I have a 1996 ford crown victoria with air leveling suspension. One of the rear air bladders is leaking,and the compressor has stopped working. To avoid the cost of replacing these expensive parts,I was thinking of replacing both rear bladders with steel coil springs from another crown vic.Does anyone know if this is possible? danielt
It is not unusual for people to replace the air bladders with coil springs when the bladders start to leak. Parts definitely exist for this purpose, both from Ford and from aftermarket suppliers. Be sure to install the correct shock absorbers also.
http://www.strutmasters.com/catalog.php?cat=65#*LTC-R2S
Here’s a company that supplies a complete conversion kit that converts the air ride suspension to a conventional suspension.
Tester
Arnott also has coil replacement parts. FYI, the pump would probably be fine if you had replaced the air spring when it started to leak.
Check with junk yards and see if the mounting points are the same.
I did this exact thing on a car like yours. You can use new or used springs, they are not expensive. I did the job in my driveway…Just remove the shocks from the axle to allow it to drop far enough to remove the air bags and insert the steel springs. The hardest part was disconnecting the air lines from the air-bags…The same shocks are used…There are 3 (at least) springs available. Standard, HHP (high performance package) and P71 (police). They will all fit, but each is a little firmer than the one before it…