04 shocks & ride

[burt ragio]

I have 24,600 mi and I'am very disappointed with the ride & handleing. The shocks kick like a unbroken horse at a rodeo & the car drives like a ship going through a cannel. At hwy speed 80 mph plus she moves around like she has a mind of her own with the slightest wind, alienment & tire pressure are fine. I understand the car weighs a lot & it's not a porsche but what other choices do we have for shocks? I don't want the Q1s to much $. Does bilstein make shocks for our ride ? Should I cut a 1/2 coil up front & lower the rear susp an inch ? What has been found to be the best combo for comfort & handleing ?

[Rider90]

What has been found to be the best combo for comfort & handleing ?
A Grand Marquis :dunno:

Does it ride bad, or handle bad? Usually it is a trade off or balance between the two. It rides bad, but handles good. Rides good, but handles bad. As for a combo in between - you must have it?

If you are looking for a firmer ride, try some aftermarket Addco sway bars. If you are looking for a softer ride, any cheap-o brand shock should be able to do that for ya.

[Peter]

http://www.drivewire.com/performanceparts/eibach/001images/ProKitImage.jpg

http://www.drivewire.com/performanceparts/eibach/mercurymarauderprokit.html
A cheap upgrade, seems to be great.

[burt ragio]

The sway bars will flaten out the ride.Yes that will help.I would realy like to have great handleing & comfort.This combo can't be rocket science.

[jgc61sr2002]

I have 24,600 mi and I'am very disappointed with the ride & handleing. The shocks kick like a unbroken horse at a rodeo & the car drives like a ship going through a cannel. At hwy speed 80 mph plus she moves around like she has a mind of her own with the slightest wind, alienment & tire pressure are fine. I understand the car weighs a lot & it's not a porsche but what other choices do we have for shocks? I don't want the Q1s to much $. Does bilstein make shocks for our ride ? Should I cut a 1/2 coil up front & lower the rear susp an inch ? What has been found to be the best combo for comfort & handleing ?



If it's still under warranty bring it back to the dealer.

[Rider90]

The sway bars will flaten out the ride.Yes that will help.I would realy like to have great handleing & comfort.This combo can't be rocket science.
The sway bars will flatten it around corners, yes, but they will also firm up the ride. I've done sway bars and control arms for my Marauder and it certainly firmed everything up, and made it handle great.

Everybody wants a car that rides on rails but absorbs even the biggest of bumps in the road - unfortunately science has not discovered a way for this to happen. So specifically, do you want a firmer or softer ride?

[burt ragio]

Are the eibach front springs the same rate as stock & just shorter ?

[Krytin]

Second what John said! Stock the car handles fine @ 80 mph - it handles nice at 100 mph stock!
Sounds like you have a problem - worn shocks broken suspension part(s) or bad tires

[burt ragio]

Rider 90, I want the car to ride flat. I know that can be done with the sway bars. I want the shocks to keep the tires on the road. When it absorbs bumbs I want the shocks to be staged so I don't feel the shock as being harsh & jaring.

[burt ragio]

Tires are new the car handled this way from day one.

[sicilianmarquis]

on panther cars, tires have a great effect, when i first got my car (51k) with new tires, and stock new motorcraft shocks, it drone like a merc should drive, now at (82k) and brank new performer ias shocks its ok , but not the way it should with new shocks, and well my tires are fairly worn, so it could be your tires, it makes a big difference in the panther cars,

[burt ragio]

Your probably right the 16" wheels and four snow tire are by far performance equipment.

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

The harshness you feel is from the rear air ride. There is nothing you can do about it. The air ride basically makes the rear suspension solid in these cars. The rear suspension is very taut and jarring going over bumps, that's just the way a live axle car with rear air bags is going to ride. I came from driving an Acura TL type S which had a much more precise and controlled ride (but the transmission was a piece of crap so I sold it). The Panther cars still have the 30 year old Detroit layout and feel.

[GreekGod]

I have 24,600 mi and I'am very disappointed with the ride & handleing. The shocks kick like a unbroken horse at a rodeo & the car drives like a ship going through a cannel. At hwy speed 80 mph plus she moves around like she has a mind of her own with the slightest wind, alienment & tire pressure are fine. I understand the car weighs a lot & it's not a porsche but what other choices do we have for shocks? I don't want the Q1s to much $. Does bilstein make shocks for our ride ? Should I cut a 1/2 coil up front & lower the rear susp an inch ? What has been found to be the best combo for comfort & handleing ?

If what you say is true, you need to fix what is wrong before changing springs! The ride problem could be as simple as a faulty shock.

Wandering (?) at 80+ mph isn't likely to be the shocks. Whoever checked your alignment should have figured out the problem. Perhaps a second opinion is in order. It could be as simple as toe-in. Are you aligned to Car-fixers specs.?

[427435]

You said the alignment and air pressure are OK, but what are they?

If the dealer/alignment shop has them "in spec", they could be a long way from ideal. I had mine re-aligned to the much tighter specs that have been posted here, and it felt like a different car. By the way the alignment guy said the car was in "factory spec" when he started working on it.

If the car rides harsh, it could be either high tire pressure (I dropped mine to 28 front and 24 rear) or bad shocks. The lower air pressure didn't hurt the handling very much and reduced the harshness of tar strips a bunch. Worth a try.

A bad shock [B]might[B] show signs of oil leaking.

But my #1 recommendation is to get it aligned to the specs that have been previously posted here.

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

I have had my car aligned with -1 degree camber and 0.20 toe out, and is now at -0.4 camber and zero toe. No difference in handling. Caster was, and still is, 5.8/6.1 L/R. Tire wear will probably be improved but there was no over-the-road difference. You said the car has ridden like this from day one. There is likely nothing wrong with your car, you are just expecting better ride quality than some of the guys on here who probably hug their car at night and won't acknowledge that it has shortcomings (it does).

[GreekGod]

The harshness you feel is from the rear air ride. There is nothing you can do about it. The air ride basically makes the rear suspension solid in these cars. The rear suspension is very taut and jarring going over bumps, that's just the way a live axle car with rear air bags is going to ride. I came from driving an Acura TL type S which had a much more precise and controlled ride (but the transmission was a piece of crap so I sold it). The Panther cars still have the 30 year old Detroit layout and feel.

I disagree, strongly. The rear suspention is tuned (varied firmness) with the shock absorbers. Air ride suspentions are used on Lincoln Town Cars, the Mercury Grand Marquis, and Crown Vics. for their ability to give a smooth, comfortable, and controlled ride (and ride height). That's also why they are used for fleet (taxi/police), and limosine service.

Your Acura didn't weigh #4000+ and have the ability to carry 5 adults in comfort while towing a #1500 trailer, at 80 mph.

Shock absorber choice can give you a pillow ride (along with proper choice of tires), or a super-firm ride suitable for road-racing, or anywhere in between you want.

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

The Acura had every bit as much leg room front and rear as the Marauder. It actually had more front leg room. It easily accomodated 5 full size adults. It was faster stock than the Marauder and towed 2000 lbs. If you're going to spout off info, it looks better if you are correct. A live rear axle is always going to be a lot harsher than IRS. It's a 250 lb straight piece of unsprung weight. When I first drove my Marauder on the highway I thougt, wow, the car really does jounce around a lot on large bumps. Just the way it is. I appreciate the car a lot for what it is, but do realize what it is also not. I am not bashing here, I just think it is very unfair if this guy starts replacing shocks and has his car realigned, at his expense, because people think their heralded Marauder would not dissatisfy someone in the ride department unless something was wrong with it.

[burt ragio]

I will have my alienment checked to the sites recomended specs. I will also decrease my tire pressure. I had initialy increased the tire pressure on my snow tires to try to take out tire roll that causes sway. Trying to make a none performance tire perform.

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

You have 16" wheels and snow tires on the car right now? Does the car ride as bad with regular wheels and tires? A firm suspension and big tall sidewall spongey tires is not a good combo for handling.

[427435]

I will have my alienment checked to the sites recomended specs. I will also decrease my tire pressure. I had initialy increased the tire pressure on my snow tires to try to take out tire roll that causes sway. Trying to make a none performance tire perform.

If you're running winter tires on 16" rims, they will cause a little more "squarming". Tire pressures over 28 psi won't help the harshness either. Do get the alignment to the tighter specs.

[Bradley G]

get the oem wheels/tires back on.
you should be fine

[ckadiddle]

get the oem wheels/tires back on.
you should be fine
I agree. the suspension is designed for the OEM or close to OEM wheels and tires. I can speak from exoerience that if it still rides like an old garbage truck after going back to OEM, then likely you have a broken/dead shock. One of my front shocks croaked off and the smallest bumps or potholes were suddenly teeth-shattering.

[DEFYANT]

My rear suspension has acted up lately also. After a few minutes on the road, it smooths out nicely. I was thinking the cold had something to do with it..

[lwblumjr]

Burt,

Sounds to me like there is a problem somewhere. My Marauder is wonderfull to drive. Everyone who drives or rides in it agrees.

[96DiamondVIII]

I'm also going to have to disagree with the comment that the rear air suspension is going to add to harshness. I came out of a Lincoln Mark VIII with air suspension at all four corners, and the ride was a LOT softer than the Marauder, with not much of a handling dropoff. Now, it didn't have a live rear axle; it was an IRS setup which is of course a much more modern design. But I personally wouldn't say the air suspension is going to add to harshness unless the valving on it is really odd.