[jefro]

Insurance like credit card companies make claims like we will stand behind you.. Yet when it comes to that moment I'd prepare for a fight. Took me three years to get a $500 charge off my credit card and I used to own stock in the bank. Progressive refused to pay for my car after they took some ladies money. Had to collect off uninsured of my policy.

 

[SpicyBolt]

You're liable for any wreck you cause regardless of tow ratings or anything else. Insurance covers that liability regardless of how stupid of an idea something was.

My concern is that insurance may not cover the liability if the tow rating was exceeded. Any trailer on a Bolt exceeds the tow rating since it's effectively zero lbs. maximum.

Here is an example:

 

[LittleBlue2-2]

Poor old 6.2 had little power when you stack against current monsters.

Absolutely! No comparison to the modern diesels.

Dodge did not get the 5.9 until 1989. Ford did not get the 7.3L until 1994.

The 6.2L was the only diesel available clear back to 1982.

At the time, the 6.2L was a great alternative for light duty trucks for fuel economy.

 

[jefro]

Looked exactly like my dad's IH V8 gas.

 

[sendler2112]

Crazy thread! Did we ever even talk about the Air springs?

Which Airlift1000 kit did you use? What is the free space at normal ride height? What is the ID of the steel spring?

I am installing Airlift 1000 kits in my 23 Chevy Bolt EV Which would measure 5.375" between a 0.5" top and bottom plate. 6.375" between the top and the cylindrical protrusion in the center of the bottom with no plates. And has an ID of 4.1 inches.

I talked to the engineer who recommended using the plates at the top and the bottom with the 60906 kit saying that the air springs don't even have to touch anything at the top and bottom to raise the level because the force is mostly instead being applied to the gap between the coils. But this 60906 kit comes with 4 inch tall air springs which are way too short and barely do anything even at full inflation of 30 psi since this still leaves 1.375" gap to the bottom plate at 5 psi. Which would never even touch the bottom plate even fully inflated.


I am tempted to go up 2" on the air springs and not use any plate at the top since there is nothing sharp and nothing of consequence really protruding. And grind the bottom plate to fit better between the decreased radius of the bottom coil and glue it in place to the spring perch protrusion with polyurethane. Which would actually put me at a 0.125" "preload" of the length.

Or I could use the kit with the 5 inch air spring with a plate at the top and bottom which would have a 0.375" gap at 5 psi. And hope the bottom plate doesn't fall out when the rear suspension tops out over a bump.

https://www.airliftcompany.com/shop/60908

 

[rainycoffee]

Which Airlift1000 kit did you use? What is the free space at normal ride height? What is the ID of the steel spring?

I shared a few pictures and thoughts on the install over on this thread, but to answer your specific questions as much as I can:

• Air Lift 1000 60909 Universal Airbags
• I think the set may have only come with a single spacer per bag, which we installed at the bottom since we chose to have the air line exit through the hole at the bottom of the coil. Product listing sure looks like it came with two spacers per bag though, so I'm not certain if there's a spacer tucked away at the top or whether I threw it out. I have all the rest of the extra junk the kit came with (including the muffler shields) so I doubt I tossed it.
• With 5 PSI in the bags for "around town" usage, car in a level garage, no passengers but 75 lbs of car seats + emergency supplies, there are 5 cm vertical from top of tire to the height of the exterior wheel well rim (for both front and rear tires - matchy matchy). For the same car contents but with 30 PSI in the bags, it'll sit noticeably higher in the rear (not sure of the measurement)
• As best I can measure without being really finicky, my '17 Bolt appears to have coils measuring about 9" in length with an ID of about 4 inches as well. Attached image shows roughly where I'm measuring the length, in case we weren't comparing apples to apples.
  

The more you know: the bags do make some slight squeaking and friction noises around town, particularly when going over speed bumps and more so when wet. We don't mind but some may.

 

[jefro]

On my 1968 Chevelle I put air bags on. They said to jack up the car to the height first then inflate.

 

[sendler2112]

I shared a few pictures and thoughts on the install over on this thread, but to answer your specific questions as much as I can:

• Air Lift 1000 60909 Universal Airbags
• I think the set may have only come with a single spacer per bag, which we installed at the bottom since we chose to have the air line exit through the hole at the bottom of the coil. Product listing sure looks like it came with two spacers per bag though, so I'm not certain if there's a spacer tucked away at the top or whether I threw it out. I have all the rest of the extra junk the kit came with (including the muffler shields) so I doubt I tossed it.
• With 5 PSI in the bags for "around town" usage, car in a level garage, no passengers but 75 lbs of car seats + emergency supplies, there are 5 cm vertical from top of tire to the height of the exterior wheel well rim (for both front and rear tires - matchy matchy). For the same car contents but with 30 PSI in the bags, it'll sit noticeably higher in the rear (not sure of the measurement)
• As best I can measure without being really finicky, my '17 Bolt appears to have coils measuring about 9" in length with an ID of about 4 inches as well. Attached image shows roughly where I'm measuring the length, in case we weren't comparing apples to apples.
  View attachment 74792

The more you know: the bags do make some slight squeaking and friction noises around town, particularly when going over speed bumps and more so when wet. We don't mind but some may.

The ID of the coils is 4.1 inches. The free gap between the coils is 1.9-2.0 inches. The open length between the top at the frame, and the bottom at the round pipelike protrusion ( See the first photo that shows the inside of the spring perch that shows the protrusion ) , which would need to be protected with a plate so that it wouldn't dig in to the bottom of the airspring at full compression, is 6.375".

I would think that your car is actually the same. Which height airsprings are those? They look like they are touching at the top and bottom which the engineer from Airlift is telling me is a no-no. Did you use the plate at the bottom.? At least your routing of the airline out through the bottom will keep it from falling out when the suspension tops out over a bump or when changing a tire.

I need to route the air line out the top so it will not be likely to get sheared off by road debris.

 

[rainycoffee]

I would think that your car is actually the same. Which height airsprings are those?

They're the 8" model - 60909 is an 8", 60908 is a 7", etc. You can choose a shorter kit if you're worried about length, but I can't speak to how well stuff holds as you undersize more.

They look like they are touching at the top and bottom which the engineer from Airlift is telling me is a no-no. Did you use the plate at the bottom.?

I guess we'll find out long-term! Yes, you can see the spacer plate at the bottom of my picture above.

I need to route the air line out the top so it will not be likely to get sheared off by road debris.

Thus far in the 16,000 miles driving / 4300 miles of towing that we've had the airbags installed, the only thing that we know has touched the lines is a plastic shopping bag. It wrapped around one line at low speeds and followed us home. No issues with light forest service roads, driving to the ski hill, around town, etc. but I don't know your roads.

 

[sendler2112]

They're the 8" model - 60909 is an 8", 60908 is a 7", etc. You can choose a shorter kit if you're worried about length, but I can't speak to how well stuff holds as you undersize more.


I guess we'll find out long-term! Yes, you can see the spacer plate at the bottom of my picture above.


Thus far in the 16,000 miles driving / 4300 miles of towing that we've had the airbags installed, the only thing that we know has touched the lines is a plastic shopping bag. It wrapped around one line at low speeds and followed us home. No issues with light forest service roads, driving to the ski hill, around town, etc. but I don't know your roads.

I have a bit of a nightmare story to report. I tried my best to discern the charts as to which kit to order for my 6.375 free length. I had thought I should use the 0.5 inch plates top and bottom which would leave 5.375. their literature stated to use an airspring that is shorter and never longer ( your airsprings are way longer than the free space which is why your ride gets harsh quickly when inflated). So I ordered the kit that was stated for a 5 inch free space. I didn't pay attention to the pdf which shows that the 60906 5" kit comes with a really short 4" tall airspring.

My big mistake was in making a quick trial fit anyway. Of course at the max pressure of 30 psi it still accomplished next to nothing. So I then wasted another few hours back and forth with their support email person before I figured out for myself how I intend to "cap off" the protruding shape at the bottom with a standard PVC pipe cap and not use any of the spacer plates. This will leave me a free space of something around 6.2"

So I wanted to return the 4" airsprings in exchange for the 6". And even offered to additionally give back all 4 of the spacer plates and both heat shields so they could put them in the next kit and sell them again. He put me on hold and told me that essentially, once you open the box, they do not take anything back

The first kit was $130 from the factory store. The price for the two 6" airsprings alone is... $130. Makes no sense. I challenged them on this but whatever.

The support person put me on hold a couple times but the company would not budge. So the best I could do was to just order the kit 60908 that I need and eat the other kit since they will take no part of it back.

 

[rainycoffee]

The support person put me on hold a couple times but the company would not budge. So the best I could do was to just order the kit 60908 that I need and eat the other kit since they will take no part of it back.

Sorry to hear you had to buy 2x. I guess the plus side is you've got spares, and maybe you can find someone locally who wants to tinker with the spare kit? I understand Airlift's position, especially for open box suspension modification parts.

I'm interested to hear how the install goes with the 6" bag - and want to see pictures! I've only seen references on this forum to people using 60909 (Bolt EV, but primarily first-gen) and 60910 sets (Bolt EUV), and all the photos I've seen on this forum involve an airbag that occupies all vertical and horizontal space within the coil. It'd be helpful information to hear how yours performs and what you end up rigging up in place of the Airlift-sourced spacers.

So far, Discount Tire hasn't mentioned any concerns about upper spacers falling out or giving them grief during tire rotations or when we had them install new tires last fall - but I don't know they'd say anything even if they did.

 

[sendler2112]

So far, Discount Tire hasn't mentioned any concerns about upper spacers falling out or giving them grief during tire rotations or when we had them install new tires last fall - but I don't know they'd say anything even if they did.

It would be a good idea to mention the spacers to any tech that is lifting the car to make sure they they aren't out of place when they let the car down

Your spacer plates may have become jammed in place now.