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So a few of you have been privy to the project I have been undergoing with my 1994 Aero for the past several months. I've been trying to keep it relatively hush-hush until I felt I had made enough progress to share with you all. Basically, I decided to finally jump into redoing the suspension, in a way I have not found evidence of anyone else in the world doing on a Saab 9000.
The journey started after my tax refund arrived and I began hoarding a few bits and pieces in my campus apartment closet. This was just the beginning:
The tank, Accuair Exo mount, EAI switch controller, and SMC valves I bought used from another forum member, and had originally been installed in a Scion XB.
The struts are a kit from Air Lift, consisting of a double-bellows bag over long-stroke adjustable damping shocks. The kit comes with a variety of hardware which allows it to adapt to any style of strut. In order to match the McPherson strut arrangement on the front of the Aero, I measured out how long I wanted the assembly to be in order to give me the desired ride height, as well as at full up and full down. At that point, I took it to my dad, who was able to weld the strut body as well as the two mounting tabs on each side:
At that point, I began installing the management system in the hatch area. I liked the idea of a nice, clean look, and wanted to retain as much usable trunk space as possible. I ended up using c-brackets to suspend the valve assemblies and switch box from the bottom of the false floor:
This arrangement still allows full use of the spare tire, and also keeps most of the wiring and plumbing hidden. I mounted the tank, Viair 400c compressor, and water trap on the forward part of the floor, again leaving plenty of usable space.
I originally bought double-bellows bags for the rear as well, but soon realized the spring locations did not provide enough space for them to function. At that point, I went over to Bag Riders where they recommended I try their new Firestone 7076 inverted-sleeve bags. While not quite as robust as the Air Lift Dominators I had originally planned on, now that they are installed, they are absolutely perfect for the job. I had to create a custom top mount that would bolt to the bag and prevent it from slipping from the top spring perch. A friend of mine has access to a 3d printer, and I was able to send him a CAD model of what I needed. A few days later, he handed me this:
Somewhere in here, I had bought new wheels, a set of vintage gold/polished ARE 398s, 17x9.5 et 56, off of an old Corvette.
I had high hopes for fitting these blingin' beauts, but decided I would need to run some insane stretch & poke, which is not quite the look I want to go for. So they are now on their way out the door to fund something else.
The journey started after my tax refund arrived and I began hoarding a few bits and pieces in my campus apartment closet. This was just the beginning:
The tank, Accuair Exo mount, EAI switch controller, and SMC valves I bought used from another forum member, and had originally been installed in a Scion XB.
The struts are a kit from Air Lift, consisting of a double-bellows bag over long-stroke adjustable damping shocks. The kit comes with a variety of hardware which allows it to adapt to any style of strut. In order to match the McPherson strut arrangement on the front of the Aero, I measured out how long I wanted the assembly to be in order to give me the desired ride height, as well as at full up and full down. At that point, I took it to my dad, who was able to weld the strut body as well as the two mounting tabs on each side:
At that point, I began installing the management system in the hatch area. I liked the idea of a nice, clean look, and wanted to retain as much usable trunk space as possible. I ended up using c-brackets to suspend the valve assemblies and switch box from the bottom of the false floor:
This arrangement still allows full use of the spare tire, and also keeps most of the wiring and plumbing hidden. I mounted the tank, Viair 400c compressor, and water trap on the forward part of the floor, again leaving plenty of usable space.
I originally bought double-bellows bags for the rear as well, but soon realized the spring locations did not provide enough space for them to function. At that point, I went over to Bag Riders where they recommended I try their new Firestone 7076 inverted-sleeve bags. While not quite as robust as the Air Lift Dominators I had originally planned on, now that they are installed, they are absolutely perfect for the job. I had to create a custom top mount that would bolt to the bag and prevent it from slipping from the top spring perch. A friend of mine has access to a 3d printer, and I was able to send him a CAD model of what I needed. A few days later, he handed me this:
Somewhere in here, I had bought new wheels, a set of vintage gold/polished ARE 398s, 17x9.5 et 56, off of an old Corvette.
I had high hopes for fitting these blingin' beauts, but decided I would need to run some insane stretch & poke, which is not quite the look I want to go for. So they are now on their way out the door to fund something else.
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