Rear Air Suspension

[61ranch]

I was wondering if anybody had any luck adding any load carrying capacity for their falcons using any air suspension besides air shocks? I am currently thinking of selling my F350 so I can (will be forced to) drive my Ranchero more often but I want to be able to use it like a truck without bottoming out when I go to Home Depot for a couple of 2x4's. I am thinking of using an air bag system and making plates for the rear frame rail and the rear leaf springs and leaving it deflated until I need it so I can keep the low stance. Any input???

[pbrown]

Air Ride Technologies makes an air over leaf setup that might work for you.

http://www.airride.com/productinfo/airoverleaf.asp

You might be able to fit a small air tank and pump in the bed opening behind the cab.

[61ranch]

Thanks, I will have to do some measuring and see what will fit. I had not checked into this company yet but looks like exactly what I am after.
Thanks again.

[Sedanman]

I've measured for the Air Ride over leaf kit and it is very tight, but really the only option unless you want to start cutting and making crossmembers. The stock shock mounts are not strong enough to mount one of their shockwave type products to ( I've seen those mounts fail and it's not pretty:( )

[61ranch]

Great info. Thanks. I will be doing research and let you know what I find out and decide to do.

[Sedanman]

I just saw that Fatman has a bolt on rear air ride kit now too. I pulled off my wheels today to check my rear brakes and started daydreaming about air ride on my bird! Any progress with your project, 61 ranch?

S-man

[pbrown]

I just saw that Fatman has a bolt on rear air ride kit now too. I pulled off my wheels today to check my rear brakes and started daydreaming about air ride on my bird! Any progress with your project, 61 ranch?

S-man

Do you have a link? I couldn't find it on the FatMan site.

[61ranch]

Thanks, I will look for the kit as well. I have not had time to do much on the Ranchero since I did sell my F350 and have had alot of projects to do on my Bronco to make it road worthy (plus I have been lazy and going fishing instead). I did however get the carb pulled apart and got the ignition finished. I also have a lead on another ranchero that I am thinking of getting either for parts or to rebuild (provided I get the Bronco and my current Ranch both moving at the same time). I will let you know how things turn out. I am getting ready to post some of the latest project pics as soon as I get them ready.
Thanks for the info.

[Sedanman]

Here's the link, guys.
http://www.fatmanfab.com/catalogpage.php?page=20

I haven't had time to read the whole article on it yet, but there's one thing that concerns me. The air ride version of this kit (not shown) that I saw in the advertisment in Mustang Monthly uses shockwaves in place of the coil overs, puting all the weight on the stock shock mounts.

When I contacted Air Ride Technologies a year or so ago about why they did not carry a kit like this for Mustangs/Falcons, they said it was because of the weakness of the factory shock mount and they suggested the rear leaf sring kit that mounts a bag between the leaf spring and frame. Having previously seen a mustang coupe that had air shocks and been overloaded, destroying the shock mounts and sending the shocks through the floorboard, I see what they are talking about!

I think it warrants some more research though, as Fatman is the only company I've seen suggest not using the Mustang 2 frontend because that's not how the front clip is designed to carry the car's weight. Although I have some issues with the granada dropped spindles I got from them, in general I think their stuff is pretty well tested.

[pbrown]

Thanks for the link. I did see that on their site. I thought you were referring to a Falcon specific kit.

There is another problem with this on early Falcons. The Mustang has 2 1/2" wide leaf springs and the 60-63 Falcon is only 2". The half spring looking thingies in the kit will not work on the early Falcon.

The shock mounts are another concern but this can easily be addressed with a MIG welder and some 2" square stock to create a mount plate between the factory frame rails.

I'm curious about the Granada Wilwood caliper adapters they mentioned. I'm not too fond of the Granada floating caliper design. It binds easily which causes uneven pad wear and poor feeling brakes.

[Sedanman]

I'd like to upgrade my granada brakes as well - the stopping distance is adequate, but I"ll need new rotors at the next brake job. I'm wondering if the Wilwood caliper has it's own mount or uses the factory mount. Having to grind down the factory caliper bracket to clear the upper A-arms with the Fatman dropped spindles was not something I liked doing - I still can't turn the wheels as far as I used to and my turning radius is huge.

As for the air ride kit, I've got the wider springs in my car but that may not be enough to make it work - the panhard bar may still be too long. All these years I've heard that falcons have a narrower track than Mustangs, but the 6cyl cars use the same center link,sway bar, and rearend (V-8 cars use same rearend as well) as mustangs. The 64 falcon is supposed to have a wider track than the '63, but I think it's only in the rear of the car as I used the center link from my '63 comet on my '64. This would explain why the front wheels on sqarebodys sit so far back inside the wheelwell compared to roundbodys. One of these days I'm going to brave the walls of cobwebs and measure my dad's mustang to see what and where the differences are.

[pbrown]

The Mustang's frame rails are further apart than the Falcon. The Mustang center link is also too wide for the Falcon. The panhard bar could certainly be modified to fit. A watts linkage would be even better.

I suspect that the Wilwood adapter that FatMan sells replaces the stock Granada caliper adapter. I'm going to call and find out.

[Sedanman]

Patrick,

When you call, please ask if the Wilwood kit offers more clearance on the upper A-arm with thier dropped spindles as I described above - thanks!

T.