Air Suspension, Struts, Air Bags and Pumps for Lincolns, Fords, Range Rovers, Cadillacs, Lexus

First, turn off the AIR RIDE SWITCH located on the driver's side of the trunk. Next, lift the vehicle. If using a hoist, be sure to use the proper lift points. Before lifting the vehicle, you may wish to measure your vehicle's current ride height, both front and rear, and make a note of it. The proper way to measure the ride height is from the bottom of the wheel lip, to the top of the fender opening.

If you do not have a rack to do this on and are forced to do this on a flat surface(garage or driveway), we recommend jacking up both sides(front) and put vehicle on jackstands. If you don't, the sway bar will have tension on it and fight you every step of the way!

Now is a good time to spray penetrant on all of the bolts/nuts you are going to remove. This is especially important if your car's suspension has been exposed to the harsh elements of winter driving.

We will do the FRONT first.
HINT Do one side at a time, so you will have the other side as a visual reference incase you get stuck during re-assembly!

Lower the car, and in the engine bay, remove the black plastic cover over the top of the front shock bolts.

These are held on by push-in clips that use a philips head plastic screw down the center. Hold the base of the push-in clip while un-screwing the philips screw.

Remove the black plastic cover to reveal the nuts holding the top of the air spring housing to the shock tower.

There are 3 threaded studs, one of which on the passenger side, is double nutted to hold a bracket for the A/C lines. Remove all of the nuts, except the one closest to the engine. These use a 13mm socket. The driver's side has the EDIS module(97-98 may not) held in place with 2 8mm bolts. Remove these first, and maneuver this module out of the way.

Next we will work down below.
Locate the air spring solenoid. It is located on the forward side of the front air spring. There is a silver safety clip that must be removed first. Using a small screw driver, open the clip and remove it.

Once the clip is removed, you will be able to rotate the solenoid to release the air. Dont be alarmed. The air will rush out quickly. This is normal. Once the air has stopped(2-3 seconds) lift back the inner fender cover and neatly cut the air line, and un-plug/remove the solenoid from the car. Next, release the top of the ride height sensor from its mount on the upper control arm by pulling back the small metal locking tab. The ride height sensor is held on by ball-studs. Pulling back on the metal tab will release it from the ball-stud. Do the same for the bottom part of the ride height sensor.

Peel back the inner fender cover, unplug the sensor, and remove it from the car. Now you will need to use a jack stand to support the bottom of the steering knuckle where it joins the lower control arm. I used a 3rd man jack since I was using a lift. Remove the ABS sensor from its retaining clip position. It has a small grommet that slides into a groove.

Next, remove the 18mm nut that holds the steering knuckle to the upper control arm ball joint.

While supporting the hub assembly with one hand, thread the nut back on to the bolt flush with the end of the bolt to protect the threads, and using a hammer, drive the bolt forward, and out of the steering knuckle. Once it is free, remove the nut, and slide the bolt out completely, allowing the steering knuckle assembly to lean outward toward you. This will allow the upper control arm to hang free.

THE NEXT STEP IS OPTIONAL. YOU MAY WANT TO DO THIS STEP ONLY IF YOU FIND THERES NOT ENOUGH TRAVEL IN THE FRONT END.

YOU MAY EXPERIENCE TROUBLE GETTING THE LINK NUT TIGHT AGAIN AFTER ITS TAKEN OUT, AS IT MAY SPIN AROUND WHILE TRYING TO TIGHTEN DOWN THE LINK.

Now, remove the nut that holds the sway bar link to the steering knuckle. This is a 15mm nut.

This bolt does not have to come out all the way, as there is slight interference with the brake line, but letting it slide back through the knuckle partially, helps with removal of the old air spring, and installation of the new coil assembly.

Now the tough one for all you east-coasters. The dreaded Lower Control Arm bolt. Hope you sprayed it well with penetrant.
Remove the 21mm nut on the back-side of the lower control arm bolt that goes through the lower forks of the shock assembly.

Thread the nut back on flush with the end of the bolt to protect the threads, and using a large hammer, carefully strike the nut to hammer out the bolt. It passes through the lower control arm, which has a bushing that is lined with a steel sleeve. This is where most people run into a problem, as harsh road conditions, salt, snow and corrosion will basically lock the bolt into the sleeve. Just remember, you are hitting a part that is connected to your lower control arm, so be very careful.

The first thing some of you will want to do, is to use a torch or "Blue-Tip Wrench" to assist you in removing this bolt. This IS NOT a good idea in this case because you will most likely melt the rubber bushing in the lower control arm....which means a $150+ new lower control arm is going to be on your shopping list!

Once you get this bolt out, remove the support device, and allow the lower control arm to hang free. Lower the car, and remove the final top nut to completely release the front shock assembly from the car. That's it. The hard part is over. You now have this.

Grab your new coil assembly, and identify which is the left and which is the right(they are marked). Lift up the upper control arm, and carefully slide your new front coil assembly into place. Align the top 3 holes, and move the lower fork into position over the lower control arm. Working in the engine compartment, maneuver the coil assembly into place, and while lifting up through the fender well, hold the coil assembly into place, and start one of the 3 top nuts. This will hold the coil assembly into position while you work down below.

Next, using the support device, carefully lift the lower control arm up enough to slide the lower bolt back through the coil assembly forks, the lower control arm, and out the other side. This may require some "encouragement" of the hub assembly to get the bolt all the way through.

Now, start the nut, and tighten snug, but not all the way yet. Push the steering knuckle back into position, and make sure the sway bar end link bolt passes back through the steering knuckle. Align the upper control arm and ball joint stud with the steering knuckle, and pass the bolt through. Thread the nut on.

Now, working in the engine compartment again, tighten all 3 upper nuts completely. Re-install the A/C line bracket on the passenger side, and tighten the top nut on that stud as well.

Now, completely tighten all of the lower nuts/bolts to the manufacturers specifications.

Ok, now it's time to begin the rear air bag replacement. Much like the front, do one side at a time so you have a visual reference. Begin by supporting the rear lower control arm. Again, I used a 3rd man jack.

The rear air spring assembly also has a solenoid that removes just like the fronts. Remove the silver retaining clip, and rotate the solenoid to allow the air to vent.

Once the air is out of the air spring, you can begin the removal process. Un-plug the solenoid, and cut the air line.

Now, move to the bottom. The air spring is held to the lower control arm by way of a 4-way clip. Using a flat blade screw driver, press inward towards the center on all 4 clips. This will release them from the lower control arm.

Next, using a 18mm wrench, remove the lower shock bolt.

The bolt is held on with a tab-nut, which will come off the bolt as you remove it. You may have to adjust your support device to maneuver the lower control arm either up or down, to release the weight on the lower shock bolt, so it can slide out easily.

Next, remove the Bottom end link nut from the rear swaybar.

Guide the end link bolt up through the lower control arm as you lower the support device.

Now to remove the air spring. The top of the air spring has 2 round coin-sized studs that inter-lock into a channel. There is also a silver "retaining tab" that locks the air spring into place, and prevents it from rotating. Using a small screwdriver, bend this silver tab back. Grab the air spring assembly by the top plastic housing, and rotate the air spring about 30 degrees. The coin-sized studs will line up with large holes, and allow the air spring to drop down for removal. You will have to compress the air spring by hand to remove it from the lower control arm. At this time, you should remove the rear ride height sensor. The rear of the car only uses one ride height sensor. It is located on the driver's side, just inside the left lower control arm, near the exhaust pipe. Remove this sensor the same way you removed the front. Un-plug it and remove it from the car.

Now, get one of the rear coil springs. Align the top support plate with the top of the spring. HINT If you purchased the lowering kit like I did, you may notice that the pointed outer sides of the springs top alignment plate may make contact with the coils of the rear spring. Simply grab a pair of channel locks, and pry them outward slightly so the pointed ends dont make contact with the coils.

The metal alignment plate has a stud welded to the top surface. This stud is going to slide into a hole that is in the upper support brace on the car(where the old air spring used to sit). Place the top alignment brace onto one of the coils, and while pulling down on the lower control arm, slide the entire assembly into place with the blunt/cut end of the bottom coil facing inward. I aligned both sides with the small rectangular hole in the lower control arm, to achieve even ride height on both sides.

Align the top stud of the coil alignment plate with the hole in the upper support brace, and using your support device, raise the lower control arm to hold the coil assembly in place. It will look like this:

At this point, since I have selected the lowering kit, it was advised by my rear swaybar manufacturer(Addco) that when using a lowering kit, it is recommended that you cut 1/2 inch off the sway bar end link sleeve to allow for the sway bar to sit at the proper level with a lowered ride height. Take the sleeve off, measure 1/2" and cut it.

(This is NOT necessary or possible with the stock end links, as they are solid and cannot be shortened.)

Use the support device to lift the lower control arm back into position, taking care that the top alignment plate of the coil is in its proper position. Re-install the lower shock bolt and tab-nut, and re-assemble the rear sway bar end link.

FRONT TORQUE SPECS FOR THIS JOB:
(from Ford CD-ROM service manual)
Lower strut to control arm nut= 118-162 lb/ft
upper shock mount to body-nuts= 17-22 lb/ft
swaybar end link to spindle= 39-53 lb/ft

REAR TORQUE SPECS FOR THIS JOB
(from Ford CD-ROM service manual)
swaybar end link to lower control arm= 7.5-10.2 lb/ft
lower rear shock bolt/nut to lower control arm= 83-113 lb/ft

TURN OUT THE "CHECK SUSPENSION" MESSAGE

NOTE:

Some people have been known to disconnect the connectors going to the module.

WE DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS!

The air suspension module controls more than just the air suspension. It also handles the EVO, or "Electronic Variable Orifice" for the steering.

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First of all, turn the suspension switch OFF in the trunk.

(This switch is on the drivers side in the trunk)

Remove glove compartment and locate the air suspension module.

First of all, lets make sure you've located the correct module. The air suspension module is behind the RF kickpanel. You can access this by emptying out and pulling down the glovebox. Then look for the black module with 2 connectors going into it. One connector is black, the other is gray. The gray connector is the one you want.

The wire your looking for to defeat the check suspension message is the Dark Green with a Light Green stripe(tracer) located in the gray connector. It is pin #12, circuit 419, on the back row of the gray connector.

Because theres allot of "spaghetti" in there, the easiest way to find this wire, is to disconnect the gray connector and twist it around. The wire color right next to it is Brown with a Pink stripe. The wire on the other side(inside) is an Orange with a Light Blue stripe.

We recommend cutting the wire and putting at least some black tape around the end to keep from shorting out. You only need to tape the end of the wire thats coming from the module, as the other wire will be dead.

NOTE

We recommend cutting the wire about 2 inches away from the connector to allow ease of reconnection in the event someone wants to go back with the air suspension at a later date.

Turn the suspension switch in the trunk back ON.

If you have any problems, please call us at: 423-487-4321

Special thanks goes to BlackIceLSC, "The Conversion Guru" of the Mark VIII community, for the time and effort spent on this article.