Before: This is what our '01...
Before: This is what our '01 Chevy 3500 HD Dualie looked like upon arrival at SporTrucks By Dean in Moorpark, California. Equipped with its stock nosebleed stance, it was no great shakes, but the bolt-on air suspension kit from Air Ride Technologies would fix all that.
Nothing compares to adjustable suspension. Once you own a vehicle on air, you can't imagine being without it. It's incredibly cool to pull up to a stoplight and hammer your truck's 'rails to the pavement and watch as admiring onlookers spin their domes in your direction.
It's convenient to hit the switches up a bit when coming to a steep driveway, instead of dealing with a fixed suspension drop where transmission crossmembers drag and frames get punished.
The air suspension craze caught on big a few years back, when custom truck owners started getting burnt out on the typical fixed 5/7 drop. Owners of show trucks and daily drivers alike wanted the extreme look of being radically low to the ground but the convenience of driving a stock truck with excess ground clearance.
After: Here is Project Hog...
After: Here is Project Hog Hauler laid flat on the ground and sporting 19-inch APP rollers and Toyo rubber. The Air Ride Technologies suspension kit brought our dualie down to a respectable level. We can slam it down for show and raise it up to go.
Our latest project pickup here at Truckin' is an '01 Chevy 3500 HD dualie with an 8.1L V-8. Up to this point, the truck has received a Whipple Supercharger, some audio goodies from Blaupunkt and Icon, a Line-X bedliner, a host of billet upgrades from Trenz Manufacturing, a steel roll pan and tailgate relocator from Sir Michaels, and a super-sanitary custom interior from Classic Soft Trim.
While these are all notable upgrades, we felt that the stock stance had to be significantly altered before any long-term cruising could take place. To solve our stock stance dilemma, a call was placed to Air Ride Technologies in Jasper, Indiana, for one of its adjustable air-suspension kits designed for GM's new dual-wheeled Heavy Duty platform.
For the front suspension,...
For the front suspension, Air Ride Technologies supplies upper and lower control arms and a pair of Shockwave airbags with a built-in HAL shock absorber and braided air line and fittings for air supply into the front 'bags. Not pictured here but included in the kit are ball joint adapters to move the front spindles up 3 inches and new bolt-on steering arms to correct the angle of the tie rod and eliminate bumpsteer. Shown in this photo are new torsion bars, which Air Ride Technologies supplied for the story. The new torsion bars are not included with the kit, but a GM part number is included in the instructions, so they may be obtained before you begin the install. The softer torsion bars are used to carry the weight of the front end, while the Shockwave delivers the smooth, feather-like ride.
Company president Bret Voelkel has pioneered several custom adjustable suspension kits for many popular pickups, so we knew our dualie was in store for low styling, a smooth ride, and cool looks.
The folks at Air Ride Technologies are responsible for producing custom suspension systems for many of America's most beautiful hot rods and customs, so when it came time to 'bag our Project Hog Hauler, there was only one place to go.
After receiving several heavy boxes from the big brown truck, it was off to SporTrucks By Dean in Moorpark, California, where company owner Dean Sears and his crew would turn our stock HD into a pavement-grinding pickup.
Follow along as we team up with SporTrucks By Dean with camera in hand to bring down this 1-ton wonder using bolt-on stance enhancement from Air Ride Technologies.