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My first race after chip install

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Posted by: The Rev

Ok so I've been having these front end squeaks/squeals/very annoying noises when turning the wheels. It sounds like its coming from the steering column somewhere, because I can feel it through the steering wheel and its even if I turn the wheel a half inch, but it only does it at low speeds(it didnt make a peep while it was jacked up with front wheels off the ground either, any ideas?), so I jack it up, pb blaster the connection between right above the pass. cat and decide to take it for a run.

Me any my mom went out on the highway cruising, going about 90 in the left lane when I see a large ford late model pickup come on me hard, flash highbeams, and continue to accelerate, and hes still comin on me at 100, 105, 110....so I get into the middle lane and give him a "wtf" look, and he revs it a few times (very very intimidating, that thing ROARS) and then just punches it. Now with my mom in the car I didn't want to immediately start racing, so he gets about 5 car lengths ahead of me and she says "are we a little intimidated?"

so we punch it, and he's still pulling hard...and then we pretty much blew by him at 130. I usually lose power at these speeds but she kept pulling! I wasn't watching the speedometer but my mom said she thinks it went over the 140 mark? Is that even possible? I'm still getting horrible mileage because of the cheapo gas (after this highway run we climbed up to 10.1 mpg

) I'm assuming with good gas I'll get even better performance.....

...score one for the chip!

Oh yeah, do those trucks just sound fast? I couldn't hear my exhaust (no mufflers) at those speeds, just his, even when he was in front.

Posted by: warthog5

Quote:

and she says "are we a little intimidated?"

LOL I about sprayed my drink on the screen when I read that. HeHe

Mine would have long before that said "Get you foot out of it".

Posted by: ground_zero298

Most trucks just sound mean. My 150 was not that fast but with a couple of revs I could get people in mustangs and camaro's to wipe that my car is the shizzle look right off their face and wait for me to pull off the line.

Fathers day my cousin was talking about how fast his stock gmc 2500 desiel is. Said he blows mustangs off the line all the time with it and smokes his tires up and down the street all day. I asked him if he wanted to line it up with the lincoln, he said he didn't feel like it.

Heres a link to my trucks exhaust, sound quality is not that great. It's everybit of 225 horse at the flywheel with a flow 40 series single in dual out with 3 Inch dumps. sounds mean but does 0-60 in about 9 seconds. plus its just a 16v. http://youtube.com/watch?v=_1c_FRO8-7k

Here's some inside outside clips http://youtube.com/watch?v=mViIFzYmENc

I know no one likes watching pickup truck clips, but it shows you loud does not mean fast.

Posted by: NHLSV8

the turbo diesels can run some good times.... stock 6.0L can pull well into the 13's with just a tune

Posted by: ground_zero298

LOL stay away from the desiels with the loud whistle. Guy at work has a 2500 runnin low 12's. Smokes all four tires off the line.

Posted by: NHLSV8

I got a buddy with a 6.0 (the one i mentioned ran mid to high 13's on just a tune) who beats his GF's slightly built Z28..... consistantly! He roasted all four and then we went over the tire marks with a reset trip meter...... he burned all four for .15 miles! Nitrous in a diesel is just unholy!

Posted by: XLRVIII

need to address the ball joint issue on that car, before making any more highspeed runs.

you really dont want to kill your mom..right?

squeaks, groans, creaks felt thru the steering are 999 times out of 1000 bad ball joints.

Posted by: unity

"Ok so I've been having these front end squeaks/squeals/very annoying noises when turning the wheels. It sounds like its coming from the steering column somewhere, because I can feel it through the steering wheel and its even if I turn the wheel a half inch, but it only does it at low speeds(it didnt make a peep while it was jacked up with front wheels off the ground either, any ideas?), so I jack it up, pb blaster the connection between right above the pass. "

Next time it up look at the rack boot where the steering shaft meets the rack. Lift up the boot and apply grease to the underside, preferably a silicons grease. That may take care of your squeak.

Posted by: The Rev

is that whats right above the passengers side cat? I soaked that in wd-40 and it helped for a little

Posted by: unity

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Rev

is that whats right above the passengers side cat? I soaked that in wd-40 and it helped for a little

No, on the steering rack under the engine. Wish I had a pick. Mine made lots-o-noise and eventually resistance in the steering. Driver-side.

Not sure what you would have soaked above the passenger side cat...
I think what you soaked was the "rag" joint. Try not to get too much on there or that rubber will break down and the shaft could collapse.

Posted by: slowmkviii

when you are checking the front end you need to put a jack under the control arm and lower the car so it has weight on the susp.

Posted by: The Rev

Quote:

Originally Posted by unity

That doesn't sound good...but yeah I'm getting a little resistance but only when I'm pulling into my driveway (which is a left turn) I really have to wing it. The wheel is definitely not easy to turn. I'll try to get a video (once I find my camera) so you can hear the noise, its definitely drivers side though.

Posted by: unity

Well if its not that then there is a really good chance its the lower ball joint as XLRVIII said.

Posted by: The Rev

I somehow got linked to the .org site where they were talking about this same problem I'm having, and they showed a few wheels snapped off.

Looking on ebay, best suspension is junk from what I hear. How about the ac cars? They had a kit for 198. upper and lower control arms, inner and outer tie rods for about 210+ shipping, worth it? I haven't compared prices, but what would I be looking at for moog, or trw which I hear are better brands. I tried a search on moog and got linked to a company making aircraft parts.

Posted by: unity

MOOG and TRW are practically one and the same. I purchased plenty of MOOG parts that were stamped TRW. So shop TRW.

Do you have an Advance Auto? They will have the best prices. Next option is Rock Auto ( rockauto.com ). There is a discount coupon that takes of 5%, that usually makes up for shipping.

Posted by: Goddard-MarkVIII

Quote:

Originally Posted by warthog5

LOL I about sprayed my drink on the screen when I read that. HeHe

Mine would have long before that said "Get you foot out of it".

Yeah dude cool mom

Posted by: The Rev

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goddard-MarkVIII

Yeah dude cool mom

She thought her police interceptor cab was faster than the mark, not so much anymore haha. She grew up in franklin mass in the 60s and all they did was race.

Yeah unity I'm sure theres an advance around here, so I was checking their site and saw a ford code scanner for obd1 vehicles 81-95. Can I buy this? Its only 30 bucks and its item number 3145 on their site. I think I may go by there tomorrow just to pick up a little wrench set they have for 20 bucks.

Posted by: unity

The scanner should work but some of the cheap ones dont always read the right code, unless thats an ODB II think. I am not too familiar with ODB I.

Posted by: The Rev

I get a cel occasionally, I'm assuming its o2s but could be something else, for 30 bucks ill give it a try

Posted by: The Rev

I saw that the lcas come with ball joints, correct? I may just replace those along with whatever else is needing to be replaced down there. I'm looking to buy a torch for heating up these bolts. Thats my only problem I run into when doing things my self (starter, front rotors, almost waterpump, etc) is that this car sat for 2 years and pretty much rusted itself out. My mechanic uses a torch on most of the cars anyway. I need to get myself one, where should I look? An ebay search yielded almost nothing.

Posted by: unity

For a torch? Pick up one from the plumbing department at Lowes or Home Depot. $20 for a tan with trigger ignitor on top. Best $20 I ever spent.

And yes, the LCAs come with ball joints, much better that way and easier to install!

Posted by: XLRVIII

Make sure you check the upper ball joints too.
your not gonna like what you see when you take a look at the "ball joint boot".

more than likely they are busted{the boots) and the ball joints have been operating DRY for quite some time.

Upper ball joints have to be replaced by replacing the entire upper control arem.. whereas, the lower ball joint CAN be removed from the LCA and serviced seperately.

You might as well PLAN on buying "uppers and lowers".. and be done with it.

Posted by: Rich88LSC

Quote:

Originally Posted by XLRVIII

Make sure you check the upper ball joints too.
your not gonna like what you see when you take a look at the "ball joint boot".

more than likely they are busted{the boots) and the ball joints have been operating DRY for quite some time.

Upper ball joints have to be replaced by replacing the entire upper control arem.. whereas, the lower ball joint CAN be removed from the LCA and serviced seperately.

You might as well PLAN on buying "uppers and lowers".. and be done with it.

+1

Lowers are cheap enough that it's not worth the effort to try and swap just the ball joint.

Posted by: ONEBADMK8

Awesome Billy, glad your happy with our program.
I sent out the rear window decal too, anyday you will have it.
I have one left in white if anyone wants it?

Posted by: MonsterMark

Quote:

Originally Posted by ONEBADMK8

I have one left in white if anyone wants it?

I'll take it.

Posted by: The Rev

Had a nice trip to advance today. I've read mikes tech article on the ball joint replacement and yeah I don't think I have the tools yet. The biggest socket I have is 19mm, and it was late in the day so I'm plannin on doing as much as I can myself.

Unity I picked up a torch too, 15 bucks.

I ended up just lubricating the upper and lower ball joints and a few other things which helped for a few hours. They're all shot, dried, cracked, all botched up. When the car is parked if I put weight on the front drivers side you can hear the creaking. I'm going to start buying these parts a few a week.

I'm looking to buy

Upper/Lower control arms obviously, now heres where I'll need help, what else? 93 w/ 117k.

sway bar w/ end links? inner/outer tierods? is there anything else really?

Also, I have a 68 piece ratchet set w/ the largest socket being 19mm (same as the lugnuts) what else should I need, I saw mike mentioned a 23mm somewhere in his tech article

Posted by: MonsterMark

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Rev

Ok so I've been having these front end squeaks/squeals/very annoying noises when turning the wheels.

Somebody has to say it so I figure I might as well be the one. (And this is not a flame. Consider it fatherly advice)

YOU'RE AN IDIOT!

Surrender your license ASAP.

1st: LVC does not condone high speed driving unless it is on a race track.

2nd: You're driving around with only 4 of 5 lug nuts on each wheel.

3rd: You have worn out ball joints and other suspension components. Have you ever seen a car tuck a wheel when the lower control ball joint fails? Catastrophic loss of control at any speed over 60, must less what you did.

My advice. Sell the car before you kill yourself and others on the road.

Posted by: The Rev

I've been reading a lot about it. The car doesn't feel safe to drive around the city rather than over 60. Parts ordered, until then I wont be driving much.

Posted by: unity

Well in his defense...

I had a 73 Mark IV. It was in storage without being driven for about 15 years. My grandfather and I took it out of the barn and got it home with grandma in the minivan behind us. Surprised it started up and the coolant, tire pressures, etc where all in check.

Anyway I got it home and once I got plates I had to take my friend out in it. Those 460 V8 engines kick some ass and we took it on a country road and floored it hard. Got over 100mph and just coasted down the road.

The next day I was doing about 30 and the rear tire blew out. Never heard anything so loud before.

It could have been worse. I learned my lesson REALLY quick. Of course now I am afraid to take Avi8tor above 100.

Posted by: The Rev

After reading a few horror stories I don't want to become one. I had been trying to save this money I recently got as a performance bonus at work, and yeah it went toward the mark, as usual with most of my extra cash haha.

Based on what I've been reading I caught it early. I've read that people have ignored it and thought they were in the clear and then something would just snap, having the tire buckle like monster said. I'm trying to dig up what people use for a sway bar up front, the stock ones are hollow correct? I also need new sway bar links as well as the boots are in a little rough shape

Posted by: unity

I *think* the fronts are solid? But I never heard of them falling apart the the rears do!

Reminds me, I need a new rear one ASAP! What is a good size and where to buy? (PM me!, dont want to hijack thread)

Posted by: The Rev

got the

uppers/lowers
inner/outers
sway bar end links
and studs too!

now we wait til they get here

Posted by: unity

How about control/strut rod bushings. Cheap but OEM is best for sure on these. They can go right on when you do you LCA. Takes a minute to do each side.

edit: Here is what I all picked up. The only thing I did not get at that time was the inner tie rods (just did them last week, VERY easy) and the bushing mentioned above, picked up those local.

Posted by: The Rev

Good, same as what I got. I'm interested in the rear as well, addco people have said? I'll end up picking which ever anyone recommends.

Posted by: vr4

Quote:

Originally Posted by unity

The next day I was doing about 30 and the rear tire blew out. Never heard anything so loud before.

It could have been worse. I learned my lesson REALLY quick. Of course now I am afraid to take Avi8tor above 100.

i had a right front blow out at 120 chasing down a street bike.

i spend money on quality tires now and wont drive the car if the tires are questionable.

Posted by: XLRVIII

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Rev

After reading a few horror stories I don't want to become one.

heres our ball joint story

for about 2 weeks tiffs car (93 mark 8) had a squeak when the front wheel was turned.

We bracket raced our cars every week for years and drove 82 miles at 70-80+ to get to the track.

After 1.5 hours blasting down the freeway, we arrive at the dragstrip.. enter the gate and proceed to our pit area..

When Tiffany turned right to go into her pit space the driver side lower ball joint broke. folded the tire up into the fender well.

HAD that broke 2 minutes earlier, OR 2 minutes later it could have been catastrophic.

2 minutes before we were side by side 80MPH on the freeway,
2 minutes later we would have been 80MPH side by side on the dragstrip
{we always ran our time trials against each other)

Was a very sobering moment for us both.

Posted by: The Rev

Got the strut rod bushings as well. Now are there any kind of tools I'm going to need besides my ratchet set? I'm PB'ing the bolts a little each day so they wont be murder to get off. Got my torch just in case.

How fun is this gonna be to replace?

Posted by: unity

It was easy work for me. There are MANY write-ups on this, its not too hard just time consuming for the first time.

When I did mine I disconnected the upper ball joint from knuckle. Then I took the three (or four?) strut tower bolts off. Next was the lower control arm bolt at the frame. Finally the control rod nut. This way I slid out the entire strut with lower control arm. I was replacing my struts, thats why. But if the LCA to strut is a pain it *might* be easier to bench it than do it from the underside.

Posted by: unity

Oh, I forgot. There are also bushings are the front of the strut rod that I replaced. Again, not terribly expensive but pain to replace. I glad I worked on them though, made it easy work for the alignment shop. Otherwise those forward nuts/threads can be in bad shape. I defiantly used a torch on those.

Posted by: The Rev

Yeah I'm enlisting the help of my little sister, more for keeping me sane than anything. I'm (hoping) that I can get this ALL done on next thursday, if the parts are in by then. In the meantime I'll read all the writeups I can find, look for the tools I'm gonna need, and continue to soak the bolts w/ wd-40.

And probably buy a few propane tanks haha.

Top speed tonight on the way home -> 20 mph. Definitely driving as little as possible. Any reason why my lms chip is yielding less than 10 mpg? Shell v-power 93 octance and no punching it either. I was averaging 13-15 before.

Posted by: unity

"Top speed tonight on the way home -> 20 mph. Definitely driving as little as possible. Any reason why my lms chip is yielding less than 10 mpg? Shell v-power 93 octance and no punching it either. I was averaging 13-15 before."

Lets worry about that later!

lol

Posted by: The Rev

Yeah, I'm getting a little greedy. I'm excited for this to all get here. Advance didn't have anything in stock really, I've got like 7 packages coming in.

Posted by: ONEBADMK8

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonsterMark

I'll take it.

For real? Its HUGE for the back window, pm me.

Posted by: The Rev

back window or rear windshield? It doesn't look too big on the rear window. A few comments today;

"that thing has a cobra motor?"
"dude you got a 5.0?"
"you think its fast? I got a prelude if your down to race"
"what is that, a lincoln?"

Posted by: 93' Blue on blue

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Rev

"you think its fast? I got a prelude if your down to race"

Lol. Find Prelude... Release air from tires... Protect owner!

Posted by: The Rev

i told em
a) i wouldnt waste my time
b) my car would probably fall apart

he had a soda can muffler anyway

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