Well, now I gone and done it: For better or worse, no more springs!

[Candyman]

Hey their Everyone,

Well, for those of you that know me, you know I have prided myself on being one of the lower, if not the lowest PT around still sitting on Coils having commissioned my buddy Steve (who used to build Off Road Trophy Trucks) to build me a one off custom set of springs to give my baby a full 3 / 5 drop. While I really, really loved the attention, comments, and just plain love I got from having my ride grounded like it was, with my really tore up back, having 2" of travel in back, and sitting solid on 3/4 cut bump stops in front with no travel, feeling each and every imperfection in the roadway no matter how minute was not working out to well for me! To better illustrate my point, here is a re-enactment of my head, and worse, my wife's head vs my headliner every time I would enter the freeway using our beloved Happy Faces.

Me Headliner vs my head me and Wife and Wife after a ride in my PT with the springs

So I finally done went and put Air Ride on my baby which is still in progress as of yet, but I am hoping should be done by this weekend to play with!

I was always curious as to how close I was riding on springs to how low a PT on Air sat. I knew it was close, but just not sure how close. Here is a pic of my ride on the custom drop with a body ride height of 4" at all four corners, and 3 1/2" under both the front, and rear end of the car from lowest part of the body to the ground.



So, here is the project. The springs are out, and in with a full Air Ride Technologies System that came from another PT Project that unfortunately the owner sadly passed away before he could finish. The system was at one time installed, and used for a short time in the vehicle, but never was fully hooked up and operational. This is my first experience I have ever really had with Air Ride. Its an older kit, and probably not the best set up available, but for me, I am very happy with it and think it will work great for what I am looking for which is pretty much a more comfy ride and still retain that ultra low look at a show. The Switches are set up on a custom plate cut to go over the cup holders, and will provide controls for front, back, and side to side. Here are a couple of pic's of the system I am using in my ride.





I owe a huge thank you to both Slayerdarkcross, and Ray over at PTeazer for for helping make this entire Mod a reality! They both are 100% responsible for the entire thing from parts, to install, and I big time appreciate everything they have done for me! You guys are the greatest, and it truly goes to show how close PT People will go to help out a fellow Cruiser! This Project has had a few bumps in it, and both Slayer, and Ray have been outstanding in every way, kept me up to date as to any and all developments, and were able to totally take care of everything! Here is a pic of my ride in front of PTeazer.



And here is a couple of sneak pic's of the install.




It still needs a bit more tweaking before its drivable which should be done a bit later on today, and will still need a few more odds and ends that need to be done, but will be in the near future like removing, the plastic front inner fender wells, and custom fab up some new ones to fit all the way up against the sheet metal so I can tuck the front wheels as far as possible, so this will be one of those on going projects. As for the overall height, I knew I was not going to gain much as my ride was near rock bottom anyways, but did manage to gain a pretty good difference.

Where the body ride height was at 4" on springs, it now sits roughly 3 1/4, and both front end, and back end are now roughly 2 1/8" to the ground where as before they were 3 1/2" before. Since the Struts, and shocks are both fully adjustable, and they were still working on it when the measurements were taken, I suspect they might not have been 100% accurate, and will remeasure when I get her home, and all cleaned up for another sunny So Cal afternoon of pic's by the Lake again. Here are a couple of quickie shots of it on the ground so far. Everything is still waiting for adjustment this morning, but a rough idea.




As you can see, its a little lower, but the bigger thing for me is having the ability to go over speed bumps, and through driveways without cringing to the scraping sounds, and ultimately being able to lift it up enough to ride nice and smooth which I haven't been able to do in years! So now I can actually Cruise to a big out of town Show and still be able to walk the next day!

I'll try n get some better pics later, and possibly a vid once she is done later on, and will click some good beauty shots later this week after I get er all cleaned up and polished off again.

Anyways, thank you so much as always for checking out my ongoing project to make my little old PT into something cool! You guys Rock! And also a huge "THANK YOU SO MUCH" to Slayer, and Ray for all your help!



Go easy, and I'll catch you all later on.

Candyman

[CREWZIN]

Great story Don. Hopefully the wife will be happy also and you know what they say about keeping the little ole lady happy.

[Candyman]

Hey their Crewzin,

I thank you much Sir! Its actually been a good learning experience as we go along on this project. So far I have learned,

1. A smaller Air Line will control how fast and abrupt, or in my case slower and smoother the vehicle goes up, and down.

2. Its a very good idea to still use shocks in the back. To quote an analogy I read about this, "Lets say your sitting in a chair, and someone is hitting you in the back of your head steadily. Your head will move as you are getting hit, but if you put your hands up to hold your head, and keep it from moving, that is pretty much what the shocks are doing for the air bag." Might be kinda basic, but I wasn't 100% sure, and was actually told at one point they were not necessary with Air Ride.

3. Even though you can go all the way up to 1" higher than stock, if you drive like that, its like driving on pogo sticks ( hard, and very bouncy! The idea is to only go up yeah so far, and play with it to find that sweet spot where you get a good smooth ride quality you want.

4. One can have a full air ride system even with no trunk space. My air tank is under the car, and all the rest of the stuff is hidden between my sub box, and back seat completely hidden from view. Since then, I have learned one can also mount the compressor under the car where the tank is as well, but no matter where you put the tank, always make sure you mount it using some rubber, or bushings to keep noise caused by vibrations from the compressor to a minimum.

Pretty interesting stuff for a newbie air ride guy anyways.


And most definitely got to keep Momma happy, cause if Momma ain't happy....well you know the rest! LOL
I thank you again, go easy, and I will catch you later.

Candyman

[CREWZIN]

I was wondering what you were going to do with the air tank since you had such a great system in the back. There must be a heck of a lot more room than I thought underneath the PT.

[Candyman]

Heya Crewzin,

Lets put it this way, I have got to be a little more careful not to get a flat tire now.

Luckily I got roadside service fro a tow truck if really need be ever, and now that I can get it up and down, I can finally put my ride on a trailer without having to put out 10' ramps. As we make our way up another notch in the wonderful world of customization where beauty tends to trump practicality once again. Will that ever stop me? Probably not. Its just too much fun!
As my Wife

Go easy,

Candyman

[Knotsobright1]

Originally Posted by CREWZIN

I was wondering what you were going to do with the air tank since you had such a great system in the back. There must be a heck of a lot more room than I thought underneath the PT.

Thats what I was thinking when you said you mounted it under the car. I was like But air ride is nice you'll love it. And when your done you can tell us all what not to do.

[lowpt]

Welcome to the elite group of air ride cruisers. Your car just keeps getting better!!

The good thing about the Airride Tech. struts is you keep your inner fenders and you can drive it all the way down. If you ever decide you want to go lower, get the Easystreet struts. The downside to the Easystret struts is you lose your inner fenders.

I am planning on making a crossmember for the rear of my car to relocate my bags behind the axle. I am told the shocks are a limiting factor on the rear so they will probably be relocated.

[slayerdarkcross]

Yup the air tank is mounted in the spare tire compartment.

Hah Candyman this has been such a crazy ride! Today should be the last day finally!

There is so much more to this install that it would take days to read through all of it lol

Oh I have to say I have yet to scrape the car since the airbags where put on!

[Candyman]

Hey Everyone,

I big time appreciate you guys! Slayer is dead on right man! This project has been one of those where everything starts out great, and just when you figure you've got it made, it turns into a complete train wreck in a heartbeat! Luckily Slayer, and Ray did some quick damage control and were back on track. I can honestly say, Slayer has been a great friend and really stayed on top of things, and I have heard many great things about Ray being a good guy to work with, and after finally having worked directly with him on this project, I can say, he is outstanding to deal with! They both gave 110% on this one, and I owe them on this one! Thank God were almost done with it!

Thank you all big time for all the positive feedback! It always means a l great deal to me! I promise one of these days I will have to lay out the whole story on this one. Its been quite a ride!

Anyways, you guys go easy, and I will catch yall later.

Candyman

[808]

Hell...Fen...YEAH!!

Your always kind/detailing words have earned you a reward you've been longing for..You deserve it!

Now your Cruiser can go <--with the smilie being the bags