upgrading the 1st gen air ride to second gen air ride

J

jaygrant

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Ok, so I am the luckiest guy alive! I LOVE lincolns. I have had several town cars and one continental. Up until last week, I had never owned a mark 8. by the way, I only have had lincolns as secondary cars. dont have one as a daily driver. I am hooked on bmw and mercedes. I was on my way to look at a Mercedes and came across a 94 mark 8 with bad air ride bags in the front. Lo0ng story short, I drove it home after paying $500 bucks for it. (front air ride being its only problem) I am seriously thinking of parking my 02 BMW to drive this mark 8. I seen the post where someone said to use the second generation air bags instead of the ones for the 93 94 models.....my question is, will I need to do any modifications to use newer model air bags, or will the ones from say a 98 mark 8 hook right up where mine do on the 94...thanks so much for ANY information. The car will air the front bags up about 4 inches, and oddly enough, It rides great with the bags only that full....but I do not want to take any chances and I am not driving it until its fixed...Thanks again

Jay Grant
 
It is suggested that you use the later model airstruts...they are lighter and less expensive I believe.

They will fit right in without any modifications.
 
So does anyone know what the actual differences are in them? I heard they ride better, but what can you do to an air bag to make it ride better??
 
The lower part of the newer front airspring/shock assemblies is made of plastic instead of steel that is used in the older units. I don't think that that would make much of a difference except for maybe weight.

The part that would make more of a difference in the ride would be the shock absorber part of the unit. The older ones were more prone to binding problems.
 
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