I have never used air bags before (the lifting type), but I think my
latest project would benefit from them.

I have a "chassis dyno" in the shop, and it uses two ramps that you
drive the car up, then once the drive wheels are on the dyno rollers,
I lift the ramps up with floor jacks to be level, and place stands
under the ramps. Once the car is in place, only the non-drive wheels
are on the ramp, so the lifting load is easily manageble with a floor
jack on each ramp, lifting them each evenly. I would estimate the max
load the air bags would EVER see to be 2500 lbs.

The problem with using the floor jacks is... quite simply it is
clumbsy, and can be slow.

Here are my obsticles. The ground clearance is about 4" where the
lifting must occur, and the distance it must lift is about 14" total,
or 10 inches from the lift point.

As far as I know, this would eliminate any hydraulic bottle type jack
because of the stroke required.

I googled "lifting air bags" and have contacted a couple of companys
for some initial pricing info, but I suspect it will be expensive. I
can live with the jacks if it is priced out of my league, but I need
to investigate this fully before I abandon it.

So, does anyone out there have some positive advise, of HELPFUL
pointers of things I might be overlooking? Maybe some resonably
priced vendors, or applications that may work also?

Thanks for the interest!

On Jul 27, 12:30 pm, wrote:
I have never used air bags before (the lifting type), but I think my
latest project would benefit from them.

I have a "chassis dyno" in the shop, and it uses two ramps that you
drive the car up, then once the drive wheels are on the dyno rollers,
I lift the ramps up with floor jacks to be level, and place stands
under the ramps. Once the car is in place, only the non-drive wheels
are on the ramp, so the lifting load is easily manageble with a floor
jack on each ramp, lifting them each evenly. I would estimate the max
load the air bags would EVER see to be 2500 lbs.

The problem with using the floor jacks is... quite simply it is
clumbsy, and can be slow.

Here are my obsticles. The ground clearance is about 4" where the
lifting must occur, and the distance it must lift is about 14" total,
or 10 inches from the lift point.

As far as I know, this would eliminate any hydraulic bottle type jack
because of the stroke required.

I googled "lifting air bags" and have contacted a couple of companys
for some initial pricing info, but I suspect it will be expensive. I
can live with the jacks if it is priced out of my league, but I need
to investigate this fully before I abandon it.

So, does anyone out there have some positive advise, of HELPFUL
pointers of things I might be overlooking? Maybe some resonably
priced vendors, or applications that may work also?

Thanks for the interest!


Sounds like you need a custom assembly that would be just like a floor
jack, except maybe the bottle could be vertical.
The jack bottle could go near the high end of the ramp, and a linkage
could extend out to the 4-inch clearance part of the ramp.

Single controller/pump, some hydraulic line, and you'll have a very
slick professional-looking setup.

Dave

wrote in message
oups.com...
The ground clearance is about 4" where the
lifting must occur, and the distance it must lift is about 14" total,
or 10 inches from the lift point.
So, does anyone out there have some positive advise, of HELPFUL
pointers of things I might be overlooking? Maybe some resonably
priced vendors, or applications that may work also?

Could you adapt a pair of scissor jacks? The type that are OEM on
GM pickups come to mind. Maybe tie a pair together with a common shaft
and motor drive it?

wrote in message
oups.com...
I have never used air bags before (the lifting type), but I think my
latest project would benefit from them.

I have a "chassis dyno" in the shop, and it uses two ramps that you
drive the car up, then once the drive wheels are on the dyno rollers,
I lift the ramps up with floor jacks to be level, and place stands
under the ramps. Once the car is in place, only the non-drive wheels
are on the ramp, so the lifting load is easily manageble with a floor
jack on each ramp, lifting them each evenly. I would estimate the max
load the air bags would EVER see to be 2500 lbs.


Hunter front-end alignment racks have used air bags for years. Go to a
chassis/tire shop and look one over.

-Carl
--
The future isn't what it used to be.

Another thing you might look into is hooking in a hydraulic cylinder on each
ramp to lift them at the same time. They make manual hand pumps if you
don't want to use an electrical one. I believe that the mobile dynos (i.e.
Mustang?) use this kind of system, but with a rather extensive system to
life more than the ramps.

wrote in message
oups.com...
I have never used air bags before (the lifting type), but I think my
latest project would benefit from them.

I have a "chassis dyno" in the shop, and it uses two ramps that you
drive the car up, then once the drive wheels are on the dyno rollers,
I lift the ramps up with floor jacks to be level, and place stands
under the ramps. Once the car is in place, only the non-drive wheels
are on the ramp, so the lifting load is easily manageble with a floor
jack on each ramp, lifting them each evenly. I would estimate the max
load the air bags would EVER see to be 2500 lbs.

The problem with using the floor jacks is... quite simply it is
clumbsy, and can be slow.

Here are my obsticles. The ground clearance is about 4" where the
lifting must occur, and the distance it must lift is about 14" total,
or 10 inches from the lift point.

As far as I know, this would eliminate any hydraulic bottle type jack
because of the stroke required.

I googled "lifting air bags" and have contacted a couple of companys
for some initial pricing info, but I suspect it will be expensive. I
can live with the jacks if it is priced out of my league, but I need
to investigate this fully before I abandon it.

So, does anyone out there have some positive advise, of HELPFUL
pointers of things I might be overlooking? Maybe some resonably
priced vendors, or applications that may work also?

Thanks for the interest!

wrote in message
oups.com...
I have never used air bags before (the lifting type), but I think my
latest project would benefit from them.

I have a "chassis dyno" in the shop, and it uses two ramps that you
drive the car up, then once the drive wheels are on the dyno rollers,
I lift the ramps up with floor jacks to be level, and place stands
under the ramps. Once the car is in place, only the non-drive wheels
are on the ramp, so the lifting load is easily manageble with a floor
jack on each ramp, lifting them each evenly. I would estimate the max
load the air bags would EVER see to be 2500 lbs.

The problem with using the floor jacks is... quite simply it is
clumbsy, and can be slow.

Here are my obsticles. The ground clearance is about 4" where the
lifting must occur, and the distance it must lift is about 14" total,
or 10 inches from the lift point.

As far as I know, this would eliminate any hydraulic bottle type jack
because of the stroke required.

I googled "lifting air bags" and have contacted a couple of companys
for some initial pricing info, but I suspect it will be expensive. I
can live with the jacks if it is priced out of my league, but I need
to investigate this fully before I abandon it.

So, does anyone out there have some positive advise, of HELPFUL
pointers of things I might be overlooking? Maybe some resonably
priced vendors, or applications that may work also?

Thanks for the interest!


Perhaps some type of linkage that would allow you to use a hydraulic or
pneumatic cylinder laid horizontally or at an angle.

Shawn

wrote:
I have never used air bags before (the lifting type), but I think my
latest project would benefit from them.

I have a "chassis dyno" in the shop, and it uses two ramps that you
drive the car up, then once the drive wheels are on the dyno rollers,
I lift the ramps up with floor jacks to be level, and place stands
under the ramps. Once the car is in place, only the non-drive wheels
are on the ramp, so the lifting load is easily manageble with a floor
jack on each ramp, lifting them each evenly. I would estimate the max
load the air bags would EVER see to be 2500 lbs.

The problem with using the floor jacks is... quite simply it is
clumbsy, and can be slow.

Here are my obsticles. The ground clearance is about 4" where the
lifting must occur, and the distance it must lift is about 14" total,
or 10 inches from the lift point.

As far as I know, this would eliminate any hydraulic bottle type jack
because of the stroke required.

I googled "lifting air bags" and have contacted a couple of companys
for some initial pricing info, but I suspect it will be expensive. I
can live with the jacks if it is priced out of my league, but I need
to investigate this fully before I abandon it.

So, does anyone out there have some positive advise, of HELPFUL
pointers of things I might be overlooking? Maybe some resonably
priced vendors, or applications that may work also?

Thanks for the interest!


Air bags from a semi suspension will go nearly to 4", without the
regular gear that goes with them. There's also smaller airbags for cab
suspension, I believe they'd do what you need. And there's in-between
bags that are intended as helper springs for medium duty trucks, a
friend of mine put a set on a truck for about $250. If you want the name
of those, I'll give him a call.

John

In article .com,
wrote:

Here are my obsticles. The ground clearance is about 4" where the
lifting must occur, and the distance it must lift is about 14" total,
or 10 inches from the lift point.

As far as I know, this would eliminate any hydraulic bottle type jack
because of the stroke required.

Well, you could always chew a hole in the floor to mount hydraulic jacks
or cylinders in. You could also just buy a pair of air-over hydraulic
floor jacks, which should be faster and able to work in tandem, and
might even be able to be set in place semi-permanently. I don't know if
there are any short/small bottle jacks that make use of telescoping
cylinders - seems unlikely.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by

On Fri, 27 Jul 2007 09:30:40 -0700, wrote:

I have never used air bags before (the lifting type), but I think my
latest project would benefit from them.

http://www.firestoneindustrial.com/n...ctuators.shtml

--
Ned Simmons