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ludicrous speed

ludicrous speed

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Hi everybody!! I have a 93 mark VIII with 49000 miles on it with no rust. I bought it in October drove it for 2 weeks and then put it awway for the winter till April. What a long winter that was.

This site has helped me on a few things before but i cant seem to find a related thread for my issue. On my 93 mark this happened twice now in 3 days when i start the car it goes trough the system check and it says Check Air Suspension and the compressor wont come on. If i drive it like that the front passenger airbag will deflate quite a bit. If i turn the car off and restart it the compressor comes on and the Check Air Suspension error is gone. When the car has been sitting for 12 hours it seems that the front passenger side sits 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch lower than the drivers side. Anybody have any idea what is going on?

DSC00254.jpg
 
ludicrous speed said:
it goes trough the system check and it says Check Air Suspension and the compressor wont come on.
Click to expand...

...and the leaking front bag has killed your compressor.

it's only a matter of time before the compressor does "nothing".

Also operating a bad/weak compressor can and WILL kill the air ride relay and the computer itself.

you at a bare minimum need
1 front strut
1 compressor

procrastination, or continued operation will only increase the parts and expense needed to fix the car.
 
I did check American Air out. Now I'm thinking fix it or go coil conversion. I guess I'll have to take it apart and see what i find.
 
FIX IT!!!! keep the bags! do as tommy says at minimum 1 bag and 1 comp, but while your in there might as well replace them all and be problem free for 200k~ish miles :)
 
Viking must be keeping Frog busy cause I would have expected him here to express the virtues of the search feature. :lol:

Anyway, do a coil conversion. The bags are cool but a good coil setup will handle much much better and you wont have to worry about a pump, spring or air line failure again. You canget a real quality setup for under $400. :D
 
Frogman said:
I will put my 98 with air ride against any of you who's done a coil conversion in the twisties.

Coil conversion is the easy and crappy IMHO way out of spending some money and doing it right.
Click to expand...

Opinions and ass holes. everyone has them and they are all full of chit. :D

Air rides are great but unless its an aftermarket system I don't see air springs keeping a car as flat through the corners as a coil. The rate is not as high and there will be some compliance as the rubber expands under a heavy load.
Yes they ride better and they are capable of good handling but a spring will offer better control and I bet everything else being the same that a coil spring Mark can pull a higher G number and go through the slalom faster.

How many sports cars have air springs? How many track cars (NASCAR, Formula, Sprint, Touring, Daytona, etc etc) run air springs?
 
LaserSVT said:
Air rides are great but unless its an aftermarket system I don't see air springs keeping a car as flat through the corners as a coil. The rate is not as high and there will be some compliance as the rubber expands under a heavy load.
Click to expand...

And here is where your suspension experience fails. You see, there is more to suspension than just air struts and bags.

We have Bushings to take into account, we have sway bars to take into account, and we have tire geometry to take into account.

Let's start with the bushings: The stiffer the bushings, the less deflection there is on the suspension components.

Sway bars. What do sway bars do? They counter act the energy and momentum of the car and keep it "straight". The thicker the sway bar, the better it works. To a point.

Tire geometry. Why do you think there are so many suspension geometry adjustment kits on the market? Granted, not for the Mark VIII though.

Yes they ride better and they are capable of good handling but a spring will offer better control and I bet everything else being the same that a coil spring Mark can pull a higher G number and go through the slalom faster.
Click to expand...

Everything else being the same, is not what we're talking about here. We're talking properly setting up a suspension, not just throwing a set of cheap 1920's technology shocks and struts at it.

This is what I'm running:

Poly bushings all the way around. (duh)
Cobra Shocks in the rear
Addco 1 1/8 rear sway bar (MM was mistaken here, but it happens)
Addco 1 1/4 front sway bar
Lowered about an inch.
Wider than stock tires.

What does all this give us?

Well... I believe MM has put it best in this post.

http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/showpost.php?p=366320&postcount=11

monstermark said:
ow, loud and mean. Angry is the best way to describe it. Corners like it is nailed to the ground.
Anybody ever say a Lincoln can't handle has no clue.
Click to expand...

Now, I'm sure the man has no experience with Mark VIII's. :D


How many sports cars have air springs? How many track cars (NASCAR, Formula, Sprint, Touring, Daytona, etc etc) run air springs?
Click to expand...

I know a few with full time active hydraulic suspensions.
 
thanks geno

talked with you a few weeks ago you told me about the fuel presure trick finally got the nerve to beat on that thing what a differance may have hurt mileage a little thou but what a difference thanks again
 
yea my lowely air bags kicked the DOG CRAP out of a 68 corvette at the autocross.

There is far more to handling than just "the parts".

I agree with Frogman, I'd put my air bag car against ANY one of your coil spring cars on an autocross course.

Air Bags are not the "bane" of suspensions, and the "handling" portion of the suspention is INSIDE the strut.. the hydraulic portion.

The Air Bag is there for "ride height" adjustment, not handling.

The hydraulic portion of the spring strut and the air ride strut are virtually identical.

you "coil spring" guys with your perception of superiority are falling prey to the placebo effect.

Line me up... lets do this.

LaserSVT your close enough to houston to atttend one of the local autocross events. Care to put your money where your perception is?
(smack talk smile)
 
So whatever i decide to do where is the best place to get air bags or coil spring conversion? I was thinking American Air Suspension.
 
For air ride parts, American Air is the best place.

I cannot suggest a place for the springs.
 
Any parts store should be able to locate the spring kit. I got mine from sloreilys.
 
OMFGWTFBBQROFLCOPTER!!

Frog, dont talk to me like I am an idiot. I make mistakes but have proven I am not an idiot, more so in suspension matters.
I did say that "everything else being the same" that the coil would do better. I understand bracing, poly mounts, bump steer, off set rack bushings, sway bars, camber/castor/toe, tire compound, unsprung weight all add to how a car will handle and perform.
Suspension components are always my first mod and I have built allot of cars.

It is IMHO that a coil spring setup will do better then and air spring setup. Granted I have never used an air ride in a performance application and I am sure your guys cars handle spectacular. It is a Mark and they handle very good out of the box, better then allot of sports cars out there. But when I look at a dedicated race car they have coils, if the coil was not better then you would think at least one team on a road course would use them for a dedicated trac car, no?

Now are you saying if you took a 100% stock Mark and ran it on a track against another completly stock Mark that had a coil conversion that the air setup would be faster?
 
Coil springs don't fail when it gets too cold outside.
Coil springs don't develop leaks.
Coil springs don't leave your car pancaked hundreds of miles from home with nothing but pot holed roads inbetween.

I've kept the air ride in my Mark VIII, but it's been a perpetual pain in the ass. From a cost/benefit stand point, I should have replaced it with the coils the first time.
 
LaserSVT said:
Now are you saying if you took a 100% stock Mark and ran it on a track against another completly stock Mark that had a coil conversion that the air setup would be faster?
Click to expand...

Sure, but actually what I mean is..

The performance difference between the two is not gonna be significant enough to overcome the driver differences.

I seriously doubt in a blind test the differences between the cars would show up in a time difference on an autocross course.

...'mjusayin'
 
The kit I got is for stock height, also If you use the search function you can find the wire that goes to the message center and cut it. So the car will never know that its missing. If you look at my sig I think stock height coils set lower then bags, my moms still has bags and it seems to set higher.
 
I'm not really concerned about which one is better I just want the car fixed so i can drive it again. I just have to hurry up and make my mind on what I'm going to get coils or airbags. I'm going to be stuck driving my girlfriends mazda 3 for now:(
Thanks for the help so far i appreciate it:)
 
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