Expedition rear air bag shocks Q.

[Woppy V]

I've got a family members 98' Expedition that's rear suspension has started to sag so badly that it is no longer drivable. I poked my head under there and they've got a air bag suspension. From the looks of it there is also a compressor for both shocks. Does anyone know if the bags or compressor are known to fail? And 2ndly... couldn't I just convert to a regular shock set up as opposed to pickin n' probin the existing parts?

 

[TRACket Paul]

Check the air lines for breaks. Easy to replace.

 

[Woppy V]

Will do.

 

[Jhonatan Zavala]

things to check: air compresor and drier its located behind the right headlight, also look for the compresor selanoid thats located behind the right side of the front bumper, and there a switch on the rear axle that lets the computer know the ride height of the truck. the last one might be ur problem cause it tend to break from one side.

 

[Larry Hampton]

Had a '95 Windstar with bags, the compressor would cycle a lot, it was the bags in my case. I wanted to go to shocks and springs but it was a different setup. There was a guy on a forum that I was a member of that was the parts manager at a L/M dealership in Philly. I bought 'em from him and he had them drop shipped to my work at no cost. Took about 30 minutes to replace them.

 

[Dreman]

Here are a few places that list kits to replace the air bags with springs and shocks.



http://www.suncoreindustries.com/english-ford-expedition-97-02-air-suspension.html



http://www.strutmasters.com/ford-expedition-suspension-s/76.htm



http://www.suspension-alternatives.com/ford-expedition-air-suspension-kits.php

 

[Clay Campbell]

I would think switchin to a spring and shock set up wouldn't be too hard. There are most likely kits out there to do it. I have never messed with it on an explorer but whenever we used to have range rovers come into the shop with busted bag systems we always just swapped em for shocks and springs. That was one of the first jobs I did on my own when I started working. At that point I was no experience and all ambition and I got it done so my point is, it shouldn't be too difficult.

 

[Kevin Palmer]

Mix up some dish soap in a windex type bottle with water to get a soapy solution.



Jump wire the compressor to force it to run. Once you do so, spray the lines and the air bags and see if bubbles form. If so, you know you have a leak.



There is the switch as mentioned above, by forcing the compressor you bypass the switch to some degree. You bypass the on / off aspect of the switch but NOT the solenoids that allow air to get into the actual bags of the shocks.



So the bubble test is only good up to the shocks UNLESS you can unhook the swing arm of the level switch and move it around to get the solenoids to open up to allow air into the shocks.



If all else fails, get a replacement air shock line kit and hook it up to the factory shocks and mount the shrader valve somewhere you can get to it with a compressor and operate the shocks manually. This will bypass the rear load / level switch as well as the solenoids at the shock locations.



If the OEM compressor still works, you can hook it up to a switch and actually use it as the air source with some line adapting...



I use to work on MANY MANY Lincolns and they had the same set up.



The diagnostic system is bizarre. For Lincoln, key on and off 8 times, foot on the brake, then open and close the drivers door two times. This enters the test mode. Then each time you open and close the door it goes to the next shock.. Good times.. LOL

 

[scott degroot]

The 2 most common problems on these are 1) If the suspension sags over time with the key off then the air bags are most likely leaking. 2) If the suspension won't rise at all the compressor has most likely failed.



You can also just put regular springs on from a non air ride equipped Expedition...have done that lots of times.

 

[Woppy V]

Thanks a ton!