Sway Bar Swaps

[Richard J. Parker]

LincoConti87
From: Tallahassee Florida
posted August 26, 2001 11:41 PM

Well I'm glad to see that so many of you care! Most other places or people I talk to just kinda of do the virtual nod...

...by the way since you are really good with handling stuff. What kind of shocks/struts should I get for going over bumps...and which should I get if I wanted flatter handling on this puppy?
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1987 Lincoln Continental...Last of the Fox Body Conti
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Lscman
From: Pittsburgh, PA
posted August 27, 2001 05:03 PM

Suspension...same recipe as Mark VII. Front...'87-'88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe or V8 with handling option 1.31" (1-5/16") front swaybar, not to be confused with narrower bars from other years and/or bodies. Rear...Addco #415 7/8" bar to fit original bracketry. As for struts and shocks, the best for handling is Koni or Tokico, both are discontinued. The next best is probably KYB. Same part# as Mark VII also. These will provide Mustang-ish ride and handling, although it will be somewhat softer. Good match for 60 or 50 series tires. With std 70 series, the extra firmness and flatness will not produce much better cornering G's. Tire Rack has killer Firestone SZ summer treads in 225/60ZR-16 size. These are optimal at a $60 price!!
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Rick, Road Track Terror in my '88 Mark VII LSC. See ya at Northeast Events! Pgh, PA
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pro-five-oh
From: Houston TX
posted August 27, 2001 09:44 PM

quote:
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Originally posted by Lscman:
Front...'87-'88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe or V8 with handling option 1.31" (1-5/16") front swaybar
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That reminds me...there is a 87-88 TC in a local junkyard (that is going out of business) and I planned on putting that sway bar on my newly revived Conti.

Since you have a set of the 82-83 forged control arms, do you know if they have unique end links or can I just bolt the Turbo Coupe assembly right in???
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Lscman
From: Pittsburgh, PA
posted August 28, 2001 04:36 PM

The '82-'83 Conti and '84-'86 SVO Forged arms have the end link hole in the same relative location as the '87-'88 T-Birds and all Mark VII and '84-'87 Conti. These setups all require the same wider bar. The '94-'200x Mustang bars would fit too except Ford decided to move the frame mounts for it to reduce weight and shorten the arms for added resistance.
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LincoConti87
From: Tallahassee Florida
posted August 28, 2001 09:09 PM

I actually was looking at 16 inch tires on tirerack cus my friend has some 16's. I noticed the firestones were on a great sale. Too bad I'm stuck with 15's.If someone felt like giving me a set of 16's I'd gladly accept but for now I have my 215 70 firehawk ss20s...I refuse to pay big money for rims. I'm lookin to spend my money on an intake and exhaust parts. After that would be heads and cam and injectors...Might as well have power to handle first. What are prices like on KYB shocks anyways? I'm not lookin to throw all my money into shocks either but I feel the ones I have right now are kinda weak. From records I have of mileage...at 25,600 miles sears replaced them with roadhandler shocks and performance struts. And that mileage was at or before 1994 according to records. A whole 15,000 miles ago =D I feel as if it dives more than it should. Might just be that it has brakes that kick major ass I figure on taking curves its gonna be soft anyways because of what it is but I still think they are kinda weak. Hate to go throw 40$ each for more gas shocks and struts. I heard that sears used to have a lifetime warranty on their shocks and struts but I don't know when they stopped or if there was a special added price. Anyone know? I emailed them asking but no response yet. I have the original work slip and I have registrations for the car that show the date with mileages before and after the miles shown on the work slip. How hard would it be to change out shocks and struts on these cars? Require some intermediate mechanical experience?
Are you saying a tc rear sway will bolt up without being modified to a Conti? If so I'd prolly try to find a tc next time I venture to miami or orlando. Yards here suck majorly. One I went to didn't have a single HO motor...only one mustang had a V8 sitting in it...was a crapo one too that did not have it from factory as I could see by wheels. i didn't notice it was an 8 till I payed attention to all the rockers sitting there cus the heads were gone.
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Lscman
From: Pittsburgh, PA
posted August 29, 2001 06:21 PM

KYB is cheapest you can get with decent quality. They are about same price as Monroe, Sears and Gabriel junk. Since Tokico and Koni were around $500 for four, I'd say the going price of $250 for KYB is a steal. The front bar is same as Turbo Coupe. The rear Mark VII/Conti bar is unique. Only upgrade bar that fits is Addco #415 at about $130.
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LincoConti87
From: Tallahassee Florida
posted August 30, 2001 12:06 PM

So then would it be worth it to steal a TC front swaybar out of a junkyard if I found one? I'm really not lookin to blow money for swaybars and stuff but when I can steal parts from other cars It makes it alot more possible and fun.
IP: Logged
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pro-five-oh
From: Houston TX
posted August 30, 2001 12:12 PM

@*$#^%!!! Someone beat me to that TC swaybar! There was a 1985 TC there with a large swaybar (much like my Cougar's) but that car was too wrecked to want it.
Linco, buy a swaybar and put it on later. $30 bux well spent because you'll enjoy doing it.
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Lscman
From: Pittsburgh, PA
posted August 30, 2001 08:37 PM

This really should be discussed in a new thread, eh?...A 1985 TC swaybar is too narrow and identical to a '85-'93 Mustang bar. It can rub and catastrophically puncture the air suspension bags. The correctly shaped swaybar in the bigger 1-5/16" diameter is ONLY found on '87 and '88 Turbo Coupes and '87-'88 V8 Cougars and T-Birds with heavy duty suspension. The '87 T-Bird/Cougar line converted to longer control arms. This correct fit $75 front bar was discontinued by Ford parts around 1997 and an oversize front bar of the proper shape was never sold by the aftermarket. Addco's big front bar is the same size as a stock LSC or '84-'86 SVO Mustang (1-1/8").


[This message has been edited by Richard J. Parker (edited August 30, 2001).]

[pro-five-oh]

Almost forgot that only the 1987-88 Birdcats got the same style control arms at the Conti/Marks.

Well, another junkyard and another T Coupe.

[Lscman]

Air suspension control arms and steel spring control arms are not the same. The spring pocket is radically different.

Add'l Comments:

The '87-'88 T-Bird and Cougar front control arms came in two flavors. Both were the same length...longer than previous T-Birds & Mustangs. They were similar in length to '82-'83 & '84-'87 RWD Conti and all Mark VII (for swaybar fitment), but definitely not the same part.

Flavor 1: The '87-'88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe control arm was designed to accept the fat Conti-Mark VII ball joint. This was done so Ford could bolt on the '82-'92 RWD Conti/Mark/SVO spindle, big brakes and front strut. Yes, the specially-valved TC front struts fit a Mark VII and they carried a single Tokico P/N. Rear shocks are the same too. the OEM struts were Tokico, but they were a different design and calibration than the aftermarket performance Tokico. If you want "used" or NOS performance struts, search T-Bird TC sources.

Flavor 2: All other '87-'88 T-Birds and Cougars used the more common Fox small ball joint. It "can" be adapted to fit large ball joint applications using an aftermarket shim. The long control arms used in these cars were employed on the '94-'01 SN-95 Mustang, except for Ford plated them for anti-corrosion. This is how Ford widened the front track on the SN-95 to coincide with it's longer rear disc brake axles. Before aftermarket caster/camber plates, these longer control arms were the "hot mod" for '79-'93 Mustangs. They provide lots of negative camber for autocross.

The '87-'88 T-Bird front suspension is ideal to convert a Mark VII or air RWD Conti to steel spring suspension. That is, if you really want a T-Bird. For me, air suspension repair is cheaper, easier and air handling/ride is great.

Mustang SVO Koni struts are shorter and have different geometry. However, they can be adapted to a Conti/Mark VII by using an additional bumpstop and installing T-Bird Caster/camber plates. Both of these mods are required to prevent suspension/frame interference and to provide proper camber setting. These Koni/SVO Mustang struts are still in production and you can find used ones that Koni will rebuild to any dampening spec for $150 each! This is an alternative to the "out-of-production" Koni Mark VII Strut, for anyone wanting optimum handling. Rousch hogged all or Koni's Mark VII stock up for the 75 or so orange Bondurant Mustangs.

[This message has been edited by Lscman (edited September 01, 2001).]

[LincoConti87]

I'm wondering what my next car should be if it comes to it. I was thinking a turbo coupe 87-88 with a T5 already in it would be sweet and if the turbo four goes bad then I drop in a 351 windsor or a 5.0 HO with some nice heads or somethin. Saw an 84 TC goin for 850$ in classifieds. If it was an 87-88 I would maybe have pursued in some manner. I'm wondering, how good do those LSCs handle in stock form? The air bags must be alot stiffer than mine cus mine don't handle all that great.

[pro-five-oh]

Thanks Lscman for all the info. This makes a lot more sense now. I obviously have "flavor 2" in my Cougar but adding the '87-93 Mustang spindle gives you the 11" brakes of the TC without swapping arms/ball joints.

Rob: getting a Turbo Coupe would be great but if you swap motors you'll have to swap trannies too. That T-5 is for a four banger and not for a V8. Is nothing easy??? http://www.lincolnsonline.com/ubb/biggrin.gif


[This message has been edited by pro-five-oh (edited September 03, 2001).]

[LincoConti87]

Thats not what I heard Sajeev. That turbo four is not quite V8 power but its alot more power than just about any N/A 4 banger. I have heard of 5.0 conversions that worked just fine.

[pro-five-oh]

Well you can put a 5.0 in a TC without putting a V8-spec T-5 in it. The gear ratios are all different and the torque capacity is weak! That tranny was originally designed for a 4cyl. A couple of hard shifts and that tranny will explode.

[Lscman]

>>Pro, The '87-'93 Mustang spindles "can" be used and allows you to use the readily available stang struts. However, they are for the shallow bearing 4 bolt rotors and they have a different strut bolt pattern that requires a non-TC, non-Mark VII strut. Those spindles has less ackerman steering for turn-in and is designed for a lighter chassis. Also, the Mark VII and SVO struts have more travel. That is why many racers ran the Mark VII spindles with ball joint spacers on Mustangs.
>> The stock LSC handles decent. It's a neutral handler but leans which loses grip. The big swaybar mod and stiff shocks are the ticket. A friend with a '93 Cobra drove my car for about 500 miles at the track. He agreed it handled equal to his Cobra, even with my stock 16x7 wheels. It is more predictable than ANY Mustang other than a new Cobra R above 70 MPH.