04_Sport_LS's Suspension thread

RigsLS

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So ... uhmm, we gonna see some pics and details of this progress or what?

... Couldn't upload the pics of my new rear suspension parts before with the old system ...

dscn1579-jpg.jpg


@04_Sport_LS waiting on ya, Bud o_O

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Yeah,,, um... about that. I keep telling myself "one more week and I'll get to that". Been doing alot of work in the basement for the last couple months. Since I'm buying lumber, drywall, insulation, plumbing and electrical stuff... I've been driving my truck full time.

Still need to get the radiator, DCCV, and Aux coolant flow pump installed too. LS has been sitting. AS soon as I get the work on the LS done... you'll be the first to know Rigs. :) Even bought some Lemforder "non passive" rear toe links. Originals were still solid,,, but "as long as I'm in there"... I figured I might as well replace everything. Plus I wanted to see how the "non passives" compare to the OEM "passives".

There will be more pics then too. :cool:
 
Rear suspension done, (except for alignment). Working on cooling system tomorrow. Should be back on the road full time in a couple of days.
 
Pics or you are working on a Corolla !!! :D
 
Got the LS aligned yesterday. Rides nice with the Jag/Bilstein/Lemforder combo on the back. Actually rides and handles better than when I got it at 74K miles.

Back end is much more predictable,,, and seems like it holds curves better. After the alignment... on the way home I took it down a "cloverleaf" ramp I normally use. Never felt comfortable going over 40mph in the past. Took it at 45 yesterday... and know I could push it to 50.

To me... the non passive steer is better. But that's just me.

Pics coming in a day or 2.
 
Rear suspension done, (except for alignment). Working on cooling system tomorrow. Should be back on the road full time in a couple of days.

Are you doing the Jag front shocks & springs now too or just the cooling stuff and then back on the road?

Reason I ask is that after a few weeks of driving with the Jag springs and shocks on the rear of my car, it settled a bit more than I had initially thought and the rear of my car seems to sit just a bit lower than it did with the stock springs.
I'm not complaining at all, and I'm hoping that the front does the same when I get the Jag springs installed.
Just wondering if you noticed this on your car if at all.
 
When these pics and p/n's do come to fruit I may have to take notes considering the Sport shocks can't be had any longer and with these crazy thoughts I might want to refresh another Lincoln LS. My 04 LSE, might swap all that new suspension out of my 01 before selling it or go new Jag on it. Either or, the 04 needs to be lowered and tightened up. It'd mean a future cooling system refresh also. Don't know just yet. Do like the 04 LSE but would rather dump all LS's and get into that 370Z soon.

With my procrastination .... could be 2020
 
Are you doing the Jag front shocks & springs now too or just the cooling stuff and then back on the road?

Rears and cooling for now. Front is still decent,,, but after changing the rears I can tell the front is soft. Rear shocks had virtually no resistance when pulled. I still need to triple check the parts for the front. Then it will be roughly another $600 in parts, (with replacing the upper bearing plates or just the bearings.

I ended up re-using the upper and lower isolators from the LS Shocks. If you are not happy with the height on your backend... you could buy some of those flat plastic "plates" and stack them. IIRC... that is what they are intended for.

Also... if/when I get some time, (and extra cash),,, I'm gonna go to a local boneyard and pull a front and rear shock from an LS... and contact Energy Suspension about the isolators. That might be a few months. If they are interested... I will ship them the rear parts, (including a coil spring), and see what happens. Will eventually do that with the front too... but I need to see how the stock isolators on the LS fit with the Jag springs first.

More homework!!!
 
Rigs,,,

I'm gonna have to dig for the part #s... but IIRC some of them are in earlier posts in this thread

First... trunk clean out. I had a bunch of stuff back there I didn't want to crawl over. Some are gonna get a laugh out of this... But I couldn't see and/or figure out how to disconnect the trunk light plug... so I pulled the bulb and bent the 4 tabs holding the trunk light in place.

Not shown in this pic... is that I marked the back stud on each top shock plate,,, to keep the plates oriented properly

LS Trunk cleaan out.JPG
 
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Top shock bolts were a breeze,,, but the lower left was a bit froze. So a couple of minutes with a propane torch in a couple of spots... and the bolt rattled right out. Yellow marks are where I applied heat. Keep in mind control arm is upside down... so this would be looking up from the bottom when under the vehicle
LS Shock heat.JPG
 
Knew I had a broken coil on the left rear... But this pic is mainly for the coil count between the springs. 8 coils on the factory spring... and 9 on the Jag spring. Also note the difference in spacing of the coils toward the bottom of the Jag spring compared to factory spring. Also... the factory spring did seem a bit harder to compress,,, compared to the Jag spring.

This tells me that the Jag spring is a "progressive" type spring, (gets stiffer the more it compresses). New shock and spring is just "mocked up" at this time for picture. Before anyone asks... even though the bottom shock "eye" looks different,,, the dimensions spec the same.

LS Old shock and broken coil.JPG
 
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Needing the bottom isolators, (which were stuck on the old shocks) it took a little time to separate them carefully so as not to destroy them. A scraper on the shock body,,, and a razor blade on the bottom plate got things apart fairily easy. Both bottom isolators were cracked in one spot. So a little "thermal re-fusion" , (I.E. melting back together with a soldering iron), took care of that for now until I can get with Energy suspension.

LS Isolator.JPG
 
Next was the lower control arms. Old vs new.

LS Control arm old new.JPG


Bolt to the front is the harder one to get to. But with proper tools it's not difficult. Pic is of right rear. You'll need a 19mm socket for the bolt,,, and 21mm wrench for the nut. Most of the larger hardware on the suspension components are those sizes. Impact wrench is definitely helpful.

LS Front bolt.JPG
 
The only part that needs to be pulled to get the shocks out and back in... is the rear toe link. Pull outer bolt at knuckle,,, and swing it back as far as it will go. This pic is after the fact... during install. You'll also notice the Moog sway bar links with 100k miles on them, (part of a discussion in another thread). New Lemforder "non-passive" toe link half installed too.

LS LR shock.JPG


Notice the block of of wood on the floor jack also. Pushed shock up into parfect placement... without getting into any suspension components with the jack cup. Also... after loosely attaching top bolts on shock,,, I stuck a bar in the lower shock eye and rotated the lower part of the shock to line up with the control arm
 
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As this has been going on, I've read the whole thing. But I don't think you ever said why you decided to go with NEW cast arms. It's undoubtedly easier, but also more expensive, and you could have upgraded the bushings by press-out-and-replace. Tell us your thoughts.

KS
 
Alignment specs: Nailed the right rear toe link by using the old toe link
LS Align.JPG
,,, and had the left rear too... but a mishap threw the left out,,, so I "guesstimated". Obviously I was off.
 
And before I forget... when doing the lower control arm,,, the lower bolt at the knuckle will hit the brake caliper bracket. Tie the brake caliper off so it doesn't hang.

LS Brake caliper tie off.JPG


Also... most "nyloc" nuts were re-used,,, but blue "loc-tite" was used to hold them in place.

Except for part #s... I think that's about it. If I think of anything else,,, I'll post it.
 
Ride is smoother,,, with less harshness. I always disliked running concrete highways with the LS... due to the "thump" at the seams. Much better now. I'll keep an eye on the springs settling.

Gap at wheel wells is slightly over 2 inches with tape measure. That's with a full size spare and roughly another 60lbs of junk in the trunk. Before it was only about 1 1/2 inches on the side with the good coil spring.
 
As this has been going on, I've read the whole thing. But I don't think you ever said why you decided to go with NEW cast arms. It's undoubtedly easier, but also more expensive, and you could have upgraded the bushings by press-out-and-replace. Tell us your thoughts.

Partly due to time/downtime if something went wrong,,, and also because I couldn't get any accurate info that aftermarket cast arms are truely available for the Gen 2. Moog SUPPOSEDLY sells cast arms for the gen 1. Rig's and I at one time talked about the differences between the Gen 1 and Gen 2 rear arms,,, but nothing was proven 100% to work, (cross over).

As far as pressing the bushings... I didn't find any info on the larger front bushings for the lower control arm being available,,, other than in urethane from a place "across the pond".

The other 2 metal bushings are available from sources... but quality seemed a bit suspect. Not to mention that pressing them out can be a bit tricky. Supposedly, (somewhere), ... some have cracked the eye on the control arm trying to press the metal bushings out. Also, the metal bushings are slightly offset to one side in the eye. Improper installation will cause fitment issues... and in the long term, (if a person manages to still get the control arm in), premature wear on the replacement bushings.

So in the end... instead of trying to attempt aftermarket Gen 1 arms for half the price of factory arms, (I paid roughly $550 shipped for both... I'd have to find the receipt to verify),,, or having the extra labor and potential of having something go wrong, (meaning more downtime),,, of pressing bushings... I just went for complete original arms.
 
Order Content

Part Number

Part Name

Price

Quantity

Total

6W4Z-5A649-AB

Lower Control Arm

$238.59
(Not Taxable)

1

$238.59

6W4Z-5A649-AA

Lower Control Arm

$269.42
(Not Taxable)

1

$269.42

Subtotal:

$508.01

Shipping (Standard Ground Shipping):

$33.98

Promo discount:

-$3.40

Total:

$538.59
 
I didn't use the top Isolators for the Jag,,, but it was worth having them "just in case". The bottom isolator is just a flat disc,,, thus the reason I used the unobtanium LS bottom isolators in conjunction with the flat "Jag" isolator.

XR811174-43346-66459 ITEM 8 - 2002 S-Type Base Left Spring
1 $109.86 $109.86
XR811174-43346-66460 ITEM 8 - 2002 S-Type Base Right Spring
1 $109.86 $109.86
C2Z15891-43346-66451 ITEM 9 - 2002 S-Type Base Left Isolator
1 $20.82 $20.82
C2Z15891-43346-66452 ITEM 9 - 2002 S-Type Base Right Isolator
1 $20.82 $20.82
MJA2162AA-43346-66453 ITEM 10 - 2002 S-Type Base Left Isolator
1 $2.51 $2.51
MJA2162AA-43346-66454 ITEM 10 - 2002 S-Type Base Right Isolator
1 $2.51 $2.51

Subtotal: $266.38
Tax: $0.00
Shipping Cost: $53.81
Grand Total: $320.19
 

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