Getting Our Roll on with Air Ride

Boys and Girls, big time happenings in the garage.

Tom and I have been working on the Project Swinger Nova. Our really sweet Air Ride Street Challenge suspension system is finally going in and shaping up nicely. We are finally able to see light at the end of the tunnel, and it is looking good. We’ve got the Currie 9+ rear end with Stainless Steel (SSBC) disk brakes going in all the way around.

Let me show you what we got going on:

Installing the SSBC front disc brakes in a smooth over the shoulder slam dunk move. I have some serious moves. More moves than a Russian belly dancer.

Notice the drop spindle that came with the Street Challenge kit. The Lower and upper arms (Strong Arms) bolt in well with the stock chassis but provide a substantial improvement in weight, strength and performance.

It takes a strong arm to install the Strong Arms! Naaawww, not really but it makes me feel better saying that. They actually went in very easily. I’m not sure which is stronger though; Air Ride’s Strong Arm or mine.

{ad:RMA}Attaching the Air Bar (Sway bar) to the lower Strong Arm. This is a good quality kit. From the Poly bushings on the sway bar to the nylon self locking nuts, this kit is filled with premium parts. This picture not only shows a good looking guy putting the sway bar link together, but the lower strong arm, the Shock Wave (air shock) and the drop spindle are clearly visible in this photo.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Actually, there are a thousand things going on here. This kit can easily be installed in your driveway using jackstands in about one weekend. At the PowerTV garage, us shop dogs have a tendency to over do perfection. We have the chassis on the lift, and using under lift jacks, we have the chassis raised on all four corners to an equal height. The Currie 9 inch rear end is centered, level to the car, and the pinion angle set. We’ve got the lower links hooked up and are measuring the upper links for placement of the mounting brackets.

Whew…….lots going on.

Again, going beyond perfection, multiple angle finders are a key. Getting the right angles on the rear end make or break the deal on building a championship winning road race car. Take your time, measure two, three, or four times. Weld once.

This is a shop dog’s idea of fun. Playing teeter totter with the chassis on the lift and under lift jacks. Tom and I play a really cool game of “double dog dare ya” until the boss comes out.

After some “re-calibrating” from the boss, Tom and I have a meeting to set goals for tomorrow. The Air RideSuspension, SSBC Brakes, and Currie rear end should be finished by close of business tomorrow (or one of us might be in trouble. And in all fairness, Tom started the double dog dare ya game).

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