stops) as my bottom out.
- All four shocks need to be relocated (how is this done?) I've seen them moved to the rear of the front control arm, is this standard? (pics of front and back would be awesome if anyone has them). Where are the rears relocated to?
- When plumbing the system is it usually neoprene lines? Or a combo of hardlines and neoprene?
- I've seen companies with tubular control arms for sale, do these serve any usefuleness? Or are they simply cosmetic?
- I see people often mentioning S10 spindles, what's the deal with that? Are they req'd?


What i'm looking for is functionality over anything else. I'd like to be able to control the front and rear seperately, but don't care to operate each wheel independantly. Obviously there's multiple "kits" made, is this the reccomended way to go?

I've searched for a write up on someone's install but have yet to get any results.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks

-Andre

 

[Silent viewer]

i can tell you anything you may need to know on this. first you will not need to relocate the shocks but you will on the front, air ride tech has a front shock kit for a g body/s10 for like 100 bucks. the front suspension is identical to a s10 so guess what, the s10 is by far the most popular to bag making parts easy to come by and cheap. you are right on the rear end to be using the bump stops for the lowest point, thats what i did and i tuck the lip of my 17" wheels. the air ride lines are the same ones they use for semi truck air brakes, i would use 3/8 lines if it were me but you can use halfs if you want faster action or smaller for slower. i used 1/2 and i think its too fast if you ask me. if you have a welder you can make your own brackets, if you can be patient with me i cangive you dimensions on mine. i bought s10 ones up front but i got them in a package deal with the bags and basiacally got them for free, on the rear i used g body specific ones and had to cut 4" off of them to lay bump stop, all the way laid out was factory height?!?!? you can buy the rear lower bracket that is called a axle pertch i think, i think they are about 20 bucks each but do need to be welded. you need to make sure you use quality fittings, i learned the lesson the hard way on this one, i ended up dropping 150 on brass push lock fittings, this was after going through over 200 bucks worth of compression fittings! i run a 5 gallon tank, 1 viair 450 and 1 viair 380. i personally would buy compressors that will make it to 200psi, trust me here you want it. i run stock control arms for now, they work just fine but i do plan to upgrade later, do i need them ? no. do i want them? oh yea, they look sweet and improve handeling. i would suggest running 2600 pound bags on all 4 corners, rear for sure but front they usually say 2500 for a s10/g body. i run 2500 up front right now and it is not enough to lift a v8 the way you would expect. 2600 pounds may need extra trimming to fit but will work better. well thats air ride for a g body in a nut shell. let me know if anybody has any questions, i am more then happy to help

 

[Andre]

Thanks man, that's really helpful stuff. You mentioned that you wouldn't use a compressor that bottoms out before 200psi, but doesn't the Viair 450 only hit 150psi? Or am i mixed up?

If you're ever under your car with light around it would be cool if you snapped a couple pics of your setup.

Here's where I get to ask the stupid questions, please forgive my ignorance;

From what i inderstand the bags directly replace the coils in all four corners, how to they mount? The same way as a spring? Is it secured in any way? Once the strut is removed where does the top of the strut mount? Is it required that both a top and a bottom perch be welded in each corner?

Here's a illustration both the f & r suspension I tracked down, if it helps explain things feel free to use them.

Thanks,
Andre

 

[1988montess]

im still kind of working on mine. i bought a full kit(except shocks) from AAC. it ran me 1700 canadian shipped to my door. i have 4 Slam RE-7's an 8 gallon tank, 2 Viair 480 comressors and its 10 switched for front, back, side to side. i bought some of this upgraded as i wanted it fast but apparently i need to cut the universal cups to size. and the owner of AAC told me to ditch the bump stops. i dont know, im still learning myself.

 

[Andre]

Yeah, I'm debating whether I should buy a kit of try to piece something together. From what I gather I could save some coin by scavenging for parts.

Obviously bags aren't vehicle specific, but are there many different variations? 1988monteSS, do you have any pics of your kit/progress? As you can probably tell I'm a visual learner

 

[Silent viewer]

the 450 is only a 150psi, a grat pump but pressure is a major key in air ride working well. you will need to buy "cups" that bolt to the top and bottom of the bags in front and top in rear only if you use the perches. on mine the fronts bolt into the top only through the shock mounts and the rear also bolt in through the top of the frame rail through the factory hole, you may be ablr to get by with out that one but i would. i would get pics but the car is literally in peices and the frame is sitting with no springs or bags in the rear and factory springs up front since i just switched out the frame for a fresh one.

old frame

no frame

i guess i dont have a pic of the new frame. it has been blasted, epoxy primed and waiting to be sprayed dark blue mica pearl.

 

[1988montess]

Yeah, I'm debating whether I should buy a kit of try to piece something together. From what I gather I could save some coin by scavenging for parts.

Obviously bags aren't vehicle specific, but are there many different variations? 1988monteSS, do you have any pics of your kit/progress? As you can probably tell I'm a visual learner

im totally a visual learner myself. i havent gotten very far due to getting married i havent had time for like 6 weeks, but im going to start on it again on Sunday, so ill start taking pics.

 

[Rockstar]

This is what i did to bag my Grand prix. Up front i used Tubular upper control arms from an S-10 that where made for bagged trucks because the ball joint angle is altered to take some of the stress off the ball joints when laid out. You wont need to spindles because you dont want to lay frame. For the rear i made cups similar the the front cups that mount the same as the springs would, the weight of the car keeps them in place.You do not need to relocate the rear shocks and i never had shocks on the front and it rode better than it did with stock suspension with no wavy ride. I eneded up getting more involved in the rear to make it sit lower but with my original set up i could have went back to stock. I also started with 150 psi compressor and 5 gal tank but 150 psi isnt enough pressure to lift both front and rear completly. 200 psi would hop the front wheels off the ground on the first hit even after the v-8 swap.I had 2500 in the front and it would lift full lock and had 2600 in the rear. Here is a pic of full lift and all down.