Installing Air Ride Suspension On A 1969 Ford Mustang - All Aired Up

This shows the upper end of the air spring in place using a supplied flat washer and retaining nut. All that remains to do on the upper end of the unit is to tighten the jamb nut. On the bottom of the air spring, the fasteners are installed at the cross-shaft, securing it to the upper control arm.

With the air fitting installed onto the air spring, a washer and rubber bushing are fitted to the upper end of the unit. This is no different than what a conventional shock absorber would have.

Here's the completed air-spring installation at the shock tower. When routing lines to the spring, be sure to avoid both moving parts and heat from the exhaust system.

Moving to the rear, the first thing to do is place the cradle in the correct position on the car. Next, mark the required locations where you will drill new holes with a center punch as shown.

Drill a pilot hole at the center punch locations, then open them up to the correct hole diameter as shown here.

Special threaded U-bolts are installed into the holes just drilled. You may wish to temporarily install a nut on one end of the bolt to eliminate the possibility of the bolt becoming lost inside the framerail by pushing it completely through. Don't laugh-we've seen it happen during a similar chore while installing a rear sway bar.

Here the U-bolt is shown in the desired position. Again, be certain not to accidentally knock the bolt up into the framerail when the cradle is raised into place.

The forward end of the cradle is secured to the car using these supplied fasteners. The hole shown is the access opening to the upper rear shock mounting point in the trunk area.

This photo shows the forward end of the rear cradle being tightened into position. There are four mounting points-two through the old shock openings and two through the new holes drilled in the center above the old pinion snubber support area.