Air suspension

[Fly007]

Just bought my Marauder and new to them, it has 97K miles and notice that when sitting the Left rear starts to sag so I figure there is a leak somewhere. Seems to be getting worse too, I am planning on replacing shocks, struts and cutting 3/4 coil on front this weekend and planned on adjusting rear to lower it to match the front. Question is should I replace the bad air bag or just order some coils and ditch the bags? I have 3 boys that sit in the back seat from time to time, probably 80% of the time it is just me in the car, no towing or hauling with it, I have a suburban for that.

[fastblackmerc]

Just bought my Marauder and new to them, it has 97K miles and notice that when sitting the Left rear starts to sag so I figure there is a leak somewhere. Seems to be getting worse too, I am planning on replacing shocks, struts and cutting 3/4 coil on front this weekend and planned on adjusting rear to lower it to match the front. Question is should I replace the bad air bag or just order some coils and ditch the bags? I have 3 boys that sit in the back seat from time to time, probably 80% of the time it is just me in the car, no towing or hauling with it, I have a suburban for that.

If you delete the air bags you'll be removing some of the "uniqueness" of the Marauder.

[EMAS]

The majority of the time the reason the suspension leaks down is bad O-rings that seal the solenoid to the bag. They are cheap and quick to replace. https://www.arnottindustries.com/part_FORD_yid1_pid194_gid910.h tml if you want a kit or you can probably find ones the right size at a non-big box auto parts or hardware store.

Arnott has the instructions on how to replace the bags and that includes how to remove the solenoids.

Putting steel back there is a bad idea if you are filling the back seat up. The handling and ride stay the same whether it is just you in the car or fully loaded while with steel it goes to hell when you load the car down. I've had 7 Panthers, 3 with air and 4 with steel and air is the way to go.

[Fly007]

I will have to try that, are the o-rings easy to change out? I was afraid maybe the bag is cracked or split but I have a feeling if that were the case the pump would run constantly, and even then it looks like the new bags are fairly reasonably priced. I would like to keep the air suspension, My only fear is running into constant issues with the system being as this is my daily driver and putting 300 miles a week on it. But I have to say it is nice being able to load 5 grown men in it when my co-workers and I go to lunch and it doesnt sag at all, does look like a 4X4 when everybody gets out though, until the bags deflate.

[RubberCtyRauder]

A member on here has a pair of correct Maraduer air springs for sale (or did) that are very minimal used..like less than a year and in California so no weather corrosion. Contact memenr Lifespeed to see if he still has them. Marauder air spring (rating) are not the same as CV sport or Grand marquis.

[EMAS]

I will have to try that, are the o-rings easy to change out? I was afraid maybe the bag is cracked or split but I have a feeling if that were the case the pump would run constantly, and even then it looks like the new bags are fairly reasonably priced. I would like to keep the air suspension, My only fear is running into constant issues with the system being as this is my daily driver and putting 300 miles a week on it. But I have to say it is nice being able to load 5 grown men in it when my co-workers and I go to lunch and it doesnt sag at all, does look like a 4X4 when everybody gets out though, until the bags deflate.

Once the car is in the air and properly supported it takes 5-10 minutes to do each solenoid and no special tools are needed. There is a little retainer clip that a small screw driver or pick is handy to have to pop it out. After that it is rotating it a small amount. Pulling it out a bit and after all the air has escaped rotating it again and pulling it the rest of the way out.

The somewhat tricky thing is the deflate and inflate process when you don't have the right scan tool. To deflate most of the way the easiest thing to do is turn the suspension switch back on, close the doors and trunk after the vehicle is supported by jack stands or a lift on the frame. Almost all of the air will vent.

To fill it back up w/o pinching or tearing the bags the quick trick is to jack the rear end up or set the vehicle down so that it is just below the normal ride height, not all the way against the stops. Now turn the suspension back on and let it start filling the bags. Turn it off, drop the rear end again and make sure nothing got pinched. Jack it back up/drop the car and then let the suspension complete the job.

The other trick is to disconnect the linkage from the height sensor and move it so the vehicle sees a "high" signal then turn on the suspension and let it run for a while. The tricky thing here is to not let it go too long.

The number one rule on inflation is to not let the bags get pinched.


A member on here has a pair of correct Maraduer air springs for sale (or did) that are very minimal used..like less than a year and in California so no weather corrosion. Contact memenr Lifespeed to see if he still has them. Marauder air spring (rating) are not the same as CV sport or Grand marquis.

The spring rate is the same as the Crown Vic and Grand Marquis when they are equipped with HPP. The Crown Vic LX Sport has a partial HPP set up they use the standard bags with the reason given that they did that to compensate for the drop in ride quality from going to the 55 series 17" tire instead of the 60 series 16" tire used on the standard HPP cars. Lincoln Town Cars with the Limo prep or Livery package also got the higher spring rate.

[RubberCtyRauder]

Aftermarket air springs do not differentiate between LX and HPP. The limo ones are too stiff , ask member lifespeed

[Fly007]

Once the car is in the air and properly supported it takes 5-10 minutes to do each solenoid and no special tools are needed. There is a little retainer clip that a small screw driver or pick is handy to have to pop it out. After that it is rotating it a small amount. Pulling it out a bit and after all the air has escaped rotating it again and pulling it the rest of the way out.

The somewhat tricky thing is the deflate and inflate process when you don't have the right scan tool. To deflate most of the way the easiest thing to do is turn the suspension switch back on, close the doors and trunk after the vehicle is supported by jack stands or a lift on the frame. Almost all of the air will vent.

To fill it back up w/o pinching or tearing the bags the quick trick is to jack the rear end up or set the vehicle down so that it is just below the normal ride height, not all the way against the stops. Now turn the suspension back on and let it start filling the bags. Turn it off, drop the rear end again and make sure nothing got pinched. Jack it back up/drop the car and then let the suspension complete the job.

The other trick is to disconnect the linkage from the height sensor and move it so the vehicle sees a "high" signal then turn on the suspension and let it run for a while. The tricky thing here is to not let it go too long.

The number one rule on inflation is to not let the bags get pinched.



The spring rate is the same as the Crown Vic and Grand Marquis when they are equipped with HPP. The Crown Vic LX Sport has a partial HPP set up they use the standard bags with the reason given that they did that to compensate for the drop in ride quality from going to the 55 series 17" tire instead of the 60 series 16" tire used on the standard HPP cars. Lincoln Town Cars with the Limo prep or Livery package also got the higher spring rate.

Thank You sir! Will try that this weekend when I am changing out shocks wondering if any local parts stores will have the o-rings?

[lifespeed]

Aftermarket air springs do not differentiate between LX and HPP. The limo ones are too stiff , ask member lifespeed

I'm surprised you remember that. Those ended up being some expensive experiments, I would have saved money in the long run going with OEM.

While Arnott and Suncore list replacement air springs for "town car/limo" they are definitely not the same as the Ford air springs. The installed height appears slightly shorter (Arnott) so more air is pumped in for a given ride height. And the air spring itself is constructed differently.

One of the best features of these cars is ride quality, experiment at your own risk. :)

[GetMeMyStogie]

The majority of the time the reason the suspension leaks down is bad O-rings that seal the solenoid to the bag.

There is another cause of leakage that is also common: the bags dry out and start to crack at the fold.

It's actually really darned easy to test for leaky bags as opposed to leaky O-rings: jack up the rear end, support the frame and let down the rear end. This extends the rear suspension, allowing the bags to stretch out while rolling the fold to a different area of the bag. If the bags are cracked at the fold, the cracks will no longer be folded over and will be exposed, and you'll hear a hissing sound as the pressurized air escapes. When you let the frame down/jack up the rear end again, the bags will be empty and the suspension will bottom out if you're not careful. This can be done without reaching underneath the vehicle. You can even do this one side at a time using the jack that came with the car.
If there's no hissing when the bags are extended, then the bags are good and the O-rings are indeed the culprit.