Bushings...springs...shocks

[Brown_Muscle]

Hey so my upper control arm bushings are shot and i'm going to replace them in the near future. I wanted to ask a few questions

I plan on replacing the bushings with polyurethane's...

My primary questions are, Should I purchase new springs at this time and install them? Or measure them to see if they are in need of replacing? I was looking on rockauto at these:

MOOG Part # 8652
Frt Susp; Sedan; w/A/C; Heavy Duty
Frt Susp; w/A/C; Heavy Duty

and i was wondering if they are any good, I want something with the same spring rate or even one thats a little stiffer, but I definitely want to keep original ride height.

Second question, was going to get new shocks at this time as well. Was looking at these:
KYB Part # 343128 {GR-2 / Excel-G}
Front

Are they as good or better then the stock police shocks? I'm not going to go cheap here and would rather get heavier duty/higher performance shocks.... but at the very least want them to preform as well as stock police shocks. Thanks you very much in advance!

-Phil

[Brown_Muscle]

according to the suspension sticky for the springs...

Product Specs
Part Number 8656
Inside Diameter 4.040
End Type 1 Square
End Type 2 Tangential
Bar Diameter 0.671
Install Height 11.50
Load in Pounds 1870.0
Spring Rate 374.0
Free Height 16.50
Front Coil Springs

is the spec for the springs.... the spring rate is only 374 LB/IN?!?! and the police are 700, am i reading this wrong....??

I also saw the after market ones that will fit...and it mentions the 925's will provide a 1 inch drop...which i do not want, any advice on which rate i should get?? I dont want it overly stiff...just a little stiffer then stock police springs...

[Brown_Muscle]

no advice from anyone this evening??

[gadget73]

You actually shouldn't have upper control arm bushings. If thats a proper police car with it's original equipment, the uppers are an unobtanium solid bushing unit. The repair kits are obsolete, and you really can't do much with it. If they're not too bad, you should be able to crank down the nuts on the ends, and make sure you keep grease in there. If someone has already replaced the upper arms with rubber bushing types, the poly ones ought to be fine. If you have solid bushings and they're shot to hell, you're gonna need some civilian upper arms to put new bushings into.

Not sure direct spring measurements will do you much good. What you'd really want to check is the height from the bumper to ground. I don't know the spec, but there is one listed in the factory service manual.

Box police springs are somewhere around 425ish in/lb. Its the HD spring listed somewhere in the sticky. And yeah, they're not very stiff at all. Civilian 90s cars had much stiffer, but unfortunately you can't use those without cutting them a bit otherwise the car looks like a donk. I tried 98 Grand Marq springs, and thats what I got. Since you have a lighter car, it would probably be even worse.

Might want to go gas-a-just for the front shocks, or police GR2. The standard ones may have mushier valving than what you're used to. You can also try stock Motorcraft police shocks for a newer car. I've heard good things, but I've never tried them. Shocks physically interchange 79-2002, so something ought to be available still.

[Brown_Muscle]

they are pretty bad..and should be original according to my knowledge and extensive paperwork...great...Well...I'll sleep on it, this is not good news

[Brown_Muscle]

If i swap the uppers dont i have to swap the lowers too, or wouldn't there be an alignment issue??

[CheeseSteakJim]

The bottom control arm is the same as civilian as far as I know. The upper is the one that needs to be replaced, and again as far as I know they're exactly the same except the civilian one takes rubber bushings while the police one takes solid bushings.

If you're desperate, a machine shop could probably make you new bushings, but they wouldn't be cheap. Personally if it were my car I'd be looking into that though.

[Brown_Muscle]

hmm, I'll take a look at the upper arms in my and a civilians, I'm pretty sure my lower are looks different then a civilians...but i could be wrong...also there is a police aero-vic in a junkyard near me, would that still have the solid bushings like mine? If the uppers are the same then I dont believe I'd have any trouble replacing them with newer ones....although your supposed to replace the upper and lower in a pair.
Thanks guys I'll keep you posted

[gadget73]

Its possible the rear bushing is bigger on police lowers, but you don't have to change the arm if you replace the upper. It won't affect the suspension geometry. Honestly (and yet again I go on like a broken record) if I was getting that far into the suspension, the stock crap would go and it would be big brake time. Thats just me though.

What do your upper arms look like? I didn't really look at them. Civi ones have a big washer, some visible rubber, and a jam nut attaching the upper arm. Police arms have this really long nut and no visible rubber. There may also be a grease fitting in there. If no grease fitting, it wasn't added originally, and thats why the arms are shot. They need to be greased every oil change or they self-destruct when the grease wears out. Apparently they came from the factory with the hole tapped, but no fitting in there. Not sure why the heck they did that, but I'm sure someone thought it was a good idea.

[Brown_Muscle]

It has no visable bushings and but does have a grease fittings, I'd take a better pic but its raining and the cars a couple blocks away.... I'd do the big brake swap but dont wanna change my rims and tires to a 16".....haha

[Brown_Muscle]

found this one too! from when i first went to go get the car....dont know if it helps much though

[gadget73]

can't really tell anything from those, other than you have a death wish for working on a car with the bumper jack. They do make steelies in a 16". There is also a medium brake upgrade that works with 15" wheels. 95-97 parts are used. Slightly bigger rotor and caliper piston, and they have forged upper arms instead of the stamped things. Also very easy to go to big brakes from that if you ever change your mind.

Anyway 79-91 civi upper arms is what you want if you're looking to keep stock type front suspension.

[Brown_Muscle]

I know, i didnt trust the bumper jack, at that time (when i first got the car) i didnt even believe the car could be jacked up by the bumper! But that was just for a preliminary inspection of all the components. The medium brake upgrade sounds appealing. I just have brand new tires on my freshly painted rims...and want a stock look as well. Thanks for your help Thain, as usual you are a wealth of knowledge

[GM_Guy]

The 8652's will keep you at stock ride height. Got 'em in my car. They are still a soft riding spring.

Alex.
One of the things I have learned since owning the GM;
Fords definition of HD is the Generals definition of luxury ride.

[Brown_Muscle]

I believe i just read a thread by 1987cp and he said that he had the 700Lb springs from a newer police car in his box and had somewhat normal ride height, can anyone confirm?