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We get customers that come into our shop who want to do something cool to their ride. Usually it involves some method of lowering, but a lot of times we hear someone say, “I want to bag it.” Thing is, they don’t really know what that means, or they’ve never owned anything with adjustable suspension.
Before you decide to do the same thing, let’s help you solve the problem before it happens. What is best for your car or truck? Should you lower it with traditional springs or put it on air suspension? Let’s find out.
The Pros and Cons of Traditional Springs
Many of us here in the shop cut our teeth on lowering our cars or trucks using traditional springs. It’s a solid way to get your ride lower, improve handling, and get that cool stance everyone wants. But what exactly are traditional lowering springs?
Let’s start with the concept of a spring to begin with. A coil spring supports the weight of the vehicle and allows the suspension to move up and down. A shock absorber dampens that up and down movement, and provides a more comfortable ride. Stiffer springs and shocks give you better handling capabilities if you want a performance-tuned suspension, while softer springs and shocks give you a smoother experience.
Traditional lowering springs are professionally manufactured springs that, when installed, will lower the ride height of the vehicle a set amount. Let’s take a 1998 Chevrolet or GMC full-size pickup, for example. If you want to lower the front suspension of one of those, you could buy a set of lowering springs such as these McGaughys 1-inch drop coil springs. They have the same load capacity as the stock front springs, but are built differently to provide that extra inch of drop.
On the plus side, coil springs are pretty tough to screw up, and it’s extremely rare that one breaks. You could install lowering springs on a car tomorrow, drive it for a decade, and only have to replace the struts when they go out.
But traditional springs are just springs. You’re setting up your vehicle for a static drop, which means it won’t be able to get any lower or higher if need be. Steep driveways or speedbumps become your mortal enemy, and sometimes the ride quality can suffer.
So what about air suspension? What’s different there?
The Pros and Cons of Air Suspension
Air suspension, at its most basic level, uses an inflatable bladder to replace the tradtional coil springs. Since there are many different types of suspensions, there are lots of options for air bags, but usually there’s some kind of kit that will work for your specific vehicle.
Air bags give you height adjustability. You can park your vehicle and lay it on the ground, or hit a switch and cruise over those speed bumps with ease. For many, it’s the reason they build a custom ride, and it’s something we do every day here at Switch.
But air suspension is not always easy to install. There are some cars and trucks that can take a kit, but every vehicle will need custom wiring, air line plumbing, and other tweaks to make it work just right. While you can install them yourself, it’s not always recommended, particularly if you don’t have any fabrication experience. Plus, air suspension doesn’t ride the same at every height. These are inflatable bladders with variable spring rates, which means it can be stiff if they’re fully aired up, or too soft when barely inflated.
Which One is for You?
We like to break it down pretty easy: If you’ve done some fabrication work, you know how to move around a suspension, and you feel comfortable doing some basic wiring, then air suspension is probably a good option. There is more maintenance and you’ll have to do some custom work, but you could bag your ride. But if you’re new to custom suspensions, don’t know how to turn a wrench, and have very little experience with modified vehicles, start out with traditional springs. They allow you to start living the lowered life and then, if you decide to go to the next stage, you can go with air suspension. But start off slow, because that’s the safer option.
We can help you out no matter which path you choose. So if you want to modify your suspension, we’re here for you.
