question on the lowering factory air sensors

[dhbleil]

i know how to lower my mark viii but i have the problem of driving alot of highway and most of it in pennsylvania, which is not known for having flat or smooth roads. when the car gets closer to the ground im wandering if it is going to hit if i lower it an inch or 2 if anyone can tell me how the lowering worked for them and if they have had any problems with it getting to low when doing 75-85

 

[unity]

An adjustable module would be best for you. Being up north in the frozen tundra, the highways are rather unfriendly to lowered cars.

I hit my k-member on a buckle once, hurt my neck and though I blew the front bags. The k-member is now bent in on the front trailing edge.

So it depends how low you go. An adjustable module would let you drive low in the city but counter the highway hight. You can adjust it while driving just fine.

Also wood, rocks, etc become a new hazard.

 

[BAD97LSC]

without heavily modifying the stock height sensor ball stud brackets, you dont have to worry about lowering it 2 inches, because it will never happen, the front studs moved to their max will only lower your front end about 3/4 of an inch, the rear will lower a little more then that, so if you want to max the front studs all the way up dont be worried about hitting the car off the ground, you wont, unless you are taking it into a contruction zone or a motocross track! the only way to get 2 inches out of it is to unbolt the brackets and relocate them to new holes which you will have to drill.

 

[turborich]

Simply bore out the factory mounting hole on the bracket with a dremel. I made a long slot on mine so I could easily adjust both sides correctly. Mine is sensor lowered about 3 inches in the front & I have no issues at all with 18" wheels & 245/45/18 tires. (nearly the same overall size to the stock tire/wheel.)

I have never hit or bottomed out on anything, I also drive carefully.

 

[BAD97LSC]

Simply bore out the factory mounting hole on the bracket with a dremel. I made a long slot on mine so I could easily adjust both sides correctly. Mine is sensor lowered about 3 inches in the front & I have no issues at all with 18" wheels & 245/45/18 tires. (nearly the same overall size to the stock tire/wheel.)

I have never hit or bottomed out on anything, I also drive carefully.

dude can you seriously say you have never bottomed out, if you truely went 3 inches there is no way you never bottomed out, i dont think you realize how much 3 inches in a mark VIII is, thats about 2 inches from being off the road, if all you did was slot the front brackets you did not drop 3 inches in the front, there isnt enough material on the bracket that would let you get 3 inches. seems a little far fetched to me. 3 inches in any vehicle, up or down, is an absolute huge difference. plus 3 inches lowered and you would barely have any air in your front struts, which wouldnt hold the car up very well.

 

[MrScalia]

Simply bore out the factory mounting hole on the bracket with a dremel. I made a long slot on mine so I could easily adjust both sides correctly. Mine is sensor lowered about 3 inches in the front & I have no issues at all with 18" wheels & 245/45/18 tires. (nearly the same overall size to the stock tire/wheel.)

I have never hit or bottomed out on anything, I also drive carefully.

did about the same to my 94 .... works great, 3 years now

 

[turborich]

dude can you seriously say you have never bottomed out, if you truely went 3 inches there is no way you never bottomed out, i dont think you realize how much 3 inches in a mark VIII is, thats about 2 inches from being off the road, if all you did was slot the front brackets you did not drop 3 inches in the front, there isnt enough material on the bracket that would let you get 3 inches. seems a little far fetched to me. 3 inches in any vehicle, up or down, is an absolute huge difference. plus 3 inches lowered and you would barely have any air in your front struts, which wouldnt hold the car up very well.

Yes I can seriously say that. What kind of things do you guys have sticking out of the road where you live? Bricks & Brake Drums?

When it's parked or on the freeway it's gotta be 3". Of course when driving at city speeds or having a couple of people in it then it's higher.


Here is a pic of my friends 94 that I sensor lowered the way with the slot. BTW I can lower it much more by sliding the bracket more. There is alot of adjustment there. A stock mark sits extremely high in the front!

 

[turborich]

did about the same to my 94 .... works great, 3 years now

Cool, It's easy & it works! Got any pics?

 

[slowmkviii]

when I lowered my friends 96 I didn't have to move the sensors as much as in my 97 not shure why

 

[1wykdmk8]

Ok, let me end ALL this discussion......I live in Pittsburgh, and I have EVERY sensor on my car adjusted to the ultimate limit AND I run a smaller diameter tire than factory and I have NEVER bottomed out anywhere....>AND I have driven at over 130 MPH on every highway around here. Not only that, but I have driven around here with the suspension slammed (via my switch) and have not bottomed out either. Now, with that being said, I have driven a lowered vehicle for almost my entire driving life (second car I heated up the springs and slammed it......got my license at 16 and I am 38 now). You will NOT hit anything simply by lowering the car with the sensors no matter how low you go. My car is roughly 3 to 4 inches lower than stock without me hitting my switch and releasing the air out of the suspension.

Sensor lowered with 245/50 16's:

Lowered Via my switch:

First pic is of the car factory height with factory sized wheels/tires, and the second pic is the car after the sensor lowering with factory sized wheels/tires:

 

[mespock]

Well I hit a dead raccoon once... There was a truck in front of me and the the truck straddled the raccoon I tried also and got the dang thing stuck under the car. (boy did that thing stink)

I'm lowered only 1.5 with the coil conversion I was running on 245 50 16's. I also would bottom out often over small bumps..

I changed my tires to 235 60 16's and I haven't had a problem since...

 

[turborich]

Well I hit a dead raccoon once... There was a truck in front of me and the the truck straddled the raccoon I tried also and got the dang thing stuck under the car. (boy did that thing stink)

I'm lowered only 1.5 with the coil conversion I was running on 245 50 16's. I also would bottom out often over small bumps..

I changed my tires to 235 60 16's and I haven't had a problem since...

How long did it take you to get that stinky thing outta there? It's sad the critter died, but the story was funny.

 

[struts-r-us]

Hi
We agree with the other guy, 3" are way to much. We have lowering coil spring conversion kits from 1" to 2" for the Mark's. (struts-r-us)

 

[turborich]

Hi
We agree with the other guy, 3" are way to much. We have lowering coil spring conversion kits from 1" to 2" for the Mark's. (struts-r-us)

We were talking about lowering the factory air ride sensors. 3" is not too much at all. The strut/coil kit that is offered seems to lower the car even, or with the front a bit higher, like the stock height. I personally do not like the even or the high front look. I like the front lower & the rear higher. It makes the car look much more aggresive having that type of stance. Everyone will have their own personal taste on this & nobody will be wrong or right. However if you use the coil kit & you have passengers in the rear then the ass will be lower and look like it's dragging. The factory air ride would prevent this & keep the car at whatever height you sensor lower it to.

Yes I know, there is the chance that you will driving & your pump or a bag will go out, With coils you don't have that to worry about. I will take that chance & simply repair or replace the air ride system. It's a Lincoln Mark VIII, Not a Ford Escort. It has air ride, Leather interior & a 32valve 4 cam V-8 for a reason.

 

[Aquabrit]

Built like a Ford Escort though... Lol.