suspension conversion

[Pieces of 8]

well i lucked out and found a fairly new strutmaster conversion in the bone yard , whole set , was a great day in the yard.
those read springs were gleaming at me like a beacon
i saw those before i realised they were in a 97 mk viii.
any tips from those that have done this conversion?
other than what ive read in the tech articles.?
it will be nice to take my ride over 65.
i did get the plates and lower ruber mats for the rear.
thanks for the input guys.

 

[Stangman]

Sweet! Just found a strutmasters kit myself over the weekend. Do your springs say "ultimate ride" with blue struts?

And the rear was easiest to convert. I had a helluva time getting the rear height sensor off its ball mount on top. You'll get it once you mess w/ it. Make sure you turn the airride off. Then what I did was pull the solenoids and let the air out on each airbag I worked on, one at a time obviously

I unplugged and removed each height sensor.

You need to press up on the orange collars that hold the airlines in to the solenoids. Id plug them or cap them off. I then ziptied my airline and height sensor harnesses together and tucked them in the fender liner up front.

In the rear you need to squeeze the tabs on the bottom of the bag to get it free from the control arm, then rotate the whole bag to unlock it and remove it. Remove sway bar link upper nut, and disconnect shock absorber at the control arm. This let's the arm drop. Make sure you drained the airbag first.

Then go to Lowe's and buy 2 red expandable 4" pipe plugs from the plumbing section.


Get some large washers w/ small holes to use on the bottomside of the control arm and use the plugs to center the rear springs. Lower pads aren't needed. Have someone hold the control arm down while you put the new spring/upper mount in so it doesn't bust your face open if it pops out. Make the bolt used as a centering pin go in the middle of the two large open holes where the airbag went. You'll see if if you look before throwing the spring in. Make the flat edge of the upper mount flush w/ the body side.... don't want a corner hanging out. Swaybar and shock holds the spring in the control arm. The tail of the coil spring at the bottom needs to be on the inside towards the diff. for proper installation of the coil spring

Fronts are kinda a pain. Have to remove upper ball joint bolt to get the new strut in.... don't let your control arm move around too much or it will not want to go back in place because of the bind it gets put in by the sway bar.

 

[Pieces of 8]

Thanks for The info, mine have black struts and red springs but does say ultimate ride , well see about that. Printed on the front springs is smp3 and on the rears smp4 , model numbers I guess , they didn't seem to have been on that poor mark long.
Car I pulled from just had rubber mats under rears . Are isolators nessacary or is that just with lowering springs? Looks like I'm needing the swaybar links for the front too, while I'm at it.
Thanks again for the advice.

 

[GMAN]

If you need help with that, make a road trip down here. What's your schedule like? I know you just left here.

 

[Pieces of 8]

well dove into it today about 2pm and finished about 5 and im drivin my mark again
suspension conversion complete.
with all the info here on lvc and tips from you guys here
the job was prety strait forward and air tools were a plus.
ride is nice and a lot more shure footed in the corners compared to my tired air set up, heck one of the rear bags was an original .
took her to the car wash after the test drive and at the vacum station gmans double
walked up to me and said nice ride man, wow its in great shape .
god i love my lincoln
many thanks for the help guys and thanks for the offer to help me do it gman.