Replacing air ride.

My air ride on my 1997 Limited is shot. The front wheels feel like dribbling basketballs over th slightest road uneveness. I do not want to go through the expense of fixing the air ride as it is well, ten years old and I doubt if I will keep the thing for much longer (although 118,000 kms on the clock still has a lot of life to it I am told).

Can I just replace the shocks with say Bilsteins? Is my thinking right if I say I can compensate for the adjustable ride height by tweaking the front torsion bars to a higher tension and putting some kind of lifter on the rear suspension?

And what the dickens is the fifth shock absorber slanted at an angle out back? what is it supposed to be doing?

Strutmasters sell a 'normal' shock retrofit for the air ride. Seems reasonable with the rear shock equipped with what looked like helpre coil springs. But I emailed them about how to keep the computer box from looking for the air shocks once they are off. No response. Do I just turn the switch off by the spare tire well? Do I pull a fuse?

Please help guys. My unit's from Japan. I shipped it to Manila where they only sell the Sportrak so absolutely no air ride parts in this town. I can have them schlepped from the US but like I said, I'd like to rule out possibly using the Bilsteins.

It seems my compressors is still good though and I am also wondering if perhaps an aftermarket air shock might be fitted?

Thanks guys... in advance.

Reply to
boomouse
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Don't know that specific model but I did a retrofit on my 94 lincoln. It was a pain in the ass to install them but the car rides great. The coil spring replacement shocks cost me $450 on eBay. Extra shock sounds like a stabilizer.

John G.

Reply to
getter54

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