Category: Technical

My buddy Rick owner of “Racks by Rick” came over to weld in the seamless air tanks mounting brackets. We are using 1/4″ stock, plenty of mass and strength to hold the lightweight aluminum tanks securely.

The tanks are set as high as possible to avoid being damaged or hit by road debris or other possible impacts.

The original front air ride bags were 2 bellows. The replacement Slam Specialties RE-7 series are also 2 belows. One of the characteristics of the SS bags, these will have a increased vertical travel. This means less air volume and pressure to accomplish the same changes with the original Vixen brand air bags.

I began removing the front passenger air bag. The upper control arm ball joint was super difficult to remove. None of the ball joints removal tools I have are large enough to work.

The thing about working in aC3500 it’s made to be a work truck hauler or other heavy duty applications. This means all the suspension parts are heavy duty. one thing to mention the upper A-arm was replaced with a tubular type model. This was done early on due to an alignment issue the truck had causing continuous pull to the right.

There is a leak in the old system. Even though the current bags “appear” to be in good shape I won’t be using these. I’d rather install a new set of bags on all four corners then wonder if a bag is leaking.

I’ll be installing the Slam Specialities RE-7 model for the front and rear. These bags are highly related and though not cheap has high recommendation and review.

One thing for certain this was a lot of work back in the day. The amount of plumbing to get the air from the compressors to the tank and out to the bags is nuts.

The dual stainless steel tanks are rusting inside. I found several pin hole leaks using the soap and water method.