Is it wise to replace 1994 Lincoln Mark VIII Air Ride suspension struts with regular struts?

Answer 1

Many older Lincolns have some form of air ride suspension. When it's new, it works pretty well. But, once the air bags start to leak, they become a real pain. If you want you Lincoln to ride like "new", sorta, it's best to replace the strut assemblies with new air suspension. Sometime the original style is not available and you have to use some other form of suspension, perhaps a later model air, but many times this requires some retofit that may be beyond someone of limited mechanical ability. Using progressive coil spring struts eliminates the potential for future air bag failure, but then you lose the softer ride that comes from the staged shocks that are original equipment. The change to coil spring is cheaper than replacing with air, mostly because the shocks are no longer going to be staged. And you lose the level ride with varying vehicle loads. But, if you always travel with a fairly light load and want to keep the car a long time, I'd recommend the coil springs. The inital and installation cost is much less, maybe thousands of dollars, than original equipment and the maintenance cost goes down tremendously since the air bag isn't there anymore to fail. But do buy a high quality conversion. Cheap conversions are just that, cheap. Replacing all the old/bad air suspension components: - 2 front struts w/new solenoid valves: $213 ea. - 2 rear bags w/new solenoid valves: $125 ea. - 1 air compressor w/drier: $171 ea. Total: $847 Converting to conventional springs: - 1 Front/rear conversion kit: $565 Does not include labor. Regular prices taken from Arnott Inc's webpage on 4/7/2007. Prices may vary. May be found for less on eBay.