advise for air suspension on a 97 crown vic

My crown vic seems to have lost its suspension in the rear. The compressor comes on but it doesn't help and boy what a bumpy ride!
Any way I noticed they sell a converter kit to convert it to regular shocks and wondering if repairing the existing air suspension would be better or just convert it to avoid future repair costs. I read the air suspension only last a few years especially in the extreme temps we get here (CA) in the summer (100 + degrees most days).
any advice would be most appreciated as to just fix or convert it to regular shocks.
PS-- I LOVE this car and only got it six months ago and its my first luxury car and I wanna keep it. Yeah I know I get a luxury car AFTER the gas prices shoot up:yikes:

my crown vic had regular shocks, but i installed a pair of air shocks from napa the price was 80+ the thing with those is that are cheap and you could installed them in a couple hours, problem is the are manual, they come with an air line to supply air and you adjust it it's no longer computer controlled, but you no longer spend in compresor or lines or driers, anyway, i believe there is even an adapter for the compresor and those cheap shocks at napa too. anyway i travel a lot and they are harder than regular shocks but i love the optional couple inches sometimes we have 6 people and luggage and the car seems like its empty they are really good. i'm very sorry if my english is not very good, but its not primary language.

I thank you for your info!:iceslolan I've ordered the convertion kit and will have it installed next week. My mechanic suggested it (he owns a crown vic too) and I found out it was cheaper to convert than to replace.