ART air bar?

JoeJ · Jul 21, 2004

anyone have experience with this?
I'm wanting to skip the whole static drop stage and go straight to bags, but I'm not to wild about cuttin the bed. Any input on how this set up works? is there something better I can get that will do what I want for the $$$?

bcubed · Jul 21, 2004

JoeJ said:
anyone have experience with this?
I'm wanting to skip the whole static drop stage and go straight to bags, but I'm not to wild about cuttin the bed. Any input on how this set up works? is there something better I can get that will do what I want for the $$$?

KP 6-link (4-link with cantilever kit), it's cheaper than the airbar and is said to have a superior ride. http://www.kpcomponents.com totally bolton, you have to supply our own notch and your own bags (shocks are included)

chevyman992002 · Jul 21, 2004

:word: the kp kit is awesome. but you can't go wrong with the airbar either. both are great products.

Physh1 · Jul 21, 2004

Well, the AirBar doesn't lay out of the box. You need a larger notch and a repositioning of the panhard bar. That is what I had to do on my dually to lay out with it. I'm not sure what you wanna know about how it works.....a 4 link that replaces the leaf packs.

Cameron

groundscraper · Jul 21, 2004

I would go the KP route, but if you are doing some heavy towing, I would go with the ART Air Bar. Both are entirely bolt-on kits. Like mentioned above, the Air Bar will not Lay out of the box, you will have to do some modifications to it.

JoeJ · Jul 21, 2004

i'm not really THAT concerned about laying it out. I will be doin some light towing (2 jetski's, a 17" boat, and maybe a bike in the bed) So i would need to retain some towing capability. The truck will be a daily so I need a reliable system that I'm not going to have to worry about, and will not need any cutting of the bed, as I'll be carrying loads in there occasionally...

Nikolai · Jul 21, 2004

*Lurking* I'm in the same boat. Need something somewhat reliable and something that can tow. :shake:

Physh1 · Jul 21, 2004

Well, if laying out isn't really important the airbar is great. It'll probably deal with towing better than a kp will. I towed with mine pretty often..cars, boats, huge horse trailers. I do have a 1 ton and actually have towed more weight bagged than I did stock or with my static drop. My step notch (built to lay out) is really beefy....I've had zero problems with it and my towing.

Cameron

nafortin · Jul 22, 2004

How low can you go with the bolt on notch it comes with and a coolride up front?

If he really wanted to he could probably lay out with a smaller tire/rim combo couldn't he?

JakobMetzger · Jul 22, 2004

Ya thats what I want to know.. im thinking about this. How low can I go with it?

Physh1 · Jul 22, 2004

Depends on what your rolling diameters are:read:. What are ya gonna be running?

Cameron

nafortin · Jul 22, 2004

18s with 45 series would give you a 26.3 diameter.
20s with 35 series would give you a 26.5 dia...

Here is a great calculator if anyone needs one...
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

14s with a 40 would definaltey drag something

probably your bumper when aired up.

JakobMetzger · Jul 22, 2004

Nice Calculator. I want 20s but I dunno yet. Ive seenn some sweet 18s on obs's like mine.

JoeJ · Jul 22, 2004

most likely 20's for me, maybe 22's if I can find an offset I like w/o going to billets.

Beyond Static · Jul 22, 2004

My dad's got the airbar on some 245/40/20's on his '02. It comes within 1" of laying frame using the supplied notches. It rides very good.

I have the KP 6-link with a 7" step notch on my '90. It lays frame on 265/35/20 tires, and rides better than the airbar. I even have 35 series tires, and it still rides better than the airbar with 40 series tires. KP gets my vote. If you plan to tow a lot though, go with the airbar.

nafortin · Jul 22, 2004

I'm wanting to bag my truck at some point down the road, but will also need to be able to haul various shit in the bed and tow trailers. I figured AirBar would be the best way to go for such functionality.

I know the KP with canti has a superior ride. How would you rate the airbar ride versus stock ride?

Has anyone ever put a kp with canti and then put helperbags on it? I realize that would be excesive, but would it even work?

groundscraper · Jul 22, 2004

nafortin said:
I'm wanting to bag my truck at some point down the road, but will also need to be able to haul various shit in the bed and tow trailers. I figured AirBar would be the best way to go for such functionality.

I know the KP with canti has a superior ride. How would you rate the airbar ride versus stock ride?

Has anyone ever put a kp with canti and then put helperbags on it? I realize that would be excesive, but would it even work?

As far as I know, the Air Bar has a much superior ride than stock. It uses F9000 bags behind the axle, which from what I hear rides very smooth. Like I mentioned before, if you plan to tow some heavy stuff, your best bet is the Air Bar.

Helper bags with the KP kit? No.

JoeJ · Jul 22, 2004

So if i went with the air bar for the rear what would be a good bag set-up for the front? Should I go with another ART product such as the cool ride or shockwave?

groundscraper · Jul 22, 2004

JoeJ said:
So if i went with the air bar for the rear what would be a good bag set-up for the front? Should I go with another ART product such as the cool ride or shockwave?

Cool Ride and Shockwave are both good choices. If you want to go as low as you can and get a good amount of lift, I suggest the Cool Ride. If you want a bit better handling and a bit better ride, plus ease of installation, the shockwave gives you that.

Beyond Static · Jul 23, 2004

For the front, do the coolride with the HAL shocks. Those shocks combined with firestone bags will pretty much handle like a shockwave. IMO, the airbar rides almost like stock, while the KP kit rides better than stock

ART air bar?

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