Air Shocks Vs. Coilovers
Thread Starter
JK Freak
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 647
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From: ENGLEWOOD, COLORADO
Air Shocks Vs. Coilovers
Gentlemen,
Could those that have used either or both please fill me in on the pluses or minuses of both?
I'm wondering how well an air shocked evo system would perform on the trail and on the highway......
Could those that have used either or both please fill me in on the pluses or minuses of both?
I'm wondering how well an air shocked evo system would perform on the trail and on the highway......
JK Super Freak
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 1,558
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From: SoCal
I have never used air shocks on my Jeep, but from what I have seen they do not allow the travel like the coilovers do. I have the coilovers on my Jeep and can tell you they ride very well on the street and on the washboard trails I have been on with it. Better than a stock suspended Jeep, as we have one coilover suspended Jeep and one with stock suspension and I drive them both regularly to compare.
Thread Starter
JK Freak
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 647
Likes: 0
From: ENGLEWOOD, COLORADO
I have never used air shocks on my Jeep, but from what I have seen they do not allow the travel like the coilovers do. I have the coilovers on my Jeep and can tell you they ride very well on the street and on the washboard trails I have been on with it. Better than a stock suspended Jeep, as we have one coilover suspended Jeep and one with stock suspension and I drive them both regularly to compare.
Sponsoring Vendor
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,626
Likes: 1
From: Fullerton CA
Air shock
Lets get this straight I am talking about a nitrogen charged air shock that uses pressure for spring rate
this shock looks like a coil over shock with out the coil spring
We do not recommend Air shocks on any street rig.
*if you loose pressure you have no suspension. your car is now riding on the bump stop.
*Over heat issues
*progressive spring rate.
the more you compress the shock the stiffer it gets
sometimes this is a good thing some times bad depends on suspension design and shock Valving
* high operating pressures
We have built a few rock crawlers with these and they work good for what they are.
*There main benefit is they are
*Cheaper
*lighter
*smaller in diameter than a coil over
So if I was building a ROCK buggy under 2000 pounds I may consider them
But for any thing else a I think it is a serious compromise of safety and performance to save a few bucks .
There is a reason you do not see air shocks on a $500,000.00 Baja truck or even production vehicles for that mater.
You will find Coil Overs, a McPherson strut is a kind of coil over shock assembly and this is on 90% of all cars on the road today
Mel Wade
Thread Starter
JK Freak
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 647
Likes: 0
From: ENGLEWOOD, COLORADO
Lets get this straight I am talking about a nitrogen charged air shock that uses pressure for spring rate
this shock looks like a coil over shock with out the coil spring
We do not recommend Air shocks on any street rig.
*if you loose pressure you have no suspension. your car is now riding on the bump stop.
*Over heat issues
*progressive spring rate.
the more you compress the shock the stiffer it gets
sometimes this is a good thing some times bad depends on suspension design and shock Valving
* high operating pressures
We have built a few rock crawlers with these and they work good for what they are.
*There main benefit is they are
*Cheaper
*lighter
*smaller in diameter than a coil over
So if I was building a ROCK buggy under 2000 pounds I may consider them
But for any thing else a I think it is a serious compromise of safety and performance to save a few bucks .
There is a reason you do not see air shocks on a $500,000.00 Baja truck or even production vehicles for that mater.
You will find Coil Overs, a McPherson strut is a kind of coil over shock assembly and this is on 90% of all cars on the road today
Mel Wade
this shock looks like a coil over shock with out the coil spring
We do not recommend Air shocks on any street rig.
*if you loose pressure you have no suspension. your car is now riding on the bump stop.
*Over heat issues
*progressive spring rate.
the more you compress the shock the stiffer it gets
sometimes this is a good thing some times bad depends on suspension design and shock Valving
* high operating pressures
We have built a few rock crawlers with these and they work good for what they are.
*There main benefit is they are
*Cheaper
*lighter
*smaller in diameter than a coil over
So if I was building a ROCK buggy under 2000 pounds I may consider them
But for any thing else a I think it is a serious compromise of safety and performance to save a few bucks .
There is a reason you do not see air shocks on a $500,000.00 Baja truck or even production vehicles for that mater.
You will find Coil Overs, a McPherson strut is a kind of coil over shock assembly and this is on 90% of all cars on the road today
Mel Wade
Thanks Mr Evo. I appreciate the info....
Thats what I was looking for....
JK Jedi Master
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 15,665
Likes: 4
From: Hammond Louisiana
Had airshocks on the front of my Cj to compensate for the weight of the winch. Do not recommend them for anything other than that. They do not work well off-road. A friend gave them to me, that's the only reason I ran them.