How to Have Hydraulics Added to Your Car

There's a growing community of enthusiasts doing all sorts of things to their cars, from adding chrome wheels to hydraulics that make the cars jump. If you want to go the ultimate and have your car dance, here's how.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Hydraulics

1. Read "Lowrider." The magazine has articles on how to build a low rider car, and that would include adding hydraulics. These stories will teach you about the process, how many hydraulics might be necessary for your car, and so forth. Look at the advertisements and articles to identify shops you can go to, or at least call for advice.

2. Go to the low rider shows in your area and question the competitors at the shows. Inspect the hydraulics in their cars and see how the job was done. Don't be afraid to ask questions and get them to recommend shops.

3. Visit Internet message boards that focus on low riders. There is one at http://lowrider.com.

4. Surf the Internet for chat rooms whose main topic is low riders and/or cars.

5. Expect to pay between $2,000 and $3,000 for the work.

6. Visit the shops you have identified. Ask them how long they've been in business and how many cars they've done. If a shop does 50 cars a year, that's pretty good.

7. Watch the installer do the work. Is the work clean?

8. Ask about photo albums. Review the albums and have the sales representative tell you what the photos show.

9. Ask the sales rep and/or installer exactly what they intend to do with your car. Their explanations should be detailed. You don't want surprises.

10. Ask about warranties and guarantees. Be prepared for the fact that things are going to break when you get hydraulics that are meant to make your car jump up and down, and/or side to side.

11. Choose the shop you feel most comfortable with.

[caddydaddy]

on 10/24/2008 I have a 1963 Cadillac,and want to install a bag system,I don't want to make major alterations to the car as it is origanal condition,I have wide whitwall tires & original wheels and hub caps and want to be able to change out the wheels and tires with 17-18" chrome wheels and tires without major modifcations to the origanal car.Any feed back and recommondations would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Larry

on 8/8/2006 If you want to jump, then use hydraulics. It's a simple chemical property that liquids cannot be compressed while gases can. Air bags are for if you just want to raise, lower, or make your vehicle "dance". Just don't think that it will have quite the response as if you had hydraulics. A good air bag system will set you back about $1000 and it is not all that hard to install UNLESS you have to C-notch the frame. This is the case with trucks and some older cars/hot rods. If you need to C-notch then expect to pay an additional $300-$500 for this. If you decide to skimp on this, you will be hearing the back axel banging the frame whenever you drive the vehicle in its lowered position.

on 6/30/2006 If you need to get to work on Monday, get hydros. If you have an air leak-your car or truck will be on the floor. At least with hydros you have a coil spring to keep you elevated!

on 2/28/2006 Which one is better, air or hydros? The answer is pretty much based on what kind of vehicle you have and what you are willing to spend. I've got a 1980 Monte Carlo and I'm juicing it. It's just an old school thing. But, say you got a 2000 Eclipse, you would want to put air on that. The price ties into a lot of things. If you put a car with a basic hydro kit next to a car with a basic air kit then the one with hydro is going to be a lot faster than the one with air, and it will ride pretty rough. The one with air is going to ride a lot smoother, but it will be slow. But, with the right springs, with some accumulators, you can get a smooth ride out of hydros. And with a much more expensive air setup you can get a lot more speed. To get a car to hop with bags you are going to have to spend a bundle of money. But, it's also gets expensive trying to get a good ride quality out of hydros. Then again, why worry about ride quality when you can hop the front wheels off the ground, or pull three wheels?

on 11/22/2005 Pressure: Pump pressure rating is one of the major considerations in determining whether it can do the job. Nearly all hydraulic pumps work in a rotary fashion. As a pump rotates, it develops a partial vacuum on the inlet (suction) side, permitting fluid under atmospheric pressure in the reservoir to flow into the pump inlet. Then the pump ejects this fluid, usually at a pressure higher than atmospheric. It is worth noting that a pump does not create pressure. It merely moves fluid, causing the flow. Pressure is created by the load on the fluid; if no load exists, the fluid has very little pressure. As the load is placed on the fluid, the pressure at the outlet side of the pump increases to a value that is normally indicated as the pump maximum. Therefore, a 3,000-psi pump is a unit that can maintain flow against a load of 3,000 psi.