1998 Mercury Grand Marquis shock replacement

Shocks on my old white boat ('98 Merc of the topic) are shot. I mean gone. I mean, the thing pitches and seesaws and sounds like an old, worn-out in nerspring mattress after going over a speed bump.

From what I've been reading, it's fairly simple to swap out shocks. No rea lignment required, and I shouldn't be in the shop forever.

The front suspension does need some work: replacement of ball joints and st abilizer links. But, one thing at a time.

I have access to a very nice place to work on it. Not quite as good as hav ing a garage at home, but there is an auto hobby shop near where I work. T hey have every type of lift, jack, tool, and gadget you could want. I did an oil change and brake inspection there last Friday (turns out my brakes a re in excellent shape, both pads and rotors). Does cost $10/hour but that' s much much cheaper than having the shocks swapped professionally.

So that's my next project - any tips?

Reply to
Jc Maxwell
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FWIW mine is an LS but does *not* have the air suspension, which simplifies matters.

Reply to
Jc Maxwell

This is one of the easier shock replacements. Start with YouTube.

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Reply to
Paul in Houston TX

Glad to hear it. Shocks have been shipped, should be able to do the work Saturday.

Next project planned is replacing ball joints and stabilizer links up front. Might need some help with that one.

Reply to
Jc Maxwell

There is a good Youtube for that one, too!

Reply to
Paul in Houston TX

Yes, I viewed one already on the stabilizer arms!

Can't find one specifically about the rear shocks though. 2004 and later Crown Vic/GM yes, but, not my year, which apparently is different.

Did find one where a guy is removing the rear shocks on a 1997 Crown Vic, but video quality is potato.

Will keep looking.

Meanwhile, realized that the light to illuminate the engine compartment is burned out. Looking for an LED replacement.

Reply to
Jc Maxwell

Found this very relevant page via another forum (crownvic.net):

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Reply to
Jc Maxwell

Nice site! Thanks.

Reply to
Paul in Houston TX

I spent the majority of yesterday attempting to install new shocks. Hours a nd hours of lift time, for what should have been a 2 hour job, tops.

It took so long because I had to first figure out what was going on, then f ix the threaded holes in the A-arms where the lower front shock bolts attac h. The shop that installed the last set of shocks, circa 2006, did a terri ble job. It looks like they used an impact wrench to install the various b olts, with predictable damage to the threaded holes. That is why I had to buy new, larger bolts to secure the lower ends of the front shocks. We dri lled and tapped the holes in the A-arms for a larger bolt size, going from the stock 8mm x 1.25 bolt to a 3/8" bolt. I never got to the rear shocks.

I'm going back this coming weekend to replace the rear shocks. Since all f our shocks were replaced by the same shop that botched my front shock insta ll, I expect that I'll have to fix similar stuff in the rear.

Does anyone know the size of the bolts that secure the bottom end of the re ar shocks to the shock mounts? I haven't been able to find this informatio n so far. I'd like to buy larger replacement bolts ahead of time, so that I can go straight to the drilling & tapping when required.

Reply to
Jc Maxwell

Rear solid axle shocks usually attach with one long bolt on the bottom. Odds are that you won't have any problems with the bottom bolts. The top one is often hard to get to though. Check the web for shock pics. Your shocks might come with new bolts.

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Reply to
Paul in Houston TX

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I may indeed have received new bottom end bolts and nuts with the rear shoc ks. Have to check later. Some of the photos show them, some don't, depend ing on brand. I bought KYB KG5521 shocks (Gas-A-Just) for the rear.

I did not get new bottom end bolts with the new front shocks. Of course if the last shop had not done such a horrible job, I would not have needed ne w bolts.

The bolts we installed on Saturday were just what they had at the nearest O 'Reilly store. They were not of great quality. Good enough, possibly, but I'd prefer to replace them with better quality bolts. Any suggestions on where to order? Ace Hardware probably has them, yes? 3/8" is not a common automotive size today, but it was the next largest size that would fit in the shock foot, so we had to improvise.

Reply to
Jc Maxwell

Stainless if you ever plan on shock work again. Plain old mild steel other wise.

Reply to
Paul in Houston TX

Maybe Grade 5 is "good enough" then.

Wouldn't cost much to swap 'em out with Grade 8 replacements, though.

Meanwhile: yes, the new KYB rear shocks (KG5521) did include new hardware f or both ends. It just isn't shown in the photo on either the KYB website, or Rockauto.com. The website photo does show all the mounting hardware inc luded with the front shocks (KG5458), however; go figure.

If the fittings haven't been attacked with an impact wrench, the rear shock swap might actually go more easily than the fronts did.

Reply to
Jc Maxwell

Considering that the OEM ones were closer to grade 2 they will be just fine.

Just use an impact to pull them back apart. Much easier on the fasteners than gorilla torque on the heads. I've broken a LOt more bolts and studs using hand tools than I ever have using an impact.

Reply to
Steve W.

Realistically I'm probably not going to do a shock job again. It depends on how the car looks at 230000 miles, though. Or whenever the KYB shocks wear out.

That's probably because you were taking your time to do it right, not trying to slapdash things together with the impact wrench. And with hand tools...well, you have to learn somehow, don't you? :)

Getting things apart is not the issue, and I certainly would use an impact wrench for that - it's entirely appropriate. Takes a while to get lug nuts off, otherwise.

My concern is that anything with the rear shocks that can be over-torqued, certainly will have been. That is, given the sloppiness with which the previous shop approached front shock installation.

Hey, at least I learned how to drill & tap for bolts, and a lot about bolt selection. There's that!

Reply to
Jc Maxwell

Replaced the rear shocks over the weekend. It went smoothly, it just took forever because I only had room to turn the top bolts about 1/8 turn at a go.

Really wished I had one of those Snap-On ratcheting wrenches. Maybe next time.

Nothing was rusted together, so no heroic measures were necessary.

The new rear shocks came with all the hardware for both ends, and there were no threaded holes involved, so I didn't have to deal with anything that had been ruined by use of an impact wrench.

Car rides soooooooooo much better with the new shocks. So much better. No more feeling of being at sea in a storm every time I go over a speed bump.

Reply to
Jc Maxwell

Excellent! Thanks for the update.

Reply to
Paul in Houston TX

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