Greetings! Anyone have any places to recommend for rear air suspension work on a 97 TC in the Boston area? Car has been garaged for a year or so and needs suspension work. Engine and tranny are fine, low mileage. TIA!
97SS TC Rear Air Susp Repair
- Thread starter GreenJay
- Start date
slowmkviii
Dedicated LVC Member
If all it needs are bags do them yourself they are super easy to do and cheep.
Mine got messed up, had them put Grand Marquis suspension and shocks instead for not even half the price that Lincoln tried to charge me for the replacement air suspension. Could not even notice that much of a difference in ride quality.
CartierEditionOwner
New LVC Member
Well, new OE air springs with solenoids are $300 shipped, plus an hour of your time to swap them....
Aftermarket ones can be had as cheap as $150/pr, but by the time you add the solenoids and such, might as well go OE.
Aftermarket ones can be had as cheap as $150/pr, but by the time you add the solenoids and such, might as well go OE.
And exactly why would you need solenoids? Replacement springs typically come with the required seal rings for the solenoid mounting.
That's simply over-repair and a waste of money.
My aftermarket (Arnott) springs are 7 years old and look like new.
That's simply over-repair and a waste of money.
My aftermarket (Arnott) springs are 7 years old and look like new.
CartierEditionOwner
New LVC Member
Fair enough, I've known people to go both ways on that. I just buy the OE Firestone ones through eBay, they come with the new OE solenoids and O rings. That being said, if I could just get the Firestone air springs by themselves for say, $240/pr, I'd do it. The solenoids rarely go bad. I've only seen it happen once.
Say you're just going after the air springs then. (I didn't realize they came with new solenoids.)
Arnott units are $198+shipping, so say $220, assuming FEDEX or UPS.
It just depends on how long he wants to keep the car, and what his preference is for replacement parts.
I will say this.
When I bought my current car, it had Arnott air springs in there already. The car was sagging a bit, so I opted to replace them. In the time that I drove it with the Arnotts, I did not notice a difference in ride comfort from the new OE ones I installed. In fact, I figured they were the original Motorcraft ones in there.
So, if you're concerned about ride comfort, as best I could tell, the standard Arnott air springs and the OE ones ride the same, or, so closely, one could not easily percieve the difference.
Say you're just going after the air springs then. (I didn't realize they came with new solenoids.)
Arnott units are $198+shipping, so say $220, assuming FEDEX or UPS.
It just depends on how long he wants to keep the car, and what his preference is for replacement parts.
I will say this.
When I bought my current car, it had Arnott air springs in there already. The car was sagging a bit, so I opted to replace them. In the time that I drove it with the Arnotts, I did not notice a difference in ride comfort from the new OE ones I installed. In fact, I figured they were the original Motorcraft ones in there.
So, if you're concerned about ride comfort, as best I could tell, the standard Arnott air springs and the OE ones ride the same, or, so closely, one could not easily percieve the difference.