The next modification I have performed is a complete coil spring conversion to this car. I performed the common "sensor lowering" to my Mark, and exposed a leak in the right front air strut. After close inspection, I discovered that all 4 of my 10 year old air bags were showing small leaks. The following pages will provide you with a basic description of the modification along with a few pictures of the job. I decided to install a 1.5 inch lowering kit to achieve the handling and look I desired
Here is a side-by-side picture of the original right front air strut next to the new coil-strut.
To remove the stock air strut, first I relieved the air strut of AIR by removing the solonoid. Then I proceded to un-hook all the air ride hardware. Next, I removed the upper control arm from the knuckle, removed the lower control arm-to-strut bolt, and unbloted the top nuts from the air strut, I was able to drop the air strut out of the car.
Here is a picture of the right front wheel well with the stock air strut removed.
The next pictures are of the right front coil-strut installed.
The kit came with both struts completely assembled with springs. After taking this picture, I completely removed the factory air ride height sensor, and solonoid, and then neatly wire-tied all the wire connections behind the inner fender cover. That way they would be kept safe, out of the way of the suspension components, and they will remain on the vehicle incase I ever decide to re-install new factory air suspension components.
