Suspension

[grandepau00]

I just bought an 03 Mercury Marauder yesterday, it was sitting under a tree for the last five months but the car runs and drives excellent. Anyway, I was just outside looking it over and I noticed that it has red springs on the rear. I have done some research about the car and it was to my knowledge that they came with factory airsprings in the rear. Is this correct or are coil springs a common "upgrade" to factory airsprings? Thanks for the feedback.

[tbone]

The airbag suspension was replaced with springs.

[MM2004]

The airbag suspension was replaced with springs.

What ^^^He^^^said!

Mike.

[grandepau00]

Thanks guys. Is that common? And is it better than the factory airsprings?

[whitey]

It was converted to springs, upgraded:no....i would say degraded. Its all about what you want though, some people would rather not deal with air suspension problems, however the ride quality isnt there with a coil springs.

[RF Overlord]

^^^what whitey said^^^

Converting to coils is definitely a down-grade.

[lifespeed]

Race cars always use coil springs for the ultimate in handling that comes with the linear rate.

But the practical conveniences of air ride are very appealing and not much of a trade off in handling. So most of use maintain and service the air ride every 100K+ miles or so, myself included.

[Marauderjack]

Race cars don't have a back seat or a trunk full of crap either so I'd expect poor handling with springs and a loaded car!!?:confused:

Air springs compensate automatically (if working properly) and handling should not suffer nearly as bad as with just springs!!:beer:

Springs are the easy way out and returning to the air springs could get expensive depending on how much of the OEM system is left but I would certainly consider doing it the right way!!;)

Good Luck and welcome aboard!!:D

[marauder410]

I disagree but its personal opinion

when I coverted mine to spring I couldn't feel a slight difference at ALLL...

Ive had people tell me it rides better with the heavy duty springs and ride feels like a caddy :lol:

[grandepau00]

Thanks guys, ive only had a few hours looking over the car so I'm not sure what's left of the system. I know the switch is still in the trunk and the light is illuminated on the dash.

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[Haggis]

It was converted to springs, upgraded:no....i would say degraded. Its all about what you want though, some people would rather not deal with air suspension problems, however the ride quality isnt there with a coil springs.

Whitey, tell him about the leaf springs you used. ;)

[whitey]

Whitey, tell him about the leaf springs you used. ;)

Oh yes!, got me some f650 leafy springs, raised the butt up a good 8 inches, 32 " spinner hubcaps on cement truck wheels....no need for a jack now to do oil changes.:banana: