1997 Mercury Grand Marquis LS

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Such a nice Aero.
Is your car sitting higher than stock? Looks killer

The front is a little off after having new control arms fitted, but it was torqued correctly with the weight on them. The rear springs are sagging. I went back through some old photos to double check and the tail is definitely down. I can correct that by 1.) Actually doing the rear air ride swap instead of saying I'll get to it, or 2.) Toss some healthier rear coils under there. One is easy, but the other would be the desired option for hauling any weight.

And I also noted years ago, mine always has sat higher than others for some reason...

[massacre]

Such a nice Aero.
Is your car sitting higher than stock? Looks killer

[Tiggie]

I vote yes to turbines and whitewalls. I went blackwall and regret it. Glad the Merc caps are serving on a Mercury. They look much better on there than in my garage attic.

[VicCrownVic]

Looks good!
The turbines are refinished to look like '91 turbines

[Mainemantom]

I just put Nexen tires on both Towncars. I like them. You bought them just in time before the prices go up about 30 %
Your car, wheels and tires look great. Great job refurbishing the wheels

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Since Thanksgiving is coming up and I'm headed out of town to see family, I took the car in for tires on Saturday since I'd run the Kumhos down below 4/32nd all the way around. While some may argue about the style, I absolutely wanted another whitewall tire again. However, I did not want to compromise on tire width, as I found the 225/70R15 (fleet size) preferable over the 215/70R15 (retail size). Luckily, Nexen offered a all-season touring tire that fit the bill perfectly.

I also took the time to take the set of turbines Nick grabbed for me and did my best to clean and respray them in Argent Silver. Also, thanks to Tiggie, I got a full set of flying-M center caps to go with them.





So far, the first 100 miles on the tires have been quiet, no odd vibrations or pulls, and they don't seem excessively squishy the way the Firestones I used to run years ago did. If these perform well, I'll get another set for the wagon next year.

[TecNickal]

In KW's and my part of the country, you do not see a whole lot of minty looking Marquis or Vics from the 90s much anymore. Most are baked inside and out, and heavily beat.

This 97 is so impressive looking for its age and mileage, especially since it's a daily driver. The paint has held up very well as has the rest of the car. Kudos to KW for keeping such a respectable clean car for its age.

[Tiggie]

I love seeing trailers hooked to Panthers. I don't think any other passenger car from 1997 could compete.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

U-Haul still wants to know what you’re hauling, so I told them a Ram 50 (secretly plus 100). Luckily the place I rented from is a local joint and I know the owner, so he had half a clue what was really happening and just told me to call him if there were any loading issues.

Transmission service is already on the docket. Usually I change the fluid in the pan every 20K or so. Maybe overkill, but I’d like to see how far it goes before something fails.

[Mainemantom]

I am curious if U-haul wanted information as to what you were going to tow ? When in Ca. I rented a tow dolly a few times. UHaul wanted all the details. If the vehicle being towed was more than what they thought was acceptable, they would not rent the dolly.
I always told them I was towing a Ford Escort. After I got the dolly, I towed what I wanted which was much heavier.

You might consider doing a transmission service since the towing has been done.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Whew, long day for myself and the Marquis. Made two round trips from Evans to Waynesboro (roughly 40 miles each way). It should have been one single movement and I shouldn't have towed a whole Dodge.

To give a quick idea of the plans for today was a buddy was supposed to bring over his full size car trailer and GMC 2500HD to load my truck on, and I was going to take a small utility trailer another friend of mine bought and take all of it to Waynesboro where the friend with a trailer has access to pole barn storage. Easy enough in theory and the work shouldn't take but a few hours at most.

Unfortunately my buddy with the truck works for the railroad and they stuck him on-call and I'd already made arrangements to get this stuff where it needed to be, so off to U-Haul for a dolly!

Round One!


This trip addressed several glaring issues, and that is my already sagging rear springs did not help with the ride. Before I move anything heavy again (if I do), air ride must be fitted. Too much drag-ass. Second, better brake pad compound will be used. I planned stops well in advance, but I could definitely smell them.

My route had several long hills with good gradients, and the 4.6 managed them okay. Definitely made me want more low end torque to get things moving. I think the fastest I safely felt going was 50 the entire trip. Having that truck bucking against the hitch gave me anxiety I haven't felt in a long while, and I'd rather not go do that again anytime soon.

Round Two!


The lightweight trailer was considerably nicer to move. My friend just had new tires put on and we re-packed the wheel bearings. That was not so much of an adventure to get moved out to the property as it followed along quietly and smoothly.


Anyway, we shall see if the 4R70W up and quits in a few days. Honestly the car managed about as well as it could and my temperature and oil pressure readings stayed fairly normal.

[Mainemantom]

What you have there is D3MY1130D. Manufactured before 9-15-1972. Used on Mercury 1973-1974. 1977 Cougar.
Yours cost $20.45 each new.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

With a picture, I will look it up in my Hollander book and give you the exact year and applications.

As requested:

[87gtVIC]

Super reflective!

[Mainemantom]

With a picture, I will look it up in my Hollander book and give you the exact year and applications.