Well, I think my air ride days are over...

[Stangman]

I have been noticing lately, that while driving my '93 for more than an hour I will get the check airride error... and its been coming more frequently, but I have a rayswitch installed so I can just hit a stoplight and reset the airride... well even my air springs up front have been working great since I installed them (used 70k mile 2nd gens) but I hit a few hard bumps on the way home today that I couldn't avoid... and the dreaded check airride message popped up and the nose pancaked

Had to drive it about 10 miles before I had a chance to stop and reset the system to bring it back up... but now when I park it, it will pancake the nose within 30-40 minutes

Came out to leave this morning (taking my Ranger due to weather) and saw it had slammed itself again...

Looks like I'll be swapping in my strutmasters coil conversion I took off my parts car that I've been saving for a rainy day. I was hoping never to be on coils, but I would rather drive my Mark and enjoy it, rather than worry about it every time I sit in it and fire it up

Oh well, I guess one day I willl be able to afford to completely revamp the airride

 

[LSC HUNTER]

Jesse, not sure what the weather is like but do the soap and water check on the bags. You might get lucky and find it right away.
My 98 from the day I got it 2 years ago was dropping over night but never a Check Air Ride mesage. Then one day this last fall I got the dreaded message while driving. Found that one bag had really opened up at that point. I put the car in storage for the winter two days later. I have a used set of bags that I am going to test to see if they will get me throught the summer or I will pull out the Konis from my 97 and use them.

I can understand wanting to drive the Mark but keep looking for bags, you have come so far getting her back on the road, keep going!!!

 

[UltimateSVT]

No matter how small the problem, its a huge relief to do the conversion. I couldn't be happier w/the conversion on both my Marks.

 

[thaywood]

Man, I know your pain. I need new rear air bags now. I sprayed my air bags with silicone spray earlier this week only to see bubbles coming out of the d/s rear at the fold on the bottom (with the car jacked up and wheels off). It sits fine as long as it's at park height or highway height. But if I put something in the trunk that makes it go down more than an inch, or park it on an incline with the rear end pointed down hill, it'll start hissing and drop to the ground Since Arnott doesn't sell the front air shocks anymore, I may have to...reluctantly...get a coil conversion when my front shocks start leaking. God I so don't want to do that. I love my air ride. But I can't afford OEM front shocks. American Air has a 4-wheel coil kit for something like $350 bucks for the whole kit. That's not bad. But I won't do that until there's simply no other option.

 

[Lownslowlsc]

No matter how small the problem, its a huge relief to do the conversion. I couldn't be happier w/the conversion on both my Marks.

Word. Everyone including myself is/was pro air until they ran into expensive issues. At that point it's just easier to convert for both cost and reliability.

There just comes a time when enough is enough.

 

[Kerrigan]

For those wanting to keep the air ride, are replacement bags available?

 

[thaywood]

For those wanting to keep the air ride, are replacement bags available?

Just OEM for the front shocks. $400+/- bucks each. Ouch...

You can still get aftermarket rear springs for relatively reasonable prices.

 

[LSC HUNTER]

I am saving my pennies to buy a pair of front OEM bags. I have more into the car than it is worth but hey not like I am going to get something better so why not make her awesome and how I want it. It is not a DD so I guess I can.

Right now all my spare change is going into my truck and I am on the hunt for a new DD.

 

[UltimateSVT]

Word. Everyone including myself is/was pro air until they ran into expensive issues. At that point it's just easier to convert for both cost and reliability.

There just comes a time when enough is enough.

Read this, you have to agree... Especially the last part...


IMHO there's nothing like the air ride. It is truly a unique feature in our cars however again, IMHO, unless you have the $900.00 to go with an entirely NEW system then you are wasting your time. There are way too many fail points in an air ride both electronically & in the bags themselves when there's wear & tear on the car. It's funny when I had air ride & something would go wrong you hear my friends tell me; "Oh, it's gotta be the ride height sensor" (swapped them, still the same) "Oh, then it has to be the air ride module", (swapped it, still the same) "Wait, maybe it has a bad solenoid" (Swapped it, now what?) "Then the compressor took a dump" (Swapped it, still on the ground) "Oh, then you got a bad air bag"..... REALLY?!?!?!? FVCK IT! I'm done! These cars are meant to be driven for miles & miles yet I couldn't trust my Marks because I wasn't sure if I'd take it far from home & I'd wake up the next day slammed on the ground! NO THANK YOU! I don't care how beautiful it is & how unique it is, NO ONE is convincing me to go back to air ride! My current springs/struts will outlast BOTH of my Marks & someone will uninstall them long after they end up in some junk yard years from now so they can install them on yet ANOTHER Mark 8 with air ride issues!

 

[mossbergman]

Read this, you have to agree... Especially the last part...


IMHO there's nothing like the air ride. It is truly a unique feature in our cars however again, IMHO, unless you have the $900.00 to go with an entirely NEW system then you are wasting your time. There are way too many fail points in an air ride both electronically & in the bags themselves when there's wear & tear on the car. It's funny when I had air ride & something would go wrong you hear my friends tell me; "Oh, it's gotta be the ride height sensor" (swapped them, still the same) "Oh, then it has to be the air ride module", (swapped it, still the same) "Wait, maybe it has a bad solenoid" (Swapped it, now what?) "Then the compressor took a dump" (Swapped it, still on the ground) "Oh, then you got a bad air bag"..... REALLY?!?!?!? FVCK IT! I'm done! These cars are meant to be driven for miles & miles yet I couldn't trust my Marks because I wasn't sure if I'd take it far from home & I'd wake up the next day slammed on the ground! NO THANK YOU! I don't care how beautiful it is & how unique it is, NO ONE is convincing me to go back to air ride! My current springs/struts will outlast BOTH of my Marks & someone will uninstall them long after they end up in some junk yard years from now so they can install them on yet ANOTHER Mark 8 with air ride issues!

I feel sheltered. i bought my mark with it already converted. i feel like i might have missed out on something too though..

 

[mikemark8]

I still have air ride in my 96, but I keep it going by shutting off the air ride switch prior to shutting it down and closing the door-it stays at ride height so the cracks at park height don't have a chance to slam it (no venting while parked). It used to slam sometimes before I started doing this, no rhyme or reason, so I feel like I am getting the most out of these bags-I bought them used on ebay about 4 years ago cheap, less than $150 for all four), and they are still going strong.

Other nice side effects of doing it like this is the air ride compressor does not run very long (a few seconds, tops) when I start it up, even if the car has been sitting for a week or more. I did score a Strutmaster coil setup (F+R) for $70.00 from a junkyard about 6 months ago, and they are in the garage waiting if I need them-they look almost new, so I grabbed them figuring sooner or later they'd be utilized, plus they were a bargain. If it does slam at all, it seems like the rears go first, and I have what looks like a pristine set of Arrnot bags that I could throw in, but knowing what junk they seem to be, I am resisting, doing the switch shutoff drill instead. They seem pretty flimsy, so I am going to just let it go for now since this works well.

 

[UltimateSVT]

I still have air ride in my 96, but I keep it going by shutting off the air ride switch prior to shutting it down and closing the door-it stays at ride height so the cracks at park height don't have a chance to slam it (no venting while parked). It used to slam sometimes before I started doing this, no rhyme or reason, so I feel like I am getting the most out of these bags-I bought them used on ebay about 4 years ago cheap, less than $150 for all four), and they are still going strong.

Other nice side effects of doing it like this is the air ride compressor does not run very long (a few seconds, tops) when I start it up, even if the car has been sitting for a week or more. I did score a Strutmaster coil setup (F+R) for $70.00 from a junkyard about 6 months ago, and they are in the garage waiting if I need them-they look almost new, so I grabbed them figuring sooner or later they'd be utilized, plus they were a bargain. If it does slam at all, it seems like the rears go first, and I have what looks like a pristine set of Arrnot bags that I could throw in, but knowing what junk they seem to be, I am resisting, doing the switch shutoff drill instead. They seem pretty flimsy, so I am going to just let it go for now since this works well.

Did the "off" thing for a long time as well, diferrent situations in both cars... I really got tired of seeing the message on the dash. What good is it to have the "nice" air ride if you can't use it to its full potential. Your method does work though. I did that for months to give me more time to buy the parts I needed.

 

[Stangman]

Mine would act great for a while.... no issues.... driving or sitting! Then it would start giving the message if I drove it hard or for a long time.... then sometimes not do it for a week or so.... then start back acting up again. I am wondering if its just my compressor getting tired and giving up while trying to do its usual run of the mill auto adjust while driving... causing it to vent since it can't push air in....

Idk. Like I said, I will swap front solenoids and see if that makes a change. If not, I'm going coils

 

[keVIIIn]

I don't know what all these pro air ride guys are talking about..my mark has a fully functional stock air ride system with 70k miles on it and I don't see what is so great about it, I notice NO difference over springs, it feels exactly the same as my 97 thunderbird did that had the stiffer sport springs on it..BFD you can change the ride height with an air ride system but once you set it to your desired height how often do you REALLY change it?? Once my air ride system starts giving me problems I'm ditching it in favor of lowered springs and not looking back.

 

[chris2523]

BFD you can change the ride height with an air ride system but once you set it to your desired height how often do you REALLY change it??

my car sits too low to drive up ramps for an oil change or get a jack underneath in my driveway sometimes. an angle thing or something. so i just get in and flip my switches and up comes the air ride. then i can drive right up the ramps or get the jack underneath.

and on the flip side, i can easily put the air suspension on the floor when i feel like it.

its also fun when people watch it move about when i start it.

 

[Stangman]

and on the flip side, i can easily put the air suspension on the floor when i feel like it.

its also fun when people watch it move about when i start it.

My two favorite parts.... although I haven't been able to slam it since installing my 2nd gen bags... dunno why

 

[87TTOPGT420]

I'm gonna be saving my beans for either a new oem set or eddie's new setup of that works out...currently air ride Is holding up...asham8 and all

 

[mikemark8]

Did the "off" thing for a long time as well, diferrent situations in both cars... I really got tired of seeing the message on the dash. What good is it to have the "nice" air ride if you can't use it to its full potential. Your method does work though. I did that for months to give me more time to buy the parts I needed.

I have never gotten the 'air ride' message on this Mark, but I did on my 93 when the air springs on the front died about 100 miles from home (easily 10 years ago)-unless you have a major hole in an bag/bags, or lines, or a BAD compressor, slamming will not set that message to my knowledge-it the bags leak, and the compressor can fill them and not overheat or time out, I don't think the message will set. Between the two I have owned, I have replaced the fronts twice (first set in the '93 were new, and they cost me around $800 if I remember correctly)-now, I just get used bags, and try not to let it slam. Early attempts to stop it included putting 5 1/2" 2x4's under the frame so it sat on them-now I shut off the air ride prior to shutting the engine down.

It is the air ride game, trying to keep one step ahead of the inevitable, the coil conversion that is taking up space in my garage.

 

[Stangman]

I didn't think so either..... I'm just trying to find ways to justify my airbags not being bad LOL

 

[keVIIIn]

my car sits too low to drive up ramps for an oil change or get a jack underneath in my driveway sometimes. an angle thing or something. so i just get in and flip my switches and up comes the air ride. then i can drive right up the ramps or get the jack underneath.

and on the flip side, i can easily put the air suspension on the floor when i feel like it.

its also fun when people watch it move about when i start it.

Yeah I suppose slamming it would be cool, but I don't know..just seems like a headache to be constantly replacing components to keep it working well..short of shelling out big money and replacing all of it for new stuff...personal preference I guess..but as far as ride quality, I can't feel the difference..and I have all different kinds of sh*tty roads by me, I must cross 5 or 6 sets of rail road crossings on the way to work..aside from countless rough pot hole filled roads.