letsbangout

Hi all. I'm working on a friend's 2002 Grand Marquis with 73k miles that runs lifted suspension (the previous owner thought it would be cool to slap 26 inch rims on it). The front is lifted by a 3 inch "knuckle". The rear has about 6 inches of lift provided by taller springs and shocks. That according to a guy in the tire shop (and although I've turned plenty of wrenches, I don't know enough about suspension to know whether that's all it has or not - we'll assume so for the moment). This vehicle comes with an air ride in the rear (it has the compressor and a yellow "air ride" light illuminated in the instrument cluster). Can anyone tell me the correct type of spring in order to get the correct stock height on the rear? I found the Raybestos 587-1137 springs on RockAuto which appear to be for stock non-air systems, will these work to get stock height on a previously bagged system? What about shocks, I was planning on buying a set of Monroe 20961s - same thing, they appear to be for a stock rear, any reason why they wouldn't work? Also, what else might I have to do to this car to make it align properly with 73k miles (by my estimation based on the carfax, it's probably only been run with the jacked up suspension for 10 to 15k miles) - maybe ball joints? tie rod ends?

And optionally, is there anything I can do to the air ride system to turn off the yellow light on the instrument cluster, short of opening up the IC and removing a bulb or something? I've read that the module for these is either in the trunk behind the carpet at the compressor breaker, or behind the glovebox, and can be disconnected to disable the light - true?

Thanks in advance!

Bert

There's some good info on the springs here. Police Interceptor Suspension Coil Spring Tidbits

We never had any air suspension cars in our fleet but you may be able to disconnect the light by removing relay #4 in the engine bay fuse box.

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Bert

letsbangout

Thanks for the reply. Based on that and my other research, I went ahead and copped those parts (mentioned in my original post), figuring that if the ride height is different for original-air versus original-spring vehicles, it can't be by much. If it's noticeable I can get a couple of variable spacers, though I have a feeling anything is better than what it has now. I'll update this thread when I do the swap, and with info about how to turn off that light if your recommendation works.

Bert

Please keep us posted. Thanks.

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Bert

letsbangout

I went to start on this, but aborted because one of her tires had a nail which I went to get patched. While I had it jacked up, I went ahead and looked everything over once again. What's actually in there are air shocks with a fill at the rear underneath the bumper (though I couldn't get a pressure gauge on it - not sure why that is). This doesn't really change much, since her springs are still higher than normal, and the plan is to Craigslist the raised suspension components to recoup some of the money she paid out to put it back to stock.

While I was under there, I found the "knuckles" that the tire guy identified when she bought the car (which I'd never previously seen). See attached for a picture. I'm trying to formulate a strategy to get them out at the same time I go to do the work on the rear. Of course I'll remove the front tires, as I can't see any way I'd have enough room to work without doing so (and to allow the springs to decompress a little). Do you guys suppose they'll be easy to break free and just "tap them out" with a hammer, or will I need a strut compressor/expander to expand the coils a little bit?

If these seem like noobish questions/statements, that's because they are. I've turned wrenches on my own cars for about 13 years, but have always outsourced everything tire and suspension-related to the pros. So I'm grateful for all the advice I can get. Thanks again!

Attached Images

20120610_145105.jpg (81.0 KB, 9 views)

Bert

You raise the fornt and turn that "spring booster' to lower it some, then pry it out from between the coils.

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Bert

allkesh

I did this and i get the check suspension light when i first start up. How do i turn that off?

Bert

Does it go out after al little while?

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Bert