Suspension rebuild?

N

Nojuego

Registered
Ok so i've been trying to price out a full rebuild on my suspension while waiting to get my car's legal problems settled. I read that TRW parts is what I should use but after looking around online I can't seem to find any TRW suspension parts for my 95. So since I need to ask about the whole thing I figured i'd ask some more in depth questions.

First off, which parts do I need? Should I be looking for parts from a different model/year vehicle? I'm going to be doing this slowly since I can't exactly shell out the cash for all the parts at once so what would be the most important things to replace first? For the record, this is more for a preventative maintenance type of thing since all the parts look ok, no tears/cracks/rotting/etc. they just look old and i'm not sure what the previous owner did as far as maintenance. I figure if I replace all the parts myself, even if they are still good, I can save myself alot of hassle in the future by knowing how much wear i've put on the parts.

Finally, if there's any other things I should check and/or replace please feel free to let me know. I hope to keep this car running strong and reliable for a long time.
 
Check www.rockauto.com for the best prices for the lower control arms use the TBird part # since they are the same and are priced lower. If you have the spring conversion you can use T Bird upper control arms too which are cheaper.

How many miles are on the car?
Here are some regular services
Transmission Fluid every 30k miles
Coolant Every 30k miles after 60k.
Fuel Filter
Air filter
PCV Valve
Spark Plugs/Wires(if gen 1)
Rear diff fluid at 100k
Brake fluid... b4 100k and every 50k miles or so.
Power steering fluid, b4 100k and every 50k miles.
 
It's got about 180k miles on it. So i'm looking forward to pretty much a complete workup on this thing. I still have airbags too.
 
Nojuego said:
It's got about 180k miles on it. So i'm looking forward to pretty much a complete workup on this thing. I still have airbags too.
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To replace almost anything in the front end, it has to be taken completely apart, which is time consuming. If you don't have the cash, wait until you do so that you can rebuild the entire front end at once. It'll also save you having to get the wheels aligned everytime you work on it.
 
Ahh I completely forgot about alignment. Guess I will have to do it all at once. Are the MOOG parts any good or should I shop around for something else? I see they also have a Motorcraft upper control arm on that website. Would I be better off with that and getting the ball joint separate or will the MOOG one do well? I just don't want to put in low quality aftermarket parts only to have to replace them again a few months down the road.

Also, is there anything in the rear suspension worth replacing?
 
Parts, labor and alignment for a complete front end rebuild on my '93 was $800 at a local Meineke franchise.
 
Nojuego said:
That doesn't sound too bad. How about the parts they used? Were they quality parts or cheapy ones?
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I believe they were Moog.

BTW - this did not include the strut rod bushings which had been done a couple years earlier.
 
I'm getting ready to put all new stuff under my front end. But i'm going to be doing a spring converstion on it as well, do i still need to put new strut rod bushings in? i'm not familiar with this part.
 
driller said:
I believe they were Moog.

BTW - this did not include the strut rod bushings which had been done a couple years earlier.
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For those who don't know, JP is talking about a certain MOOG part that had some design issues. Other than this one part, MOOG is a very good brand.

For the strut rod bushings, go with Motorcraft rubber bushings.
 
KaotikGT said:
I'm getting ready to put all new stuff under my front end. But i'm going to be doing a spring converstion on it as well, do i still need to put new strut rod bushings in? i'm not familiar with this part.
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In my opinion, yes, do it all while you've got it apart. The strut rod bushings are easy to replace when you remove the lower control arm.:)

Bad strut rod bushings can cause too many front end and brake problems.

Another opinion, use original strut rod bushings from Ford. I wish that I did on my green Mark.
 
Bad strut rod bushings can cause too many front end and brake problems.
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Could this be the reason my brakes sound loose sometimes? Especially at very low speeds like when i'm trying to park sometimes I hit the brake softly and it will knock as if it was loose or something. I always thought it was the ABS and/or traction control doing that.
 
Yes, could be. The strut rod bushings maintain the wheel in a fixed position front to rear. As the bushings wear, the wheel actually can move foreward and backwards in the wheel well, clunking against the worn bushings along the way.

Park on a firm level surface. Grasp each front wheel at 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock. Try to 'roll' the wheel to the front and rear. Any movement will be immediately noticeable.
 
That sounds like it may be the case. I'll have to check it out later when I get the car back. While it's being inspected I asked the guy to also try to check my EGR valve for me. Hopefully all goes well with that.
 
My problem is not even close to that. I been having internet problems lately(serves me right for buying a cheap router) but I got the car back yesterday from the inspection people. They told me I need to replace the lower control arms, both headlights, wipers are torn(bull), one tire is low on tread(this was nitpicking really) and apparently my door lock problem is not safe? So yea, that front end rebuild may come sooner than later.
 
That example is very extreme of course. I would hope that no one here has a problem that bad.

I just used that to show what can happen. If your bushings are worn, the wheel can move like that, but you might not see it if it's not that bad.
 
Lucked out big time today at the junk yard. They had just brought in a 96 LSC that got wrecked in the ice storm we had yesterday. Grabbed myself a pristine set of HID headlamps and they are putting aside the trunk and passenger side fender for me. They are stripping it monday so i'll see what else I can steal off it.
 
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