Any thunderbird/cougar marked shock mount would work, correct?
goodbye air ride, you shall be missed..kinda..not really.
- Thread starter keVIIIn
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Any thunderbird/cougar marked shock mount would work, correct?
Yes sir. I'd be more concerned about what you're doing for the rear springs, fronts are simple so long as you have a spring compressor. Rears are what is difficult unless you buy DLFs perches..also make sure your rear upper shock mounts are sill good, if not you will need new ones.
NoLimit95
Dedicated LVC Member
Kevin, does the ride feel good around town or can you really tell a big difference between air and the setup you have now?
I think it rides better than with the air ride, not sure if my shocks were bad before or something but I thought the ride sucked on air, it was really floaty when going over bumps, it felt like it took too long to stop rebounding after going over a bump or dip in the road. With the springs it's smooth with just the right amount of firmness and less sway/body roll...I like it.
My Mark came to me with a coil conversion already done, it's got some sort of perch system in the back already. Don't know what their exact solution was since I didn't take the wheel off but it seems to have kept the rear coils in place properly for quite a while.
shawn_sloma
Active LVC Member
I just replaced the conversion kit yesterday in the mark I bought. Previous owner didn't take care of it and used a crappy chinese kit, rear springs were collapsed and one of the front shocks was cracked and about to break at the lower control arm. Now the ride sits at the proper height, however; when replacing the rear springs I noticed something didn't look right. That's when I realized my entire rear sway bar was off the car. Going out to hampshire next week to buy one off a salvage car.
Trippen Out
Dedicated LVC Member
I just snagged the last kit off amazon 
i hope its worth it.
i hope its worth it.
thaywood
Dedicated LVC Member
I just gotta say I LOVE MY AIR RIDE!!! Compared to the ride in the '97 Cougar, the Mark's air suspension is silky smooth. The Cougar has extremely stiff shocks (sport suspension option) and it sits extremely high (there's about 5 inches gap between the fender well and tire
) so the ride is a little bouncy and jittery. On the plus side, it handles very well where the Mark has a bit more body roll in the corners due to the seriously mushy Arnott front shocks (my rear shocks are heavy duty Gabriel GasRyder's made for a '69 Ford Galaxie - super stiff!!!). If I could put stiffer shocks in the front, I believe the air springs would still soften the ride enough to make it much more comfortable than the coil-sprung Cougar I'm driving now. BTW, the Cougar is a 1997 30th Anniversary Edition with original OEM front coil-over shocks and rear shocks. And they are still just as stiff as the day my mom bought the car! I can put all my weight on the front or rear and barely push it down half and inch. But anyhoo, that's my opinion based upon my experience with two MN12 chassis with air and coil suspensions. YMMV
) so the ride is a little bouncy and jittery. On the plus side, it handles very well where the Mark has a bit more body roll in the corners due to the seriously mushy Arnott front shocks (my rear shocks are heavy duty Gabriel GasRyder's made for a '69 Ford Galaxie - super stiff!!!). If I could put stiffer shocks in the front, I believe the air springs would still soften the ride enough to make it much more comfortable than the coil-sprung Cougar I'm driving now. BTW, the Cougar is a 1997 30th Anniversary Edition with original OEM front coil-over shocks and rear shocks. And they are still just as stiff as the day my mom bought the car! I can put all my weight on the front or rear and barely push it down half and inch. But anyhoo, that's my opinion based upon my experience with two MN12 chassis with air and coil suspensions. YMMVshawn_sloma
Active LVC Member
I just gotta say I LOVE MY AIR RIDE!!! Compared to the ride in the '97 Cougar, the Mark's air suspension is silky smooth. The Cougar has extremely stiff shocks (sport suspension option) and it sits extremely high (there's about 5 inches gap between the fender well and tire
I just replaced the chinese junk on my car with arnotts conversion kit and have to say that it's a pretty decent kit. The rear springs had about 2 more coils than the chinese ones that collapsed and my car currently sits with about a 2 1/2 gap between the tires and fender lip. It's also a decently firm ride and the body roll has reduced greatly, sure that it will be even better when I put a rear sway bar on the car. Not sure why it is missing in the first place.
DLF
Dedicated LVC Member
Finished the rears today. Bolted the wheels back up and took it for a ride, and I must say I'm very impressed at how it rides and handles, I was expecting it to be really stiff, but I would say it's better than the air ride. In my opinion I thought my car rode like sh*t with the original bags and air struts, very floaty and I felt every bump in the road..not sure if that is just because the shocks were bad or something but the car only has 82K on it now..so I would find that unlikely. I think the ride is really smooth with just the right amount of stiffness, I tested it out at the local railroad crossing which is notorious for shaking the piss out of the car at 15-20 mph, and it handled it well. The rear is a tad higher than the front like I anticipated, but hopefully it will settle a little bit over time. Eitherway I'm glad I don't have to deal with the compressor running immediately once the car is started, as well as the constant venting and pumping back up when I get in and out of the car while it's running..also no more leaning to one side like the old air ride made it do..now it's all even side to side.
Did you have any difficulty installing the clevis pins and clips for the upper perches?
http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/showpost.php?p=2037246929&postcount=35
thaywood
Dedicated LVC Member
This makes me sad...
NoLimit95
Dedicated LVC Member
Me too! There are a few though that have recently purchased Motorcraft air shocks on here. Chris is one of them and I can't remember the others. The price is just going to go up, higher and higher and then there won't be any. I'd say this time next year, Motorcraft air shocks will not be found. Just guessing.
I did have to take off a very small bit of material in the recessed hole of the perch to get the pin to push far enough through to get the clip through the little hole..took a little pacience but I got them in just fine.
eglade
Active LVC Member
Do you have a part number for the Tokico kit?
Upper shock mounts? P/N?
Wish I had done the perches years ago?
Were any mods necessary to adapt the front springs due to application being for T-bird versus Mark VIII? Bolt-in?
I have had the springs on my Mark for years with no issues other than crappy valving in front.
Want to upgrade now that fronts are shot and all other components have been replaced.
Would like to order through my parts guy if possible, if not will do Amazon.
Many thanks for the info.
Tokico kit was the HPK-221 I believe, didn't require any modification for the front, just bolts right in. The upper shock mounts I bought were TRWs for thunderbirds/cougars, got them at pep boys. The rear perches will set you back the most probably unless you make your own, got mine from DLF. Supercoupeperformance makes aluminum perches also, not sure what the price is though, check under brakes and suspension.
sprocket
Well-Known LVC Member
Did I ever mention that this DA I bought has a brand new coil conversion? She gave me the repair receipts when I bought it and I see that the owner before her just had a new compressor and new air ride computer installed 6 months earlier. So now I have a coil car with a new compressor.
My other '96 has a weak compressor and I am half done with converting it to springs. That's with T-bird rear springs and my own perches that I made. I have used struts to do the front, I just haven't got around to it...but now I have a new compressor.
Guess what I'm going to do?
My other '96 has a weak compressor and I am half done with converting it to springs. That's with T-bird rear springs and my own perches that I made. I have used struts to do the front, I just haven't got around to it...but now I have a new compressor.
Guess what I'm going to do?
I have used struts to do the front, I just haven't got around to it...but now I have a new compressor.
Guess what I'm going to do?
Uh oh..look out..don't let thaywood see this..
thaywood
Dedicated LVC Member
Hopeless...
sprocket
Well-Known LVC Member
Oops. Hey I was on a 15 minute break at work. I screwed up. So shoot me.
thaywood
Dedicated LVC Member
eglade
Active LVC Member
Part Numbers Request
Can you provide part numbers for Tokico Kit?
Isolators
My Mark has been on springs for years. Was satisfactory but springs and isolators are shot and I would like to upgrade. A little concerned trying to cross reference T-Bird to 97 Mark VIII compatibility.
Any mods required ?
My Mark is riding dirty and needs some love.
Many thanks for a very informative thread.
The car has been layed up for the last few days, and I finally was able to finish the fronts today, I've been working on it in between my nights off this week so it's slow going, hopefully I can do the rears when I get home tomorrow afternoon. Here's what I got so far. The kit is made by Tokico which is rated at supposedly 1.25" lower than stock for a thunderbird/cougar.
all my components for the rears..DLF's perches and prothane isolators, and the front KYB shock mounts.
for all of you air ride freaks..don't worry, I unhooked the ride height sensors and tucked the solenoids behind the fender liner..juuust in case I want to go back..
after bolting the wheels back up and rolling it out..disregard the ass end being low, the car was jacked up in front for 3 days straight and some air must have "dissapeared" from the rear bags in that time. Once I get the springs in I assume it will be closer to the height of the front, maybe with a slight rake to it. I wasn't really going for the lowest possible height I could achieve with springs here, I wanted something that would be slightly lower than stock but high enough so I wouldn't bottom out or rub on anything going over bumps and get rid of the major lean the car had going with the uneven air ride. As is, the fronts appear to be at a "sensor lowered" height which I like, so we shall see how it turns out after I get the rears done.
now to compare with the old rediculous 4x4 look caused by the air bags making the car lean to one side..
to be continued.
Can you provide part numbers for Tokico Kit?
Isolators
My Mark has been on springs for years. Was satisfactory but springs and isolators are shot and I would like to upgrade. A little concerned trying to cross reference T-Bird to 97 Mark VIII compatibility.
Any mods required ?
My Mark is riding dirty and needs some love.
Many thanks for a very informative thread.
Tokico HPK221 HP Suspension Kit for Thunderbird/Mercury Cougar
If you're not in a big hurry Amazon has the best price but they do have a pretty substantial waiting period for them.
Call up Amazon and see what the eta is on that specific kit, provide them the part number and they should be able to tell you. I got lucky and watched for it to come in stock and bought one right away. I got it for $397 or something..the price varies sometimes, last I looked it was $440..free shipping though. The isolators are made by prothane, don't know the part number off hand, scroll back a few pages and I show them laid out on a table, I might have listed it there. On a side note eBay has the tokico kit in stock for a hundred or so more..depends on how soon you need it. And as I stated before there are no need for modifications for the front shocks, they bolt right on and you need to buy upper shock mounts as they don't come with the kit, and for the rears you need spring perches to make the springs work in the mark viii lower control arms and upper brackets.