apexsw20

hi guys i am new to this board and i would like to introduce myself. my name is alex and i have owned many mr2 turbo's since i was 15 years old, about 11 mr2's to be exact. i am from honolulu and for some time now i have been wanting a celsior.

my question has to deal with the air suspension that comes with the 1990 and up ls400's.

i would like to know if you can change out the air suspension and convert it to strut suspension? i ask this because the first thing i do when i get a ls400 is drop the car 1.5" but i read on here that air suspension can't be dropped, it would be better if i bought a ls400 with strut suspension.

also is there a kit of some sort that allows you to drop the ls400 with air suspension?

here in hawaii , most ls400 have air suspension so i am pretty limited to my purchase.

can anyone help? thank you.

BrianV

Yes it can be converted, people do it all the time because replacing broken air suspension parts is extremely expensive. However, the swap is not cheap either. If you haven't bought the car yet then it'd be a no brainer to get one without air suspension if you plan on lowering.

dunn378

i have the air suspension and yes it can be lowered (i did it), but i'm still going to convert my Ls to coilovers. i hoping that the coilovers bolt right up.

apexsw20

thank you for your responses .

i am hoping that a coilover can bolt up easily as well but because of the electronic compenets of the air suspension you probably have to eliminate or block out sensors from the ecu or something to that nature.

dunn378

well i'm hoping i'll just have to turn off the supension switch in the trunk and that will take care of that. the only problem is when the switch is off and u drive the car the suspension light on the dash blinks but i can deal with that.

BOBH

I just changed the air suspension on my 96 LS to the normal suspension. I purchased the 4 struts from Grahams auto (205-668-3411) for $510 including shipping. Thjen I sold my three good air struts for $500 on E-bay. It cost $400 at the repair shop to make the switch. My remaining issue deals with the plastic switch plate by the shifter. I received a new plate with only the pwr switch but it has a 4 prong plug, not a 6 prong plug like the original plate that has both the pwr and air buttons. Has anyone figured out how to switch these plates? I would perfer not to have the air button any longer. Thanks Bob Hanson

dunn378

thanks for your response, now we have someone who can confirm it can be done. thanks!!!

BOBH

As I described two posts ago, I changed out my air suspension for the regular struts. Today I finished the project by replacing the plastic piece with the buttons on it. The new piece only has the pwr button. It is more involved than that however as you have to remove the old 6 prong plug-in and put it into the new plate. This requires some plastic cutting and removal of the air suspension button. The non-air plastic piece only has a 4 prong plug-in which will not work with the car's 6 prong plug. Remember to make sure the air suspension button is off before removing the button or your dash will continue to show the air suspension light. Now the car looks like it never had air suspension to begin with.

TreoWayne

Can the air suspension be changed to coils just by bolting in strut assemblies from a junked LS400 with coil suspension? Or do you NEED the aftermarket conversion kit. I have my eye on a cheap LS400 with a broken air suspension but I will only buy it if I can put it back together with junkyard parts.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

yes it can. thank you for searching, though i believe by reading you would have found the answer to this w/o needing to resurrect such an old post.

TreoWayne

Sorry. I tried sending a PM to BOBH but received no response.

dj_hp

Lol that's because that person only had TWO posts at that time and that was 7 years ago =/

twostick

http://www.arnottindustries.com/part...id7_pid46.html

Strut kits air and spring and a smoking deal on upper control arms. I've used their bags on a Town Car I had. Good stuff and great prices.

Kevin