Just finished installing non-air suspension on 96 conti.

I highly recommend this ebay seller suspension-alternatives he doesnt have any items listed at the moment but you can contact him for a set i bought my full 4 wheel conversion for $375 shipped it included all brackets and springs but no shocks i am using the originals.
i decided for a non-air because my front bag was leaking and my air compressor stopped coming on so the front was sagging bad and instead of spending 300 for new bags and paying to have the system checked and fixed for the compressor malfunction i just wanted something reliable. It was fairly easy to install but at first i did have a slight problem i couldnt find the manual i had misplaced it and was instaling the coil upside down so it wasnt going on right.Once i found the manual i fixed that error and it took about 2 hours per front wheel. About 1 hour each rear wheel using power air tools without these it would take double that.

for the most part a little frustrating but once it was done the car rides very well and its quiet

one of the lower front brackets required slight grinding because the hole was 1/8" too small but that was easy to do so it was no big deal

A little tip remember to reinstall the black washer so that the top of the strut can turn with the bearing i forgot about that washer and had to redo my front ones.

second follow directions carefully the picture is very detailed for the fronts.

Third the 4 wire connections needed to turn off the ride control light are fairly easy just make sure to follow directions overall this took about 5 minutes.

I just wanted to share this so that if anyone is interested you can pay less for a very good system instead of paying 600 as i see some are offering this system for.

they also have a system with passive shocks for i think $599 but i decided to use my originals so that i could still control the firmness but if my shocks had been leaking i would have gone with the complete system.

Btw replacing factory components is incredibly expensive and although there is a slight difference in the ride I don't think personally the price to replace the parts is worth it especially considering that the rest of the parts will begin to fail soon and there are more than 10 suspension parts in our conti air ride systems.

i bought this below http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7993058216&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1

Thanks for the details. I just ordered a 4-set from Strutmasters - hope the ride is OK. The front end dropped; compressor wasn't running (?). Checked again - solenoid on side of compressor very hot, so disassembled the compressor - couldn't find anything. Had planned to take it to Ford/Lincoln for diagnosis until I talked to Joe at Strutmasters: Diagnosis - $100, compressor (if that's the problem) - $200, Install - ??. Price for strut kit looks real good, when considering the front bags have never been replaced.