Octane: Pic - Rear airbag mod

YES! I would love a build thread! You have some good ideas,and I would love to know LOTS more on this mod you just posted. I have always wated the frontof my car sitting lower than it does when I vent the system. I would like to do this mod this weekend if I can get the info in time :)
 
Everything you need is right here.

Redrill the lower front shock with new holes 1 inch up from the original holes.

Mod the lower bag mount by removing an inch from the cup.

Ride on...
 
Alrighty,I kinda figured it may have been an inch from eyeballin it. so,just to get it right,is that an inch from center of stock hole to center of new hole? I just really don't want to screw this up. These are my last front shocks I'll ever buy then I am getting sprung
 
He's got a fat finger with the 250mm number (thats about 10 inches).

25.4mm = 1 inch.
 
I always wanted to know is, if you have a lowered suspension what will happen when you reach cruising speeds and the car lowers
 
Haha... I didn't catch that goof.

thanks SATURN5 , I meant to say 25mm as in one inch.:D

isaiah3g, if you are going to do this mod this weekend , the measurement for the new hole, from my strut, is 15.5mm from center of the hole to center of the new hole. Measure twice - drill once. In your case, Measure a few more time because the ba
rand of your strut may be different from mine and the specs could be off a little.
 
I'm slowly un-spring converting my newer Mark with the air suspension from my wrecked one. I can't stand the lowered strutbastard shocks. I will do these mods.
 
Re-Post of some Photos

The front strut assembly can be modified to lower your Mark without sensor modification and without altering the factory predetermined front suspension airpressure.

As you sensor lower your Mark, the air in the bag will actually be lower the further you go down. By how much? I cannot tell you. You experience that bouncy ride with less air pressure in there. You all know what I am talking about.

By relocating the LCA to Sping Shock attachment point higher up on the lower strut mount, you drop the front suspension at approximately 25mm. This mod can be applied to coil sprung Marks also.

If you're still on airsprings and desire an even lower front stance, combine this mod with the sensor lowering mod and you will be astonished by your Marks new performance. With the Octane mod, you will have a much firmer and controlled ride than sensor mod alone.





Here are some pictures I took before and after I installed my modified replacement springs. Careful measurements were taken to get the final results. There is a 0.20mm clearance between the Lower Control Arm and the lower Strut tube as seen in the fourth picture below.

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IMG_0598640x480.jpg


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The picture below shows the 0.20mm clearance a little better with backlighting. Overall, just like the rear air suspension mod, I am extremely pleased at my Mark's ride quality. She has a nice lowered stance now and has maintained the factory ride quality.

IMG_0614640x480.jpg


There have neven been any issues, noise or binding problems, whatsoever, ever since I completed this mod on my car.


Since joining LVC, I have enjoyed reading everyones build thread and I would always look forward seeing what everyone is doing as soon after I finish watching Most Expensive Rides, Car Science, Motorweek, Inside West Coast Customs, Hot Rod TV, Rides, Ultimate Factories, MuscleCar, Pinks and PassTime!


Got my Photobucket pictures recovered. Next, I will be re-posting additional pics, as requested, of the front coil spring shock mod for new members to see. Remember! This mod can be applied to air spring shocks also with the same benefits!

My appologies to Chris T. edit my reference to the front struts (incorrect term) to coil spring shocks (universally accepted description) .:D
 
I'm doing this to mine soon, I think I need to drop my front about a .5"
 
Although I've posted these pictures elsewhere in a different thread. I appologize to the mods that this thread has morphed from its original thread title to now include the front spring mod. (Mike and the rest of the staff: If at all possible to change the title to read Front and Rear lowering suspension mod, may make future searches a little easier for new members.)

But, this ties-in nicely here with the rear airspring mod as a request from another member for more info. And hopefully, this will help you get started with your own front air-shock/coilspring mod or as some have humbly called; The Octane Mod. This lowers your Mark even more, maintains the original factory ride quality, eliminates that occasional air spring bounce and gives you that added mojo when carving into turns. I guarantee it!

This was done at my home garage and I do not work at a professional machine shop. Please use common sense and wear protective eye wear for your safety when working around machinery.

I used five drill bits starting with a small pilot bit and worked my way up to the large 9/16" bit. The dime is just for image reference.

IMG_0452640x480-2.jpg


A small neodemium magnet, wrapped in a plastic baggy (pictured below), was used to keep the work area clean of metal shavings so I can see the work surface better. Its up to you if you if want to use one or just brush the metal shavings off. It did help with cleanup to a minimum though.

IMG_0446640x480.jpg



I made a template out of an old cell phone airtime card as a reference to help me consistently mark and center the four new holes I needed to drill out. I used a scratch awl to make the markings on the template and the work surface as you will see later. I saved this template for future reference in case I need to modify another coil or air spring shock on my next Mark VIII project.

IMG_0436640x480.jpg



The new upper holes were vertically located at 21/32" from the center of the bolt hole to the center of the new hole to be drilled. Or 3/8" from the outside edge of the bolt hole to the center of the new hole to be drilled. This will leave you with a 0.20mm clearance between the bottom of the shock tube to the upper surface of the lower control arm once you are done. Dont worry. There's plenty of clearance at maximum articulation as shown in the last picture of post #36 in this thread.

You can expect to see a drop of about 1"-1.20" with this mod. If you are on air springs and want less of a drop. Do this mod and then fine tune the ride height with the sensor adjustment. Reminder for new Mark VIII owners: Sensor adjustment will not apply to Mark VIIIs riding on coil springs.

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If you were wondering what that other template notch was for? Well, there it is. Drop that template in that 'valley' and it makes for locating the horizontal center that much quicker and easier for the next hole.

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I sprayed the all the surface areas with rattle can primer so I can better see the scratch marks I make and accurately center the laser to my mark for the new holes to be drilled. I did not want to use a Sharpie this time around. A scratch awl was better suited to make a fine mark over primer in this situation.

IMG_0448640x480.jpg



Machine oil will help lubricate your drill bit and the work surface while drilling.

IMG_0449640x480.jpg



Occasionally check to see that the pilot hole remains centered on the mark. Even with a drill press, sometimes, a small bit has a tendancy to "crawl" or stray away from the center. Here, you see the pilot hole is spot on.

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Once your first bit punches through, things get easier from here and just work the hole until you use to the last drill bit. Make sure your work is secured properly as the larger bits apply more torque and may cause your shock springs to be dislodged from the press table.

IMG_0451640x480.jpg



Medium speed and a constant downward pressure from the drill press keeps the cutting edge bite into the metal. Keep your work lubricated. Pictured below is the last of the five bits used. The 9/16" drill bit. Although not pictured, the holes were chamfered prior to the final paint application.

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The collected metal shavings that i didn't have to cleanup from the floor. This I had to do because my wife and I have a small dog who likes to follow you around and randomly chews on small objects. Eliminating a choking hazard for our Maltese.

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Well, that's all for now. Look for a picture of my ride in a sweet lowered stance. She drives slightly firmer than stock, corners like it should and does not bounce like a sensor lowered-only Mark.:shifty:





-Ren
 
Ren, what I love about your write ups, they are very detailed and helpful. I did this mod to my air shocks and I just swapped to coils (unfortunately) So ill be doing this mod to my coils Friday. Tha ks for the measurements.
 
Ren,

Thank you , I did one of my cars last Summer ! I am getting ready to do two more !

Thanks Again,
Sonny
 
Chris, Luke, Isaiah, Alex and Sonny... You are welcome!

Luke....Seen a pic of your car sitting low with bullets. Was that pic taken with this mod done to it?

Hey, After doing this mod, would you guys post pics of your ride here? .....with your car sitting low?

And yeah, yours too Jeremy.. ... after you're done with yours! :D I bet all your cars would look really sick!




-Ren
 
Mine has not had it done yet ( I have an asham8).
Just got my new air springs for the front and want to do it
Hoping to increase handling and get rid of an occasional bounce.

Has this been done to front factory air springs by anyone yet?
 
All,

Sensor lowered Octane modified front air springs ride as good as original ride height cars !

Good luck,
Sonny
 
More Octane-Pics....


Here is my Mark sitting 1-1/4" lower than factory ride height after I did the front coilspring modification. It now has that perfect stance I was looking for without sacrificing ride quality. Ya, no cutting coilsprings here.
To the right there is my extremely vicious, bad to the bone guard dog, wearing his kevlar bulletproof vest, looking on. Okay, so it was cold outside this morning.

image-1.jpg



The cars' performance is very agile as well as comfortable. Having done the spring modification adds more confidence around turns and through the hillside twisties around here. What you see on the car is the fixed ride height and I drive it everywhere like that without any issues rubbing against the fenders. The back end is just as low with a 2"drop from factory parked height. Pictures are coming. Keep in mind that these tires are wider than what most people put on there.

I definitely get alot of compliments from people young and old. I also get asked if its a new model vehicle and what-not.

image.jpg



The wheels are from Brad @ The Custom Wheel Shop. They are chrome 5 x 108 bolt pattern, 18 x 9 Speedstar replicas w/36mm offset. Features are hidden valve stems, also from The Custom Wheel Shop, hidden wheel weights and my custom mirror chrome center caps.

The tires are Nitto Extreme Performance NT-555, 275 x 40-ZR18s from Discounttiredirectdotcom. Yes, they are wider than normal tires on a typical Mark VIII and my sidewall height from wheel to ground is 2-3/4".

image-2.jpg

I threw those numbers out just in case anyone interested in re-creating this, will know this setup works well for our Mark VIIIs.


Thought I would share that with you. Thank You all for looking! -Ren



.
 
Moderator please delete
sorry keyboard issue - had to restart my PC
 
For those that have done these lowering suspension mods front and/or back. Have you noticed any long term issues of the years?

I searched for the rear airbag mod, for pics but couldn't find anything. Does anyone have the details for the rear mod? Figure best to do both front and rear mods.

Does anyone know if Ren (97 Octane), just did these mods? Or had he lowered his height sensors or maybe an Asham 8, as well?

I would think that the bags, hold the same pressure of air relative to the shocks height. Meaning if the shock was at normal height, it has 10 psi of air (I am using the numbers here just as an example). If you sensor lowered 1 inch it would still have 10 PSI, but the volume or density would be less, wouldn't it? The higher the shock sits, the more air it would need. Once it hits the specified volume or density, it then expands, wouldn't it?

I hope Ren is right and the thinking I list above isn't. I think the above, from my understanding of lowering vehicles. To get rid of the "bounce" you need the shock to travel the factory specs or firmer shocks to absorb that shorted travel spec from lowering.

By raising the mount hole, does that not shorten shock travel spec? Like cutting the springs as many have done on coil cars? Or does it give the same travel spec because the shock sits and inch lower (similar to sensor adjustment)?
 
For those that have done these lowering suspension mods front and/or back. Have you noticed any long term issues of the years?

I searched for the rear airbag mod, for pics but couldn't find anything. Does anyone have the details for the rear mod? Figure best to do both front and rear mods.

Does anyone know if Ren (97 Octane), just did these mods? Or had he lowered his height sensors or maybe an Asham 8, as well?

I would think that the bags, hold the same pressure of air relative to the shocks height. Meaning if the shock was at normal height, it has 10 psi of air (I am using the numbers here just as an example). If you sensor lowered 1 inch it would still have 10 PSI, but the volume or density would be less, wouldn't it? The higher the shock sits, the more air it would need. Once it hits the specified volume or density, it then expands, wouldn't it?

I hope Ren is right and the thinking I list above isn't. I think the above, from my understanding of lowering vehicles. To get rid of the "bounce" you need the shock to travel the factory specs or firmer shocks to absorb that shorted travel spec from lowering.

By raising the mount hole, does that not shorten shock travel spec? Like cutting the springs as many have done on coil cars? Or does it give the same travel spec because the shock sits and inch lower (similar to sensor adjustment)?

Was thinking about this today. By drilling new holes, and cutting the plastic base of the rear air bag, it wouldn't shorten the shock travel, thus believe Ren is right about original ride quality at a lowered height via these two methods.

With only sensor lowering there would be less air in the front strut, thus would reduce shock travel, (the bumps), even if the air pressure remains constant at all heights.
 

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