How the heck does the ARC work anyway. does it moniter shock pressures, car level, what. any clues?

On my 97.. you'lll see a cable mounted onto a lil rod on the passenger side rear arm.. the cable length tells the system if it'* too low ( shorter cable ) or too high ( longer cable ) showing out...

there are sensors on each lower control arm as you had weight it makes the gap between the lower control arm and the housing thing, smaller.. so the computer tells the compreser to turn on.. and then shut off when it reachs the gap that the lower control arm and the housing thing are set at... its a good idea to grease the sensor if you are constantly changing the wieght in the trunk of the car... because the sensor is an elbow in the center..

and the actual ride control? it stiffens up when the car is driven excessively hard.

What do you mean by automatic ride contol? The only things similar to that are the automatic adjustable air struts, or the computer command ride in the 1994 to 1999 models. The CCR ride allows you to select the stiffness of the struts with a selector switch near the floor shifter.

maybe, but i have always had it referred to me as the automatic ride control. anyway, why does the suspension stiffen with unreasonable driving, and soften on dirt roads and stuff. on dirt roads, the ride starts fairly hard, but softens up alittle. who knows

it just seems like the suspension is somewhat in tune with the ecm. its speed sensitive, and terrain sensitive. i just cant figure it out