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View Full Version : Town Car or grand Marquis altitude adjustment WORKS!



FW_Linc/Merc
01-14-2017, 04:45 PM
I know there are lots of people and lots of posts about lowering the front end on our platforms. I have read a lot of them over the last ten years and finally completed the front end drop of my Town Car. My biggest concern is that this car is my daily driver and I still wanted it to be comfortable. After reading many posts I decided to find either Marauder or Police Interceptor springs and cut one coil off. I decided to use the set of Police Interceptor springs and keep the Marauder ones as spares. I used a grinder to cut the coil. That the was the easiest part of the task. I reassembled the strut assembly using Marauder front shocks. I also put tires on that were the same size as the stock Marauder and had the car aligned to Car Fixer's spec's. I did max out the adjustment but was able to adjust Toe to make it work. The car already had the Town Car front sway bar replaced with a Marauder one (highly recommended for any Town Car or Grand Marquis). After making the changes the front dropped just over an inch and the ride did NOT suffer. There is a small change in the response time when making contact with a pot hole but normal road imperfections were very similar. The big change was high speed cornering! I think I gained 5-10MPH while at the same time feeling that the car was more in-control. In some road conditions the ride is actually smoother than before. I just wanted to put another post out there that the change WORKS. This is how they SHOULD have delivered these cars from the factory. The tech who helped me works and drives many exotics and said that the front end is now on par with current Audi's and BMW's. Took me four years to gather the parts and execute a plan but the research was well worth it. I love this car as a daily driver. The first picture is dropped the second picture is the before height.

gpfarrell
01-15-2017, 06:47 AM
You Town Car has really opened my eyes.

Ever since my DBP Trilogy earned semi-retirement in 2012 (love it! Didn't want to run it into the ground as a daily driver, so 85,000 miles and lives a life of leisure now.) I've drifted in and out of blue-sedan relationships.

A second-hand Kona Blue MKS was first. Lowered it with Eibach springs (only dragged occasionally when it high-centered over aggressive speed bumps) and got it an attitude adjustment from Livernois. Fast. Nice. Boring.

Moved to a 6-speed manual 2012 BMW 535i. Nice. Fun. Not fast after driving the MKS or Trilogy.

Bought an uber-rare 2012 BMW 550i with a 6-speed. 1 of 29 blue M-sports. Fast. Fun. CPO'd. 55 days at the dealer since last March. Bizarre transmission issues. Prior owner had installed a GoPro camera mount on windshield. Fearful this car partied hard before we met.

Visions of "What a Town Car should look like" dancing in my head.

What if... I took advantage of the phenomenal Coyote powerplant? Add a Tremec T56 6-speed. Drop it in a 2006+ DBP Town Car. Add Roush S/C, mild suspension as you just described... here's the local chatter:

http://www.steelcitymusclecars.com/forums/showthread.php/32074-Plan-B-Coyote-Town-Car

Still in the dream stage... it wouldn't be cheap... but I pullled my Marauder out of the barn yesterday, lit up the tires and let the Easton wail. I'm still feeling the Panther love!

We'll see. Seems the 2006+ electronics are easier to mate.

FW_Linc/Merc
01-15-2017, 08:19 PM
You and Zack need to talk. http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=100551

Thank you for the kind words.

stevengerard
01-15-2017, 08:56 PM
My MM is a lowered daily driver, its fine, may I suggest lowering the rear end a bit as well.

FW_Linc/Merc
03-03-2017, 08:08 PM
Rear is now lowered and the winter snow tires are off. 1" tire clearance in the front and 1" tire clearance in the rear.

I just purchased 4:10 gears for the Marauder. Is it worth using my 30,000 mile factory stock gears in the Town Car? That would be an upgrade from a 3:27 ratio to a 3:55 ratio.

gpfarrell
03-03-2017, 08:12 PM
I don't think the step from 3.27s to 3.55s would be worth the trouble. 3.73s seem ideal in my mind.