I've been considering adding air bags inside the rear coils on my '83 to get a bit of lift and greater carrying capacity.

A buddy of mine says cargo coils would be better 'cause you don't have to mess around changing air pressure when the load varies.

What do you guys say ?

Appreciate any and all comments.

Harv

Go with the Air Lift bags, they'll do exactly what you want them to do. If you consider adding air to the bags when you need extra carrying capacity a terrible inconvenience, then install an on board air compressor and you can adjust the lift precisely from the comfort of the driver's seat. Don't fool with those extra capacity overload springs, they belong on a truck.

Go with the Air Lift bags, they'll do exactly what you want them to do...

http://www.emotipad.com/newemoticons/I-Agree.gif After seeing them on a couple elkys at the last cruise...they are on MY list! http://www.emotipad.com/newemoticons/I-Agree.gif

You can't go wrong with air lift bags.

Go with the bags for sure. I haven't had mine long, but I already love 'em. Picked mine up from Truck Spring (http://www.truckspring.com) for about $65 plus shipping. They shipped them very quickly!

I'm going to get the bags out of El Camino Parts. What is the best power source, A small compressor in the car or one that runs off of the engine?

I wouldn't fool around with an onboard compressor. After you've had the bags on far a while and went up and down a few times you won't mess with the air pressure anymore and they don't lose air like tires either. However if you want the convenience of an on board compressor go with an electric motor compressor made especially for the Air Lift bags. AIR LIFT COMPRESSOR (http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prrfnbr=1992&prmenbr=361)

I've had both a set of coil over shocks and a set of airbags in two different elcaminos. I feel that it all depends on what your looking for in you elcamino. If you want the best possible ride quality and handling with no loads and the ability to carry a heavier load with minimal effort then get airbags with a set of good quality heavy duty shocks like Bilsteins. If you almost allways carry a load and don't want to have to mess with adjusting air pressures before loading and/or mess with installing an onboard automatic air pressure monitoring system and don't mind a reduced quality of ride and handling then get the coil overs from monroe. Also the coil overs won't work if your Elcamino is lowered at all, just in case it is. Also have you considered heavy duty rear spings as well. Might be a happy medium for you.

Shock absorbers do exactly what the name implies-absorb shock. Springs are what carry loads and air bags are just "air springs". Gas shocks are like ordinary shocks but use an inert gas in the shock chamber to help prevent aeration of the shock fluid and do not increase
load carrying capacity. Air over shocks combine a shock with an "air spring" to increase carrying capacity and adjust height. "Coil overs" is a suspension unit that combines a regular shock and a regular spring into one compact unit.
Anyway I consider high performance gas shocks, performance coil springs and rear Air Lift bags the best combination. The shocks do their job without compromise, the springs are optimized for best performance and comfort and the Air Lift bags are used to increase carrying capacity only when needed.

One thing about air shocks or coil overs in the stock location, the upper shock mounts can fail if the air shocks are overinflated as well as with the stiffer loading with coil overs.

Coil overs with proper upper mounts(attached to a crossmember)and lower mounts(welded to the axle)are fine, but as stated above the performance shock/coil spring/air bag combo makes for good load carrying ability and improved performance although a rougher ride.

If you want a great ride and only occasionally carry a load, leave the stock air shocks in place and don't run over about 100psi in them.

I guess what I had previously written may have been misconstrued. I had intended to imply that the purpose of the heavy duty shocks was to provide consistant ride quality regardless of the load and that the air bags and/or heavy duty springs were there to support the load. So basically I agree with the simpler stated ending of Mrapii's comments.

Thanks to all how have responded to my query re pros & cons of airbags versus cargo coils.

It appears the consensus of opinion that air bags is the way to go.

This is a great group. Many thanks to all.

Harv