what shocks are you guys with the air bags using?

also if i decide to go with "air" shocks or coilovers which ones are better, fox, king, or racerunner ?

and as far as a shock for when using the factory torsion bars ive heard several say just use cheap "factory" vw shocks

_________________
Just Stand On It!!!!

Chris

I got aftermarket torsion bars, and run a single rancho for like a 10in lift and mine rides like poop. lol so dont go that route! But ill have airbags soon enough

_________________
"IT IS WHAT IT IS"

How well you set the valving up is probably more important than which of those 3 you set up. Personally I like the Foxes and that's what we run on our buggy - mainly because plenty of people stock cheap spares tbh.

The 2.0" race runners are actually bigger than the fox air shocks and can hold a heavier buggy up with less pressure and I think they are a little nicer than the others with some of the "finishing touches". I have fox shocks, King shocks, and Sway-aways (race-runner), and for the money, sway-away is over-all a nicer shock. I have heard people say Fox is the best, but I don't really have anything to complain about with any of them.

_________________
Maybe you should chug on over to mamby pamby land....

With Airbags you don't need Coilovers or Air shocks. So your down to an Emulsion shock with or with out a remote resivoir. BTW Factory VW shocks just plain suck and anybody whoes telling you they work fine have probably not ridden in a Buggy with properly valved after market shocks like FOX, King or Sway-a-Way

_________________
Water cooled Dry Sumped Subaru Powered Turbo Charged Fuel Injected 2500CC Tank. Oh Rah! He who dies with the most Toys not only wins, He also wears them out!

Cant miss what you never had

that was mostly the one seater guys and is whats on my one seater but they may not work as well on a 2 seater

i cant say either way as all i have ever run is stock torsions with rancho 9000's or them old style "bootlegger/whiskey runner/moonshiner" air shocks

however on this new build im going to try something different and if i dont like it i can always put the torsion bars in

_________________
Just Stand On It!!!!

Chris

this may be a stupid question but is the valving and "serviceable" parts somewhat interchangeable or brand specific between the " big 3 " ( fox, king, racerunner )

_________________
Just Stand On It!!!!

Chris

I wouldn't think any are interchangable between brands, but that stuff is very cheap. I rebuilt my fox coil-overs (replaced o-rings, bands, seals, shims, and oil for about $20.

_________________
Maybe you should chug on over to mamby pamby land....

The only Shims I am aware are interchangable are King and FOA as FOA uses King Shims. The rest of the parts are not as they all build their shocks differently.

_________________
Water cooled Dry Sumped Subaru Powered Turbo Charged Fuel Injected 2500CC Tank. Oh Rah! He who dies with the most Toys not only wins, He also wears them out!

so will i need to find a dealer around here to get what ever brand i go with revalved/serviced if needed?

if so that will probably decide which ones i go with

_________________
Just Stand On It!!!!

Chris

The hardest part about valving and service is buying the Nitrogen setup to refill the shocks afterward. Contrary to pouplar belief they are simple devices to work on. It becomes self evident once you pull one apart.

Here is a link to a guy rebuilding one:

http://dezertdimes.com/2008/12/fox-20-shock-rebuild/

_________________
Water cooled Dry Sumped Subaru Powered Turbo Charged Fuel Injected 2500CC Tank. Oh Rah! He who dies with the most Toys not only wins, He also wears them out!

okay the air bags are out (too much fab work for me), now i got to figure what lengths for the front and rear and either air or coil over

i found this place that seems to have pretty decent prices on the top 3 shocks

http://www.offroadwarehouse.com/products/sfID1/12

for the rear (2x3 or 3x3 arms and maybe with factory tosion bars installed "loose" for backup)

im thinking about 12 or 14 in. racerunner 2.0 air shock or fox 2.0 coilover

http://www.offroadwarehouse.com/product ... /sfID3/684

http://www.offroadwarehouse.com/product ... 3/sfID3/97

or maybe the 2.0 fox air/coil over

http://www.offroadwarehouse.com/product ... /sfID3/104

for the front i got a few different combinations i can go with

stock torsion plates with emulsion shocks or thru rods with air or coil over shocks

beams - stock beam or warrior beam w/8 in. towers or aluminum beam w/towers

trailing arms - stock arms or extended arms w/ stock shock mount or extended arms w/ shock mount relocted further back

by the way ive got 2 projects going (slowly) one is my new beeline cobra for woods riding/hillclimbing and the other is my old fugitve im fixing up (make perty and light) to ridge run and drag race, also to be driven on the street occasionaly on nice days

_________________
Just Stand On It!!!!

Chris

From what I've done I would say 12" is all you really need for the back and 10" is all you need for the front. You can go 14" on the back, but it would be over-kill. My race buggy has 12" coil-overs in the back and has no problem getting 20" of wheel travel and 10" coil-overs in the front and gets around 18" of travel. But then again theres always more than one way to skin a cat

_________________
Maybe you should chug on over to mamby pamby land....

thanks for the input racebug

i think i will probably go with the warrior beam and extended arms on the cobra/woodsbuggy and the aluminum beam and stock arms on the fugitive street/ridge runner buggy with either torsion plates and emulsion shocks or thru rods and air shocks for the front of each buggy?

and for the rear im thinking air shocks for the street/ridge runner buggy and maybe the fox air/coilover for the woodsbuggy or i could just go air shock with torsions loosely installed or coil over only shock?

_________________
Just Stand On It!!!!

Chris

I LOVE the way the front end of the new woods buggy rides with air shocks, couldn't be any better! If your going the air shock way in the rear of a buggy, you nmight want to consider 2.5" shocks, or like you said torsion bars loose may do the trick as long as they dont make it too stiff as the arms cycle.

_________________
Maybe you should chug on over to mamby pamby land....

what do you think about the 2.0 air/coilover for the rear ?

2.0 coil over/air shock $292.50
http://www.offroadwarehouse.com/product ... /sfID3/104

2.5 air shock $360
http://www.offroadwarehouse.com/product ... /sfID3/105

or just go with racerunner 2.0 air shock for the rear $277.83
http://www.offroadwarehouse.com/product ... /sfID3/684

_________________
Just Stand On It!!!!

Chris

i've never messed around with the air/coil over shock, but if they are like an air shock you can put coils on, I think they would work fine, but why not just get a coil-over if your going to buy coils anyway? the down fall of the air shock is the duty cycle. They heat up and fade quicker than a emulsion shock. Woods riding shouldnt be too big an issue for an air shock, but if you have plans to do anything faster than normal, it might be worth it to go coil over. but thats just my opinion

_________________
Maybe you should chug on over to mamby pamby land....

^^That's why they do a coilover version, so you get the tunability of the air-shock but can take some of the load off it with a light coil spring. That way you just use the air shock as a really long progressive bumpstop.