Looking at picking up a 2005 Navigator for a great price. The catch is the air suspension system has failed and it's sitting all the way down. Guessing it is resting on the rubber bumpers.

Can the vehicle be driven the 20 miles I need to go to get home? If I do buy it I'd do the swap to coil springs, but I have to get it home first.

 

Find a route where you can drive slow. Mine handled like a drunken whale in a storm when my air suspension failed. I don't think you will hurt the truck driving it home.

 

As previously stated, keep your speed down and take it slow over any bumps, pot holes, etc.

The air suspension is easily fixed and one of the reasons I purchased two of them. The ride is so much nicer than any coil/leaf sprung vehicle I have ever owned. If the compressor is shot, that is easily replaced. Aftermarket support is decent.

 

I replaced my 2001 air suspension with coils several years ago, and the ride on the coils seems better to me than the air suspension. It could just be that the coils are new and the air was getting old.

 

You can damage the upper strut/airbag seal if you drive w/o air. Where the upper strut bolt/pin goes through the upper plate on the air bag, there is a rubber seal, and I'm not talking the O rings, but the upper strut mount. As the strut is fully compressed it is fully up in the air bag. If you drive it and bump it hard enough, you can damage that seal and then it will have to be replaced.