Air suspension Fu#$ed all the hell.

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the1calledgod

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Hi everyone. I've been on this site alot, and my account got deleted from not using it enough. Well here is the deal. I have a 94 mark8 w/82k on it. My rear air bags have a leak (did the ole leak test myself and it leaks at the folds). Im thinking i want to do away with the whole air system, and just go with a nice tight shock setup. I took my mark to the lincoln dealer and the inspected everything under the car.
things they said i needed.
L-R Wheel Bearing (2.5 hours?)
Front Inner Tie Rods \
Front left outer tie Rod / (3.0)
Both sway bar end links (1.0)
Both Upper Ball Joints (4.0)
Rear Air Springs
So my question is...... Can I replace these things rather cheap going with non-air shock supsension???? and how big of a Bit@# is it to replace all this front end bullsh^%? I got new tires at walmart cause they were open late. and they didn't turn the air suspension off.... So now my car drives like a air hover craft... scares the shi% out of me to drive it over 60mph.
Thanks for everyones help! It will be needed. I just hope I don't have to rap my mark around a tele pole cause it isn't worth anything.....
 
i would goback to walmart and tell them they screwed up your sussontion by not turning your airride switch off i worked in walmart in the tle section and we where told to do that to airride cars just my opinion


chris
 
the1calledgod said:
L-R Wheel Bearing (2.5 hours?)
Front Inner Tie Rods \
Front left outer tie Rod / (3.0)
Both sway bar end links (1.0)
Both Upper Ball Joints (4.0)

...

So my question is...... Can I replace these things rather cheap going with non-air shock supsension????
Click to expand...
No.

You need all those things to drive the car whether you have air springs or coils.

Switching to coil springs instead of air springs is replacing the springs and shocks, not those other parts you listed. If those other front-end parts need to be replaced, then they simply need to be replaced and it won't be cheap unless you choose do all the work yourself.

It may be easier in the short run to just replace the rear air springs since that seems to be your main problem right now.
Replacing the rear air springs is really easy; easy to the point where you can have them both swaped out in 10 minutes.
 
the1calledgod said:
things they said i needed.
L-R Wheel Bearing (2.5 hours?)
Front Inner Tie Rods \
Front left outer tie Rod / (3.0)
Both sway bar end links (1.0)
Both Upper Ball Joints (4.0)
Rear Air Springs
Click to expand...
GOOD GOD MAN!!:eek: thats a lot of crap in the front end either your front susp IS that bad (poss making it feel like a hovercraft) or something is loose and they want to make sure that they fix it but poss arnt sure what the porb is cuz thats every dam piece for the most part, the only thing left out is the right outter tie rod end, lower ball joints, ft struts(their gonna say since they have it out anyways),the rack, and radius arm bushings. sounds funny to me even the 2.5 hours to do the wheel bearings?wtf? its 20 min tops, take off the rotor and remove ONE nut and reassemble. being a tech at a ford dealer i would say go to another shop and have the front checked again and compair the est. crap like this pisses me off (if you cant tell) cuz it gives all honest shops and techs a bad rap:mad:
 
the1calledgod said:
L-R Wheel Bearing (2.5 hours?)
Front Inner Tie Rods \
Front left outer tie Rod / (3.0)
Both sway bar end links (1.0)
Both Upper Ball Joints (4.0)
Rear Air Springs
Click to expand...

Wheel Bearings will cost you about $90 a piece and are about a 5 min job to replace.

Purchase 96 Ford T-Bird upper control arms from www.rockauto.com for about $50 a piece ($40 savings over the Mark VIII control arm) If you are replacing the air ride you will not need the little nipple on the Mark VIII upper control arms, they are for mounting the height sensor. If you are keeping the air ride find someone to weld the nipple from the old control arms on to the T-Bird control arms. (About a 2 hour job for each).

The othere parts are not a difficult jobs if you know how to turn a wrench.

Get a shop manual off eBay and go to it.
 
I suspect your dealer might be trying to load his ticket a little. If you aren't hearing popping noises when you turn slowly, your ball joints are probably not totally shot yet. Same for your tie rods.

You can do this by yourself all at the same time. Replace the bags with American Air Suspension coil conversion kit, $400 or less. Then do the ball joints, $60 a piece. While you've got it taken apart, put in new end links, $40 a piece. All you need are good normal tools and a good set of jackstands or a buddy with a lift to make it easier. You could do this all in one weekend for less than $700. I did all those things by myself and I never worked on cars before.
 
I feel your pain, just after i got my Mark last summer Mr. tire did a wheel balance and alignment and forgot to t/off the air ride. They didn't give me the car back till closing and locked the door behind me. They had pumped up the bags, after wrapping in duct tape. I got home OK, but the next am the car was on the ground. They refused to do anything saying it was like that when it came in. I called my insurance co to arrange for a tow and rental car they said they would cover the repair and sue the Tire company for all the costs. The manager even went so far as to say I had never been in his shop. I had a sales receipt with his signature on it -- duh.
 
Yeah, thats sounds on the high side for labor. Most Techs are "suppose" to go by a chilton manual or something similar for labor estimates, but if the service writer doesn't check the manuals himself, the tech may get lucky.

Frat, I did an article on my site for what your describing. http://www.americanairsuspension.com/switch-left-on.htm
Believe it or not, the problem with your air suspension did not "start" when they forgot the switch. If the sensors stay connected and the system works like it was designed, the car will automatically vent all the air out if lifted with the switch on. The problem was there already, the vehicle being on a lift and the suspension being allowed to extend and stretching an already old dry rotted rubber bladder(s) is what pushed it over the edge.

www.americanairsuspension.com
 
mespock said:
Purchase 96 Ford T-Bird upper control arms from www.rockauto.com for about $50 a piece ($40 savings over the Mark VIII control arm) If you are replacing the air ride you will not need the little nipple on the Mark VIII upper control arms, they are for mounting the height sensor. If you are keeping the air ride find someone to weld the nipple from the old control arms on to the T-Bird control arms. (About a 2 hour job for each).
Get a shop manual off eBay and go to it.
Click to expand...

Careful! Only get those T-Bird upper arms if you plan on going non-air ride. The T-bird upper arms don't have the little protrusion that the ride hight sensors attach to.
 
Updated Info!

This is where I stand at this point.

PEP BOYS is going to install and do all the work on the car. Im in the middle of moving and don't have the time or place.

Both R-L Rear-Air bags- $327.32 installed
New upper control arms
New Mark VIII rear shock kit
All 4 Wheel bearing
inner Tie rod end links
swap bar bushing
left outer rod
alignment------------$717.24

total: $1044.56

Let me know if you guys think this is a good deal. Pretty much replacing everything on the suspension. and guess what!!!

Walmart is paying for it all :D
 
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