mark vii air spring conversion?

[ohiolsc]

Hello, I'm new to this board although I have been reading it for advice for a few months now. I have a '88 mark VII LSC, and I was wondering if there was a kit to eliminate the air spring suspension, it has been a royal pain since I bought the car. I have seen mark VIIs with a coil spring suspension, but never had the opportunity to ask how it was done. If you have any Ideas or references it would be greatly appreciated. thanks

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Matthew "Amadeu5"

[Lscman]

Matthew,
Welcome to the Mark VII board.

>>The air suspension shouldn't be that difficult to maintain with help from members of this board. Most service difficulties for the do-it-yourselfer are due to lack of knowledge, confusion or rippoff service facilities. There are excellent alternatives to the junk salvage parts most owners try or terribly expensive dealer parts. I road race my Mark VII at tracks like Mid Ohio & Nelson Ledges with air suspension and 230K miles. I've spent well under $500 on suspension repairs so far.
>>A proper conversion is possible. It will invariably cost more and take more manhours to do than repairing the air suspension. It is a very difficult job. A few kits are out there but I've heard little good about them. That said, here's the possibilities for converting the front suspension:
1)Install Mustang or '87-'88 T-Bird K-member and use T-Bird Turbo coupe front control arms. This will allow you to install steel springs using your remaining componentry. the Mustang K-Member is not "correct" for the wider chassis, so it will not provide ideal alignment and suspension geometry.
2)Install '82-'83 Continental K-Member and Continental front Control Arms.
3)Have a welding shop burn out your upper air spring perches and install steel spring perches from an '87-'88 T-Bird. Use Turbo Coupe Control Arms. Note that option 1 and 3 can alternately use '87-'88 non-Turbo Coupe T-Bird Control Arms with the still "available" ball joint taper adapter to allow fitment to the larger hole in the spindle.
>Here's what's necessary for the rear suspension:
You must replace the lower control arms with T-Bird units and have the upper spring perch cut out and a replacement one from T-Bird welded in.

Good luck


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Rick, Road Track Terror in my '88 Mark VII LSC. See ya at Northeast Events! Pgh, PA

[Avu3]

I agree with Rick. The air suspension is a dream to have, when it works properly, and is not really that hard to maintain. The things that seem to fail are the air bags and the compressors, both of which are readily available from aftermarket sources for better than dealer cost. I think it's actually easier to work on the air system than convention springs from a labor standpoint. If you haven't, check out bagmasterair.com or arnott industries. Links for both of them are on the links page.

Good Luck!
Scott Miller

[ohiolsc]

I didn't realize that it was so involved. thanks for the advice. I guess that I was feeling overwhelmed. the entire backend is down and the compressor and dryer are both leaking air. The pricetag was shocking. 130 for each rear airbag and 300 for the compressor and dryer. And thats before installation costs.
thanks anyway

[Richard J. Parker]

Look at this way...you spend some money once every 10 years on your "renewable springs" and you are as good as new AND they continue to adjust for load. The '88 Tbirds and Mustangs usually have sagging springs by this time, they never "adjust for load" and they are generally left sagging since they still "work". You end up with a better suspension and vehicle.

[stinkin' Lincoln]

the only problem I have with the air springs is that when you start removing weight from the car, it requires less pressure to maintain the same ride height... sooo... you effectively have a lighter spring rate...

IE, handling suffers!

if you're not planning on removing any weight from the car, the LSC bags are nice... I like air, but I like springs...

one sure fire way to set up the coils is to just run aftermarket coilovers... for a little over $500, you could do front and rear coilovers... you can choose your spring rate, and they have adjustable ride height...

Forrest

[FLA-LSCSE]

There is a how-to posted on my site written by hmplslncln.
http://tnmotorsports.com/tech.htm
Dave

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12.87@106.00 1.77 60'
Moderator of Nitrous (http://www.fordvschevy.com/cgi-bin/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&forum=Nitrous+Oxide&number=21) forum at FordvsChevy.com (http://www.fordvschevy.com)
http://tnmotorsports.com/Images/FLA-LSCSE.jpg (http://www.tnmotorsports.com/lsc.htm)

[Lscman]

Ohiolsc,
The rear end is probably down when parked because the rear bags are leaking. That's assuming it pumps level when the car is started. If the front of the car is not low, your pump is definitely still good. That is a fact. Pumps are about $130 reman'd to like new from Arnott industries. Sounds to me like you only need two $130 bags. A dryer costs about $25 & is usually a waste of money and fitting leaks with the pump running are very normal. If the pump can not produce enough flow for the leaks, $10 worth of 0-rings can be installed in about an hour, using the manual. You push down on the orange fitting button, remove the hose, carefully remove the button and brass hose gripper with poited nose pliers and install a new o-ring. The fitting leaks can not cause air to escape when the pump is off. When the pump is on, it should completely overwhelm small, audible fitting leaks and pump the bags up.

[This message has been edited by Lscman (edited February 27, 2001).]

[Lscman]

Stinkin',
I think a proportionally lighter spring rate is appropriate for a lighter chassis, if you want suspension "feel", suspension excursions and body roll in corners to remain unchanged. I don't think handling with air bags suffers any with chassis lightening. Air springs offer "perfect" compensation so the weight change is basically "transparent". That is why these cars handle almost the same fully laden. The only constant that does not properly compensate is the shocks & swaybars. When the car is lightened, their dampening rate should drop proportionally to provide the same result and a car full of vacation gear will feel underdampened. On a steel spring car, handling improves with lightening because the spring rate remains the same. This results a rougher ride & less body roll. Of course, this ignores the fact that ride height will increase. Cutting a fixed rate steel spring increases it's spring rate by the percentage of length removed. Steel springs in a sports/handling vehicle are nice in the respect that they allow "any" rate to be installed.

[This message has been edited by Lscman (edited February 27, 2001).]

[seatlyte]

replacing any part of the air spring system is easier than tuning up any old ford, the spri9ngs go in ridiculously easy.