Experiences with air suspension > coil spring conversions

[jblnut]

I got a great deal from my mechanic on an old 2002 Lexus LS430, which up until recently had been very reliable. Well now one of the rear air struts has blown out and I'm having some trouble figuring out what to do. The replacement strut from Lexus is $750 (ouch), if you can even find a one, which you pretty much can't. Not that I want to go that route as the car has 4 of them (plus a $950 pump) and the last thing I want to do is put $5k into this old beater over the next few years rebuilding the air suspension.

So, I have been looking at coil spring conversion kits - essentially a bolt-in coil-over with some resistor packs to fool the air ride sensors. I found "strutmasters" first but after reading a lot of reviews the company scares me. And at $1200 for all 4, it's no bargain either. I found another company - Unity - that is more like $450 for the whole car and that I can do.

Any experience with these? I know a lot of Town Cars and Cadillacs use air so I'm guessing some of you have faced this choice at one time or another. What did you do ? Would you do it again?

jblnut

 

[gadget73]

I'm one of those anti-conversion types but the stuff for the Mark VII and Continental is very poorly engineered. Strutmasters is the usual source too, so maybe thats part of the reviews you're seeing. My parts are also a lot less expensive than yours though. At $700 per strut and close to a grand for the compressor I'd really have a hard time swallowing that pill.

Random thought, check with Arnott. I don't know if they have any air parts for you, but they've become the go-to for Lincolns. There is also Suncore and Westar, but their stuff isn't terribly awesome quality.

 

[jblnut]

Thanks - Arnott only does the fronts, but not the rears. No idea why...

jblnut

 

[relaximus]

I have been in the same situation with my '05 Jaguar Super V8. OEM air struts are $1K+ each, so I looked into Arnott coilovers as well. However, I found remanufactured air struts at RebuildMasterTech.com for $525/pair. I also found a rebuild kit on eBay for the compressor.

 

[Wildcat]

I think I saw Unity struts for our cars here and they were quite inexpensive--I think those might be one of the brands that some say to avoid at all costs. (Cheap imported struts, in other words.) Not sure, though, but that's the impression I had.

Doesn't Lexus share some platforms with Toyota? Is there maybe a strut/spring package from, say, an Avalon that might fit? Or another Lexus model that is close enough that it might share the same chassis? Just thinking out loud here. I know on my daughter's old 2002 Accord, it shares many parts with the Acura TL from the same span of years. The chassis aren't the same, but similar enough that some parts can be interchanged.

I do see struts at Rock Auto for the non-automatic suspension version. I think the only other option left might be to hit the salvage yards and see if you can scrounge a standard suspension set vs. the automatic leveling setup. With those parts, you could then install new struts as needed. As for the sensor, naturally something would have to be rigged to fool the computer into thinking the automatic system is still there.

 

[gadget73]

you can't just turn it off and leave it off? Thats how it works with the Lincolns, but their system even on the more modern stuff is not integral to anything else.

 

[Shadowdog]

Lexus RWD based cars don't share platforms/chassis with Toyota, but FWD based ones do. Funny RA doesn't sell springs for that Lexus. Maybe most or all in that year had air springs.

 

[jblnut]

The rear set arrived this weekend and will go in tomorrow night. Will report back with results....

jblnut

 

[jblnut]

The new strut/spring combo went in without incident. The ride height is about perfect and the ride is just a tad firmer than the air struts. I'd call it a win at the price point. The instructions with them list them as Elite Suspension parts but some quick Google-fu shows that Elite and Unity are the same company (same physical address anyway).

Waiting for the fronts to get back in stock now so I can complete the conversion and disconnect the air compressor. For now the car seems to be working OK with the lines crimped off in the back (fronts are still factory air units).

jblnut