Air Shocks

I have a 1998 Chevrolet Venture and am curious about replacing the rear air shocks with regular shocks. Is it easy and safe to disconnect the air compressor and the self leveling system? A service advisor at a national auto repair shop refused to replace with regular shocks saying doing that will mess up the electronics/computer.

Service man is full of hoo haa........the non-air shocks will bolt right in.
There is no electronics to mess with,as you simply don't use the air compressor.The van senses height off of a arm mechanism under the van on the rear axle.Maybe he wants to sell the spendier shocks?

You might want to plug the hoses if you go with the normal shocks.I did it to my 97 Venture and it worked just fine. :iceslolan

I would dissconnect the fuse or power connection to the air compressor unless you don't mind it running all the time and burning up. Maybe disconnect and zip tie that little arm attached to the rear axle so it thinks the van is sitting high in the rear and then it won't turn the compressor on. That way you can still use it to blow up tires in an emergency or beach toys.

Keith

You can get Monroe Air shocks that fit the GM system for about $90. They really aren't much more than gas shocks.

Yah, I bought a pair of monroes at autozone, cost 50 bucks total. Swapped them out in 20 minutes, easy as pie. I zip tied the air lines together up under the car and out of the way. My compressor never worked and its too expensive to replace. If yours works, you will need to secure the little arm under the car in the up position, so the compressor isn't constantly running. If my compressor had worked though, i'da gotten the replacement monroe air shocks. I hear the load leveling is pretty sweet if you tow light loads.....

The Monroes I am talking about are air shocks that hook up to the factory compressor. They are direct replacements for the $358 set of GM shocks.