Lowering the 88 Town Car

[marquis_82_withneons]

alright guys.. next up in the 750 dollar TC build is the suspension. heres the plan.. we got some sagging on the passenger side ass end. shocks are shot. so were fitting it with new shocks all around.. front shocks and air shocks in back. and new springs all around. we got a set of factory turbines coming from fellow GMN user sxcpotatoes adn were wrapping those in 235 70 series white letters. (same as on my Merc). we MIGHT run 1" spacers to give it a wider stance and plan to drop it with the spring setups you guys so commonly use on here.

so heres where the input comes in. how far do we drop? ive seen several links around here for spring sets you guys use for lowering. how much do they drop the car?.

as always your help is greatly appreciated.

[marquis_82_withneons]

alrigth guys.. weve made the decision. were gonna lower it but we wanna drop the car about an inch all around. what springs do we get?

[mrltd]

As mentioned in all of those threads (and the sticky).... 925s on the front will drop it around an inch. I'd say, since it's a heavy ass towncar, something like a 300lb for the rear. I'm going to try a new spring for the fronts in a little while, a thunderbird supercoupe rear spring, which is a nice variable rate spring, that will probably drop the front of a panther an inch and still keep a really nice ride.

[marquisman]

I am very interested to see the results, when using a super turd spring.

[marquis_82_withneons]

this thing weighs in at 5600, 300 more than my base model Merc. and we have yet to install another 100lbs in the trunk for stereo components. and we DO plan to use the trunk still.

the way it looks now is were getting air shocks for the rear. and go with 300lbs in the back?

what does the 925 you speak of mean?

[mrltd]

The spring rate, like the 300 for the rear..It's the amount of pounds required to compress the spring an inch. All that info is in the sticky... 5600? That's 1200 more than a wagon. I think you are reading the GVW. That's the fully loaded weight...My wagon weighs in at 4500lbs. The problem with the rear is that the 300 is the highest rate you can buy off the shelf. If it's too low, you could put some spacers in to raise it to where you want. Another option would be some whale front springs, cut to the ride height you want.

[Lincolnmania]

you are going to have to roll the front wheel lips if you lower it any, town cars are alot different than vics and gm's in the front fender area

[gadget73]

yeah, i ripped the sidewalls out of a tire and bashed the shit out of the fender trim when the front of my car was a bit too low. I got tired of that crap and put it back to stock.

[marquis_82_withneons]

damn... stock it is i guess. this is going to be a daily/practical driver so lowering is prob a bad idea. i guess well be sticking to the factory spring replacements and a set of gabriel highjackers in the rear.

gonna run 1" spacer on factory turbine wheels with 235 70series white lettered

[mrltd]

if you went with a shorter sidewall tire, you wouldn't have issues. My wagon is dropped an inch from the tire size and almost an inch from suspension. No issues driving it anywhere.

A 1" spacer and truck tires will have the same effect as dropping it.... front fender issues.

[marquis_82_withneons]

DAMMIT!.... i realize there is a difference between Mercs and Lincolns but how can i run a 235 70r15 with 4.25 offset on my Merc and have the top of the tire be below or at the wheel well!?

[gadget73]

Never turn the wheel. it'll work fine if you always go straight. You're in the midwest, so you can actually pull that off.

[marquis_82_withneons]

no for real guys. look at how my Merc sits. were putting the same tires on the Lincoln. whay does my car sit so high with factory springs.

the only thing i did was put wagon shocks up front when i replaced them. then air shocks in the back to level the car. how did i go to a bigger tire and end up with MORE wheel well room?

im not trying to me a dick here. im seriously just confused on this.