Rare Mark VIII mod

Markviiiedrea

Markviiiedrea

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On Friday I was over at a friends house and him and Slowmkviii helped me replace the coil over susspension with a gen II air suspension I picked up last week.

Here are a few pictures of the process. It really was not that hard we just re soldered the green wire that sent the error message, applied power to compressor to make sure air was getting sent back, check to make sure the solenoids were clicking and reinstalled the bags.

It rides so much better and It's just so much smoother!!!

The bags are from a 97 that was converted because he said "one morning the front bags where 4" higher than the night before". No cracks in the rubber and came with new shocks but I have bilstines I’m trying to get in there. It took a few ignition turns and door slams but the air system finally caught up. I still have adjusted the ride height but it nice to know I’m back on air!

So does anyone need a conversion kit? :D

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of course this thread comes up as my bags up front are letting go at the rubber. in torn between new front oem's and coils. Everyone has great advice on both sides. :-\
 
I just converted my fronts as well. and THIS is the reason why i didnt cut yank or pull any of the stuff for my air ride. because someday its nice to go back.
 
isaiah3g said:
of course this thread comes up as my bags up front are letting go at the rubber. in torn between new front oem's and coils. Everyone has great advice on both sides. :-\
Click to expand...

Keep it air if you can, I wouldnt have gone through all the work to find, purchase and install air if I did not think it was worth it over coils. I wish I had new but that will have to wait till I'm not buying a house.

I would like to run new lines, where can I can I get a decent bulk amount?
 
Markviiiedrea said:
Keep it air if you can, I wouldnt have gone through all the work to find, purchase and install air if I did not think it was worth it over coils. I wish I had new but that will have to wait till I'm not buying a house.

I would like to run new lines, where can I can I get a decent bulk amount?
Click to expand...

I bet Grainger has tubing in bulk.
 
Trippen Out said:
I just converted my fronts as well. and THIS is the reason why i didnt cut yank or pull any of the stuff for my air ride. because someday its nice to go back.
Click to expand...

I'm happy to hear that the coils are not a permanent solution like other seem to think so.

I saw one person state that "I've converted to coils and I won’t have to worry about my suspension for the next 15 years". The next thread down had a post that said "my coils overs broke after 2 years". So I don’t see why some think coil overs are the end all solution. It is a car, no such thing as a permanent fix.
 
I just put in new front Gen 2 air shocks and it rides excellent and zero bounce. I take off ramps at 75 and 80 and the car doesn't show any signs of leaning. I love it.

Remember what these were selling for last week? Look at the price now. They were right at $300.

[url]http://www.amazon.com/Motorcraft-AVS16-Spring/dp/B0011DSB6K[/URL]

This one was $298 but not anymore. Now they just go up until sold out.

[url]http://www.amazon.com/Motorcraft-AVS17-Spring/dp/B0011DTY2U/ref=sr_1_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1351513536&sr=1-1&keywords=AVS-17[/URL]

The cheapest now are these and I have watched them come from $286, up to their current price.

[url]http://www.sarad.com/productinfo.aspx?p=135160[/URL]

[url]http://www.sarad.com/productinfo.aspx?p=135154[/URL]

These above aren't going to last long, especially at their price.

Then you have eBay but they'll soon be out of them except for the $400 and above sellers. They are not going to come down either..

AVS-16

[url]http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=AVS-16&_sacat=0&_odkw=A-16&_osacat=0&_from=R40[/URL]

AVS-17

[url]http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=AVS-17&_sacat=0&_odkw=AVS-16&_osacat=0&_from=R40[/URL]
 
Glad I ordered mine last week, saved some bucks. Wonder if they had a final production run.
 
Yha, there on CL but priced high because for the right money I will sell anything. But I will keep them around in case a mark comes up with a bad air ride I can flip for cheap.

I'm still trying to figure out how people think this saves weight, all together there like 80lbs and the air ride was around 25lbs. my car actually feels faster. But it's probably the cold air we have up here.
 
Yeah. I never thought about the weight difference. The GEN2 front air shocks are a whole lot lighter than comparable coil-over shocks. Even my metal housing Arnotts are probably lighter than coil-overs. And you know the rear air bags are a 10th of the weight of coil springs. To me it's not worth it to go coils. I love my air ride.
 
Alright, I'll e decided to stay air. I'll be buying one side this weekend. What's the difference between 17 and 16? Right and left?
 
Had the new AVS16-17s installed today along with newer sway bar end links.

I am absolutely speechless in how much it improves my ride quality. Almost like I am not driving the same car anymore.
Of course the 3 year old Arnotts were shot, was probably just riding on the bladder with very little help from the shocks. One of them had the rattle sound also.

I know it's good amount of money to buy the struts new, but its well worth it.
 
Soooo. Is the avs 16 right or left? I cant find it on the saras where im getting the assembly from.
 
Well since someone else bumped this thread...

Would you happen to remember the size of the shock nut/bolt on the lower control arm?
 
I wimped out and had everything installed, but a EBay listing says AVS 16 is RH.
 
Its is a nice piece of mind having run OEM air, aftermarket air, coils etc...

I like knowing my car isn't going to be on the ground one morning...

But the black car has sat for a while and still takes 3-4 months to completely air out.

If I ever do air in a MarkVIII again it will be a full digital, 1/2" line, multiple pump and reserve air system... Fast and reliable :)
 
Stack said:
Its is a nice piece of mind having run OEM air, aftermarket air, coils etc...

I like knowing my car isn't going to be on the ground one morning...

But the black car has sat for a while and still takes 3-4 months to completely air out.

If I ever do air in a MarkVIII again it will be a full digital, 1/2" line, multiple pump and reserve air system... Fast and reliable :)
Click to expand...

It’s been parked since that night and after a bunch of below freezing nights it is still at stock height.

My theory is it’s a Lincoln it supposed to have air; I'll just make it handle the best that I can. If I wanted, I'll just buy a damn mustang if I want to rattle my teeth out.

Kind of like my 1914 model T, it completely 100% stock but I get allot of respect for it. By removing the air ride your taking away one of the key aspects the attracted mark buyers and remove something that there known for. 20 years from now good luck finding a mark with a good air ride…..Like the model T it will bring more respect from people like me. Plus air ride is something to brag about when racing! :D
 
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