New Air Shocks

MarsFab

MarsFab

Will work for money
Joined
Oct 24, 2007
Location
Harrisburg, NC
About 2 months ago a guy came in my shop, introduced himself and had a few questions about a rig he was building for himself. After talking for a while we got to talking about some fox and bighorn air shocks I had for projects. He told me that he had been building race car and truck shocks for I think 14 years and seemed very knowlegable about shocks in general. While he was looking over the shocks I had laying around he said he thought it would be neat to make some and start selling them because they were a very simple design and he felt he could improve on them.
Then a week or so later he stoped back by and said he had just ordered enough materials to make a few prototypes and would be in touch with me when they were finished. Then yesterday he brought me this
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This is one he brought to show me how it was going. The exterior of the body has not been machined yet so it is a rough prototype. It is more than just a simple emulsion shock it has an internal reservoir in the top of the shock body with a floating piston. Im hoping he will join this site soon so he can explain more about it but a few things he will be able to incorporate in the shock is a hydraulic compression bump to eliminate the need for running bump stops. The body can also be threaded for coilover springs. I'd love to have some input from some of you on what can maybe be done to make it nice.
 
Make them super cheap or make them awesome like ori's. Otherwise the hybrid airshock/coilover is covered as is the semi-cheap 2.0 airshock market. Pretty awesome job though. Ask him how much for a set of 3" travel airbumps. That's the new big thing...
 
Well a simple Ori strut is kinda what Im hoping it'll be. Eliminating the need for bump stops is a big plus in my mind thats another couple hundred you wont have to spend per corner. As far as pricing goes I dont think he's to that stage yet but when he is I'll let you know. My understanding is that he's building them to be low priced and functional. So we'll see.
 
Im building myself a Sammi project and I'll be running them on it. I hope to have it going by early january so maybe you'll get to see the finished product if he hasn't already sold some by then
 
Keep us posted...they look great so far...
 
i think the ori's shine because they eliminate the need for a sway bar ... thats more important than the bump stop for me . i think air bumps are over rated i just took some off my buggy cause they make it ride to rough. i would like to try a set of these. tell him if he wants to make a name he need to make the 2.5 version for 2.0 money.
 
braxton357 said:
Make them super cheap or make them awesome like ori's. Otherwise the hybrid airshock/coilover is covered as is the semi-cheap 2.0 airshock market. Pretty awesome job though. Ask him how much for a set of 3" travel airbumps. That's the new big thing...
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most all bump stops can be shortned. i took my 4" bumps apart and added a spacer to make them 2" travel
 
I dont think he really does and hydraulic work on the side. From what I understand the race team he works for eats up most of his time. But when he stops back by I'll mention to him that you may be needing some work done and see if he's interested.

Have any of you guys ever dealt with the chevy shocks that have the iron powder in them for ride control. Seems like with a fairly simple sensor for body roll you could use that to stiffen the valving in the shocks under hard cornering. Maybe something like the pendulum in a trailer brake box. Could be super simple and work really well. It could possibly eliminate body roll completely in high speed off camber sections, OR it could make your rig ride like a covered wagon cause it would never let the shocks soften up. I guess Im just thinkin out loud.
 
Black teflon would be sweet, I think.

What is the travel on the one you posted? Does the reservoir being in the top of the shock make it considerably longer?
 
I would think a centrally mounted sensor (or group of sensors) to monitor all vehicle angles would be better. A brake device is only monitoring rate of deceleration not side angle. The sensor(s) would see the whole picture then control the shocks in a desired way. That said, I think it just crossed the 'simple' line an into requiring a micro-controller to operate it speed proportional way. Interesting topic though....

I'd be interested in the cheep 2.5". I could care less about outside coating, I'd just paint it the color I wanted with some high temp. paint and call it good.
 
yager said:
I would think a centrally mounted sensor (or group of sensors) to monitor all vehicle angles would be better. A brake device is only monitoring rate of deceleration not side angle. The sensor(s) would see the whole picture then control the shocks in a desired way. That said, I think it just crossed the 'simple' line an into requiring a micro-controller to operate it speed proportional way. Interesting topic though....

I'd be interested in the cheep 2.5". I could care less about outside coating, I'd just paint it the color I wanted with some high temp. paint and call it good.
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Yea thats what I meant for the pendulum was for it to be centrally mounted and it could essentially control dive and antisquat too. Kinda sounds too simple huh. There's most definitely a reason it hasnt been done before. The Gm system uses sensors on all 4 corners, the steering wheel and the brakes thats probably what it would take to make it function right. But for low speed crawling maybe not. You never know.
 
17" travel and I think the reservoir adds 2 or 3 inches to the body. Just under 4ft fully extended. Kinda long but looks cool hangin out the top of the hood :D
 
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