One Month With Air Suspension, Now Back to Stock

[markboris]

So I thought I would try out air suspension..... I mainly was after a less bouncy, smoother ride, NOT that I have roads around here that give me the super bad harmonic bounce over expansion joints that many others get but I do have irregular road surfaces that can get the car to hop about. My GT500 has a much smoother but firm ride and doesn't bounce/hop whatsoever. Both cars have magneride struts/shocks. The Mach-E weighs exactly 1000 lbs. more than the GT500.

With the help of Universal Air Suspension Company, I put together a system that fit my needs. What I mean by this is I wanted a system that would have quiet compressors, and a small enough tank for everything to fit neatly in the frunk. I wanted to be able to keep the ride height between stock and about one inch lower (certainly not going to be slamming the car to the ground like others have). Also wanted to keep my magneride struts/shocks which is something that is not the norm as air suspension systems generally include shocks tuned for the air bags. Total system cost, $3600

Two well known air management systems out there are, AccuAir and AirLift. I went with the AirLift 3P as they've been in business for quite some time. Also because I liked their App (bluetooth) which has a large, clear, color display and easy to use. I chose two Viair VC3102 compressors because they are smaller and quieter than the standard ones (310 CFM). I originally got a 4 gal air tank which would fit in the frunk along with the compressors but would be too crowded (it has to look good) so ended up with a 2 gal tank. The airbags, tank, brackets, mounting plates and spacers are all made in house by Universal Air Suspensions.

I started this project one month ago and it took me 3 full days to install it. I've never done an air suspension system before and it was very easy and quite fun. It just takes time routing all the air lines, mounting the air bags in the four corners and installing the tank, compressors and air manifold in the frunk plus wiring everything up. I'm fairly picky so spent a lot of time making sure it was a very clean installation with all air hoses and wiring securely tied up so as not to have any issues.

After I got everything installed it all worked perfectly and what I mean by that is there were no air leaks and the air management system was easy to set up and worked great. Was able set three different presets; stock height, my preferred height (one inch lower) and the lowest height I could run because of my wide tires (one inch lower again). As far as the ride goes, it was only slightly more firm than stock and definitely had less bounce or hopping around on irregular road surfaces that I could feel. What I was not expecting was the handling which was about the difference between when I had the stock sway bars to when I installed the Steeda Sway bars and that was quite the difference. The car handled much flatter with less body roll and that made me happy.

Unfortunately there were two issues that needed to be addressed and at this time, I need to use my car and don't want it to be out of commission while I'm redesigning the suspension. First, the front struts didn't have enough travel since they were not designed for air bags so with the limited travel, when I would go over dips or large bumps, they would bottom out on the rubber bumpers. In order to remedy this, I could either replace my magneride struts for one of their custom designed struts made for air bags or I could modify the outer casing of my strut. I wanted to keep my magnerides and don't have the time to start modifying them to work which could take a few weeks or more to get right. Second, I feel the rear air bags are a bit too large. I tried several different spacers and angles but no matter what, when compressed, they got very close to the half shaft boot that goes into the drive unit. Again, it would take some time to try different sized bags which would mean new spacers being made for them. Just did not want to go there at this time.

So here we are one month later and yesterday I ripped it all out, put in the OEM springs and she is back to stock. That took exactly 7 hours. The ride is back to being a bit bouncy and more body roll but that's how I'm going to leave it unless someone else or some company gets these air bags/struts dialed in. I don't like having my car inoperable for any length of time and I'm not going to be the guinea pig developing an air bag system for the Mach-E. Universal Air Suspensions does have a kit and it comes with their struts/shocks and it is meant for the car to be slammed so while that works for some, it's not for me. By the way, the guys there are fantastic. They are all very knowledgeable and have been in the business a long time. Nothing bad to say about them or their company. This is all on me and thought I could install it and all would be perfect right out of the gate but that was not the case. Live and learn.

I was hoping this would work out without issues as I was looking forward to going down to Fresno and meeting up with Anton where he has severe bounce in his Mach-E every day on his way to and from work. Even though we didn't get to test it out, I am pretty certain the bounce would have been greatly reduced. One side note, while I had the air suspension for the past few weeks, I always drove in Unbridled drive mode. That is my normal setting anyway and the car rode great. When I changed to Whisper drive mode, the car became much softer than when it had the springs. A more cushy ride and kind of reminded me of my Escape. The magneride shocks seemed to have more of a variance between soft and firm with the air bags than they did with the springs.

While I don't always take photos of my mods, I did take some of this one plus a short one minute video. In the video I start with the car at the lowest height I can run. From there it goes up to my preferred height, then it goes up stock height then it reverses and goes back down again. I have wide tires that are flush with the wheel lip moulding (running my all seasons right now 265/45/20 F, 295/40/20 R, my summer tires are 315/35/20 F, 275/40/20 R) so I can only go so low before the sidewall touches the inside of the moulding at the top. It was fun watching the car go up and down remotely using the AirLift app.

 

[Mach1E]

Fun project and great write up!

Still seems to confirm the suspicion that the “bounciness” is more shock related than spring related.

Also interesting that the air bags still seemed to follow the spring rules of “lower is stiffer.”

 

[markboris]

Fun project and great write up!

Still seems to confirm the suspicion that the “bounciness” is more shock related than spring related.

Also interesting that the air bags still seemed to follow the spring rules of “lower is stiffer.”

Thanks and yes it was a very fun project. Really enjoyed doing something completely different.

I'm not sure how to explain this but the short air bag I think has less bounce because there is less travel and is more firm than a long spring. However I completely agree with you and the bounce has more to do with the under dampening of the shocks which is why GT owners find slightly less bounce than other trims and GTPE owners even less still on Unbridled drive mode.

As far as "lower is stiffer" that is definitely not the case. It is the opposite. I did not mention that at all and should have. The more air pressure you add to the air bag, the higher the car goes (obviously) and the stiffer the suspension gets. It is very noticeable. The lower you go, less pressure, the softer it gets. Overall however, whether the car is low (soft) or high (firm) it is more firm at any pressure than the springs.

 

[woody]

Fifty + years ago I was a backyard mechanic. Gave it up when catalytic converters and of course analyzers were introduced. Not enough time then with two jobs, school (five decades worth) and full time work, etc.
Eventually pared down (all) tools to prevent temptation. Just basic tools now for simple jobs/maintenance.
The point being: I can vicariously enjoy the jobs (which I would have to hire done) you guys undertake!
Thanks.

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

Mark,
Could these be set to provide more ground clearance? Everyone uses them to lower the car but like you I’m happy with stock height, until I get a ton of snow. Then I’d like to raise it up an inch or so to avoid plowing snow with the front lip. With your experience, is that a possibility?

 

[markboris]

Fifty + years ago I was a backyard mechanic. Gave it up when catalytic converters and of course analyzers were introduced. Not enough time then with two jobs, school (five decades worth) and full time work, etc.
Eventually pared down (all) tools to prevent temptation. Just basic tools now for simple jobs/maintenance.
The point being: I can vicariously enjoy the jobs (which I would have to hire done) you guys undertake!
Thanks.

Woody, It's in my blood but getting more and more difficult for me to do these types of tinkering. In one of my high school yearbooks the caption under my name read "carburetor king". At almost 68 with two worn out knees and a hip that needs replacing, I won't be able to do this for much longer. I'll be on the sidelines like you soon watching others do these jobs.

 

[markboris]

Mark,
Could these be set to provide more ground clearance? Everyone uses them to lower the car but like you I’m happy with stock height, until I get a ton of snow. Then I’d like to raise it up an inch or so to avoid plowing snow with the front lip. With your experience, is that a possibility?

Rod, yes absolutely the car can be raised up quite a bit. That is another thing I meant to do when I was messing around with it was take a photo when I had it raised up quite high. I think it was about 3" above stock height which looked ridiculous but never drove it like that.

 

[AlpaChino]

Unbelievable ingenuity @markboris . What are the advantages and disadvantages of this air ride setup versus the KW coilovers? On my premium I feel like I've tolerated the bounciness about as much as I care to. If I make the investment to improve the "smoothness" of the ride I want to make sure it's a one-time job.

 

[MachEMaster]

Looks awesome slammed, and up on the lift! Happy tinkering in the New Year, in good health.

 

[markboris]

Unbelievable ingenuity @markboris . What are the advantages and disadvantages of this air ride setup versus the KW coilovers? On my premium I feel like I've tolerated the bounciness about as much as I care to. If I make the investment to improve the "smoothness" of the ride I want to make sure it's a one-time job.

I've had coilovers on other cars (not the Mach-E) but never had an air suspension. I didn't have this on long enough and didn't get it to the point where I could really be able to test it out because of the front and rear issues I explained in my post. I did put about 500 miles on the car during the month and really enjoyed it but it is not ready for prime time. While I think an air suspension would be great on this car, there really isn't a bolt on, plug and play kit that you can get like the coilovers which have been tested out more throughly on the Mach-E. I know coilovers always give you a more firm ride like the air bags but you would have more adjustably with the shocks to tune the car the way you want it with the coilovers. I can't really answer your question. I know there are members here that have coilovers and they would be better to ask how they like the ride.

I still think, when a manufacturer like Bilstien or Koni come out with firm, performance shocks, it should help out without having to change out the entire suspension.

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

Rod, yes absolutely the car can be raised up quite a bit. That is another thing I meant to do when I was messing around with it was take a photo when I had it raised up quite high. I think it was about 3" above stock height which looked ridiculous but never drove it like that.

In the Blizzards and drifts we’re having today, 3” of clearance could be just what the flight nurse ordered.

 

[Ron Bonifas]

I've had coilovers on other cars (not the Mach-E) but never had an air suspension. I didn't have this on long enough and didn't get it to the point where I could really be able to test it out because of the front and rear issues I explained in my post. I did put about 500 miles on the car during the month and really enjoyed it but it is not ready for prime time. While I think an air suspension would be great on this car, there really isn't a bolt on, plug and play kit that you can get like the coilovers which have been tested out more throughly on the Mach-E. I know coilovers always give you a more firm ride like the air bags but you would have more adjustably with the shocks to tune the car the way you want it with the coilovers. I can't really answer your question. I know there are members here that have coilovers and they would be better to ask how they like the ride.

I still think, when a manufacturer like Bilstien or Koni come out with firm, performance shocks, it should help out without having to change out the entire suspension.

I agree the solution to the bouncy ride people complain about would be the shocks(maybe just the rears). The valving was likely tighten up from the preproduction versions when it was said it didn't handle like a Mustang! Some would not be happy with that version however. It is fun how easily one can kick the tail out on lower speed turns. Hard to get best of both worlds without expensive, more complex automatic adjustable suspension system.

 

[HuntingPudel]

Great write-up @markboris and a fun read. Very informative. Interesting challenges. Maybe our friends at Steeda will partner with one of the air spring companies in order to create something for the MME.

I agree the solution to the bouncy ride people complain about would be the shocks(maybe just the rears). The valving was likely tighten up from the preproduction versions when it was said it didn't handle like a Mustang! Some would not be happy with that version however. It is fun how easily one can kick the tail out on lower speed turns. Hard to get best of both worlds without expensive, more complex automatic adjustable suspension system.

The dampers were not tightened up enough (if at all). The harmonic oscillation is because the dampers do not control rebound sufficiently for the spring rate and weight of the car. This is why Mark said that a good set of aftermarket dampers from a known performance company would likely help or solve the issue. I have been of the same thought.

Fun project and great write up!

Still seems to confirm the suspicion that the “bounciness” is more shock related than spring related.

Also interesting that the air bags still seemed to follow the spring rules of “lower is stiffer.”

I think you are confusing spring loading with spring rate. Spring loading is a function of the spring’s static height and spring rate. Shorter coil springs achieve higher rates due to either larger wire thickness (given the same number of windings), or fewer windings (given no change in wire thickness). Generally, it’s a combination of both. They achieve lowering by reducing static spring length. Reducing a spring’s static height by cutting (thus, not having changed the wire thickness) increases its spring rate by reducing the number of windings, but also reduces its spring loading. One could also reduce spring loading by retaining the static height of the coil and reducing the wire thickness (effectively lowering the car due to less spring rate).

That said, an air spring already installed in a car has a fixed static length. The only way to change its static length is to change the length of the air bladder. It achieves a change in ride height strictly via less spring rate (air pressure). The change in air pressure increases the spring loading, which changes the car’s ride height. Comparing an air spring to a coil, increasing the air pressure is similar to increasing the wire thickness (and not changing any of the other aspects of the coil).

 

[tuminatr]

I wondered about this system, saw Universal Air at SEMA and had me thinking it could be a good fit for my premium AWD

$3600 for the system sound like a bargain to me. But I am like you and wouldn't want a slammed car, if this system worked well at stock or 1-1.5" lowered it would be a winner in my book.

 

[Steve-in-MD]

Generally I love my 2021 MME GT - but they did "miss" on a few points. One is the suspension.

Congratulations to those who have the energy, enthusiasm and $ to tackle this type of project. For me, I expected my $65K Mach E GT to come with an appropriate suspension -- it was close but just a little too bouncy (meaning my wife complains all the time on less than perfect roadways and don't ask about my mother-in-law in the back seat.

I was kind of hoping for the type of suspension i remember from the Bilstein shocks on my older BMW's and other German marques. I wonder why Ford couldn't hit that target. I think they uesd to on their European Fords (back in the day). I don't think I'd spend the $3,500 mentioned, but I would $1,500 or maybe $2K to get it right. More than that and I'll shop more carefully next time (I think even the GT PE is better with it's suspension). Not sure how firm vs bouncy the down market models are.....

The other missed opportunity is one for goodwill -- they need to show continual improvements on the upgrading of the software and get it out OTA quickly. Some of the big complaints include the lack of Frunk (and for that matter Trunk) buttons on the main screen. These should always be visibe and they're not - they're two levels down -- if you even have them. That was one of the big hits in the early Tesla days - they did OTA all the time and got it out to everyone at the same time -- at least according to my Tesla owning friends.

Ford can shd should do that too - to generate good will instead of whining...

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