"El Rivinado" (joeman856) 02/14/2015 at 01:48 • Filed to: None

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My suspension on my Cadillac is shot. I really want to keep the air ride but my dad is going to coil springs because its cheaper. I've been searching forums and reading up on user info for air to coil suspension conversions, and have read everything from "It won't affect anything" to "My car rides way to stiff." Any opponauts have experience with air suspension conversions on other cars, how adversely is the ride affected, is it affected at all? I want to keep the soft squishy ride, but I know how expensive it is.

My citroen won't start > El Rivinado 02/14/2015 at 01:56

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I could never do it, I've fixed my air suspension twice already and will again if necessary.

Jedidiah > El Rivinado 02/14/2015 at 02:00

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If they are airbags, then the ride might feel different.

If they are air shocks, then the ride won't feel different if they have the same dampening as factory.

Gizmo - The Only Good Gremlin, but don't feed me after Midnight > El Rivinado 02/14/2015 at 02:25

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First of all what model and year Caddy? Second what do you call expensive? Suncore 's are are not that expensive, direct replacements and feel fine on my 96 Eldorado. And if you replace both front and rear at once you save almost $100 over getting them separately.

El Rivinado > Gizmo - The Only Good Gremlin, but don't feed me after Midnight 02/14/2015 at 02:28

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1998 Eldorado. I think if its over 2500 its expensive. I don't mind spending a little bit more, but my dad refuses to pay more because in his words "I don't want to put too much money into a car that has a Blue book value of 7000"

Gizmo - The Only Good Gremlin, but don't feed me after Midnight > El Rivinado 02/14/2015 at 02:43

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Do you need all 4? just front? or just rear?

Damn, I just looked at the link I provided above and looks like the prices have doubled since I bought my OEM replacement active air suspension from them. Wow! But you can't beat their warranty - I initially bought from them in 2002, got warranty replacements in 2011, no problem.

El Rivinado > Gizmo - The Only Good Gremlin, but don't feed me after Midnight 02/14/2015 at 03:46

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I think I need all four. The ride is really harsh, especially upfront where I can feel it vibrating into my legs.

The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123 > El Rivinado 02/14/2015 at 09:14

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How exactly is the system shot?

The air suspension in my 92 Grand Marquis crapped out on me twice. First, it was basically the whole system. The bags got leaky, so the compressor started running more often to keep them filled. Eventually the compressor burnt out and the back end just dropped. To replace the compressor and bags was a $1200 job a little over ten years ago.

The second time, about ten years later (but only being driven for six of those ten), the back end randomly dropped on me while it was parked. After getting it to the dealer, they said the ride height sensing switch had basically fallen off and was tricking the car into thinking it was too high and to let out all the air. The fix was simple and cheap. They basically put the switch back in its place and it was fine. For about a day. Then the back end dropped on my way to work.

So back to the dealer... Now they tell me they can't find a replacement switch. Even after checking with local junk yards. Well I call BS because how many models did Ford produce with air suspension? And they can't find a replacement? I'm sure Ford used the same switch for everything. Either way, I was kinda pissed that they couldn't find a switch and kinda pissed that my car left me stranded one night, and made my call for a ride to avoid being late for work a few days later.

The car now wears coils in the rear, and I still wish it had air suspension, even if it was a potential time bomb. The ride was a lot nicer, and being able to level itself with a lot of weight in the trunk would be nice. Having new springs in the back and old in the rear seems to make the bumps feel uneven. And it was cool having a neat suspension. Now I have coils like every other god damn peasant.

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > El Rivinado 02/14/2015 at 09:38

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I recommend going to coils. Cheaper and more reliable. I've done this before on a Range Rover and work out just fine.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > El Rivinado 02/14/2015 at 12:53

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If you want to keep the soft ride you can either go with softer springs if you're cheap (which will cause more lean and hurt handling) or replace the bits of the air suspension if you have the money to burn.

The people who said their car rides too stiff probably installed stiff springs.