RAGEN-CAJUN
New LVC Member
Hey, just wandering if anyone sells a replacement strut for the Mark VIII coil conversion kit. I don't want to buy the entire front conversion kit over again. Thanks. 
Replacement Struts!!!
- Thread starter RAGEN-CAJUN
- Start date
Strutmasters (see their ad on the right of this page)
RAGEN-CAJUN
New LVC Member
I see Strutmasters has the conversion kits. But do they sell the conversion struts without the springs? I have that setup already. I was looking to upgrade the struts with something like Konis or Eibachs for example. 
Frogman
Dedicated LVC Member
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Conversion struts without springs? Umm.. Springs are ON the struts.
Struts upfront, Shocks in the rear.
Struts upfront, Shocks in the rear.
04SSHD
Dedicated LVC Member
T-bird front struts are a direct swap in if you don't go with Strutmasters.
kustomizingkid
Dedicated LVC Member
T bird struts are a direct fit? What about the rear, can you use T Bird coils out back?
RAGEN-CAJUN
New LVC Member
Frogman said:
BTW thanks for the insight Frogman. (Gotta remember not to slip up around him). I just want to upgrade the struts. I'm gonna look into the T-Bird struts. Those anyone know what year T-Bird will fit.
Thanks.
Scorpio1118_2000
Dedicated LVC Member
I would go with 94 and up to be on the safe side, but I could be wrong and If I am someone here will correct me.
RAGEN-CAJUN
New LVC Member
Replacement completed and very satisfied. Went with 95 V8 T-Bird struts. Car handles reMARKable. I'm gonna jump in the SHO today cause the white stuff is coming down again
. That's the sacrificial lamb. Can't wait for weather to clear to cruise the Mark again. Now onto Brake upgrades. Thanks again everyone for your help. 
thaywood
Dedicated LVC Member
The T-Bird "coil-over shocks", not struts, are a direct bolt-in. The rear T-Bird coil springs will require modified seats on the coltrol arms, or you could swap in the stamped steel T-Bird lower arms, to make them fit. The MN12 and FN10 platforms do not use struts in the front. The coil-over shocks used on the MN12 and the air spring/shock absorber assemblies used on the FN10 resemble McPherson struts in appearance, but they are not struts. Just because the coil spring is mounted on top of the shock does not make it a strut. A strut differs from a coil-over shock in several ways. First, in a strut suspension, there is no upper control arm because the strut acts as the upper suspension locating link, negating the upper A-arm. Second, a strut is mounted directly to the spindle and actually turns with the wheels as they steer the car. Third, if you remove or replace a strut, it directly affects the alignment of the suspension. In the T-Bird MN12 platform and the Mark VIII FN10 platform, the front suspension is a proper upper and lower control arm design. The air spring/shock and/or coil spring/shock assembly is mounted directly to the lower control arm and to the shock tower. The shock only moves up and down and does not turn with the steering. If you remove or replace the air spring or coil spring and shock, it does not affect the alignment at all since the shock is not a direct suspension locating member. Sorry about the rant, but it just frustrates me that everybody calls the shocks "struts" when that is not the case. Now the Lincoln Mark VII had struts in the front. The Mark VII was based on a Fox platform like the Mustang, T-Bird, and Cougar. It was a completely different animal. Thank you.
RAGEN-CAJUN
New LVC Member
The T-Bird "coil-over shocks", not struts, are a direct bolt-in. The rear T-Bird coil springs will require modified seats on the coltrol arms, or you could swap in the stamped steel T-Bird lower arms, to make them fit. The MN12 and FN10 platforms do not use struts in the front. The coil-over shocks used on the MN12 and the air spring/shock absorber assemblies used on the FN10 resemble McPherson struts in appearance, but they are not struts. Just because the coil spring is mounted on top of the shock does not make it a strut. A strut .................]
Oh I'm sorry, what were you saying? Dude, thanks for the lesson. I came to the forum and got some good advice on how to fix my Mark. It's fixed and i'm happy. No need to get your panties in a bunch. And besides, One Frogman is enough.
thaywood
Dedicated LVC Member
Ha. Ha.
Jibit
Dearly Departed Friend
:bowrofl:And besides, One Frogman is enough.
GMAN
Dedicated LVC Member
Although the Tbird struts are a direct swap, they are a little bit weaker. The Tbird is lighter than the Mark. The springs would make the ride bouncy.
