Air Suspension

[lovlex]

i was thinking about buying a 93 LS 400. it has the air suspension. should i stay away from this because of the suspension? i hear they can be a lot of trouble. the car has 97,000 miles on it. thanks.

adam

[blake918]

It's not so much that they are troublesome; it's that the air struts cost $1,000 a piece, so you are looking at $4k just in parts when they wear out which is usually indicated by corners(of the car...where the struts are) sagging when the car is off. I wish my car had the air suspension because I always have a lot of junk in my trunk, so it's usually low in the rear, and the height control would raise the car to a normal height; plus, I hear that air ride gives a super soft ride. Also, on the first gen air ride cars, they have a sport mode for the suspension. I don't know how well it works, but it sounds cool!! B)

[SW03ES]

Honestly, its not really that much of a difference. My dad has had two LS' with air ride, his 98 and his 04. The 98 with air ride was SUPER rare, you almost never find a gen III LS with air ride. When I was shopping for my car I looked at 2000 LS's CPO and of course none of them had air ride. Comparing them to his 98 with air ride, the cars rode almost exactly the same. If anything the cars WITHOUT air ride felt more controlled yet just as smooth where as his car tended to wallow a little, was cushier on the corners. Could have been the miles though, the 2000 LS I almost bought had 30,000 miles and his had almost 150k or so I guess at that point. His air shocks were starting to leak a little right before he traded it too. Brand new to brand new they were probably pretty identical.

I haven't really driven enough LS430s to know if its a difference or not with them but I suspect its the same. No way its worth the risk of that awesome cost of repair.

[90LS400Lexus]

I agree with Blake- they are not really troublesome, but just costly to replace. Like he said- they are about $1000 each. If one goes, the others are probably likely to follow. I would prefer the air ride, if they did offer a "cushier" ride, because I thought the ride on my LS was too firm, despite the OEM rear struts (new). I think my front ones had collasped, giving it a harsh ride. My 92 Buick Park Avenue had standard air suspension (rear only) and it had a very cushy ride, but the handling was still good. Not quite as expensive to replace- I think about $300 each. The Lincoln Continentals (FWD) and Town Cars (RWD) with the air suspension also are costly to replace. I think about $1200 each on those cars. They have an extremely super soft ride with weak handling. One of my fathers old friends wife had a 1990 Continental. It had the air suspension and I remember that car had a cloud like ride, but with excessive bounce. When on the freeway, it was like riding on the ocean- extremely floaty, but big bumps in the roads were totally unnoticed.

Good luck with your purchase. I would not steer clear of this car just because it has the air suspension. It has 97K, so it should be OK for a while yet. You can also opt to change it over to standard struts if you ever had to.

[SW03ES]

My dad had a 90 Contie with air ride too, and a 93...

Definately had to take dramamine if you were riding with him on a trip lol.

[90LS400Lexus]

LOL. You are right SWO3ES. Seems like they all have a super floaty ride. As mentioned, we had our 76' Lincoln Town Car. It did not have air suspension, but it had a ride unlike any other car. With a base curb weight of 5200 pounds :o (EMPTY) it could not have anything but a cloud soft ride. :) My grandpa had a 1965 Lincoln Continental convertible a few months ago- the one with the suicide doors. Those were about the heaviest production cars ever made. It had a base curb weight of 5600 pounds. I drove that car on several occasions and it had one of the best rides of any car I have rode in, but handling was extremely weak and numb.

My old 72' Buick Electra, also had a clould like ride- but again, around 4800 pounds empty. My 69' Caprice- weighs about 4400 pounds empty and it too has a cloud like, super soft ride, but this is typical of the huge American land yachts and the newer Lincolns were no exception. Gotta love them. :)

My dad had a 90 Contie with air ride too, and a 93...

Definately had to take dramamine if you were riding with him on a trip lol.

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[blake918]

I just took a trip with my uncle in his '01 Town Car Cartier(it's got air suspension). I found the ride extremely pleasent and not floaty. It's pretty low mileage-like 35k, so that might have something to do with it. I drove it, and you can tell that this car is not meant to perform at all! lol You have to take turns really slow. Overall, I was very impressed with this car; it was very quiet inside if they'd only refine the 4.6-it's a little raspy when you get on it, it'd be a real champ! I was suprised at how small the driver's space was though. There was a ton of headroom(which my LS doesn't have), but there was next to no legroom though. The '04 TC(even more room with the power pedals) is the most comfortable thing I've driven though! :) I think the most recent(like 98-02..or 03?) Continental was a great looking car(kinda like a TC for those under 60! lol)! I've heard that it is small inside though.

Steve, thanks for the LS air ride insight! ;) Did your dad ever change his struts to get 150k? If he didn't, that's not bad at all!!

90, that rear air suspension steup sounds similar to what was on our Expedition. It was called "Load Leveling" or something like that. I'm not sure if it was in the rear or all 4 corners.

[90LS400Lexus]

Yeah- you are right Blake- it was a "load leveling" suspension. It was really designed to keep the rear of the car level, even with a load of passengers and/or luggage. I do not think it had it on the front. That is neat- I did not know the Expeditions had it. Learn something new everyday. :)

90, that rear air suspension steup sounds similar to what was on our Expedition. It was called "Load Leveling" or something like that. I'm not sure if it was in the rear or all 4 corners.

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[SW03ES]

Nope, that was 150k on the original struts.

As for the TC you know why there's so little legroom? The car is very, very old. The engine and transmission are ancient (and huge) the driveline hump on those cars is enormous. The TC is also one if the last (if not the last) cars to have a body on frame construction like a truck. Thats why they're so popular as limos, and thats partly why you see so many SUV limos now, modern cars aren't as suitable. Unibody cars just don't survive long as limos, new Devilles etc. There just isn't enough support in the structure without stregnthening it and that adds a LOT of weight. Think about it, do you see older Town Cars or older Cadillac limos around? Definately Town Cars, at least post 1996 when the RWD body on frame Cadillac Fleetwood was discontinued. Town Cars make great, long lived limos. SUVs do also, because of the full frame. In fact after Cadillac cancelled the Fleetwood they had to build (from scratch) along with the Secret Service a body on frame structure with RWD and make it appear to be a Cadillac Deville for the new presidential limo. The weak structure of the Deville simply couldn't handle that kind of weight. Just some trivia.

A lot of the legroom we've grown accustomed to in newer cars is because of the unibody construction and downsizing of components like the transmission that eat into interior room.

My grandpa had a 1965 Lincoln Continental convertible a few months ago-

Very cool! B)

[blake918]

It was a '97 Eddie Bauer 4x4...very cool truck! I'm not sure if the new Expe's have that option or not.

I never knew that the air struts lasted that long!! :o :D

[SW03ES]

My Explorer has load leveling in the rear too ;)

And blake, check my edited post above about the Town Cars...

[95LS400Bob]

I would deduct whatever the conversion cost is to get rid of the air ride from whatever the party wants for the car. Then you got it covered one way or the other.

[blake918]

In fact after Cadillac cancelled the Fleetwood they had to build (from scratch) along with the Secret Service a body on frame structure with RWD and make it appear to be a Cadillac Deville for the new presidential limo. The weak structure of the Deville simply couldn't handle that kind of weight. Just some trivia.

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Cool!! Looks like I learned something new also!! :D Why didn't the government just armor up a Lincoln?? The TC already RWD and has a beefy platform. Did they rework everything on the DeVille or just put the Caddy frame on something more capable? I wonder what kind of engine they have under the hood? :whistles: I saw an armored '04Lincoln TC in Car and Driver...it was pretty cool, but they said how slow it is because of all the armor!

[SW03ES]

They have a contract with Cadillac. Actually the presidential limo used to always be a Lincoln up until some time in the late 70s. Apparently the gov't felt Cadillac had a better reputation than Lincoln for being a "purely American" luxury car. Thats fancy talk for Cadillac did it cheaper.

Actually not a lot is known about the new limo, a lot of it is classified. I know that most of the car is built precisely by and to the secret service's specs, and very little of it is from the Deville, I believe only the front and rear clips. They even changed the door handles because they foung them unsatisfactory...

[90LS400Lexus]

I am not sure how $$$ the Chrysler suspension is to replace, but it must be reliable. My grandparents had a 1988 Chrysler New Yorker sedan several years ago that they bought when it was almost new. I think it had 20K. This car had 4-wheel air ride suspension. It too was like riding on a cloud. Super softly sprung. Most EVERYTHING went wrong with that junker (only 80K when traded), but the suspension seemed to hold up very well. It received the best care- oil changes every 2000 miles, babied, garaged, never over 35 MPH in the city and it still fell apart. He finally traded it for a new Buick.

My grandfather (same one that had the Chrysler) has a 1985 Isuzu Pup' LS 2wd truck that he bought nearly new. Believe it or not, that truck rides like a Cadillac. I have never ridden in a truck that rides that softly and smoothly. It is the top of the line model, with all power options, including A/C. Perhaps there was some sort of the "luxury ride" package? I have no idea, but I have always been amazed by the ride of that truck.

[90LS400Lexus]

Does anyone know if the newest Cadillac DeVille still has air suspension- even as an option? My uncles father-in-law just bought himself and his wife - each a brand new 2005 Cadillac Deville. A "his and hers" I guess you could say. He paid around $50,000 each for them I think. He traded in his 02' DeVille and her 00' Deville, but probably more like "gave them" away. He kept his 97 Mercedes E-Class. I think they still have a couple of Mercedes. For some reason he will not sell that car. I remember my cousin mentioning that his grandfather (one that bought the two new Cadillacs) said these cars had the best ride of any car has has ever bought. If I recall, he bought a new 1999-2000 Lexus LS400 in late 1999, for his wife, but for some reason, traded it for a 2000 Deville- which he just traded in on one of the 2005 DeVilles. I will need to find out why- I had forgot about that.....

I was just wondering if the new ones had the air suspension.

[blake918]

They do. Here's Caddy's spec sheet:

http://www.cadillac.com/cadillacjsp/models...p=chassis&year=

[SW03ES]

Some people are just Cadillac people. I personally don't think Cadillacs ride that well anymore. When I'm out of town or something I usually rent a Deville and I think my Lexus rides better, smooth but not boaty like the Cadillac. Some people like that boaty ride though. To me it doesn't feel smooth.

I don't believe that Cadillac does air suspension anymore, I think its normal struts with magnetic load levelling. They haven't for a while, my dad had a 95 STS and it had road sensing suspension but it wasn't air sprung like a Lincoln for instance.

[jvcn]

I'm about to get a 95 Lexus which has an air suspension. It still works but I want to think ahead. Where are the best places to buy OEM struts or afteramarket conversions?

What is the current consensus on buying rebuilt air suspensions?

[blake918]

Some people are just Cadillac people. I personally don't think Cadillacs ride that well anymore. When I'm out of town or something I usually rent a Deville and I think my Lexus rides better, smooth but not boaty like the Cadillac. Some people like that boaty ride though. To me it doesn't feel smooth.

I don't believe that Cadillac does air suspension anymore, I think its normal struts with magnetic load levelling. They haven't for a while, my dad had a 95 STS and it had road sensing suspension but it wasn't air sprung like a Lincoln for instance.

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I guess if you like them then why not? But, I'd never ever spend $100k on 2 Caddys! Why not a LS430 UL and ES330?:whistles: Atleast Lincoln has the decentcy to knock atleast $10k off the sticker!

I'm not sure what Cadillac uses-their spec sheet isn't all that good, but the way the describe it makes it sound like air struts because they talk about how it controls body roll, hard braking/accelerating, and ride control. They call it Continuously Variable Road Sensing Suspension(CVRSS 2.0). I looked at Lincoln's spec sheet for the TC, and it only has air in the rear.

PP Lexus has the air struts for $435 per rear strut and $800 per front strut. http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/ind...995&catalogid=1 .

[SW03ES]

Cadillac knocks 10k off too LOL, especially if you've had a Cadillac before.

[blake918]

Cadillac knocks 10k off too LOL, especially if you've had a Cadillac before.

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LOL

[95LS400Bob]

I'm about to get a 95 Lexus which has an air suspension.  It still works but I want to think ahead.  Where are the best places to buy OEM struts or afteramarket conversions?

What is the current consensus on buying rebuilt air suspensions?

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Here's a link to suspension conversion. http://www.lextreme.com/ascon.htm

I'd have no qualm buying an air suspension car. But only if I subtracted the conversion from the price they want for the car. Because you are going it replace it

down the road. Otherwise I'd look for a non air ride car. It's all here on the forums and when I went Lexus hunting I was fully armed.

Cadillac owners we were. 1975, 1976, 1977, 1985 (bad car) 1993. None of which hold a candle the Lexus. Just ask my wife.

[90LS400Lexus]

I agree- I would not either, but my uncles father-in-law does not care how he wastes money. :P I would opt for a 05' Mercedes S500, Lexus LS430, BMW 7-Series, or the all-new Acura RL, but the new DeVilles are still nice cars. I do think he got some sort of a huge discount, because he has bought several brand new Cadillacs in the past and he did trade in two late model DeVilles on these 2005 models. I think he had a new Lincoln before, but was displeased. They really liked their Mercedes E-Class, so it has stuck around. His wife has always liked Cadillacs for her car and she has recently been quite ill, so he thought he would buy her a new one to cheer her up a bit.

[Wilfred]

Mine has air suspension however if i knew it had it i probably would have stayed away from it after hearing about the repair costs. If they do fail one day im changing it to springs and shocks.

Having said that it does ride very smoothly. Near where i live they have these shocking rail road crossing and when u drive over the tracks in my other car u just go S*@T but with the lexus u don't feel a thing.

Someone mentioned that above that you can change the damper setup from normal to sport. Although it sounds cool, you can't feel much difference. Especially considering the fact that the LS400 will never be pushed hard enough on the road or the track. For the everyday driver, its a useless gadget.