GABRIEL Hi-Jacker OR MONROE Max-Air

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Anyone using airshocks these days?
Just wondering which one is better or should I use them at all?
My car sits too low IMO.

thanks
 
As an old dude from the 70s, I've had & ran both. Spoiler alert they use to be made by the same company. My personal opinion is this ... an air shock is an air shock. Downturn the air lines by exhaust the results are not good. We always ran the air lines inside the trunk. We put their T behind the license plate for easy access. We ran the air lines through a rubber grommet to get into trunk. Also from experience, carry a Bic stick pen with you. As you have never lived till pulled over for bumper height tape measuring. Just use pen end lower shocks. Air back up asap.hope that helps
 
ok thanks. I see the munroe's are $80 cheaper... both have plastic air valves now...

I see what you mean.. (images are for reference only, not my car)

1966-dodge-polara-500.jpg
1966-dodge-praara-500.jpg
 
Anyone using airshocks these days?
Just wondering which one is better or should I use them at all?
My car sits too low IMO.

thanks
The load of the vehicle is designed to be supported by the springs, and spring perches, not the shock mount. Transferring the vehicle load to the shock mount is not the intended purpose of the upper shock mount. I would correct the issue with new springs. My .02 cents.
 
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True I should probably get the springs rearced.
Used to be a guy in town that did it, fresh paint and all.
$50 a spring or somthing
 
Should be lots of spring shops around. Trucks need spring serves regularly. Having springs rebuild with an extra leaf added and kept to correct ride height is what I would have done. Air shocks are very hard on the shock mounts.
 
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I fully understand the issue with the rear upper shock mounts and their design intent, BUT . . . I put Gabriel Hi-Jackers on the rear of my 1970 Monaco Brougham to get the rear raised enough to not scrape the rear factory dual exhaust tips on driveway entrances and such. Just enough to level it out, which usually as about 60psi (minimum pressure of about 30psi, according to the literature which came with them).

This was back in about 1975 and the shocks are still there, having been replaced a once due to age. At the time, the Hi-Jackers were popular with people who wanted to raise the rear suspension to clear overly wide tires on the rear. The had a shield to protect the (allegedly fragile) air bag from debris and such which the tires might kick-up. Compared to the similar Monroes with no shield.

By observation, when I did that, it was the best choice. For time and expense. Sure, there are many spring shops which do heavy-duty trucks and such. But with all of them being 30+ miles away and NO experience with them OR how what they did might work and affect the ride/handling of the car, I got the Gabriels from a local auto supply and they worked fine. Even made the car act like it had a bit of a rear sway bar on it, which was neat!!! This car, when I bought it, had Monroe Load-Leveler rear shocks, which were old and did not do as they advertised. The car had been used for trailer-towing by the original owner.

Back then, too, getting new rear springs from Chrysler was not possible or desired due to cost. Again, even if available, not sure they would do what I wanted and not mess with the ride dynamics OR carry the weight of people in the rear seat. All I wanted was a level car.

On my '80 Newport, it came with some private-brand Monroe air shocks and a home-made trailer hitch. They were bouncy so I got a new set of Monroe Max-Air, as that was what was on it.. And they are still there, with minimal pressure in them.

ALL of the air lines, then as now, are plastic lines. If routed correctly, NO issues.

In one respect, having little constant pressure on the upper shock mount area can be much better than a very stiff rear shock and a very rough road's pounding on those mounts and their related body mount areas. As with the Monroe HD rear pickup shocks, from the mid-1980s and later, when the upper shock mounts got slightly loose and wallered-out the holes in Chevy pickup truck/Suburban frames . . . on smoother roads.

Monroe was Chrysler's vendor for shocks back then. Hopefully the current Monroe operatives have not changed the internal valving since back then. Or decreased the quality of materials and such.

By observation, spring shops do not taper-grind the edges of the leaves they build, just "rough cut" ends. Not having the tapered ends can tend to "ruin things" for me as it is NOT what Chrysler did back then. Which, also, can mean the rest of the spring will not last as it should. But they are a somewhat less-noticeable alternative to the older bolt-on helper leaf springs of old. In modern times, I might still be oriented toward air shocks as I have had good experiences with them, to just level-out a set of sagged rear leaf springs and not ruin the ride, yet improve the cornering a bit without having to add a rear sway bar.

Just MY experiences,
CBODY67
 
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I recently swapped the rear air shocks on my Imperial and also had the choice between Gabriel's and Monroes and I just went with the cheaper option, monroe MA757 if I'm not mistaken. The lines are plastic so you have to be careful to mount it but it worked fine for me.

My '75 Imperial came with air shocks from the factory, although the set I took off probably wasn't OEM, so I assume the shock mounts were designed with this in mind.
 
My '75 Imperial came with air shocks from the factory, although the set I took off probably wasn't OEM, so I assume the shock mounts were designed with this in mind.
In this case, "factory air shocks" would equate to "Automatic Level Control".

As I recall, Ford used to include rear air shocks (not ALC) on some of their heavier-duty trailer package full-size cars in the earlier 1970s. Rear air shocks were also standard equipment on the laater 1960s El Caminos (after ACDelco started making air shocks), too.
 
In this case, "factory air shocks" would equate to "Automatic Level Control".

As I recall, Ford used to include rear air shocks (not ALC) on some of their heavier-duty trailer package full-size cars in the earlier 1970s. Rear air shocks were also standard equipment on the laater 1960s El Caminos (after ACDelco started making air shocks), too.
Correct, although my setup was no longer automatic that was its intended use, to correct the ride height with a heavy load so oncoming traffic wouldn't be blinded
 
I was once told to use separate lines for each air shock so right-side load and change, would not affect the left side and vice versa. Any truth to this?
 
I was once told to use separate lines for each air shock so right-side load and change, would not affect the left side and vice versa. Any truth to this?
Our Exxon service station operative was a Ford guy. He knew them and had "the feel" for them, so he attracted lots of Ford customers. One was a family with a young lady (high school senior) who was a rifle shooting competitor. They had a late model Country Squire wagon (about 1974 or so, at that time). When they went to shooting matches away from DFW, they hauled their Airstream trailer to stay in while there. On one trip, as he related, one of the air lines broke and that side of the car was (now) over-loaded with a lowered ride height on that side. Think "sudden weight shift" and related dynamics on a 70mph Interstate Highway . . . at 70mph. Each air shock had its own dedicated air line.

This was after he installed the Hi-Jackers on my '70 Monaco to replace the worn out and ineffective Monroe LoadLevelers. The Hi-Jackers and similar Monroes had a common air supply line set-up.

NOW, many drag racers would use the individually-aired air shocks to pre-load the rear suspension for drag racing purposes. Putting more air into the rh side (for an open differential) or lh side (for a SureGrip-type differential, as the torque reaction would raise the lh rr wheel).

Just some recollections,
CBODY67
 
My '68 had air shocks on it until just recently (I have redone the rearend with Caltracs, split monos, and Viking Crusader adjustable shocks). When I replaced the air shocks, I noticed the passenger side of the C channel shock mount area was clearly tweaked and the shock isn't perpendicular anymore, or matching the drriver's side. I'm contributing that to the air shocks being overinflated all of the time to compensate for the sagged original springs.
 
I went to the shop here in town and he said they can re-arc them but he said they will go back after awhile.
Not sure what to do
 
It might depend upon HOW they rearch them. Back in the 1970s, the spring shop we used was an old-style shop with an open kiln area where they put the leaves to get them red-hot for arching on a fixture for such. When the leaf had been heated, beaten on the arching fixture while hot, and then quenched in a tub of water (with a few flames, too), then they were allowed to continue air cooling.

By the middle 1980s, probably after some environmental rules had changed, the kiln was just an insulated tunnel. They now had a hydraulic press with a pointed end on the end of the press, where they used that every three inches or so to put a curve into the leaf. "Cold re-arching"? Probably not as good as the arch was now a segmented-flat-spotted areas rather than a smooth arch.

IF the springs fatigued due to being over-loaded or not substantial enough for the weight being carried, the re-arching might not be as durable, possibly? But if the springs were initially strong enough, with no additional weight being carried now as then, then the durability of the re-arch might last longer.

AND, it might have been that the shop is not set-up to do Chrysler's assymetrical leaf springs, so his "not hold up" dialogue might have been a nice way of saying they did not desire the job, by observation.

Several possible dynamics at play here!

FWIW,
CBODY67
 
I have had springs re-arched a couple of times with great results. Both times the springs were dis-assembled and the leaves reshaped in a roll type machine. in each case a new (extra) leaf was added which extended the full length of the main leaf, eye to eye. The springs on my Fury were done some 30 years ago, and are still working well. Height is great, ride is great and load carring is normal. I have no idea what I paid, but in my mind- then and now, it was money well spent.
That is my experience. Much depends on the shop facilities and the person doing the work. the two shops I used were older and most of thier work was on trucks. Hope this is helpful. Lindsay
 
Been using Monroe for decades.

For an empty C body with a two-inch spring sag the Monroe air shocks work well to level the car with 30 to 40 psi of air pressure. That's about 300 pounds of lifting force. Ride is acceptable to good, depending on who's doing the judging.

For heavy loads like Dodge conversion vans the "damping" is too soft. But 150 psi will level a six-inch spring sag with the van empty. Ride height will then be acceptable with six passengers, but no more.
For light loads like a Dodge Dart the "damping" is too stiff. And the bouncies start at 50 psi.
For big sedans/wagons, both the damping and air lift are generally just fine.

Also good for leveling a 1/2-ton pickup that's loaded to, but not exceeding rated capacity. Generally, about 1,000 pounds. Not good for overloading 1000 past rated capacity.
 
To me, considering the guts of the Monroe and Gabriel air shocks had the large, HD-shock sized pistons in them, I found the damping basically the same as a good HD shock, which is a plus to me.

In the case of the conversion van, the light-truck-rated Monroe Magnums might be a better option, plus add some AirLift or Firestone helper air bags in the back for the leveling function. Only bad thing we saw at the Chevy dealership was that we had some service advisors who recommended the Monroe Magnums for any Suburban owner who wanted some heavier shocks. I never did experience how they rode, BUT it was later discovered that if, when installed, the upper mounting bolt was the slightest bit "not tight enough", the stiffness of the shocks would cause enough looseness up there to waller-out the mounting hole. YIKES! And, the piece of metal that was the upper shock mount on the frame was not something which was sold separately. Not that a good shop could not make one, just that as an OEM, it was not acceptable to have any heat applied to the frame itself. BTAIM A neat thing about the later Firestone air bags is that they are remote controlled with an on-board air compressor.

Just some thoughts and experiences,
CBODY67
 
To me, considering the guts of the Monroe and Gabriel air shocks had the large, HD-shock sized pistons in them, I found the damping basically the same as a good HD shock, which is a plus to me.

In the case of the conversion van, the light-truck-rated Monroe Magnums might be a better option, plus add some AirLift or Firestone helper air bags in the back for the leveling function. Only bad thing we saw at the Chevy dealership was that we had some service advisors who recommended the Monroe Magnums for any Suburban owner who wanted some heavier shocks. I never did experience how they rode, BUT it was later discovered that if, when installed, the upper mounting bolt was the slightest bit "not tight enough", the stiffness of the shocks would cause enough looseness up there to waller-out the mounting hole. YIKES! And, the piece of metal that was the upper shock mount on the frame was not something which was sold separately. Not that a good shop could not make one, just that as an OEM, it was not acceptable to have any heat applied to the frame itself. BTAIM A neat thing about the later Firestone air bags is that they are remote controlled with an on-board air compressor.

Just some thoughts and experiences,
CBODY67

The air bags and Magnums would be really nice on this 3/4 ton conversion van. The air shocks control the "tire" movement but not the "coach" movement. It feels like riding around on the carousel horse at the amusement park. Rather annoying.
 
True I should probably get the springs rearced.
Used to be a guy in town that did it, fresh paint and all.
$50 a spring or somthing
Last time I had a set re arched it didn't last 1/2 of a cruising season. I did the air shocks thing for a few years, I finally put new springs on.
Though this time it didn't work out, I "only" had them re arched every other time besides that one I also had them add a leaf as well. But not that time. I've also dismantled leaf springs and added leaves myself before.
In the jeep world and Dakotas too, there's something called a "bastard pack" which is kinda what I did by adding my own extra leaf.
 
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