# Bagging the Brick



## CiDirkona (May 1, 2007)

After:


















Before:









I test fit a bunch of stuff over the weekend and ordered my management today. Both front and rear brackets will be custom made. The front strut bodies bottom out with about an inch to go before tucking wheel, so I'll most likely have to make some custom struts come January to get some moar lows. 

Also coming in January will be push-button analog ride height control.

More building shall be had.

Also a huge thanks to Will and the guys at BagRiders for letting me pester them with all my questions. :thumbup:


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## CiDirkona (May 1, 2007)

Fab day 6... finally done, other than cleaning up the wiring and finding that slow leak...







Just the rears:






The mudflaps will need to self-clearance. It's too bad plastic doesn't make sparks! :laugh:


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## CiDirkona (May 1, 2007)

...aaaand this post also reserved for future updoodles.


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## tomespo (Jul 21, 2008)

in


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## Mstadt (Feb 10, 2006)

Ups for another Volvo. I think there's a cat on stanceworks with a bagged 850 if you run into issues. I'll be watching this.:thumbup:


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## reynolds9000 (Oct 16, 2003)

Not another bagged Volvo thread..  

I bought my '96 850 as a daily because i didn't want a car that would tempt me to modify. Now...thanks to you, i can already feel my bank account emptying.


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## Skidmark (Sep 26, 2000)

Whoa.......

That's pretty nuts your car is exactly like my old 850R. If it had my badgeless grille I'da plotzed.

Great car, have fun with it. I miss mine!


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## CiDirkona (May 1, 2007)

A few pics of fitting measurements.

   


   

The 'bump' in the shock tower is a good 9" down from the top, and two inches away from the 2" diameter strut body, so I'm 99% certain it won't interfere with the bag. If it does, it's only one BFH away from not being a problem. The upper area of the strut tower has plenty of room for the bag. 

it looks like I'll have to put the lower bag perch at least about an inch above the sway bar bracket to have it high enough to clear the tire. The strut bottoms out on the upper stock spring perch with some tire showing still, so custom shortened struts are likely in the future. That being said, with the UAS being 4" compressed, and the bag needing to be at least an inch and a half up from the perch, I would probably only gain about an inch moar low by shortening the stock struts. I can get the strut up a probably 3/4" higher as well by eliminating the stock spring seat and making my own upper bag mount.

The rear setup couldn't be more ideal. I'll fab up some flat brackets and bold her right in. The upper rear spring seat is just bolted into the frame, and comes out with an allen wrench.


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## Twilliams83 (Jan 25, 2011)

nice man :wave:


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## furr (Jul 3, 2009)

Nice!


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## Andy P (Jan 6, 2007)

:snowcool:


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## CiDirkona (May 1, 2007)

Quite a bit more bag test fitting tonight. Noticed a few new issues to work out, most of which were super easy to just fix, and some that will need addressing. My newbness into air ride is definitely coming into play here as I have several questions for which I could use your guys and gals experience:

First of all, I'm glad I didn't buy the MKV rear brackets as they wouldn't have fit. The frame angles downwards directly in front of the upper perch, so I will most likely have to make an aligning pin towards the front above the bag, but a threaded screw behind the bag.

The factory rear spring perches, when the suspension is all the way up on the right side, are about 6 inches apart. At 6 inches apart, the fuel lines start to bind where the rear suspension swings up into the body on the right side. It's not too bad and there's a bit of room for the hoses to move, but I don't really want them rubbing ever. This is also with the wheel tucked quite a bit up into the fender. On the left side, the hardline brake line started to bind a bit, but luckily was easy to bend forward and out of the way. When the perches were 5 inches apart, the shock bottoms out. There's only about a 1/4" more before the entirety of the rear swingarm halves move up into the frame of the body, so that's about as far as I"m going to get.

Should I use/make bump stops on the rear shock shafts for my 'aired out' position?

*What's the true 'lowest possible position' on the Air Lift Tapered bag?* Does it have a jounce bumper inside it that I should/could be riding on aired out? Past 5 7/8" or so of compression, the rubber hits the bottom of the bottom cone portion of the bag and either slips past (if I'm holding it) or wrinkles the bag (if I'm pushing it flat on the smooth ground.) I can't imagine either is good for it, so should I just assume I'd need the shock body and a bump stop to do the 'air out' bottoming out for me?

Since I hope to be able to throw the springs back in if I ever blow a bag or want to sell it, and the tapered bag doesn't fit flat in the lower perch with the bump there; should I be looking to remove the spring-centering hump, or building a bracket to rise above it? It's only about a half inch tall.

If I wanted to remove it and still be able to hold a spring down with the stock spring clampy-thingies, I'm guessing I'd need to take some 1/4" steel, drill at 3/8" hole through it, put a bolt through it and the stock hole (to make sure it's centered,) and then weld it onto the bottom of the perch. The bump could then be cut off and I'd have a centered 3/8" hole for putting the bag bolt through, or the spring hold-down bolt through.... *Would that work? Or would it be easier to just buy a lower bag bracket and plate and about 3/4" worth of riser tube...?*

Also, I was looking at my Universal Aero Sport front bags and noticed that, while sitting on the table, that they're only 7" tall, and all the websites say that they're 9.5" extended. Will this get taller when inflated, because it kinda looks like it's already as tall as it's going to get... I*s the true compressed length actually 4.0"?*

Thanks!

Editted to add: Well here's something they don't tell you... While they say an Aero Sport universal bag will fit over a 2.14" OD strut, the tube that they sell in the bracket kit will not. It has an ID of 1.991". :banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:

Anyone know where I can get some tubing of approx. 2.14" or slightly larger ID? 

PS.


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## CiDirkona (May 1, 2007)

A few more pics from tonights' working session post-kiddo-bedtimes:

Adjusting the stock front top mount for space savings:










1/4"... maybe 1/2" I could get further here by making some custom top mounts (the gap between the bolt tops and the bottom of the bearing plate.) Notice that the bearing and the bearing plate are not at the same angle... That makes custom upper mounts... interesting to attack.









Manifolds gettin' some fittings...









Contemplation of sticking the compressor in the left cubby... 

   

Space is tight in there though, and the compressor's rubbing up against some stuff most likely.. not sure how bad of an idea that is...


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## AzDubN (Nov 16, 2007)

Cant wait to see this finished.


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## stemiched89 (Jun 26, 2006)

*FV-QR*

i


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## CiDirkona (May 1, 2007)

Some more swede air pron for ya:

   

I got my custom-sized piping in today from OnlineMetals.com and couldn't be happier. Everything is in spec and fits like a glove. I'm a couple of tac welds away from having custom struts. The plates ended up being just under 4" plate to plate, so I'll grind down the tube a bit after welding to make sure the upper bracket is bottoming out on the bump stops (1/8" of neoprene gasket) and not the top of the gland nut.

I also salvaged two 20 foot sections and a 15 foot section of 4 gauge power wire out of my wife's caddy to power my compressor. Whomever had that car before us sure had a LOT of wattage in the back...

Editted to add:
I'm also already planning on going with a set of Air Lift 75559 in January as long as I can spare the lateral room in the strut tower. I can get the lower perch another inch further down, the entire bag gets an inch shorter than the UAS can, and I can mount the upper perch directly to the OEM bearing bracket, rather than using the OEM bearing, which should get me down another inch or so. I had thought about doing a sleeve kit first, but there's literally a half inch between the strut and inner wheel edge -- so no room to shove anything in there -- bagular junk will have to sit OVER the tire.


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## Miguel Lopez Ma (Mar 12, 2007)

good job friend! , I am waiting impatiently advances


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## LOW36 (Jan 18, 2008)

Subbed.


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## ninohale (Jun 9, 2010)

In.... My moms used to drive a turbo Volvo wagon :heart:


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## CiDirkona (May 1, 2007)

I did some fitment on the fronts today. There's plenty of space on the front, rear, and outboard sides of the bag, but only about a half inch on the inboard side. That may become an issue if I ever go to the Air Lift universal bellows as they're wider than the UAS's. There's quite a bit of sound deadening under there though, and not much on the inboard motor side of that wall, so it could very well be 'convinced' with a BFH.

There's also plenty of room between the top of the tire and the bottom of the bottom perch. I could bring down the perch by a good quarter to half inch so that the top perch is resting on the bump stop instead of the bag, as right now the bottom riser tube is just a hair too tall. I could possibly make my own top mount too and get another 3/4" of an inch there as well -- see a few pics back about the unusual angle between the strut bearing and the shock tower. *Are there any good ways to eliminate those bolt heads on the top of the upper plate? Custom bolts? Just alignment nubs welded to the bottom side and hope it doesn't pop off?*

Nothing else gets in the way though with the sway bar end links off. There's plenty of room for tie rod, axle, brake lines, suspension arms, etc.

I'm quite pleased to see the 2 inches of space between the top of the tire and the bottom of the perch -- this makes the race insert / strut shortening quite a bit more appealing. 

As the strut is basically bottomed out here, with maybe an inch total of wiggle room of tweaking stuffs, the only other option for future-moar-lows are:

#1: Air Lift Universals, either bellows or sleeves could work here as there's quite a bit of room for either.

#2 strut shortening. Open koni strut, pull cuts out, section the body, insert a race insert cartridge, clamp gland nut down on toip of race insert. That only gets the entire strut body down about an inch and a half over where it's at now, but they're only $160ish each, compared to the $700 for the Air Lift Universals.

...although both of these options surpass my bought-her-a-kitchen-table marital play-money-fairness budget...

*Are there specific ways to keep the entire bag assembly from turning on the strut?* I'd hate for the bag to turn itself around and have the air line rub on the tire and air out on me... Weld a tab onto the sway bar arms and two tabs onto the riser tube maybe?

Anywho, next week is fabbing up the rear brackets, getting these front brackets adjusted, cut and welded.

Editted to add: I cant say I'm in love with the corners diving without the front sway attached... Maybe if I section the struts, I'll section the lower half so I can use the sway bar brackets again...


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## joebags (Jun 15, 2007)

Looking good man :thumbup:opcorn:


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## LOW36 (Jan 18, 2008)

Looks good. Needs some trimming up front it seems. I would get under the car to see what is holding it up.


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## CiDirkona (May 1, 2007)

It's definitely the length of the strut that's holding it up now. There's about 1/4" I can get out of it by lowering the bottom perch and 1/2" I could get by making a custom top perch -- but the inches I still want to come down are hidden in that strut body... I'm glad it's that easy, but that's also $700 out of budget for this project and will probably need to wait a month or two (I have 4 kids and a wife to feed as well...) (thus the 7 passenger wagon...)

Custom Air Lift Universal struts and/or shortening the koni bodies I have are my only tickets down further.


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## LOW36 (Jan 18, 2008)

CiDirkona said:


> It's definitely the length of the strut that's holding it up now. There's about 1/4" I can get out of it by lowering the bottom perch and 1/2" I could get by making a custom top perch -- but the inches I still want to come down are hidden in that strut body... I'm glad it's that easy, but that's also $700 out of budget for this project and will probably need to wait a month or two (I have 4 kids and a wife to feed as well...) (thus the 7 passenger wagon...)
> 
> Custom Air Lift Universal struts and/or shortening the koni bodies I have are my only tickets down further.


:thumbup: At least you know the problem. What about raising the strut towers?


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## CiDirkona (May 1, 2007)

I'd rather not make any permanent mods to the frame if I can avoid it as it's an R and not too common. Air Lift Universals should get me about 3" further down than where I am now, so I'll just continue building out the air ride with what I have and then save up for making some custom struts.


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## LOW36 (Jan 18, 2008)

CiDirkona said:


> I'd rather not make any permanent mods to the frame if I can avoid it as it's an R and not too common. Air Lift Universals should get me about 3" further down than where I am now, so I'll just continue building out the air ride with what I have and then save up for making some custom struts.


Understandable. I am just used to cutting my car up. :laugh:


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## Miguel Lopez Ma (Mar 12, 2007)

Hello friend,

I want to help in your project. I will discuss some ideas I have.


You have to find a countersunk screw, like these in order to gain the height of the normal screw heads.

Hola amigo,

Yo quiero ayudarle en su proyecto. Voy a comentarle unas ideas que yo tengo.


Tienes que buscar unos tornillo avellanados, como estos para poder ganar la altura de las cabezas de los tornillos normales. 












Hexagonal wrench head better.

Con cabeza para llave exagonal mejor.













By using this kind of screws you could earn extra 10mm on each side of the bag assembly.


To make your air spring, remove the spring seat and use a 5mm thick plate for the stock seat welded to the lower part of the shock that you can not have problems with your tires rubbing.

Something like my props.



Al utilizar este tipo de tornillos usted podría ganar 10mm extra por cada lado de montaje de la bolsa. 


Para fabricar su air spring, retire el asiento del muelle y utilice una chapa de 5mm de espesor para el asiento de la bolsa soldada a la parte mas baja de su shock que usted pueda sin que tenga problemas de roce con sus neumáticos. 

Algo parecido a mis puntales.












Because then you can look if you need to shorten the bastago of shock, do end in the cartridge damper and prevent its complete descent. You can also make homemade strut mounts like these that I manufactured.


Ya después usted puede mirar si necesita acortar el bastago del shock, por que hagan final en el cartucho amortiguador e impida su completa bajada. También puede usted hacer caseros struts mounts , como estos que yo me fabrique.


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## thepirate (Jun 6, 2008)

Nice :thumbup:


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## Skidmark (Sep 26, 2000)

Having owned an 850R almost exactly like yours I'm really excited to see this build. Woulda loved to have done that when I had mine. Well done sir.

Not exactly a tasteful custom, but I came across this pic and thought it might help a little with expectations for your desired altitude. Cheers.


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## CiDirkona (May 1, 2007)

Day 1 buildout: Got all the welding done (courtesy to Ron across the street for being a professional welder and taking pity on my welds...) 

Special thanks to Rob for stopping by and getting the engineering gears turning with different options on where to mount stuff!


 . . . .

 . . .

 .

This may not seem like much, but this is an entire afterooon's worth of fab:


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## CiDirkona (May 1, 2007)

Fab day 2. Bag brackets are done and fit like a glove. Tomorrow comes management.


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## CiDirkona (May 1, 2007)

Fab Day 3. Brackets are done and painted. Tank, manifold, valves are all mounted. Power line mostly run. Tomorrow comes running the gauges, switches and lines for the bags. If that all pans out, in go the struts and bags. 









































































Yeah, yeah, I know -- far from round, but I did have to just keep trimming until it fit inside the spring perch hangers...


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## CiDirkona (May 1, 2007)

Other than wiring cleanup, all bags are in an operational.


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## thepirate (Jun 6, 2008)

Looks so good. Plans for wheels?


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## CiDirkona (May 1, 2007)

These are the R Volans, so I'll most likely have the lips repaired and have them repainted. I figured since I there was a chance I could accidentally eat the lips with this project, I'd get them fixed after working out all those details. 

I've thought about some 18s with 35 series tires so I could tuck even MORE wheel in the back, and get closer to tucking any in the front, but that's more than I want to spend right now.

Up next, most likely, is making some custom top mounts and having my strut bodies shortened so I can use some 8610 race inserts inside my koni strut bodies...

Editted to add: a few more pics from final install days:


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## DowntimeDesigns (Apr 4, 2004)

Skidmark said:


> Having owned an 850R almost exactly like yours I'm really excited to see this build. Woulda loved to have done that when I had mine. Well done sir.
> 
> Not exactly a tasteful custom, but I came across this pic and thought it might help a little with expectations for your desired altitude. Cheers.


This is on hydraulics, not air. Juice will get you a lil lower than air will.


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## CiDirkona (May 1, 2007)

I should be able to get down that low in the front, it'll just take me a couple weeks as I"ll have to make my own struts.


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## Skidmark (Sep 26, 2000)

How'd it go?


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## CiDirkona (May 1, 2007)

I never got around to making lower struts, at least not yet -- kitchen and bathrooms remodel changed the timelines of the 'fun' projects.

Over a month now a daily driver and everything's still great though.










All the way down:









Daily ride height:


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## T-5Bandit (Dec 28, 2010)

DowntimeDesigns said:


> This is on hydraulics, not air. Juice will get you a lil lower than air will.


He is on air. I know his setup and he is currently building the struts for my V70.


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## CiDirkona (May 1, 2007)

Oh yeah? What's he doing for the struts in front? Shortened Koni's? Air Lift Universals?


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