Air ride to springs/shocks in 1st gen 2001 EB 4x4?

[Jason Howland]

After reading about potential issues and eventual failure, I'm thinking about changing out the air ride in my 2001 EB 4x4 to standard springs and shocks.

What else is available out there for air ride to Spring/shock kits besides Monroe? Nothing against Monroe, just curious if there's something that's a better choice. i don't need top of the line but I'd be for paying a bit more for something better quality.

Could I do the front's first, then the rears or should it all be done at once?

 

[pdqcarrera]

Aren't you happy with the ride and self-leveling performance? I just replaced the compressor when it failed with a nice aftermarket unit.

 

[Expd830]

I redid the rear with new coil springs and spacers, shocks, and new sway bay.. It lifted my around 6”... Bought new struts for the front and raised the torsion bar.. Bought all components separately and save a lot of money

 

[Calabrio]

I think you can replace the rear shocks with anything you like, to the best of my knowledge, Monroe is the one company that sells an EZ install unit that replaces the front airspring.
I'd love to be able to try a Bilstein set-up, with the Monroe rear coils, if one existed.

 

[Machete]

I converted to Monroe, twice. First set lasted 80k miles till the shocks started to leak. Just installed new kit 6 mos ago. I looked at alternatives but didn't find anyone selling the entire kit.

 

[pdqcarrera]

BTW- I had upgraded to Bilsteins before having to replace the air ride compressor and it was a noticeable improvement over stock shocks. But then I tended to drive it a bit more spiritedly in those days than the average owner, especially on on/off ramps.

 

[Tgarcia4438]

Strutmaster has a very simple conversion. The bigger problem is the
Airbags over year’s developing cracks and not holding air. This will result in the compressor working overtime. Thus causing it to eventually fail.

https://www.strutmasters.com/suspension-parts/ford/ford-expedition/1997-ford-expedition/

 

[Machete]

Strutmaster only manufactured springs. They use other shocks. Reason I didn’t go w them was they wouldn’t guarantee which shocks they would send me. Wierd.