maintenance suspension work to do?

[BerniniCaCO3]

Hi!

Next semester is "steering and suspension."
We students get to work on our own cars, if applicable to the course.

Shocks and rear springs I've already done, but while I have to do it anyway, it might as well be on my own 20-yr-old clunker, than the school's practice cars!

What bits would you replace and/or upgrade if you were doing a suspensions class, and, possibly, had the opportunity to get to most anything?
There'll be no better time, while I'm doing it anyway and have a lift and a heated workshop and an instructor there for when I screw up.

Class starts January 3rd, so I want to order ahead of time!


thanks!
-Bernard

[Brown_Muscle]

Well....check upper and lower ball joints, tie rod ends, and the whole steering linkage while your at it. I'm certain they will go over and check all of that, its fairly simple to check.

You can also examine ride height to see if your front springs are sagging, (obviously the rears are good if you just replaced them assuming all parts were good)

also check your lower and upper control arm bushings.

my

[zoomie]

if yoru doing that might as well upgrade to police stuff its amazing!

[Brown_Muscle]

if yoru doing that might as well upgrade to police stuff its amazing!

haha, it most certainly is......

[BerniniCaCO3]

hmm, and just where do I go about getting police stuff?

I presume, go to a junk yard and pull it all off-- it'll be a PITA though, given that those cars are just sitting on dirt and it's january!
Know anyone selling PI package parts cheaply, that are already pulled?

[87gtVIC]

Maybe changing all the body bushings, all bushings for the control arms (front and rear) as well as upgrading the steering box.S
Someone with more knowledge than me will have to chime in with the specifics about all of this.

[gadget73]

the box police stuff is not amazing. It consists of upper control arms that you cannot get parts to fix, and everything else is really the same. If you're upgrading stuff, go big brakes or go home.

Anyway, check and replace as needed:
upper and lower ball joints
upper and lower control arm bushings
inner and outer tie rod ends (swap the sleeves too, they are usually rusted fast)
idler arm
pitman arm
steering box
sway bar endlinks and frame bracket bushings
rear control arm bushings
steering shaft U joint and rag joint

if your school also does brakes during this time, check the front and rear brakes if they haven't already been done. Nobody tends to mess with the rear brakes, so stuck or leaky wheel cylinders are common.

[ford man]

I'm thinking if your going to do ball joints and control arm bushings you might as well put new springs back in... new police replacement ones perhaps.

Isaiah

[86VickyLX]

Do the upper and lower control arm bushings, sway bar frame mounts and endlinks. Do the shocks, springs and ball joints, upper and lower. (uppers if originals are riveted to the control arms.) Do the steering linkage as well. Inner and outer tie rods, idler arm and pitman arm. Half of this stuff I'm sure is original. After you're all done, drive it so the suspension settles (do some turning and braking maneuvers and go over some bumps), Align the car. Drive away!!! Haha!

[gadget73]

Oh, tip for the front control arm bushings. If you are using stock rubber replacements, do not fully tighten the bolts until the car is sitting on the ground with the suspension at its normal position. If you're using poly, this does not apply. The rubber ones have a serrated inner sleeve, and the rubber is bonded to this. If you tighten the bolts with the suspension at full droop, you load the bushings up which causes excessive wear on the rubber, and a stiffer ride. Poly bushings aren't bonded, so it doesn't matter for that.

[86VickyLX]

If you can manage, do this all on an alignment rack, that way you can do what Thain said, without having to crawl on the ground tightening the bolts.

[BerniniCaCO3]

Excellent!
Thanks for the lists, and hints particular to this car!

We will indeed be doing alignments at some point, and have all the requisite equipment: no better time than now to service all of these parts.

While I scrape up some cash in the next couple weeks, any favourite suppliers? I've the luxury to just order it all online, class starts in one week and it'll be 2 weeks before any lab of any sort. Rock auto? Someone else?
I might come back once I've shopped for these items: but any quality differences, price value points, between parts? I'm not made of money, but I won't ever be doing these things again, so if one type of rubber bushing is only $4 more but much better than another I'll pay more for the difference. My labor, and the cost of this class, and the cost of ever doing it later on my own, are far greater.

I was surprised btw: brakes were last semester, and as it turned out the rear wheel cylinders were doing just fine, and the shoes were barely worn. The cylinders didn't look new, but it's clear the previous owner kept this vehicle fairly well.
At any rate: the cylinders were not leaking in the least. If they were stuck, I'd notice excessive or uneven shoe wear?
What has gone wrong, has been largely age (rotted rubber components), and a few items that just go at this age. Not an abused car, I'm happy to say.

Big brakes... I've got the wagon. Would those mean even bigger rear drums? Or moving to rear rotors & calipers?

[gadget73]

I've got all McQuay-Norris stuff on my car from Pep Boys, circa 2005 and its holding up fine so far. Probably has close to 60k on it by now. I like the poly bushings too, they're a lot easier to install, and cheaper as well. The rubber ones are quite frankly a pain in the balls. They do ride a little softer though if thats a concern. I don't really feel the poly is overly stiff but you will get more road noise, and expansion joints in concrete roads will be distinctly noticeable. If you decide to go that route, 92-97 Crown Vic non police is the kit you need. Energy Suspension makes them.

If the cylinders were stuck, usually you won't see much shoe wear. When wheel cylinders seize up, one or both pistons just won't extend. Its not like a front brake where they seize in the out position and cause drag.

Wagons already got the larger rear drums. Big brakes generally refers to the 98+ front brake assemblies. 12" rotors instead of the 10.5" or so stockers. You need 16" wheels for it to fit though.

[86VickyLX]

Excellent!
Thanks for the lists, and hints particular to this car!

We will indeed be doing alignments at some point, and have all the requisite equipment: no better time than now to service all of these parts.

While I scrape up some cash in the next couple weeks, any favourite suppliers? I've the luxury to just order it all online, class starts in one week and it'll be 2 weeks before any lab of any sort. Rock auto? Someone else?
I might come back once I've shopped for these items: but any quality differences, price value points, between parts? I'm not made of money, but I won't ever be doing these things again, so if one type of rubber bushing is only $4 more but much better than another I'll pay more for the difference. My labor, and the cost of this class, and the cost of ever doing it later on my own, are far greater.

I was surprised btw: brakes were last semester, and as it turned out the rear wheel cylinders were doing just fine, and the shoes were barely worn. The cylinders didn't look new, but it's clear the previous owner kept this vehicle fairly well.
At any rate: the cylinders were not leaking in the least. If they were stuck, I'd notice excessive or uneven shoe wear?
What has gone wrong, has been largely age (rotted rubber components), and a few items that just go at this age. Not an abused car, I'm happy to say.

Big brakes... I've got the wagon. Would those mean even bigger rear drums? Or moving to rear rotors & calipers?

MOOG is good stuff. Just be sure to order the lower control arm bushings from an '87 Crown Vic. They have '86 listed for a different part number that doesn't fit. The lower control arms are the same from like '79 to '02 so the bushings are the same.

Rockauto carries moog, and are probably the cheapest place to go. The only one who lists the rear control arm bushings is Energy suspension at autozone.