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Pages: 1

Air suspension

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Posted by: ericlsc1

Hi everyone. I have been reading the seemingly endless battle between
air ride vs springs so to satisfy myself I went out and bought a complete
conversion kit from strutmasters. We installed the kit on the weekend
with minimal effort. No special tools, no welding or drilling holes, a total
bolt on procedure. We left the air system intact for easy re install in case
the spring system sucked.

Now I've had this car for nearly ten years and to be completely fair and
honest I love the air ride, BUT, I really couldn't see ENOUGH of a difference
to justify the yearly front droop or rear droop or one corner from a bad
wire or faulty height sensors etc. It always seems to be something.

Bottom line is I won't be changing back any time soon. I am perfectly happy
with the new system. We put 200+ miles on the car under every condition
and it performed as good or better than can be expected fo such a large
car.

Now don't go crazy on me, It's just my opinion. A++ for springs.

Posted by: cobraman302

Thats what I want to hear. I am doing a coil conversion next week or so on my 91, hope it goes well. Anything to look out for in particular?

Posted by: ericlsc1

Nope. It was very straight forward. If you have mechanical skills and
can read instructions it goes really easy. Mines an 84 so I don't
know if their is any difference. If you go to strutmasters website, you
can read testimonials from other guys who have done it.

I would recomend having a torch handy. I didn't need it but close.
I also had an impact gun for the shock bolts and bottom air bag bolts.
Probably not necessary but handy.
New shocks and struts are a good idea if yours are worn.
New stabalizer kits if yours are worn.
A good floor jack and stands.

lol.

Posted by: LuxurySportCoupe

Hell yea, i feel ya

I sh!tcanned the air ride last year- went to arnott coils, fat swaybars, poly bushings, kyb's, poly motor mounts mounts, all new moog stuff, new rack, etc, never looked back.

I sh!tcanned the automatic transmission last year, -went to five speed, poly trans bushings, aluminum driveshaft, never looked back.

I am

canning the abs as we speak - installing a line lock, fms prop valve, svo master, gt booster....you can believe..i wont be looking back.

Bought a 351w this weekend, thats getting built and the 5.0 H.O. motors getting sh!tcanned also to be put into something worthwhile, not a 4k lb lincoln.

I will keep the leather and MOST of the full interior, i will keep the ac, i will keep the moonroof. Those are MY luxuries...it is still a lincoln, cant forget that.

Posted by: CFH

i wanna go to the junk yard and be cheap by getting coils off of a t bird or something, good idea?

Posted by: ericlsc1

I've read that some guys do that but they also salvage the control arms
and possibly some other parts. Theres a couple of guys here that would know
better exactly what you need.

Posted by: JoshMcMadMac

Quote:

Originally Posted by CFH

i wanna go to the junk yard and be cheap by getting coils off of a t bird or something, good idea?

Using T-Bird parts is the proper way to do it instead of using a bandaid kit. Properly installing coils on a Lincoln involve pretty much re-engineering the system.

Posted by: OldSchool1

Quote:

Originally Posted by LuxurySportCoupe

...
I will keep the leather and MOST of the full interior,
...

Ding ding.
Round one.

At this point ... why? While you're at it, shave the hump and install bucket seats. It would have been cheaper to just buy a 1988 Mustang and add like 500 pounds of lead to the car and you'd have like the same thing.

'mBeingASmartAss:

ERICLSC1
I'm glad that you are enjoying your ride. I'm completely against anyone canning the air bags, but I'm enough of an enthusiast to be happy for any Mark VII owner when they are happy. BTW. I'll still bust your balls when you go bouncing down the street or when you add three passengers and your Mark turns into a low rider, "but I mean dat in a good way"

Posted by: ericlsc1

Ya I knew someone was gonna bust my balls on this.
Like I said, I love the air ride and may go back some day but
I'll never re-install that monkey with a bicycle pump under the
hood pumping up a bunch of ballons with plastic straws that ford
originally installed.

There are other height adjustment options available besides air bags
if you don't want your Lincoln to sag while hauling junk to the dump.

It,s all fun and games here til someone blows an air bag.

Cheers

Posted by: skymasteres

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericlsc1

Ya I knew someone was gonna bust my balls on this.
Like I said, I love the air ride and may go back some day but
I'll never re-install that monkey with a bicycle pump under the
hood pumping up a bunch of ballons with plastic straws that ford
originally installed.

Cheers

The really funny thing is, this is exactly what I am currently doing

I got so fed up with the crummy ride I was getting with the coil spring
converison that I am switching back to air bags. I have the front two
installed and will have the rear two on by the end of the month.

Posted by: ericlsc1

Could totally happen to me too. I'm just gonna check it out for now and
get some other stuff done (Bi yearly power window motors, antenna and
trunk pull down, freshen up the engine and if I don't like the ride then
no biggy to change it.

At the end of the day, whatever you do to your car is YOUR CHOICE.

GOOD OR BAD IT'S ALL A LEARNING EXPERIENCE.

Thanks for the input guys. I would have been disappointed if this
didn't cause a little controversy and a couple of laughs.

Posted by: OldSchool1

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericlsc1

...
GOOD OR BAD IT'S ALL A LEARNING EXPERIENCE.
...

Finally, someone with an Old School out look on things

Posted by: Awesund

Yes the T-bird parts are the way to go. However... you can't use this method if you're looking for a luxury ride on coils! It's not going to happen.
You need the front and rear lower control arms, springs and sway bars. A top mounting unit will need to be fabricated for both front and rear. Some people have cut a mount from a t-bird or stang and welded it in. Others have welded some heavy guage pieces of steel together and bolted it in. I'll see if I have pics of mine.

There are articles on the web for the t-bird conversion. No need to cover it all here. You will need to cut the rear springs to hieght or order some custom size springs. Cutting them will really give you a stiff ride like a vette. So say bye bye to your luxury ride.

If you want a softer ride, you'll have to use different springs. '82-'83 continnental springs in front and something else for the rear...conti springs won't fit here. They have to be cut and end up the same ride as mentioned above.

Posted by: LuxurySportCoupe

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldSchool1

You ballbuster you.

Who said anything bout going the cheap route. The NEXT mark vii i own will have air suspension. This one cant have it for safety reasons.

On a side note, man does it piss me off when someone thinks its a tbird. In fact i took off the black grill and put a chrome one on it so people would recognize the sh*t as they should. lol

Posted by: OldSchool1

Quote:

Originally Posted by LuxurySportCoupe

You ballbuster you.

Who said anything bout going the cheap route. The NEXT mark vii i own will have air suspension. This one cant have it for safety reasons.

On a side note, man does it piss me off when someone thinks its a tbird. In fact i took off the black grill and put a chrome one on it so people would recognize the sh*t as they should. lol

Just another excuse to buy another one

When they ask if it's a T-Bird just say, "Yeah but it thinks it's a Lincoln Mark VII."