Well, in a hydraulic setup you have the pumps, which usually sit in the boot, bolted to a custom frame (which is usually wleded to the chassis of the car) - the pumps consist of the motor, which is electric (usually 12volt I think), a reservoir, which holds the hydraulic fluid, and the block in the middle of those two, which directs the fuid either out (when the pump is activated) or into (when the car is lowered) the reservoir. The number of pumps can affect the speed, you can have a lowrider with just one pump, but then some lowriders have one pump per wheel (ie 4), there have also been lowriders with more than this, but I think that's a little extravagant really! I have two pumps, which is enough for me at the moment I think!
The electric pumps are powered by batteries. The pumps are usually 12volt, but lowriders run more batteries for quicker moves (for example, my volvo has 3 batteries per pump, giving 36volts). The batteries and pumps are connected, with a series of switches in the circuit, so that one can flick a switch to activate the pumps - forcing the fluid out of the reservoir and into the cylinders, which replace the standard suspension components. Increase in pressure in the cylinders with all the fluid being forced into them raises the car!
The fluid travels through hydraulic hoses to the cylinders.
To drop the car back down (or 'dump' it) one flicks the switch the other way to open what are known as 'dump valves' - by opening these valves the pressure in the cylinders is released and the fluid is allowed to flow back into the reservoirs on the pumps. The switches are centre-sprung, which means that they always return to the middle 'off' position - which is between the 'on' position (that activates the pumps and raises the car) and the other 'on' position (that activates the dump valves and lowers the car). Once you take your finger off the switch the car stays at whatever level you have left it at, so you don't have to drive with it fully raised or fully dropped all the time, you can choose your own level anywhere inbetween
Usually in switches, there is a moment where a gap exists where electricity can arc across, to combat this, lowriders use solenoids, which are like switches, but act so fast that the arcing is avoided. These are usually fixed to the frame in the boot too.
Some lowrider cars also use 'accumulators' - these act as the suspension of the car, becuase riding on hydraulic fluid would be horribly stiff and uncomfortable otherwise! Accumulators are like a ball, which is plumbed into the hydraulic system. Inside the ball there is a diafragm - one one side is the hydraulic fluid (because it's plumbed into the hydraulic system) and on the other side is a gas (nitrogen? not sure) - anyway, the gas is more easily compressed than the fluid, so the diafragm allows some movement so that the car has some suspension (the accumulators can be locked off so that the hydraulic moves can be done a little bit faster)
Hope this little essay helps you out? It's not too difficult once you know how everything works, but if you have any more questions, feel free to ask!
Russell
