The 1970 I just bought has air shocks on it. I pumped them up and they still hold air. This is the rake you get on a Maverick when you pull out the factory 170 6-cyl and drop in a 302 on the same coil springs.....then add 100 lbs of pressure to air shocks. No shackles either!! Imagine the rake I would get then!!! It has about 6" of clearance OVER the rear tire!!!
From the rear you can see that the gas tank almost clears the top of the pig in the axle. Axle tubes are easily seen top and bottom. The only weight removed off the back in the rear bumper....and the spoiler on the trunk makes up the weight of that.
Now here is why you DON'T want to put air shocks on a Maverick. This is a picture of my busted air shock on my station wagon. This is a FULL FRAME car.........so the weakest link in the chain would be the shock itself. You can see it is bent. The part circled in yellow is where the top of it bends over and now bangs against the frame. The part circled is blue is the part that now bends over and hits the caliper. Guess what the weakest link in the chain is on a Maverick?? That's right....the upper shock mount. Matt....post a picture of what that looks like when the air shock is stonger than the car.
hurry and let that air out before the neighbors see. i had shackles and air shocks, on one of my mustangs, when i was about 20.
Earl..........I haven't driven the car yet.....so I can't tell. Just sitting in it brings back memories of High school!! T.L...........yes....air shocks are for full frame cars that tow trailers..which is what I do with my wagon. Still...it bent like that and I wasn't even towing with it. I wouldn't recommend air shocks even for towing.
I had air shocks on my 71 mav during High School. All was well till one day I noticed things were getting wet in my trunk. Pulled back the trunk liner to see that the stamped/spot welded seam at the front of the trunk had started to split and I could see the rear axle and ground through the trunk. Too much opposing force pressure where the upper mounts are.
hey craig....... just was looking through an old magazine at work last night ...... and I happened across this article called "That '70s Road Show" with a picture of a white maverick and a blue station wagon and a man standing in front clad in denim with a big fro....... blew me out of the water...... that is a wig in the picture right? btw..... I took the magazine
Air Shocks are like treating the symptom rather than the problem. Throw them away. The shock mounts were not designed to support car weight.
my old dog brutus had a rake like that and he had no airshocks except the ones he stole to play with. none he would let anyone have back.he for one loved airshocks!!!