Air Bag Suspension

Is there a known gen 8 Riviera that has had air bag suspension installed?

Anyone consider doing it?

Pros and cons vs coil over mod like Robo?

Pros: Easier adjustability, don't have to change out springs/adjust springs to change ride height/quality

Cons: Pricey, heavier, more complicated, more points of failure (not saying that they are more likely to fail)

Forget coil overs. I want this.

My friend with a Mark VIII had the stock airbags go out, and he replaced them with coilover replacements due to cost issues (motorcraft replacement bags are $530 a pop) and he said there was a very noticeable drop in ride quality and road handling capabilities. I always thought bagging the riv would be sweet.

Charlie, aren't you all about weight savings? I would imagine a whole airbag setup to be twice as heavy as coilovers...

matt270avian wrote:

Charlie, aren't you all about weight savings? I would imagine a whole airbag setup to be twice as heavy as coilovers...

I was thinking the exact same thing

matt270avian wrote:

Charlie, aren't you all about weight savings? I would imagine a whole airbag setup to be twice as heavy as coilovers...

To some degree, yes. but the expense of weight is worth the stance comfort and performance the bags would provide, i think.

Plus, I plan on deleting catback exhaust and dumping to sides so that should counter some weight.

From what I see, air ride kits are like $2-3k so it wont be happening any time soon.


Just want a dope looking Riv pushing ~350whp and a mid 12 second 1/4 mile. that's not asking too much is it?

Mildly interesting....

I had a '95 Continental with air suspension. Niiiiiiiiiiice ride. Could adjust firm like an Audi or soft like a big limo... with a button on the dash -- and the suspension would firm back up if you took it on the highway or were pitching and rolling too much.

You don't know until you drive one.

They are easier to work on (no spring compressor), you can adjust the ride height, but do require some finesse and know how and can be pretty frustrating to troubleshoot. Once you get them working right they aren't troublesome. There are OE Ford discounters if you look hard enough, those air suspension strut units were more like $300 last I looked.

On the Riv an air suspension on the rear would not be that tough. I wonder if one from a Caddy could be put on the front. With a good bit of work the Continental's fronts could be fitted.

Albertj

I decided to dig into this a little farther since I haven't bought my springs for my coilovers yet. You can get bags that go over coilover setups that work just fine, but from what I could find people said they rode like crap. Basically, the bag just threads onto the coilovers (in our case the coilover sleeves), then you use a jam nut to hold the bottom of it in place. The top is held in place just like a spring. The issue here is that we have a pretty lengthy strut, so finding bags tall enough would be an issue. The other issue (besides price) is finding quality bags that don't ride like crap. I think I'm just going to stick with springs for now.

http://www.lxforums.com/board/showthread.php/218118-AWD-BC-Coilover-install-with-UAS-Air-Bags

It's also my understanding that you can get small bags meant to go over coilover springs instead of replacing them to give you an extra inch or two when needed.

You've checked out ridetech and airliftcompany?