Air Lift - Lambo Lounge

Chassis - Front End - Air Lift & Fixed

Dale Van Blokland passed on to me that there is an great article in the August 2000 issue of Kit Car magazine on Air Bags, which might be helpful in this area. If anyone has this article and can send it to me I would appricate it - to pass on to others. -fletch

Dale Van Blokland These are the pieces and I have it temporarily set up to check for clearance. I hooked up the compressor and may need to do some adjustments to get the lift that I need.
I tried two different methods of installing the air shock. This was the final method, the closer you can get to vertical the better off you are.
When I tried mounting the air shock angle, it didn't work very well.
I used the original shock tower location and fabricated a bracket to hold the top of the shock as close to vertical as possible. I welded a bracket on the base of the suspension to connect the bottom of the shock.

I got my compressor as part of 'air lift' system out of Jegs You will want the one that goes to 160PSI I have decided to relocate the air compressor for the air shocks next to the brake cylinder. This was necessary because I want to put the battery in the front.

I have been trying to come up with a way to regulate the air shocks from inside the car. I found an airlift system that has the power, release and a gauge all mounted to a compressor. It is for the Air bag type shocks as seen in the August Kit Car Illustrated. I replaced my old compressor with the new one, got a special connector that connects to the Gabriel fitting and wired the gauge, power and air to the new gauge. This will allow me to back into my garage without hitting. I am being to put a steel plate under the bumper so I do not crack the faro lip if I should tap something. As you can see I have very tight clearance even with it inflated.

If I had it to do over again I would consider the air bags, mine takes about 1 minute to lift 1.5". An air tank would be helpful that could be charged by the compressor and use a valve for instant lift.

Luis A. Yanez We on Hectors car we used a small 12 volt compressor to lift a set of airshocks, just so he can have an additional 1 1/2" of spoiler clearance. The system works very well except for one thing. It takes about 45 seconds to a minute to get the car up. I recently judged a Euro Car show and saw some of the new airbag systems they have for the euros. The only thing I will do different in the future ( if the customer pays) is to add an aux. air tank. They now have Electric Solenoids that release the air to lift the car, sort of like lowrider hydraulics, so with the solenoid and tank, you can get an immediate lift with the push of a button.
We first tried to do the IFG way with the shocks at an angle, but that caused interference with the turning radius by stopping the calipers.

I think we redesigned the system and relocated the shocks in the best place possible. They basically siamese the airshocks! with the coilovers at the same angle. It runs the airshocks through the tubular a-arms (2" wider RCC) and up to our main door hinge mounting point. Not only does it look cool, but it works great.

We also mounted the compressor, battery, and wiper motor mount in the area above the front suspension crossmember. I also sent you two pics of our frame. The only thing missing in these pics is the Door jamb reinforcement. We could not mount those until the body was already on. So theres more reinforcement about 6" higher than the frame rail under the door jamb area.

We are using an air-release button (IFG stuff) that will be mounted in the interior area so the air can be released once the car is past the speedbump or whatever. I believe that I will mount this button under the dash somewhere.

Endre (Andy) Bujtas

I've been laboring over how I should handle speed bumps, etc. First I though of hydraulics, then an air lift system; each required some modification to the front suspension, which I did not care to do. So I came up with a fixed mechanical system using wheels just under the front air dam - an idea I got from Kirban's replica. I don't know what his looks like, but here is a picture of my setup. Each wheel you see has a capacity of 650 lbs, which I think is sufficient for this car. I reinforced them and fabricated a frame around these wheels. To transfer the force to the chassis, I added a structure to the front nose mounting frame. It was made-up of 1.5 x 1.5 square tubing, which I scavenged from the old IFG front suspension crossmember (since I replaced it with a Ryane front end). A stiffener bar handles the torque created and transmits the force to another part of the chassis. The wheel assembly can be adjusted up and down with the red height adjustment bar. This bar could be replaced in the future with an air cylinder. The entire structure is designed to come apart so that I can reduce the weight for racing or autocrossing. I could also change the orientation of the wheel assemble by changing where it gets mounted to the chassis.

What I would suggest, if you plan on going the air shock route, is to get a heavy duty compressor and an air tank. The air reservoir will quickly fill the shocks instead of being fed by the compressor directly. Here is a website that will help with some of the equipment. Give them a call to see what size of compressor you might need: Mac's Springs

As for my mechanical lift, I plan on redoing it. I will use smaller casters. The large wheels are a bit hard to conceal under the air dam and they might not be too good if they experience any side loads.

Ron Boudreau

This is a picture of a real Diablo and its owners solution to speed bumps.

Believe it or not it really is a skate board wheel set.

David Melbourne

One detail I did want to share with you is; on contacting Lee from Held I asked for just the suspension and the airlifts and bought all the other stuff (compressor, tank, gauges, fittings) elsewhere, saved me about $500! He was agreeable to that - nice guy.

After the Bump Steer, I am going to install a new Air Ride Suspension from Held Motorsports.
The people at Held and especially Lee Waldmiller, are the very best people you can know. Their
materials are excellent quality and their service exceptional. Highly recommended!

Why? The car has only a four inch clearance and cannot drive out of my driveway without cracking
something! The real ones have the same problem, and now use an air lift system also apparently.

I have included some pictures. One side is completed and actually works! With air from a regulated air compressor, the car rises smartly up. (No, it won't jump, in case anybody asks) I decided to change all the bearings and rotor/hubs also.

The knuckles were sandlablasted and repainted just for fun. All nylon bushings will make for a hard squeaky ride I think!

Then I discovered the lower balljoints are welded into the old lower A's! Another quick call to Lee Waldmiller of www.heldmotorsports.com and new ones complete with boots, castle nuts, spring clips and pins were in the mail.

To make the front wheels match the body better, I had asked Lee for a 2 inch length extension to the suspension and boy does that make it look better! Se photo. An extension for the steering arm was also included..

No brakes or sway bar yet

New balljoint pressed in, not WELDED!

Here's the only hard bit. You have to Sawzall off the cone and part of the
crossmember to fit the new upper attachment point. Also have to bolt or weld the layers back together. Tough stuff.

The renovated hub. New bearings throughout

Looks better and better. Note how the IFG body still needs bending back in behind the front wheel well. This is a known issue with these bodies.High up as other side on jacks still.

I have been working on the air lift control system. My goal was to make a module that can be removed for service and to get access to the wiper motor and air conditioning.

The various components; air tank, compressor, control valves and relay controls we screwed to an aluminium plate shaped exactly like the floor of the spare tire area. This whole thing can be removed as one lump for service

To see the article on the Air lift system, click here.

Held MotorSports

Although my information comes from various builders and sources, if you want any information contact me. The photographs used on this site are used with permission, if you want to use any, contact them through the various links on this site. I did and you can see the results!