Nitrogen Regulators for Suspension work (1 Viewer)

[CharlieS]

For anyone that has a home regulator setup for suspension rebuilds, what regulator setup do you have and would you recommend it?

I see bare regulators from $30 to $200. I'm not eager to pony up more than I need to, but also want something that will be accurate. I don't want to have to buy twice.

It will need to suffice for a rebuild every couple of years, with helping a friend here and there, so not a professional use/daily duty thing or even frequent use for that matter.

I see setups with no-loss air chucks and that seems like a good idea. Do you have one, and would you recommend it?

Anything else to look for in a nitrogen setup?

 

[BadReligion]

King apparently has their own regulator.

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[CharlieS]

Thank you @BadReligion - in addition, I think I will need a regulators for the tank end - they usually have two guages - one shows the tank pressure and one the line pressure. I've got a bunch of them (gauges and regulators beer brewing/dispensing CO2, steel mix for MIG welding, and Oxy Acetylene for cutting/welding/heating) but I am pretty sure that Nitrogen tanks have a specific tank fitting that makes it unique from the others I already own.

 

[bloc]

Edit: I wrote most of this before you posted about having hardware. This will help others though. What you need is a CGA-580 fitting to adapt your regulators to a N2 tank as long as they can handle the ~2000-2500psi standard full cylinder pressure.

End edit

Edit2: I looked at the King manifold but you still need to have a schrader chuck off your nitrogen regulator and hose. screw-on versions of those, which are needed for these pressures, weren't cheap. That's why I got the manifold I did, as it's all built into one.

End edit2

The regulator itself off the cylinder doesn’t need to be super high precision. If you overfill you can just bleed back down to your set pressure. What needs to be quality, from my messing with things, is the schrader adapter and gauge. We are putting a lot of pressure through this fitting and virtually any leakage during disconnection will noticeably bleed down the reservoir pressure.

Also standard air line will usually do the pressures we are working with but waste a lot of volume and tend to grow quite a bit. Using AC type hoses and fittings works better. A short J2169 hose is what I got.

I bought a uniweld 400psi nitrogen regulator on Amazon for about $90, then a nice Race Tech Pro gauge and adapter for about $130. A used (but still well within hydro test) 20 cubic foot cylinder from a local welding shop.. I can’t remember how much but it was cheap.. then nitrogen refills are really cheap.

 

[TeCKis300]

I have a buddy working through this now, though with Fox shocks. Looks like it requires a custom fitting on the shock side needle filler that's under the shock eyelet. Wonder if that's the same for Kings?

As bleeding down usually is the first impact, doesn't sound like the Fox's can be charged on car. Wonder if the Kings can be?

He's trying to price out the full service before jumping in. Shock shaft on rears, and pillowballs on both ends for all shocks probably need replacement.

 

[bloc]

King is a standard schrader fitting on the end of the reservoir opposite the hose connection, no needle filler or anything required.

I've filled my kings on-vehicle with the above setup. Only work required for the fronts is to remove the reservoir from the bracket and swing it down to get access to the schrader fitting. Rear can easily be filled with reservoirs in place.

Edit: for pressures to be correct the shock needs to be fully extended while filling/setting, so there would be some jacking involved for both front and rear.

 

[Dunbar]

My lake house is on LBJ so I'll drive over to Bloc's ranch with a case of beer and a few boxes of tracer rounds. Perhaps we would have time to rebuild shocks as well.

 

[bloc]

My lake house is on LBJ so I'll drive over to Bloc's ranch with a case of beer and a few boxes of tracer rounds. Perhaps we would have time to rebuild shocks as well.

Tracers in my neck of the woods would result in *lots* of unwanted attention.. however I'm totally game to help someone rebuild some kings. Whenever I do mine I plan to document the process and post, though most interested would have seen Ben's videos by now and those are definitely going to be better produced.

Other tools that would be really useful and I still need to get would be shock body and shaft holders for the bench vise.. everything else is pretty standard.

 

[aztoyman]

I scrounged up quality American made parts and made my own kit. I didn't want a made in China kit even though I could get them for less. My welding flow meters that were made in China only lasted a few years. My Victor that I got in 1987 is still working.

The regulator is a Harris 25GX-500-580 Nitrogen Purging Regulator. I got it for $95

An Ashcroft 300 PSI gauge for $18.99

A SS high pressure mini ball valve for $17.55

A Genuine Schrader 556 No Loss connector for $25

I had a few old R12 A/C gauge sets off the tool trucks that I used for the fittings and hoses.

 

[CharlieS]

Cool. Thanks everyone! Looks like I have a lot of this kicking around the shop already. Even better. Thanks for the great replies.

 

[bloc]

I scrounged up quality American made parts and made my own kit. I didn't want a made in China kit even though I could get them for less. My welding flow meters that were made in China only lasted a few years. My Victor that I got in 1987 is still working.

The regulator is a Harris 25GX-500-580 Nitrogen Purging Regulator. I got it for $95

An Ashcroft 300 PSI gauge for $18.99

A SS high pressure mini ball valve for $17.55

A Genuine Schrader 556 No Loss connector for $25

I had a few old R12 A/C gauge sets off the tool trucks that I used for the fittings and hoses.

Totally agree on build quality, that’s why I at least avoided the chinese letter soup products on Amazon. I wish I had just a few of the old victor regulators and parts that were lying around at my old welding job by the dozen..

 

[CharlieS]

Could I use this if I swap the CFH for psi guage and the inlet to the CGA-580? Or am I being foolish and should just buy a properly setup regulator?!

I have this left over from a portable tig setup I used to own.

 

[BadReligion]

Great info in this thread! I now have a new shopping list. I agree with avoiding anything Chinese. For AC work, I paid the premium for Yellowjacket manifolds after hearing stories of faulty Chinese manifolds/regulators leaking or being off 6-5% and as a result people where chasing leaks in their system that were not there.

 

[bloc]

Could I use this if I swap the CFH for psi guage and the inlet to the CGA-580? Or am I being foolish and should just buy a properly setup regulator?!

View attachment 3267272

I have this left over from a portable tig setup I used to own.

I haven’t taken a flow meter apart yet, but was taught they are different internally. This makes sense given their different functions.

I think you’ll need to do some research. Please post your findings..

 

[aztoyman]

IDK if you can use the flow meter type regulator. I searched welding supply websites, found American made regulators, googled the part numbers and looked for the best prices. I found all my stuff on eBay. I also had to buy new barrel seals for my old A/C hoses.