So my front struts on my 78 brat are so stiff that i have no flex at all, and i dont want to replace them with more struts. i was thinking, i should be able to use air shocks and an on-board compressor instead of front springs, right? i looked at the specs of the shocks i want to use and they have 10 inches of travel and a max psi of 200, but i watch videos on youtube of people that put these on vw bugs and toyota trucks, and they only provide 3 inches of lift or so. my question is, are these people not airing the shocks up to their max, or is that all the shocks are capable of? if that is all they can do, would i get more lift out of using dual shocks on each side? i want to get 7 inches or so of lift out of these things, 7 inches between fully aired up and completely empty i mean. would i just be better off to go with airbags? i kind of dont want to do that because they seem to require a lot more psi... somebody help me out please!

 

these are the shocks im looking at: http://www.amazon.com/Gabriel-49235-Hijackers-Air-Shocks/dp/B001AM8KAO/ref=sr_1_2?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1388624613&sr=1-2&keywords=air+shocks

 

and this is my brat! 

On the front, no. Struts are different the shocks. You can really pump up the shocks, but then they wouldnt be shocks, and you also have a good chance of snapping something if you hit a bump. Shocks arent meant to support weight, springs are. Shocks stop the continous bounce of the springs (to put it simply). 

 

Your front strauts are shot if they have no give, whichnot only can make for a horrible ride, but can shake things apart, and cause safety issues.

so you're saying i should go with air bags instead of air shocks?

if you can find some air bag struts to adapt the the front end go for it,but I don't know how much flex the cv's can take because after the struts they are the limiting factor.

 

Also do you have any more pics of your brat?I'm building up my gen 1 project to look like something out of an apcolapse and I need all the inspiration I can get.

alright. yeah i'll get more pics of this later for you, but there are some in my build thread. it would be fairly easy to do coilover shocks, and ive found some for cheap that are for a vw bug, would my brat weight too much for them? could i go duals on those?

coilovers would be alot easier to adapt rather than air bags, that and you wouldn't have to worry about a air line getting nicked and stranding you somewhere.

trust me i get that, i would love to do coilovers, but are coilovers for a vw bug going to even hold it up or will they just bottom out? http://www.ebay.com/itm/VW-Bug-Buggy-Chrome-Adjustable-Coil-Over-Shocks-Pair-/310359710854?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4842e15c86&vxp=mtr

I would bet they wouldn't work because they are for the front of a vw beetle, and beetles are very light in the front.Even if they would work they would only have about 4" of travel.However you could swap in EA81 front suspension and get more travel and a more rubust suspension.From my understanding the suspension bolts in place with one minor correction for the crossmember

hmmmm... well what coilovers would work? 

However you could swap in EA81 front suspension and get more travel and a more rubust suspension.From my understanding the suspension bolts in place with one minor correction for the crossmember

yeah i just dont know where im going to find ea81 suspension... there arent many subes around here

is there a pull and save or a pick n pull in boise?Any self service yards nearby?

EDIT: google says there is a U pull in boise.See if they have any 80-84 subarus and made a day of it.

Alright, yeah there are several yards in the boise area, i'll see what i can find! Thanks