Planning on installing a pair of Gabriel Hi-Jackers on my 99 Cherokee to keep it level while doing light to medium towing.The springs are good and I have the factory tow package but would like to get the air shocks to keep my headlights level when I tow heavier loads.My question is does anyone have these installed on their trucks and would you do it again?I had them installed on my 73 Camero back in the old days and really liked them back then.I will be getting the air controller set-up (on board air compressor) with them so I won't be tied to one air supply and can level at will...any happy air shock users out there?
Air Shocks
- Thread starter Greaser
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I have a buddy that has them on his Ranchero and seems to like them a lot. Whenever he has a big load it's easy to level it out. I'm sure you do know that when the load goes away you need to re-adjust or the ride really goes kaput.
Greaser, before you go this route, take a good look at the shock mounting points. Shocks are meant for suspension dampening, and often times the mounting points aren't up to the task of supporting body weight.
The springs are leaf packs and aren't known to be all that great for towing.They are almost straight across when new.I'm not going to tow anything really heavy here so buying beefier leaf packs and bouncing to work everyday is not what I want.The ride,height,towing ability is fine the way it is now .I just want to keep it that way when I pull lets say,1000 lbs of moose meat, and my crew with the gear ,home from hunt camp 16 hours.I have been doing this since I got the truck new easily every year.I would just like the "option" of adjusting my ride like the Montana mini van my buddy has.These have air leveling systems from the factory with the tow package.The shock mounts are plenty beefy to handle some of the load,they do now anyway,but good point.This isn't a baffed out rig,it's tight and well maintained because my life depends on it in northern Canada (no phone service or any civilization where we go).Just want to have the option of going up or down.
I dislike air shocks, period. The upper shock mount is not that strong on a Cherokee (unibody vehicle), and I have seen where folks adapted one of the FIRESTONE or AIR LIFT bags. This, or another solution is generally much better. I have switched out a few vehicles from air shocks to TIMBREN, to bags, etc.
After driving and owning other unibodies, I just avoid air shocks, period.
Which is why I went with SUPER SPRINGS on our 2WD '01 Cherokee.
Removed them after vehicle totalled (front end). PM me, Greaser, if you're interested. I'd be glad to get rid of them as I no longer have a use for them (son didn't want them on his "new" '01). Make me any reasonable offer.
http://www.supersprings.com/
#SSA-01
As a note, on both Jeeps I went with OLD MAN EMU "Comfort" shocks, poly anti-roll bar bushings front and rear; changed tires to 255-65 and tightened steering box. Makes the straight axle booger a real handler.
You may be aware that the 00-01 years seemed to have defective springs (materials or tempering); I went through [3] replacements on our '01 at dealers' expense. Perfectly flat -- as you seem to have -- is ideal, but a 400# load shouldn't throw it off too much. We made numerous roundtrips from Dallas to Chicago at well near gross, with or without trailers. The rear springs were a weak point. Once the above mods were made -- and new springs were in -- one hardly noticed the load. With the SS overloads, one only noticed braking distances.
After driving and owning other unibodies, I just avoid air shocks, period.
Which is why I went with SUPER SPRINGS on our 2WD '01 Cherokee.
Removed them after vehicle totalled (front end). PM me, Greaser, if you're interested. I'd be glad to get rid of them as I no longer have a use for them (son didn't want them on his "new" '01). Make me any reasonable offer.
http://www.supersprings.com/
#SSA-01
As a note, on both Jeeps I went with OLD MAN EMU "Comfort" shocks, poly anti-roll bar bushings front and rear; changed tires to 255-65 and tightened steering box. Makes the straight axle booger a real handler.
You may be aware that the 00-01 years seemed to have defective springs (materials or tempering); I went through [3] replacements on our '01 at dealers' expense. Perfectly flat -- as you seem to have -- is ideal, but a 400# load shouldn't throw it off too much. We made numerous roundtrips from Dallas to Chicago at well near gross, with or without trailers. The rear springs were a weak point. Once the above mods were made -- and new springs were in -- one hardly noticed the load. With the SS overloads, one only noticed braking distances.
Greaser, you are on exactly the right track for this particular application. That is what they are meant for - compensation for things like occasional towing/heavy loads. You don't have "suspension woes" except for a headlight problem with your trailer attached.
Also, your shock mounts should be well up to the task of supporting the additional stress this application invokes. Any horror stories about air shocks causing problems there certainly stem from boy racers who used them to support the whole rear of the car so they could mount oversized tires, or from cases where the mounts were already weakened from rust.
OT: Another oft-overlooked legitimate use of them was to run seperate air lines right-left and use the right side at a higher PSI to compensate for torque loading at the dragstrip starting line. This probably became bastardized into the solution for weak rear springs and/or enabling clearance for oversized rear tires in the drag racer wanna-be crowd way back when.
Also, your shock mounts should be well up to the task of supporting the additional stress this application invokes. Any horror stories about air shocks causing problems there certainly stem from boy racers who used them to support the whole rear of the car so they could mount oversized tires, or from cases where the mounts were already weakened from rust.
OT: Another oft-overlooked legitimate use of them was to run seperate air lines right-left and use the right side at a higher PSI to compensate for torque loading at the dragstrip starting line. This probably became bastardized into the solution for weak rear springs and/or enabling clearance for oversized rear tires in the drag racer wanna-be crowd way back when.
I think all cars and trucks should have automatic level control. I'm surprised that the aftermarket sector hasn't picked up on this issue as a potential high market value.
TanSedan...My height,ride is good even with a 200-250 tounge weight and the 1000-2000 lb. max load I'm pulling.It's just that my lowbeams/foglights are up a bit and my highbeams are blinding on-coming traffic.The airshocks would give me the "on-board" option to level at will and this makes my long ride safer to everyone concerned.Air bags are twice the price and not really what I need which is a slight lift now and then for towing.Spring helpers are fine but not readily adjustable from the cab.The rear shock mounts look pretty good to me (double-walled bracket running entire width of Jeep).The gas-charged shocks (Gabriel Max-Control) I bought a few years back were pretty stout in pressure when I cut the wire to install them so some pressure is on the mounts back there all the time, with no problems thus far.Like Acewiza replied... to use airshocks as a lone support is not a good idea..but for leveling with push button comfort from the cab I loved them when I had my 1973 Camero...and the Gabriel's were still working when I towed it to the bone yard.
Always run separate air lines to air shocks. If you run them together, it will cause excess body roll on corners. The outside pushes down, forcing air into the inside shock, pushing the inside up. I tried both ways, and it's a world of difference.
I thought about this anomoly Jim but how can you do this unless you can get a one-way valve at the compressor head.Both lines "T" to-gether to form a single so you can hook it up to the exit on the compressor.Hoping Gabreil thought about this and put a valve between the two shocks in the "T".
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