Ride comfort

[stevengerard]

How can you tell if the module for the airbags are over inflating them? This may be solely comparing the ride of the new-to-me 2000 Lincoln TC, but that car drives so much smoother than the MM. It is making me wonder if the MM is tuned that much stiffer or if the suspension is over inflating.

[fastblackmerc]

Since the Marauder is supposed to be a "performance" sedan I'd say the suspension is stiffer.

[stevengerard]

yes it is, Steve B confirmed that to me. Designed to be stiffer but I can't tell if it is way stiffer than I remember just because I've been driving a softer car or if the module is over inflating the bags. I doubt it, I bet its just me.

[Turbov6Bryan]

I dont think the air ride module will "over inflate" the bags. It just raises higher the more air is put into it.

I moved the air ride sensor towards the drivers wheel and it lowered the car about 1 inch vs oem ride height. THAT made it ride rough, then i got a great idea to swap in some napa rear shocks for it. NOW its the worst riding marauder on the face of the planet. I should have spent 30 bucks more and went with some other brand. It rides like i have 30 series tires on the back.

Guess the plan is to swap in some other shocks.

My NA silver birch car i bought this year ride AWESOME and it has OEM crap on it and goodforayear tires too.

You might lower tire pressure and see if the ride quality changes, its free

[BLACKMARAUDER04]

You can change out your airbags for Softer TC ones.
I wouldn't recommend it though.
A Marauder is not a Town Car.

[stevengerard]

yeah I did lower the ride a bit, wasn't sure how much that would affect the comfort level. Driving around today with the new exhaust - it feels like a new car all over again

[Mr. Man]

Does your MM have a stock suspension?

[Marauderjack]

Aftermarket Control Arms generally make it ride much firmer depending on the bushings you used !!

[stevengerard]

of course not I know it all inter-plays but I assumed most of my modified suspension (at least in the back) had more to do with sideways movement than the up and down of ride comfort.

The whole back end has been modified, control arms, swaybar, lowered a bit, 31 spline axles.

[stevengerard]

Aftermarket Control Arms generally make it ride much firmer depending on the bushings you used !!

Ok, thanks. I was wondering if the control arms would affect ride quality that much. I think I am just noticing it more lately as I have been driving the Lincoln more

[Mr. Man]

Ms.D's car has all the goodies out back, and her car rides much stiffer than mine. I recently added CA's and Watt's link and the ride got noticeably firmer. I'm not going with the bigger sway bar as I prefer a softer ride. Not doing to much GT racing in he MM.

[stevengerard]

yeah, I take it to Gingerman in South Haven MI occasionally, perfect track for a beast like an MM.

[1Marauder]

I can confirm just changing to new shocks (KYB) radically changes firmness (up and down movement). Will try Severe Duty in next changeover. Adding watts link and new control arms, Addco sway bar makes it a completely different ride.

[Accumulator]

I can confirm just changing to new shocks (KYB) radically changes firmness (up and down movement)..

Interesting! I put the KYBs on my ~20Kmi '08 P71 and did *NOT* notice a significant increase in firmness, not at all like the difference when putting Bilsteins on the '98-'02 cars. Wonder if our different takes on it relate to diffs between the oe P71 shocks and the MM ones? I wish my KYBs were firmer, but at least I did get a set that doesn't leak (fingers crossed that they stay that way).

Speaking of differences in how people find such mods, FWIW my wife and I both greatly prefer Panthers to have all the Addco/Metco/etc. upgrades as we find the stock cars way too soft and floaty. Hard to say what somebody else will/won't like...

Oh, and be careful about lowering tire pressure; when the Vehicle Dynamics Institute was studying the effects of different tire pressures on P71s they had to suspend testing at ~34psi because there was so much sidewall deflection that they were gonna flip the car (wheel-to-pavement contact = "uh-oh!"). In their testing, P71s (is it the same for MMs? I just don't know..) handled best at 42psi(cold). Even at that I was just killing the outer treadblocks AutoXing. Did handle nicely, but oh man did the tires wear fast when running that around town!

[RF Overlord]

Tire pressure is always a trade-off between comfort, handling, and tread wear. The factory usually errs on the side of comfort. Most cars will benefit from a modest increase in pressure from the factory recommendation, if handling and tread wear are considered over comfort. I put mine at 38 and it seems to be right for me.

FYI, the '03 cars were spec'd at 32 lbs all around while the '04s were spec'd at 35. Gee, I wonder why...