Ok for many of us here we own cadys with Air ride. some of us have spent money replacing struts and later find out are car still is riding low and having ride being very floaty or bouncy than normal. Well i am going to work on fixing this problem. Im going to eliminate the use of the compressor by using 2 air supension kits which i will spend roughly $30 on at my local auto parts supplier. Each kit will adjust one pair of struts.




I saw the kit used on my brothers 89 Brougham which only used one kit for the front shocks.Its adjustable and easy to access. Each kit comes with 20ft of airline and what you see in the pic.

I plan on using the existing lines if i can and have the T fitting located in an easy to get location. as for the compressor im leaving it connected to advoid any suspension messages on the dash. All im doing really is running the air lines to the T valve instead of the compressor. Im planning on making the access point in the trunk in the little storage spot on the right where the removable door is. i feel this spot is eay to get to and hidden at the same time. This is what i planned out so i may change things as i go into this.

I will post my progress as i hope to start this project in the next few days or as soon as the weather is nice. I will also post pics of the installation process. This should deffinitly work for older Cadillacs and vehicles with air ride. Some of you may see this as a hack job but when im done it will look professional. Im looking at alternate ways to fix air ride by not using the compressors. So with that said i hope this will be helpful to any one who is looking for a way to get around having to buy a compressor. Also if mods see this being helpfull go ahead and sticky it after im done. if any of you are interested in using this method keep checking in. Feel free to PM me or post questions or concerns as i move into this project.

 

Ok so today i messed around and got my air ride fixed. i realized i only needed 1 airline kit. so if you got 2 than just take back one or keep it as a spare.

what i did was cut the 2 air lines that ran into the compressor. The compressor is on the passenger side rear. Right behind the rear wheel. you need to remove the plastic shroud by removing the 2 screws and 3 plastic retainers. Once removed you can see the one line that runs from the right rear strut to the compressor location both the rear lines are side by side at the compressor. So what i did was cut that as close to the compressor as i could.

Once that was done i took the two black caps and slid them onto each line followed by the small rubber O-Ring. (Seen in the previous post)

Then one line at a time i screwed the caps onto the T splitter only about 2 turns just to get them started. Then i pushed the line as far into the splitter and finished screwing the caps on till they were as tight as i could get them with my fingers. When done it should look something like the first pic below.


Next i drilled a hole in the plastic shroud to fit the valve stem. the reason i chose this location was because it was easy to access and i didnt have to extend the air lines. There is enough clearance that nothing will hit it.

Once you have the hole drilled to fit the valve stem insert the valve stem and screw on the small chrome nut. Only tighten using your fingers cuz the threads are plastic and will strip easily.


Once this is done it should look like this. You are all done for now and just need to add air into the system. Have with you a TPS gauge and add no more than 70psi but have at least 25psi. As you add air you will see the car rise which is good. Just make sure to check for leaks, by using a spray bottle with soapy water. If no leaks are found you good to go and fixed your problem for under 20 bucks.

 

Well i wanted to give you guys an update on how my air ride project is going. My rear struts which are aired up to 32psi. this seems to be working out very good at this rate. What i have noticed is the ride quality is alot less slushy and more responsive to bumps. I have no leaks and things seem great. what i also noticed is now that my rear suspension rides good my front struts are noticebly worn out. I always noticed the front to be very slopy and bouncy at time but thought it was due to the rear struts being low on air. So now that i see its just the front struts are worn out i will end up throwing another $800 at my car and replace the front struts. Im not sure why i have dumped as much money ($6,600) in this car as i have, but im in sofar that i might as well keep going. lol This car is now just as good as when it was new. even with it just hitting the 100k mark about 2 weeks ago. Also having replaced headgaskets at 90k and rebuilt transmission at 100k and now for new struts. All this in just the 2years of owning it, I guess I just love my cady more than any other car ive owned.