Macpherson aero sport bracket

[honhon]

hey all, just trying to do my homework... cant find pictures of the MACPHERSON AERO SPORT BRACKET installed onto a strut with an airbag installed... the more views the better... im just trying to picture all of the pieces in their places before i start ordering parts...

thanks!

[NegativeCamber]

It's just a plate mounted on the top and bottom of the bag.

[OpelWagenGT]

I have been researching this stuff too and every time I read about the Universal Air bag over strut, bags it says
NOTE: The brackets required to install these bags are 2 Flat Plates (Upper and Lower), Bearing Kit (You also can use your factor bearing plate for this application). Using the bearing supplied in the kit will allow you to achive an additional 1" Drop.

What do they mean bearing?

-Aron

[NegativeCamber]

its a thrust bearing that sits on top of the bag plate, so that when the custom strut mount rests on it, the assembly can twist as it does with the factory strut mount.

[TheNeek]

the assembly can twist as it does with the factory strut mount.

Like when you turn the car.

[NegativeCamber]

lol. yea one of the small details when building a suspension.

[OpelWagenGT]

Maybe it's the type of suspension that my Manta uses but I'm not picturing why the bag would need to "rotate".

-Aron C.

[Mike E30 UNT]

When you turn the steering the whole front strut rotates cos of the way the wheel is attached. ie front wheel spindle is solid to the strut. Therefore the strut needs a bearing at the top where it mounts to the car bodywork. Most factory struts will have this bearing in the top mounting plate. You should be able to remove this plate and bearing and fit it to your air strut. My air struts came with bearings and blank top mount plates in an bag in case they are needed. They probably won't be.

[Jesus Christ]

Maybe it's the type of suspension that my Manta uses but I'm not picturing why the bag would need to "rotate".

-Aron C.

well it does need to "rotate" if its a macpherson strut

jack your car up, remove wheel, turn steering wheel, pick up your mind from the explosion.

[Rali@BagRiders]

Here are some diagrams that should help. Andrew Ritter aka Rally/ Retromini made these a while ago.

http://bagriders.com/modlab/product_images/uploaded_images/bag-over-coil.jpg

https://bagriders.com/modlab/product_images/uploaded_images/bag-over-coil-2.jpg

[OpelWagenGT]

Ok that makes sense for a macpherson strut. And it also makes sense why I wouldn't need that for my car. Here is a photo of a Manta front suspension. Wierd right?

The spring does in no way connect to the shock, it just goes around it.

the spring is not on there in the photo but you can see where it sits on the top and bottom. (that's not my rusty car BTW)
http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4092/4965501259_5c0bb3815b_b.jpg
http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4115/4966101954_c9ce87377c_b.jpg

As you can see nothing rotates with the steering so I don't think these "bearing plates" are necessary. I have taken my springs out before and there is just a rubber spring top.

Sorry for jacking your thread :o

-Aron

[Jesus Christ]

the strut goes THROUGH the spring?

[OpelWagenGT]

the strut goes THROUGH the spring?

Yes, although I would not call it a strut is just a front shock. You can see the rusty old shock in the first photo. It's a very strange system. The only cool part is the whole suspension can be removed from the car and is completely independant.

-Aron

[NegativeCamber]

Doesn't look strange to me.old chevys and many other cars had that style of setup.look into ridetech shockwaves if you are looking into a multilink style bag and shock combo.offers better stroke and lift.

[OpelWagenGT]

I was just going to use Universal Air Aero Sports, over some after market shocks. Probably try to find a shock that is shorter than stock.

-Aron

[Rali@BagRiders]

I was just going to use Universal Air Aero Sports, over some after market shocks. Probably try to find a shock that is shorter than stock.

-Aron

It looks like your tie rods are really close to the shock itself which won't leave much room to fit an Aero Sport since they're pretty wide. Like Eric said, you might want to look into doing some Shockwaves or some Air Lift Universal SlamAIR Shocks (http://www.airliftperformance.com/applications/universal/slamair-shocks/).

[OpelWagenGT]

It looks like your tie rods are really close to the shock itself which won't leave much room to fit an Aero Sport since they're pretty wide. Like Eric said, you might want to look into doing some Shockwaves or some Air Lift Universal SlamAIR Shocks (http://www.airliftperformance.com/applications/universal/slamair-shocks/).

the only problem I see is that there are none of those bag struts that have a stud on the top instead of a loop. My front shocks are stud top and loop bottom. Also the top and bottom shock mounting points are not designed to take the full weight of the car. This can however be remedied by reinforcing them.

-Aron C.

[OpelWagenGT]

Forgot to mention that those are way out of my budget too... :( My car only cost me $1200.00

-Aron

[Rali@BagRiders]

Yeah you would have to modify them to work anyway since they aren't designed for your car.

[Mike E30 UNT]

What you have there my friend is "unequal length wishbones" and the piece that joins them at the wheel end is called the vertical link. No macpherson strut on this car. Unequal length wishbones are common on racing cars, obviously a lot more high tech and lighter though.

[OpelWagenGT]

What you have there my friend is "unequal length wishbones" and the piece that joins them at the wheel end is called the vertical link. No macpherson strut on this car. Unequal length wishbones are common on racing cars, obviously a lot more high tech and lighter though.

Nailed it. The vertical connecting piece is also the spindle.

-Aron

[NegativeCamber]

the only problem I see is that there are none of those bag struts that have a stud on the top instead of a loop. My front shocks are stud top and loop bottom. Also the top and bottom shock mounting points are not designed to take the full weight of the car. This can however be remedied by reinforcing them.

-Aron C.

sure they do. reinforcing the mounts would be something I would do anyway.

http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/public/_AdGhb9q1fvHz1WKvlcOxwndYpUvK1ufy3qiydlNiv5M4JU5fL Ffxa4PvQ123nBtomJJA4tQpjpnk6oaCXxv_v-ixBXXwIYfrFOcyjHMG7tg50RUDwqIvKHlrbwvw7U9bbQU_2fTw 1Rw96f7xQj27UYhyp0cc2liQTHuHyFeYP-AjOgr3VY-AvQ

http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/public/9_K1yGLxs5eg1ZdpZMvVhqeMDIDVXdI8mAa37umgN5HAvnGskM 7Rg8WlwajpEcvQeOeHFNT5mxgQxdA8oO-lNa6frnJUWDodPxJk0QF5hIxPEZ7nVXcYmi5AxEFeApi4gwhs2 JCS-Co2zTDmD3eA_uWIM_IGxdL-G_8twmpk21XZl1q9lVxxVwo

[OpelWagenGT]

sure they do. reinforcing the mounts would be something I would do anyway.

http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/public/_AdGhb9q1fvHz1WKvlcOxwndYpUvK1ufy3qiydlNiv5M4JU5fL Ffxa4PvQ123nBtomJJA4tQpjpnk6oaCXxv_v-ixBXXwIYfrFOcyjHMG7tg50RUDwqIvKHlrbwvw7U9bbQU_2fTw 1Rw96f7xQj27UYhyp0cc2liQTHuHyFeYP-AjOgr3VY-AvQ

http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/public/9_K1yGLxs5eg1ZdpZMvVhqeMDIDVXdI8mAa37umgN5HAvnGskM 7Rg8WlwajpEcvQeOeHFNT5mxgQxdA8oO-lNa6frnJUWDodPxJk0QF5hIxPEZ7nVXcYmi5AxEFeApi4gwhs2 JCS-Co2zTDmD3eA_uWIM_IGxdL-G_8twmpk21XZl1q9lVxxVwo

Yeah what do those cost though. I can get Aeros for less than $200 a piece buy some decent gas shocks and still be way under the price of the others that were suggested.

-Aron

[NegativeCamber]

true, let us know how it goes. pics too!

[OpelWagenGT]

true, let us know how it goes. pics too!

Oh for sure! I have a thread in the builds I just haven't added to it in a while...

-Aron

[OpelWagenGT]

I did some measuring and it looks like as long as an aero never exceeds 6 inches in diameter then I will have around 1/4"-3/8" of clearance for my tie rods.

-Aron

[Rali@BagRiders]

I did some measuring and it looks like as long as an aero never exceeds 6 inches in diameter then I will have around 1/4"-3/8" of clearance for my tie rods.

-Aron

It will be close but the AeroSports are about 5 7/8" in diameter when they are fully collapsed and the inflated diameter is more like 5.5" because they will shrink when they are inflated.