94 MGM Anti roll bars

[Obnoxious94MGM]

I was wondering if anyone knew where I could get performance sway bars for my 94 MGM, I corner super hard with the car but there is a lot of body roll and want to get rid of as much of it as possible, any suggestions to upgrade my suspension would help.

[mcninetyone]

Marauder bars front and back? If you want factory stuff.

[Obnoxious94MGM]

Anything to upgrade it, I was taking corners up to 80mph last night and the body roll is immense.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Anything to upgrade it, I was taking corners up to 80mph last night and the body roll is immense.

Cornering at 80 MPH is going to do that. These tanks weren't designed around high speed cornering, not stock at least.

Tackling that issue, lets begin:
-Get some good sway bar end links and bushings. If your old ones are shot, that's not helping your case. Get yourself some new ones, and given your desire for performance, go for polyurethane ones. Moog has some decent ones at good prices.

-Beef up the anti-sway bars. HPP and Marauders had larger rears. If you want to do more than the factory options, try looking at Addco's stuff.

-Run good shock absorbers. I favor the KYB Police Spec Gas-A-Justs shocks. Those took a lot of the float out of the ride, even on civilian springs. The ride is controlled, but smooth.

-Inspect your springs. If you have sagging issues, or if a few people in the back seat cause a drag-ass scenario, you may want to upgrade the front/rear/both sets of springs. I replaced my rears with Moog 8649 and it helped considerably. The front was fine. Those springs were close to stock for spring rate and load, but perform very well. If you have rear air ride, make sure your rear air bags are in good shape. Arrnot makes HPP spec replacement ones for those with worn out air springs.

-What rim size are you running? Are you still on 15 inch wheels? I love my 15s, but 70-series tires that go with them offer a lot of sidewall and the ability for flex. I'm not very performance oriented, so the 215/70R/15 works well for me. Easy upgrade (and direct fit wheels) would be to find 16" lacy spoke HPP rims from the 1993-2002 cars, or any standard 16" rim from the 1998-2002 cars. Those used 225/60R/16 tires. A little less side wall, so the sidewall flexing can be reduced. I also believe Crown Victoria LX Sport cars for 2001-2002 used a 17" rim and featured a 235/55R/17 tire. You can use the newer wheels from the '03+ cars, but those have high offsets and require spacers to fit properly.

-Find a good tire. If you're running around on your bald, Primewell GoodRide Icestone Supreme tires, they're probably not helping much. You want to find a good performance tire that'll match up with your driving habits. Typically a sportier tire is probably going to behave better under hard cornering and might have better side wall construction to prevent excessive flexing under hard cornering. These cars really work their tires under their weight, so keep that in mind.

[dmccaig]

Body mounts?

Donald

[sly]

Even marauder bars won't help at those speeds. You'll have to get some beefy aftermarket stuff.

[BlackVic_P71]

Even marauder bars won't help at those speeds. You'll have to get some beefy aftermarket stuff.

And they won't do anything for the front, cause they won't even bolt up.
Go Addco if you want a big upgrade, Bilstein shocks work well too

[pantera77]

PI bars, springs, shocks, ect... will help out

But it's a 20 year old Grand Marquis, it's never going to corner good at 80. Should of bought a Miata instead.

[Obnoxious94MGM]

I have 17" mustang rims with Goodyear eagle gs-c on them 285 on the rear 245 up front. I've seen a lot about those shock absorbers and I think I'm gonna try the addco 590.

[Hearsesrock427]

But it's a 20 year old Grand Marquis, it's never going to corner good at 80.

Qyoited for truth. Typical clientele for this car wouldn't cros ssho pwith 740i or E55 AMG (both of which tend to handle 80+ MPH turns nicely with apprpirate speed rated tires)

In other words, these cars dbobnt twnsd to have good awero above 70 without signicifant aero mods. This is pesieclaly true tfor the boxees; they will lift their front tires above 70 which kills steering response. My '89 Grand Marq is horrible above 70, and the few times I've had it 85+ were a less on in sluggish, slow, non-linear, sloppy steering. These care not fast open sweeper cars. You are better off hitting tight, preferably decresing radius trusn on narrow winding backroads woth VERY tight technical turns. You get more corneirng Gs that way as opposed to the (presumably) open sweepers you're taking at ~80 MPH. Not that take on-ramps/off-ramps and other more gentle sweepers at 65+ isn't fun, it's quite hilarious fun IMO. But I will always enjoy my tight roads more than my open roads/expressway ramps. Vrooooom!

Also part of the problem is the youer tire stance. WAY mroe rear grip than fronty grip; means understeer and slower steering response. Best solution is square tires stance i.e. same dimension tires at all four corners. 285 at all four corners would be mighty stick while still allowing these cars' characterisitc quixk reflexes. May need to roll fenders in the front to accomodate. (I only deal with 16 inch wheels/boxes/early aeros so I'm completely unknowlefably on 17 inch stuff though I'm sure others can chime in).

sorry if this is hard to follow, I'm quite obviously cwwwwey drunk. I can clarify some stuff tommorow after I sober up. In the meantime enjoy that '94, them early aero ('92-'94 are smexy cars, in fact there's a white with blue stripes AND blue velour interior '94 Grand Marquis GS in the next town over that I've really wanted to buy!) and keep up on the maintenance/wear item replacements.

[Lincolnmania]

poly bushings, poly body mounts, addco sway bars, big front brakes from a 98-02. also some decent speed rated tires, 16" minimum!

[Makaveli]

OP consider Addco 650(Rear) as well, if not both the 650 and the 509. I feel the rear is more important, as the stock rear sway bar is puny. I have the 509 installed with the stock 17mm currently, while I wait to get the 650; I am nearly done rebuilding my whole suspension, and I do notice slight improvement in the cars turning while at increased speed and very little increase in road noise/roughness etc.

I read on another forum that the 650 in the rear really helps with the tugging feel the car gives in a very windy environment, it annoys the hell out of me.

I tac weld reinforced the 509 when it was installed, and want to do the same for the rear but not sure how to go about reinforcing it. Any opinions or advice anyone? Also, is the difference between 15 inch rims and 16 really all that noticeable?

I have a bunch of extra parts I ended up not needing for my rebuild because I went with the upgraded sway bars, like end links and sway bar bushings for front and rear, so don't make the same mistake I made. The Addco's come with endlinks.

I had the front poly control arm bushings installed and I'd say they are a decent upgrade, but not very noticeable in improved control or ride roughness, but the car does feel more firm all around. To me it seems to be a really good long term investment rather than replacing the bushings more than once possibly. Buy a tub of the formula 5 grease, and grease the crap out of every one. I greased the Addco parts with it as well.

Haven't had the rear poly bushings installed yet but when I looked at the current ones, they didn't seem very beat up at all so I may wait on it.

[Mr Bean]

Addco bars front and rear. Bilstein HD shocks, aftermarket springs, 18 or 19 inch wheels with lots of road surface. If you want to take it even further 03+ chassis swap with same mods.

[SVT98t]

I'd drop it a little and have the stiffer springs, too.
Energy Suspension control arm bushings and body mounts will help as well.


-ryan s.