Strut recommendations

[Zee1nonly]

My Marauder is in need of some new struts. I’m not sure what to buy as the typical parts stores and online show generic struts for these cars.
Are the struts and shocks specific to the Marauder or are they from a fellow panther?
I’ve installed the police package struts on my Previous Grand Marquis and it really stiffened the ride quality (not necessarily a good thing on my daily).

Tried a search and got nowhere.

Advice is appreciated!

[SilverPhoenix]

I had Monroe brand shocks/struts installed on my MM almost 10 years ago...they were called severe or super duty or something along those lines. Have put 100K miles on them and I don't have any complaints...

[RubberCtyRauder]

Marauder are specific and discontinued. They have grouped the CV, Marquis, Marauder under same part now.

[Prospect62]

Marauder are specific and discontinued. They have grouped the CV, Marquis, Marauder under same part now.

And because of that, many people are going for the Ridetech coil overs from ADTR to obtain the "right" ride and ride height. You're looking at an $800 bill, though.

[RubberCtyRauder]

And because of that, many people are going for the Ridetech coil overs from ADTR to obtain the "right" ride and ride height. You're looking at an $800 bill, though.

I've had Ridetech since 2017, sold my stock struts with only 47k miles on them. A few other companies make Front coil overs marketed for Crown Vic/F100 swaps, just like the Ridetech are.

[crouse]

Do not buy what Rock Auto shows for the Marauder. I installed the Monroe struts and the front end sat about 2" higher.

I ended up buying new KYB front shocks, and had a local shop swap out the shocks in my existing coils.

[1Marauder]

Yes^^^^^ This ^^^^^ above. Buy the extra "rubber" kit with pair. I think it was an extra $7.50-$10.00 in case they need them at installation. I think The Monroe were called "Severe Duty."

[offroadkarter]

You live in TX so you might as well get the ridetech setup from ADTR. They have an option now to maintain a factory ride height if you don't want to drop the car 1-1.5" over stock.

Back in 17 I had ordered Marauder spec shocks from Ford but it does appear they are NLA. (7w3z18124j Front NLA, 8w7z18125d rear exists / shows fitting all panthers. Can't remember if it was listed this way in 2017). All of the aftermarket shock options are cheap crap. The ridetech kit is not cheap but wow does it not only make the car handle amazing, it rides great. One of the best mods I did to my car by far.

Depending on how many miles are on your car, check the condition of the airbags as well. My black car around 155k when I did the suspension the rear airbags were dry rotted. 3U2Z5580AA is what I bought back then which were HPP / Marauder spec airbags, not the base air ride spec bags that came in crown vic sports.

[svtmerc]

Here's another option like the ride tech setup. QA1 came out with these specifically for all the guys bolting '03+ crown Vic frames and drivetrain under old f-150s. I've not heard from anybody who has used them, but I do know that they do make high quality parts

https://www.qa1.net/automotive/suspe...l-over-systems

Sent from somewhere near my Marauder using Tapatalk

[BackNBlack]

Marauder / Crown Victoria Kits (naake.com)

'Nuff said...

[Zee1nonly]

The coil over setup is probably the way I should go. That being said, it’s tough to bite the bullet and buy 1k worth of front shocks.

I might just swap the struts with the “performance” variants offered and see how I like them.

Also, my car developed a clunking noise over when hitting bumps last week. This weekend I installed replacement rear bushings on the lower control arms. The old ones had a lot of deflection in the material. I noticed when I removed the mount that the driver side had a large washer that centered the mount and the passenger side didn’t.

In summary, the noise is now worse. The ball joints, sway bar bushings and steering rack all feel tight. I guess I need to crawl under another panther to see if I’m indeed missing something.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[daniel.drives]

Zee1only, check your front swaybar end links when looking for that kind of clunk. The nuts sometimes back off.

I've done work on panthers with Ridetech (mine), QA1, and Naake. I can't recommend QA1 or Naake, their kits come with some strange hardware choices, occasional missing components, and they dont fit in the space as well as Ridetechs. Bite the bullet, get the kit from ADTR, it'll come with everything you need and nice hardware choices, play with the adjustments to you liking, and don't look back. Chris's default spring rate is 650lb/in, that feels perfect on a stock car, if you have a blower or a big brake kit, look at 700 or 750 lb/in.

[1Marauder]

I have (Just recently had four) two MM's, and on Cv sport. My best set up the Monroe Severe duty in the front and the KYB in the rear. KYB a tad firmer and with the big beautiful rear on these cars... Need the tad firmer in the rear to make her squeal!

[justbob]

I rather liked the Monroe’s until I lowered the front. It rode like a brick after that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[offroadkarter]

Marauder / Crown Victoria Kits (naake.com)

'Nuff said...

the Naake/QA1 kits have a history of premature failure going back 15 years on this site. Would not recommend.