Lowrider Grand Marquis

[96Firebird]

My girlfriend's parent's rear suspension went on their Grand Marquis while they were down in Myrtle Beach last week. They somehow got it back up here Saturday, but now they need to get it fixed. Any idea how much something like this will cost? It has the air-ride suspension, so I have no idea how much it might cost. Could it be an air line, or the compressor? I don't have a clue of what is involved in something like this. Any ideas? Here are some pics, it looks gangsta.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Probably expensive. I used to work with a guy who had a Lincoln (probably a similar suspension setup) and when his went out it was something like a few thousand to repair.

 

[Viperoni]

Chuck the air shocks and replace with regular ones?

 

[Young Grasshopper]

sell it to a cholo in east la

 

[EightySix Four]

They have kits to get rid of the air ride system for relatively cheap, even rockauto sells them IIRC.

 

[IcePickFreak]

Hard to say without looking at it, but I'd suspect the airbags or lines to at least be the original problem, and that could of possibly burned out the compressor. Could be something simple like a bad relay - It really needs to be looked at by someone who knows what they're looking at to see where the problem(s) are. Good news is they're pretty easy cars to work on (it's a Crown Vic) so they shouldn't get killed too bad on labor hours. Pricing for new bags and hardware should be $125-175 and a compressor is $250-$350 if it's indeed fried, shocks are really cheap and probably due to be swapped out. Could get those a bit cheaper if you buy them outside a shop, but not all shops will replace with parts other than the stuff they sell you.

Get a second or multiple quotes if you feel you're getting high-balled, and compare quotes closely to make sure they're comparable in replacing parts, warranty on work performed, warranty on replaced parts, etc.

 

[angry hampster]

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=515174

 

[Sluggo]

Probably better to just ditch the air suspension and convert to a conventional set-up.

http://www.strutmasters.com/mercury-grand-marquis-suspension-s/65.htm

Also check for the kit you want on eBay, these guys sometimes sell their kits there at a discount.

 

[BoberFett]

My old man just had to get the rear air ride suspension on his Continental fixed and it was around $1600. I told him to just replace it with a standard suspension, but he insisted on using factory parts.

 

[Vic Vega]

The Conti has autoleveling front and rear air suspension. Those are really good riding cars.

Panthers (CV, GM, TC) only have rear air suspension.

You can switch to poverty coils if you want but why? Just fix the car.

 

[LordMorpheus]

Odds are you just need two of these:
http://www.arnottindustries.com/part_MERCURY_Air_Suspension_Parts_yid3_pid20_gid68.html

It's not a bad job to swap them (did it on my town car in an hour or two), but some of the stuff you need to screw with is in really tight areas, so you'll either want a couple long needle nose pliers and big flathead screwdrivers, or a friend with tiny hands.

 

[IcePickFreak]

My girlfriend's parent's...

I don't have a clue of what is involved in something like this.

Odds are you just need two of these:
http://www.arnottindustries.com/part_MERCURY_Air_Suspension_Parts_yid3_pid20_gid68.html

It's not a bad job to swap them (did it on my town car in an hour or two), but some of the stuff you need to screw with is in really tight areas, so you'll either want a couple long needle nose pliers and big flathead screwdrivers, or a friend with tiny hands.

Your girlfriends parents car is not the time to learn how to work on a car.

 

[ric0chet06]

My parent's 96 Lincoln Continental's passenger rear airbag went out, had to replace both at about $1600. Their 01's passenger rear went out recently, about $300 to fix.

 

[LordMorpheus]

Your girlfriends parents car is not the time to learn how to work on a car.

Haha, fair enough.

Find a shop that will install the springs for you. Shouldn't be more than an hour or two of labor (if they're honest).