air ride suspension keep it or heave it

[thebaer237]

i have a 96 eddie bauyer 5.0 with air-ride supension. the air ride has had some problem for about a year and i have no i dea what it is. last time i got it worked on was when i was 16 and just got the thing and it cost me 900 in suspension work. do you guys think i should just tear out the air ride and put in shocks. if so what kind dod you recondmend and do they just bolt right in. also does anybody know how to kill the check air ride code if i take the air ride out.
thanks

 

[spotdog14]

I got rid of mine in my 95 Limited and replaced it with some Bilstiens. The ARC system is old, and expensive and I don't think that it provides that great of a ride.

 

[thebaer237]

how much did those shocks run you

 

[spotdog14]

how much did those shocks run you

Um, I think they were $120 ish maybe a little more for all four.

 

[Cobraguy]

It's a great system when it works. But it's very expensive to replace parts. I replaced the air ride shocks on a Mark VIII I had years ago. I think it was a wise choice on that car to keep the air ride. On an Explorer, Expedition, etc, I'm not so sure it's as important.

 

[thebaer237]

thats not a bad price. did the shocks just bolt right in. Also where you able to get the check air ride display to come off the screen when you replaced them with normal shocks.

 

[thebaer237]

so i replaced my shocks the other day. The fronts took about 1.5 hours and the rear took a day a some beer. The upper shock mounts in the rear the bolts were so rusted and so hard to get to that it took forever. the new shock ride great but the rear is sagging to im gonna get some helpers

 

[jordan1948]

the new shock ride great but the rear is sagging to im gonna get some helpers

Why not just put some longer shackles on your leaf springs? That's what I did to take the sag out of my 94 and it works great, wasn't expensive either cost me 17.99+tax at autozone, and only took about 20mins to install

 

[thebaer237]

how did you get the longer shackles do they sell a kit or do you have to order them for a different vehicle

 

[jordan1948]

It's a universal kit from autozone, here's the link, http://www.autozone.com/R,1673909/store,1588/shopping/accessoryProductDetail.htm, only thing is I plan on beefing 'em up a bit since they're a 2 piece kit

 

[jordan1948]

Here's what it did for mine
Before the longer shackles

After the longer shackles

 

[tightwad]

anyone know where to purchase replacement shocks for the air ride. My system still works, just one of my rear shocks leaks.

also, if you change to regular shocks......how do you get rid of the "check air ride " message on the console display??
Thanks

 

[steelo1]

I've been told by a couple of blokes over here to just plug the airlines tightly & turn switch off, that stops the light from having to come on.
I've looked into it as well because of ride height not going up when in 4wd. When I got underneath & undone the bottom shock bolts (with ARC turned off) I checked how "soft" they where, & they weren't at all, in fact I had trouble pushing them back up to do the bolts back up.
On my old 98 XLT I put EFS shocks alround & you'd swear you where in a different car the difference was that great/good, onroad & off.
I think I'll be going the way of extended shackles, but here down under, I'll have to get them made.

 

[96eb96]

how did you get the longer shackles do they sell a kit or do you have to order them for a different vehicle

Good luck getting off the leaf spring bolt in the salt belt. The other guy who said it takes 20 minutes is from Texas. Get ready to take out your lifes frustrations on that leaf spring shackle bolt. It rusts into a sleeve in a bushing.

 

[sean99]

also, if you change to regular shocks......how do you get rid of the "check air ride " message on the console display??
Thanks[/QUOTE]


http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=141012&highlight=air+ride