Question: Air Ride Suspension conversion and Ride Control

[roger200x]

Hello,

I just bought a 96 Continental Diamond Anniv. with 4 wheel air ride suspension... as I believe they all had.

I have a few questions... The air bags are all 4 rotted out and bad and I dont hear the compressor run and its turned on...

I am thinking I will just do a conversion kit. My options are 4 wheel conversion kits with either just springs, front struts and 4 springs or 4 new struts/shocks and 4 springs...

I know the car has "Ride Control" and "Power Steering" firmness settings... I want to know if I will lose these if I only do the springs and keep the electronic struts.

Do the electronic struts actually control the ride firmness? or do you HAVE to have the air suspension as well to control the ride firmness?

In an IDEAL world Id like to keep the adjust-ability for the ride and power steering (I read somewhere you can lose that too) and just put in the 4 springs.... I am totally new to this but I know how the air system functions and what the components are... these electronic struts I am not familiar with.

Thanks in advance for any help!!

Roger

 

[john doe]

Damn, I'm honestly not to knowledgeable on the suspension system, but I hate to see a thread go unanswered. If you're looking to convert to springs/shocks your best bet is to dig through old threads to find any informative info. I think with Strutmasters you'll be able to keep the ride control, at least that's what I heard, but I don't feel the difference in my 01 whenever I change settings anyways so I don't think it's a big deal. Start by getting your car diagnosed by a mechanic, see if any codes are being thrown and if the suspension is shot. Here's an old thread I found when I was looking for a solution to your problem.


http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/showthread.php?t=10384


hope it helps and good luck.

 

[mespock]

The best person to contact about these questions is Eddie Spinks .. a Ford trained tech. on Lincoln air ride.

You can access him through the links in my signature. Eddy has all you need and all the information you'll need to solve your problems.

Even if you go to other places like Sun Core ... they'll send you to Eddy ...

Eddy's the best!!

 

[john doe]

The best person to contact about these questions is Eddie Spinks .. a Ford trained tech. on Lincoln air ride.

You can access him through the links in my signature. Eddy has all you need and all the information you'll need to solve your problems.

Even if you go to other places like Sun Core ... they'll send you to Eddy ...

Eddy's the best!!

thanks for chiming in.

 

[bradyelich]

Air ride is for ride height and load control. The electric shocks are what set ride control. If you keep the shocks, you should keep the ride control. For the air ride there is a load leveler system that sets the pressure in air bags to obtain ride height.

 

[roger200x]

Well, I have been doing ALOT of reading on this...

Has anyone actually re used the electronic struts and just put in springs? I heard ride quality could be crap without changing both the front struts to passive hydraulic and the rear to passive shocks...

I am really at a loss for what to do.. spend $389 and just get springs and mounting kit or spend the $578 to get new front stuts too or spend $647 to get front struts and rear shocks...

I just want the ride quality to be good... I dont know how much that electronic ride control did to begin with as I have never driven the car... I bought it this way.

 

[john doe]

Well, the springs aren't bad, they'll still give you a nice ride, but I'd say spend the extra 300$ and get it over with. The 2 fronts struts and rear springs will probably be closet to OEM suspension ride, but if you're on a tight budget go with the springs. Then just think about it this way, you got that issue out the way and won't have to worry about it for a long time.

 

[roger200x]

I ordered a 4 coil spring conversion kit from Suncore for $359. I will let everyone know how it rides and the quality of the parts.

I checked my electronic struts and they seem fine and very usable so I went with the less $$ option for now. I will later have to replace the struts more than likely but I can do it one pair at a time assuming they don't all 4 crap out lol. Air bags were split and leaking at the bottoms ... I actually bypassed the air compressor to make it run and verified this lol

 

[john doe]

Cool, definitely let us know how the ride feels, it would of been better if you were able to experience the OEM air suspension to compare it to the coil springs you'll be putting in, But your feedback will help many in the future. I wonder if it will sit lower or higher compared to the OEM suspension height? Either way this repair is inevitable for this car, so I must know the outcome.

 

[roger200x]

I went with coil spring only replacements... didnt get any new shocks or struts and Im glad!!!

I kept the factory adjustable electronic front struts and rear shocks... I love being able to adjust them with the coil springs!! It also keeps the adjustable power steering settings - which kick ass!

The coil springs ride really, really nice! I notice on BIG bumps they bottom out on soft or normal modes but on firm they do not. When there are tons of small bumps in the road I thought plush would be good... dead wrong! Firm is my setting of choice for city driving! Normal is my setting for highway. I LOVE the choice.

Suncore is the brand of springs I bought. Directions SUCK but If you know anything about suspension you can figure it out. The kit comes with front plates to put on your struts to hold the springs they are a pain to deal with and look cheap but are very sturdy. I put my mounting plates on backwards I think... I am getting a nice clunk once in a while where they rub the rock guard but the instructions showed them that way! lol ... Doesnt matter really at all except the little clunk now and again when steering all the way left or right... its just the plate rubbing the spring... it will work itself out in time lol Didnt care enough to do anything about them but just double check it all makes sense! Oh yah my top plates I had to drill out because they wouldnt go over the strut rod! They were close but not the right size holes!

All in all I am very happy I ditched the bags and I never have to worry again!

Hope this helps anyone with questions in the future. Feel free to ask me anything or PM me for details about the conversion.

 

[john doe]

That's really good to hear. I will definitely be going this route when my bags start giving me problems. Did you install them yourself and how long did it take to do the conversion? I'm sure the springs need to get broken in too.