Quoted labor charge for suspension conversion--Think that it is fair?

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lostinbass

LVC Member
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Hi Everyone, Decided to do the suspension conversion kit on my 96 conti..
Its just getting worse...lowering faster,check warnings come on all the time now.
Im not doing it myself, but a mechanic said the labor charge would be $430.00 for all 4 wheels, if I supply All the parts necessary.
Does this sound about right?
Also, strutmasters doesnt mention shipping charges, could someone tell me what to expect for shipping the both the front and rear conversions, and if the labor rate the mechinic gave me is fair? He had to get back to me, like he had to look it up or something...but you think $430.00 is a good price to remove the old airbags and install the conversion kit?
Thanks..
 
price

Price seems very reasonable.Looks like your total will be under a grand. Stay away from Midas they quoted me a total price of $1675. Outrageous !!!
 
all ridiculous prices. I got the entire Strutmasters system INSTALLED for $550. Thats right, the parts and labor = 550. I took it to strutmasters and let them install it. These prices were with LVC discount. I would say $50 a wheel so $200 would be reasonable for labor. Don't pay more than that.
 
for that grand you could put new front and rear bags and a compressor/dryer and have a great working air ride again.
 
So after reading all of the replies I decided to call strutmasters, not that I was going to have them do it cos they are about 900 miles from Hot Springs, AR, Anyhow, I called them and they found me a repair shop that has done this before in my town, and the quote I got was actually $50.00 a wheel labor plus $30.00 for alignment-so I'm going with that. Of course we'll see how it all turns out after they've done the work. Thanks to everyone that replied.Yeah, I guess for about a grand I could of redone the whole air things, but I'm at a point where the less electronics(especially on a 10 year old car) is better.
 
actually its not usually electronics that fail on these air suspentions, but the mechanical parts.. compressor, air springs/struts, dryer, solenoids occasionally...
 
94 Cont Executive Series

Lady in the house.

Newly acquired 1994 Contential Executive Series. Body and interior in excellent condition.

Day after purchase, hind end on ground and refuses to get back up.

When I called dealership, they rambled off the usual rhetoric about waste of time putting money in old car.

Anyway, said something about pump, blah, blah, blah. and that I may be looking at $2,000 for whole shabang.



Is there anything I can check or fix?

I tried shutting off and then on, several times the switch in the trunk, and nothing.
 
does the compressor try to run when you start the car (with the trunk switch on obviously)?? if so, then you can look at the following: leaky rear strut(s), plugged air dryer, vent valve stuck open (in compressor). those are the most common problems there.

if the compressor dont run, then likely the fuse or relay for the compressor is shot (and very likely the compressor too), or another electronic problem.

take a look under the passenger side rear. Make sure the height sensor is still connected to the lower control arm. there is only 1 rear sensor, and its on the passenger side. the connecting link has been known to pop off before and cause problems.
 
Air Struts
I had one side go out in my 96 cont. I replaced both fronts with active coil overs from stutmaster. These struts by pass the load leveling in front, but let you adjust the ride frimness. Thats what strutmaster says. I took me 2 years lots of agrivation to get them to work. If the ride is not exactly the same with the coil overs as the air struts, the computer will throw codes and the car rides very stiff, Every tar line shakes the car and passengers! Lincoln dealers will not look at it, speed shops screw arround for weeks at a time, and give the car back basically telling me the car is F...ed up. Strut master says go look at the trouble codes and fix the problem.
Problem codes were left front time out up, right front time out down. This means the ride height sensors need to be recalibrated. This procedure requires a Star Testor ll. This is an expensive dealer code reader. I located one, and the recalibrate procedure requires the suspension to go into the test mode. This will cause the suspension to raise up and lower to test output of the sensors, pump, lines solinoids. Once this is performed, this star tester will allow the suspension height to be adjusted, saved, and thus calibrated.
With the coil over struts, the up down setup test will not cycle and the calibration is over, no adjusting or calibration will be set. In other words Strutmaster said they cannot help me any more. The car rides like a rock, and the computer keeps throwing a code.
I was able to fix the problem my self. Don't ask me why the engineers at strutmasters could'nt figure it out. I placed the car on a level surface, used a volt meter to monitor the voltage out put of the front ride height sensors, reaching in with a 11mm box wrench, I adjusted the sensors to the correct voltage. Turned the car off, reset the computer, start the car, problem solved!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Now the car rides great, I can adjust the ride stiffness, no error codes and the rear leveling works. The bad part is, had I checked the voltage in the first place, I would not have had to replace the air strut with the coil over in the first place, a very expensive mistake.
Some times you just have to tell the EXPERTS, to go jump in the lake, and think for your self. If you have any questions and you think I can help, contact me by e mail.
Christo.
chris.stoffels@comcast.net
 
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