I want to Air Ride my Classic Type 2 Volkswagen. What products and or kits do I need to do the job?BASICSWhat year & model of Classic Type 2 Volkswagen do these fit?1955-1967 Type 2 Bus, Standard Kombi, Single Cab, Double Cab, Panel, Deluxe, all models.
Will this kit fit on narrowed beam?No, it must be an OEM beam.
Will this kit fit with a stock reduction gear box (RGB) transaxle?No, the bus will need to be updated to a Type 1 or 3 IRS transaxle along with an IRS Conversion. Airkewld offers both.
Will my stock brakes work on this IRS Conversion?Maybe. If your Type 2 Bus is equipped with a 36mm axle nut in the rear, then the brakes can be swapped out with a couple modifications. If you want to update your drum brakes to Disc Brakes, we can help. You can find details here.
Will this set up lay the vehicle on the ground?No. This will allow you to lay the tires in the wheel wells with out any cutting. We want you to keep your investment so we try to alleviate all the cutting to the bus.
How much lift will the give me?7.5" up front, 6.5 in the rear. No other kit comes close.
Is there welding involved in the fitting of this kit?Yes. Check out the install PDF's below.
Does this kit have auto leveling?No. We don't recommend ANY auto-leveling kits for the Volkswagen applications. They are too problematic and we want out clients to Smile, not Frown.
Will I need anything else when doing this kit?Maybe. To elaborate on this, we need to understand that this is a big undertaking. We are providing the custom parts to install Air Ride on your Type 2 Bus. But we are not providing the parts to restore the bottom half of your bus. So there will be additional investments in small parts, should this include, while you are in there, scenarios.
What size tires should I run after installing this kit?14" - P185/60r-14's -
Link15" - P185/60r-15's -
Link16" - P195/50r-16's -
Link17" -
P205/45r-17's for all the same size tire front and back or staggered
P205/40r-17 front,
P215/45r-17 in the rear.
What kind of ride quality can I expect after this kit is installed?Great question. If you use the saying, let's throw it against the wall and lets see what sticks, probably not good. If you follow the install guides, understand the limits, take your time and do the little things (4 wheel alignment, grease your zerks, dot your iii's and cross your ttt's), you will have a smile from ear to ear. The ride will be smooth and enjoyable for the entire family.
Can I run the 17" wheels like the ones you have on your website?Yes, all of them will fit. Check them out
here.
COMPLETE PARTS LIST
INSTALL GUIDES
Front Air Ride Install -
LinkAir Management Install -
LinkRear Air Ride Install - LinkIRS Conversion Install - Link
PRObuilt Drop Spindle Install - Link
Transaxle Disclaimer -
Link
DO'S & DON'TS
When deciding on going with air ride, you made a decision that you are building a cruiser. What does that mean you ask? Basically, the opposite of a high-performance application....and I don't mean a race car. If you have a large cc engine, you are going to want to use it, play with it, E V E R Y O N E wants too! If you go this route, don't AIR RIDE YOUR BUS. You need this instead.
Narrowed Beam - "I love the look and my tires are rubbing when I am low."Let's start with the narrowed beam on a Type 2 Bus. Take my advice and don't invest in one. Seriously. I did a poll and almost 3/4 of those who were polled who had a narrowed beam, and they disliked the ride. If you decide to install a narrowed beam, you are basically saying that the visual is more important than the enjoyment of the ride quality. If this is the case, you are not thinking clearly. When it comes to the tires rubbing, with air ride you are NOT driving with the vehicle super low. You have the vehicle up to a medium height to allow the alignment to be perfect, the vehicle has the ability to absorb bumps and pot holes and can dodge things in the road easily. You will literally never rub with the vehicle at this height
.
Add these products to my Wish List - Link
Our GOAL, is to give you all the tools and equipment to DO THE JOB RIGHT.
Front Kit - Our Air ride kit uses what we call through rods. These allow the suspension to travel upwards of 10". Thats a significant improvement of 3.5". What does that mean? It means that the suspension can travel up and down more to smooth out the ride. For instance, if you fall into a pothole that is 4" deep with stock suspension, you car will drop on that side 1/2" meaning the whole car will move. With the addition of our through rods, it means that this particular wheel will fall into the pot hole and rebound without the entire car feeling it. Just like a brand new car. They can be shortened as well, but you will need to take equal increments on each side. They utilize a thrust bearing on the outer portion of the assembly to allow for fluid motions up and down. There is no longer a need for the factory grub screws when installing these rods. With this exact kit, a welder is needed to weld the shock relocaters to the stock beam to allow for the taller billet air struts that come in the kit. These also allow the Bus to get as close to the ground as possible. A 220 amp Mig welder or a Tig welder is recommended for this installation. This can be done with the beam on the bus but is recommended to weld off of it to weld both sides. The relocaters have multiple holes to allow for an exact look or failsafe in the even of failure due to an act of god. The kit contains 2 Billet Air Struts, 2 laser cut upper strut mounts w/ hardware, 4 delrin bushings to create a frictionless surface between the control arm and the front beam, 2 torsion spring replacements with hardware and bearings and fittings. If you have a narrowed beam, you will need to modify the inner frame well to create clearance so that the air bag does not touch any metal. Do I need to run Drop Spindles to get it as close to the ground as possible? Yes. However, the early spindles require you to press the original ones apart and flip them. It might be a good idea to replace the king pins and link pins if they are worn. The PRO's can do that service for you.
Rear Kit - The rear kit contains the following: Upper airbag mounts. Firestone airbags, Doetsch Tech shocks, Stainless steel hardware, Fittings, hardware and Instructions. To use this kit you will need a Type 1 or 3 IRS kit installed on your vehicle. It will not work with a type 1 swing axle or factory reduction gear box set as well.
Air Management Kits - All kits will come with the same base parts but the valving will change in each kit. Each kit will come with a Viair 280 Compressor that is 12v. If you have a 6 volt system, you will need either a 12 volt battery to run the system or change over your ride to 12 volt. The kit also comes with a 2 gallon tank. An adjustable pressure switch along with a 12v relay and harness also accompany the kit. This allows you to adjust the speed and consistency of air management system. This switch send a signal to the compressor to come on at a certain PSI so that you always have air in the tank when ever you need it. Its what we call, ON DEMAND. Each kit contain a hardware pack and 1/4" fitting pack. It will also come with an est. 100 feet of 1/4" hose. You might ask, why do we use 1/4" line. One word, LIABILITY. Everybody that is in the mini truck industry, use 3/8" or 1/2" maybe even bigger line to make there vehicle lift fast or even hop. These kit will not take that kind of abuse. If you attempt the parts will fail, so use at your own risk. Now on to the valving. Your 4 valve kit comes standard in each kit, This will allow you to lift the front of the vehicle up and down as well as lift the rear up and down, as well as lift each wheel individually. This will give the car great handling characteristics. This is also a manual valve, air goes in as you lift the toggle up and when you depress the toggle, air comes out. This kit is outfitted with a dual need gauges to monitor pressures.
Kit air ride complet 
