Bye Bye air ride... Switchin to coils...

I have never seen coild springs just go bad. 100k miles is nothing, My air ride lasted longer then that. Besides they have a lifetime warranty.

It's like this, I liked the air ride, but I'm not going to let it nicle & dime me to death either. $450 for all four new lowered coils with lifetime warranty. I can spend money in the future for other things besides air bags. Living in the HOT dessert is hard on the air bags too. Ask mespock, he was here last year & got outta here before he caught on fire!
 
OK, got the lowered coils today & put them on the car. Went really easy & very straight forward. One of the front struts was not lined up right, I had to lossen the top bolt & move it about an inch, after that all was OK. The rears went right in as well. If you ask me I say the rears are kinda cheesy, The coils fit & all, but there about an inch of extra space all around the bottom of the coils. I guess they will work. At least I won't have to worry about a leak again! Took about 2 hours doing it by myself. Here are some pics.:)

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Turborich..........


I highly reccomend a set of high performance rear shocks for this system. You'll find the rear gets kinda hoppy with stock units on it. Bilstien units are really nice.
 
94m5 said:
Turborich..........


I highly reccomend a set of high performance rear shocks for this system. You'll find the rear gets kinda hoppy with stock units on it. Bilstien units are really nice.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice:) I don't have the stock rear shocks, I replaced them about a year or so ago with some that I picked up at autozone. Not sure of the brand though, maybe monroes or gabriels? I took it out for a spin last night, seems to ride pretty good. You can tell the difference from the air ride though.
 
air ride parts are cheap enough now, there is no reason to convert IMO. and i 100% agree that the air ride is one thing that makes the mark special.
 
turborich said:
I have never seen coild springs just go bad. 100k miles is nothing, My air ride lasted longer then that. Besides they have a lifetime warranty.
Click to expand...

You've never seen a coil spring sag? Most of the time people dont notice because the shocks hide it and yes you are right, a well mainted air suspension system should last well over 100k :)
 
Just a few thoughts after doing the conversion, now that I have drove the car in town & on the highway, over speed bumps, etc. The front end feels great & rides very nice, the rear however I am not very happy with as the freaking coils do make some slight noise at times & like I said before, they just didn't seem to fit very well.

I should have just got this kit from Arnott, it has all of the proper parts included! Would have actually been $20 bucks cheaper too. I only got the strutmasters kit because Eddie was highly recomended. Yes, Eddie's customer service may be better, but the rear coils are questionable. This is my honest opinion. Look at the picture of the Arnott kit, it has all of the CORRECT parts to hold the coil in place. The strutmasters kit didn't even have rubber pads or anything! What's done is done though.

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you can buy those aluminum cups from arnott and use them in your strutmasters kit, the coil springs are the same dimensions as the strut masters coils. my 93 had springs when i bought it, it was a standard height arnott kit, i already had a new 1.5 lowered kit from eddie to put in the car, so i pulled all the arnott stuff out, and put the strutmasters lowered kit in it, but i used the aluminum cups from the arnott kit on the strutmasters rear coils, then i sold the arnott kit with the rubber pads that came with the other kit. long story short lol, just order the aluminum cups from arnott and slip them into the rear end, should only take you 30 minutes to solve that problem, or live with the moving coils!
 
Yeah, just shouldn't need to spend additional money when the kit I purchased should have had something to prevent this in the first place. I will call Arnott up & see what they charge for the parts.
 
Thats the kit i have, turborich. Got mine over a year ago for 375 with free shipping. The rear set up is superior no doubt, plus my fronts came correctly aligned from top to bottom. Prefer that they are all black too.

The machined aluminum cups wedge into the rubber isolators, so be sure to get both.
 
93' Blue on blue said:
Thats the kit i have, turborich. Got mine over a year ago for 375 with free shipping. The rear set up is superior no doubt, plus my fronts came correctly aligned from top to bottom. Prefer that they are all black too.

The machined aluminum cups wedge into the rubber isolators, so be sure to get both.
Click to expand...

It does look like a better kit indeed! Oh well, you learn & know better the next time. I contacted Eddie about this & was not happy with his response. I will either order the parts from arnott or fab up my own. I would not recommend this kit simply because the rears are generic!!!:mad: I will get it fixed though!:)
 
Yeah, it's no big deal really. The rubber isolators are 'stepped' allowing the bottom of the rear coil to sit flat in the rear lower control arm. Once you get those, all will be well. The rear ride height will increase ever so slightly, but be nothing to worry about.

Although i prefer Arnott's kit, i've been hesitant to recommend the company due to their (apparently) poor service.
 
Turborich, sorry you didn't care for my response, but I was stating what I honestly think the problem is. It sounds to me like the rear springs were installed wrong. I've sold almost 500 of these kits and have had no problems as long as it is installed properly.

As always, arnott makes the "pretty" stuff to make it look like your getting something. Ours is functional and built to last. Strutmasters makes the kits I sell and I can tell you for a fact that time & money is spent where it needs to be spent to do the most good......not just to look good. What type of struts do the other companies offer? Some kind of china crap. Ours are Monroe Sensatracs which ARE the best on the market. The coil springs are good AMERICAN STEEL and even powder coated. All the others are china crap.

Want to buy parts that look pretty?.....or parts that will last? (I have allot of pretty parts in my core barrel)

BTW, when is the last time you got an e-mail and post from arnott on a weekend?
 
Well, I just bought the 1.5" Kit from Eddie, and installed it last weekend. I have noise in the rear, BUT it's not the springs.


The bushings in the knuckles and A arms are shot. You might want to check yours.


Mike


EDIT.... Eddie, What type of funds are we talking for my solenoids and Compressor?
 
It doesn't matter, A pretty kit vs. one that will last? I just don't but it.

Anyways, I went to the pic a part today & they had a mark VIII with lowered rear coils! They were not Eddie's / strutmasters. I don't know who makes them to be honest. They are black in color & unlike strutmasters these coils actually taper down at the ends & go from round to flat. They also fit into a lower cup & had a rubber pads at the bottom unlike the strutmasters kit. When I got them home I put them next to the strutmasters kit. The strutmaster coils have 6 coils, these have 8. Both the same height though. Anyways I installed them, It picked the car up about a quarter to half of an inch in the rear (which was needed anyways) The other coils made the rear look as if it was sagging. I drove it & the rode way better in the rear! A lot smoother over bumps, speed bumps & all. I can now be happy with my car even though I spent more money to do so.

Here's the deal, The strutmasters kit is fine if you are not picky & don't care if your coil is centered properly. Yes it will work, but come on it's just a generic fit! Like I said, one of the front struts wasn't even lined up properly & I had to adjust it about an inch or so.

I don't know anything about Arontt except that there spring kit looks to be far better, at least the rear. As far as their customer service is concerned, I have no idea but it doesn't seem to be that good based on the feedback here. Eddie seems to have them beat there.

Personally If I were to do this all over again, I would order the Arnott kit & cut the darn coils myself as I like parts on my car to fit correctly & I can't really be happy if they don't good.

My opinion & experience. Take it how you want. BTW, They were not installed incorrectly or upside down!
 
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