I have a few A-bodies, an E and a B-body and the A-bodies were definitely NOT welded better as any kind of rule. There are plenty of cracked upper shock mount threads on here, this thread just seemed to collect all the rosy stories about air shocks.
They’re lousy shocks to begin with, even at the proper PSI. If you’re using them to raise the car any at all, then you’re putting weight on the shock mounts they weren’t designed to carry. Raising the car with the shocks means you’re making the shocks support the weight of the car, which isn’t what they’re supposed to do. They’re just supposed to dampen the spring movement, nothing else.
If you want to make your car handle like a dump truck just for looks, then air shocks are great. If you actually give a single crap about any kind of performance, they’re terrible in every way. Even if you don’t break anything.
