got my new springs today

[DuceAnAHalf]

for the 97. i need to replace all 4 ball joints so im doing springs while i have it apart. i ordered the 1300# AFCO's from summit, they only had 1 1200# and speedway wanted $26 for shipping. shipping weight for two springs in the boxes with the summit mag was 43#s :wow: the spring wire is 7/8" thick. ill post pics tonight once i get home.

[88Vic]

What's the spring rate for those? Do they give the car a slight rake?

[DuceAnAHalf]

they are 1300 lb/in they should lower the car a bit, wont be sure till i get them installed

[turbo2256b]

might be fun fitting them in the upper and lower spring seats

[Blaze86Vic]

Why so? Mine weren't afco, but I'm willing to bet these are the same dimensions as mine, and they fall in place way easier than a stock spring.

[Archangel]

Nah, they should be fine, bet they are much shorter than the stockers - my 1050s went in just fine with the LCAs disconnected from the spindles, only needed the floor jack to compress them and slip the lower ball joints back in place.

[gadget73]

I'm guessing he means because of how fat the wire is.

[DuceAnAHalf]

got the new springs and the upper ball joints installed today. spring compressor was not needed. i only did the uppers since TRW ball joints are $46 each for the uppers and $40 each for the lowers. lowers are still good, uppers were trashed. springs went in easy, except like Turbo brought up they dont fit over the factory spring bucket. i took a crescent wrenchand closed it to the thickness of the metal and then bent the petals in. it will take a while for the springs to fully seat. so far the car has not lowered much.
it handles better, the front end now goes when you turn the wheel, no longer have to wait for the weight to transfer, i can feel the rear end wallow now. im going to get some new rear springs in the future as money permits. need to get an alignment monday

overall took about 2.5 hours by myself mostly, this was at a leisurly pace and had air tools.

ride is not rough, firmer than stock but not bad.

i took a few pics comparing the springs and showing how bad the ball joints were, ill get them up maybe tomorrow evening, or possibly tonight.

[packman]

Why so? Mine weren't afco, but I'm willing to bet these are the same dimensions as mine, and they fall in place way easier than a stock spring.

What is the ride quality like in your CV? I am still debating with my father on whether to install the 925# Speedway springs or not. I might be able to get a brass collar to fit over the spring perch and after that I just need to cut the collar off of the insulator and lay the top of the spring on that.


Packman

[DuceAnAHalf]

put about 100 miles on them. rides nice, corners flatter. car does not oscillate even up to 100mph (on closed course) some speed bumps are a little rougher but not bad. so far car does not seem like it sits lower.

[mrltd]

Had mine up to 120 last night. Nice and smooth. Man I love that car

[DuceAnAHalf]

here are the new springs compared to the factory PI springs




here is how it stands now.


here is the upper ball joint, they were both in about the same condition. if you held the frame you could actually get the ball to rattle. in the first pic it is the one i removed next to the TRW replacement.







BTW, ball joints are expensive. TRWs are $46 each for the uppers and $40 each for the lowers. Moog are $70-$80 each

[mrltd]

The TRW uppers are the only part of my frontend that haven't worn out yet... Good stuff!

[gadget73]

I used McQuay-Norris lifetime stuff on mine, just didn't have the money for TRW stuff. I think they were like $26 or something when I did the swap about a year and a half ago now. Hard to believe its been that long, I still remember driving the old girl up to the shop with the bald tires in the snow with dead suspension with Tom in the car needing to shit lol.

[Grand Marquis GT]

I used McQuay-Norris lifetime stuff on mine, just didn't have the money for TRW stuff. I think they were like $26 or something when I did the swap about a year and a half ago now. Hard to believe its been that long, I still remember driving the old girl up to the shop with the bald tires in the snow with dead suspension with Tom in the car needing to shit lol.

Yes. And that shit sucked, lol...