Adjusting Rear Ride Height

[Master]

I would be pleased to post a few pictures and a brief description of the amazingly simple task of adjsting the rear ride height on the MM if anyone is interested. I know there have been a number of threads already concerning this, but I recall none that had photos or sucsinct (read "short") notes (the one I did read described a potentially more complicated procedure than I discovered upon crawling under the car myself - No offense intended whatsoever to the author).
Well, as there is some interest, here goes. Pictures will follow.
First and foremost, safety is of prime concern. Please ensure that the air compressor is switched OFF anytime you are lifting the car and/or going beneath. When you do go under the car, PLEASE USE AXLE STANDS. That's my safety bit.
The leveling mechanism is attached to the lateral suspension link just ahead of the rear axle. Hard as heck to see from the rear, but the first under-car photo puts you in the general area. The next photo is a close-up looking in above the axle. The next photo shows you the actual linkage as attached to the suspension. The control rod is connected to the bracket shown. Nothing has to be disconnected to perform this operation. All you need is a 1/4" ratchet and 8mm and 11mm deep sockets. These are the only tools required. Once you have located this bracket, back off the two nuts just enough to allow the bracket to slide left or right. If you are going off-roading, I'd recommend moving the bracket all the way to the right (passenger side) as this will give you a reide height (measured at the top of the rear wheel well lip) of 30" vs the standard height of 29". Move the slider all the way to the left and you will slam the car a shade more than 2" below the stock height.
No need to tighten the nuts while you are making the fine tune adjustments as it will stay where you put it when you go back to the car to check ride height. Turning the car on to run for a minute will allow the compressor to run and thus show you what your height is. Obviously, you have to jack the car down each time. Please, double and tripple check the compressor switch every time you go back under the car to ensure you've remembered to turn the switch off after each test. Don't get lazy, though and skip the step of using the stands each time. Remember: Safety first.
Once you are satisfied with the height, tighten down the two nuts (starting with the 11mm as it is the one that really locks the bracket in place. Tighten the 8mm next, but don't strip or break it. Its a small item, remember. This is why I recommend the 1/4" drive - its small enough that you'll have greater difficulty in over-torque-ing.
My disclaimer, of course, is that if you are not confident about doing this yourself or any of these instructions are not clear to you, please do not perform this yourself. I also take no responsibility (which sounds sleazy, I know) for any damage or injury resulting from the attempting of this process. Sorry, but it seems like the kind of thing one should say.
If anyone who has performed this procedure themselves would like to add constructive critisism, please do. I welcome all input that might improve this post.

PS
If someone has insight into removing the front springs for modification I'd love to hear it. I'm a "strut-guy", and "real" suspension is a little foreign to me. Easy to see how it all comes apart, of course, but are there any surprises?

[KillJoy]

Absolutely! I would love to see the pics / walkthrough!

KillJoy

[SID210SA]

Me too!!!^^^^^

[fast-eddieeeeee]

I did road trip last week. The roads in Louisiana were about to beat me to death. Any ideas on how to soften the ride? Will turning off the air suspension damage it? Seems the bounce in the ride is all in the rear end. The MM seems to ride a bit high in the rear.

The handling is awesome but my back didn't like the backroads at all.

Not a problem in florida except in tampa area. Those concret slabs on crosstown expressway through tampa are murder.

[JMan]

Two notes -
1. You don't have to loosen the small (8mm) nut. It is just a glider/slider.
2. Mark the bracket before you start (Scratch or marker). It will allow you to return it to near the original height if you so desire.

On the front springs-
You need a spring (strut) compressor to remove the captive front springs from the shocks. You have to unbolt the upper ball joint and remove the wheel, caliper, rotor and at least the sway bar end link to accommodate the removal of the shock assembly. This is a dangerous operation for the uninitiated without the right tools. This is not a Civic and those springs have tremendous (Read: deadly, injurious et. al.) energy built up in them.

Having said that-
I initially cut my front springs 1 full coil. Although it lowered the front end nicely, I took away about 15% of the compression (stiffness) and an equal amount of spring rate. Way too soft! Enter the Eibachs. They lowered the front even more but are too short for proper weight transfer on launch. Now I can roast my tire(s) from a standing start. If you drag race, don't do it. If you do change them, cut the snubbers on the shocks in half (reduce their height by .5) because the Eibach's height is more prone to bottom on big bumps.

I truly believe the factory set-up is the way to go. Do I suffer ample remorse from changing the cars geometry - YES! Does it handle better - absolutely! If I had it all to do over I would have left well enough alone - No question, YES! Do I think Tokicos rock - no they BLOW, literally!

[JMan steps down from the soap box]

Best luck and thanks for the write-up again,

J

[MarauderMark]

Good thread

[Ozz]

I have been messing around with the rear height on my MM for a couple of weeks and have achieved 29" fender lip height front and rear. I like the way it looks better than stock...
I think the 30" rear height from the factory was yet another mistake on Ford's part. That 'raised rearend' height thing was cool when I was back in Jr. High but not today.

Anyway, the adjustment couldn't be easier; although the pictures above help you find the bracket. Just take a paint pen, a 8mm, an 11mm socket and a driver with extension under there with you. Mark the stock location with the paint pen, loosen both nuts (mine were both tight...), and slide the bracket to the left side about 1/2". That will get you real close to 29" fender lip height.

[SergntMac]

I initially cut my front springs 1 full coil. Although it lowered the front end nicely, I took away about 15% of the compression (stiffness) and an equal amount of spring rate. Way too soft! Enter the Eibachs. They lowered the front even more but are too short for proper weight transfer on launch. Now I can roast my tire(s) from a standing start. If you drag race, don't do it. If you do change them, cut the snubbers on the shocks in half (reduce their height by .5) because the Eibach's height is more prone to bottom on big bumps...J

Interesting point of view, thanks!

My KB #1x was the first experiment with lowering the car. Kenny cut one full coil from the top of the front springs, and decided to back up to 3/4 coil for his production cars. He also praised the Tokico gas shocks (and so do I).

Kenny added poly bushings to the front and rear sway bars, and he also trimmed the rear bump stops to not bottom out on the lowest suspension setting. I later added the stiffer Addco sway bars (F&R) from DR, and I love the way it handles today in all driving, cruising, racing, or, in the twisties.

BTW, I make no effort to improve front to rear weight transfer, the car is just too long for it to be of any worth, and it's lost energy. Rather, I've done what I can do, to lock it all down and keep it straight at the launch. Works for me, y'all may disagree.

When the Eibach springs came out mid 2003, Zack installed a set on his Marauder. It was not lower than my #1x, and it rode choppy and bouncy. His headlights would make you crazy in traffic. Zack went on to immitate the #1x cut on stock front springs, and it all smoothed out. It rides as nice as mine now.

A matter of perspective and preferrence, I suppose, but we did not find the Eibachs an improvement over the cut spring. Folks have expressed a general caution about cutting front springs, but I've not read of any mechanical problems from it yet, cutting with a wheel of course, not a torch. Re-alignment absolutely necessary.

As it is with any mod, "your results may vary". Just my .02C.

Thanks, Master! Great write-up.

[JMan]

He also praised the Tokico gas shocks (and so do I).

Mac,
Just to set the record straight, I think Tokicos are awesome for handling and ride. My problem with them is I had two fail in the first year of ownership. They did not just leak, they would stop suspension travel in a bone jarring fashion like no other shock I've ever seen! The rear would even hold the suspension up or down from its standard height. Absolutely bizarre. As I said in my post, the factory set up is fantastic. I forsee pulling the front apart again to replace the Eibachs with a new set of factory springs in time.

My $.02

J

[TripleTransAm]

I'm with the JDude... I've only once had a shock fail on me prior to my MM experience, and I believe it was due to the car having sat practically still for 3 years and almost never being on the road for 3 more before that. Enter the MM: out of 8 MM factory-installed shocks I've experienced, 4 have made my life miserable. Two of those 4 outright leaked themselves empty, and the other two are somehow internally messed up to the point of uselessness but refuse to acknowledge this through external leakage. For the math crazy, that's a minimum 25% failure rate (which is on par with the chance of getting a faulty part on our cars, it seems) and if you want to count the annoying front 2 shocks, that's a 50% "unofficial" failure rate. Oh, and mileage shouldn't be an issue, at 15000 miles.

MM#1 sat a metric tad lower than MM#2, in the rear. Did this different 'static' position contribute to making the rear shocks cry uncle? Maybe. Since I'm not on Ford's engineering payroll, I'm not about to start digging for the answer. The front ends were, from memory, about the same although I'd have to look up some photos to be sure.

Sure, vehicle weight might be a factor but the last vehicle of very similar weight (if not heavier) that I drove had its factory shocks outlast MM#2's shocks by a good 5 years, and in greatly more severe duty I might add (looking back, I should have taken better care of that car to keep it long-term instead of running it into the ground - oh well). And they certainly were not 'name-brand' by any means... just your basic heavy-duty Delco crap (which turns out not to be so 'crap' after all, I guess).

Yes, the ride is nice when everything works right. However, with the failure rate we see on here, one can't possibly call these shocks "good".

In fact, I'm likely to run from any other new car factory-equipped with Tokicos in the future.

[1Marauder]

Replaced back ToKicos with KYB almost immediatly after I bought it with 11,000 miles on it. It drove MUCH BETTER the first 50 feet out of the rack, and every mile since; more firm in rear -- but not rough.

I kept the stocks in front for a while... and now feel they are a little too soft now. Will replace front with KYB next, and also add the stonger sway bars.

i'VE HAD MANY LOWERED CARS--BUT NONE THIS heavy... AND GENERALLY Dont like cars so low they "bounce" off of speedbumps etc.... AGAIN, especially this heavy.

BTW my car rides a little low in rear and I may raise it a hair just for fun.

[Limited360]

Rides awesome on QA1's...

[Marauderjack]

This thread is over 7 years old!!!

[Limited360]

This thread is over 7 years old!!!

Someone else replied first !!!!

Oldie but a goodie?

[raed attar]

Hi everybody

I've read that the stock rear fender lip height is 30" but what about the front stock height???

Also I would like to ask about the monroe shocks + stock coils are they good or do anybody suggest something else?? (I don't want to lower the car cz we have silly roads around Dubai but all I want is to make it a bit more stiff on the speedy turns and zig-zags on highways)