air spring replacement

[crazyhorse357]

I know this will offend some of you air ride enthusiasts and for that I am sorry, but the fact is that I have had it with all the problems that go with the air ride system, does anyone know of a vehicle that the coil springs would be compatable with my 96 Conti???
I would rather get some from a salvage yard than spend the money for a kit from strutmasters.
Any recomendations or advice would be appreciated.
many thanks,
Frank aka crazyhorse

[v8_dave]

Sorry I cant and wont help you discrace your lincoln like this. :mad: :p :D

But unless you have an extra grand laying around for bags your probably on the right track; I dont know more except you can search through old threads b/c I know others have done this many times before. Im lucky to only have rear bags when it comes time. :)

[crazyhorse357]

Dave,
You mean to tell me that your 97 Conti just has rear air-springs or did you unload it on someone??

[v8_dave]

Dave,
You mean to tell me that your 97 Conti just has rear air-springs or did you unload it on someone??

Yep, in 97 they made it only rear in the conti. Except they doubled the price of ther rear replacement bags so I am just as screwed financially as you when it comes time to replace them. Labor will be easy though and I may find some cheaper. I would reallly like to ride in a full air-conti and see if the plush, firm settings actually do anything.

[pro-five-oh]

1997-2002 Contis have conventional front springs. That's your best bet. The rear springs have no junkyard equivalent, sorry. You can get a kit from the aftermarket for the rear, but people have mix feelings about them.

[Nick]

I'd convert to the front coils from a later car. It's cheap, easy, and proven. It looks to transfer over. You just need to probably insert a plug on the front air lines. Lincoln even kept the front height sensors and strut adjustment if your car has that option. The rear air springs aren't that expensive so keeping those isn't too bad, especially if you get rebuilt or aftermarket springs. I am not as sure what can be used to replace those springs if you wanted to convert everything though. I have not been impressed with the quality of Arnott (or whoever is selling their stuff).

[crazyhorse357]

I can't seem to get anyone to tell me if the coil spring struts off a 97-02 Conti will work on my 96 Conti, called my local dealer and he acted as if I had spit poison at him, contacted several salvage yards both by phone and email, and no luck either, if anyone has access to a cross referance that might tell the tail, I would really appreciate some of you guys checking into that and letting me know.
many thanks to all,
Frank aka crazyhorse357

[v8_dave]

I can't seem to get anyone to tell me if the coil spring struts off a 97-02 Conti will work on my 96 Conti, called my local dealer and he acted as if I had spit poison at him, contacted several salvage yards both by phone and email, and no luck either, if anyone has access to a cross referance that might tell the tail, I would really appreciate some of you guys checking into that and letting me know.
many thanks to all,
Frank aka crazyhorse357


I can take pictures and dimensions for you Frank if you want but thats all I know :confused:

[crazyhorse357]

Dave,
I have a 96 Conti service manual, paper edition, but no parts list.
What I think I need is someone with a salvage yard crossover book or CD that will tell me if those parts will interchange, whatcha think Dave.??????

[v8_dave]

Sorry buddy. I think the only way is going to be from people who have done it. I know vector was selling a kit for the front a while back so he might know more. And this thread http://www.lincolnsonline.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41114&highlight=spring has some info but it might get ya down reading it. Just say the word and I will take pics of my front springs and any dimensions you want.

[Nick]

The parts will swap without a problem as far as I know. if you have the adjustable struts from the Driver Select System, get a set with adjustable struts and coil springs and you should be good to go.

[crazyhorse357]

Dave and Nick,
I apperciate your effort on my behalf, I finally contacted a lady ,Mary, at AA auto salvage, who informs me that her crossover book shows that the struts for a 97 Conti will only fit a 97, so I suppose that idea is out of the question, so I suppose I will buy a coil spring kit from strutmasters and see if I can install them.
Thanks again,
Frank aka crazyhorse357

[v8_dave]

Dave and Nick,
I apperciate your effort on my behalf, I finally contacted a lady ,Mary, at AA auto salvage, who informs me that her crossover book shows that the struts for a 97 Conti will only fit a 97, so I suppose that idea is out of the question, so I suppose I will buy a coil spring kit from strutmasters and see if I can install them.
Thanks again,
Frank aka crazyhorse357

OK, but I am not sure where they get their info for their crossover books. Obviously you cant just dump in the springs without capping off the airline, etc. Their crossover books may just show drop in replacements. Where you just trying to save money over the strutmaster setup?

[Nick]

I call her bluff. The sheet molding compound nose and arse changed, but I dount the suspension is really that different. I could have sworn someone already did the retrofit. I have yet to be impressed with any of the stuff coming out of Arnott/Strutmasters. I'm more comfortable with the Ford parts, as much of a compromise as they are. At least they have an engineering department.

[crazyhorse357]

However their enginering department will let a problem persist when it would easier to correct it, such as the 7.3 liter diesel engine, made by International, the enginers at Ford knew this engine was a POS and yet they kept right on ordering them, when there was Cummings begging Ford to use their engines, granted they corrected the air spring problem on the Conti, but only after many years that cost the consumer God knows how many of their hard earned dollars, all in the name of profit, but to answer your question, I don't have a lot of confidence in Arnott, Strutmasters, or any of the others.
I would say that Ford is the lesser of the other evils, my problem is that when I try to cut corners I usually end up screwed and put more money into the problem than I should have.
You could be right, the struts off a 97 more than likely would fit, but then what if they don't, there I am screwed again and this is my reason for attempting to gather as much information as possible.
I hope y'all understand my delima.
Frank aka crazyhorse357

[Vector]

I think the people to ask would be Strutmasters, they have a pretty friendly tech staff. And for what its worth, I have had a Strumasters conversion on my Conti for 2 years, and about 20K and I am happy with it. I can't really tell any differance from the air ride.

I sold my original Strutmasters front spring set because I replaced the bags with springs only to discover that my struts were bad too. By that time Strutmasters had a spring/passive strut combo on the market, so I bought those and installed them. It does ride a little higher in the front than I would like, but ask them about this, maybe they have corrected the problem by now.

I wish I had kept the bags in the back for the auto level feature, but not having to worry about the height sensors, computer, compressor and air lines failing has its value too. And I always kept it set on "plush" anyway. "What a Lincon was, and still can be" (quote from the owner's manual.)

[crazyhorse357]

My only concern about using an aftermarket set-up is that the products being made in some third world country and being of poor to s--ty quality, but after your recomendation I may see what strutmasters has to offer, was the strut replacement a difficult operation??? and do they give instructions with the kit???
Frank