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Topic: At Wit's End...This Cat SHUDDERS on Bumps (Read 6616 times) previous topic - next topic

At Wit's End...This Cat SHUDDERS on Bumps

Reply #30 –
I have P215/70/R14 tires, 1 year old Monroe Sensatrac shocks and struts, 19 year old springs and bushings, and my car rides fine. I have an LX which has basically the same set up as a LS Cougar so I have no idea why the car is riding so py. We have pot hole filled rodes in Chicago as well and the car rides fine. How old are the tires? When I changed the tires on mine after I first bought it the car rode 1 million times better. Old tires can make the car ride like  too.
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

At Wit's End...This Cat SHUDDERS on Bumps

Reply #31 –
The tires are Ok - Maybe 2-3 Years Old and Maybe 15,000 Miles on them. Maybe they are overinflated - it sounds plausible anyway.

If deflating the tires to 32 PSI doesn't help, this car is getting LS Struts and Shocks, probably by the end of this week.

At Wit's End...This Cat SHUDDERS on Bumps

Reply #32 –
Just out of curiosity, have you checked on the background of the car? Has it ever been in a wreck?

At Wit's End...This Cat SHUDDERS on Bumps

Reply #33 –
Quote from: Jonathan Phillips;119560
Just out of curiosity, have you checked on the background of the car? Has it ever been in a wreck?

This was one of my first thoughts.
Bent/kinked frame.

At Wit's End...This Cat SHUDDERS on Bumps

Reply #34 –
The car's first owner had it one year (1987) and the second owner had it from 1988 - 2005. I've had it between August 2005 and now. It was never in a wreck, and the second owner put money into the car as required. It was his work car and it traveled about 6,000 miles per year back and forth over the Cross Bronx Expressway and maybe the Bruckner Expressway in The Bronx. Both are among the heaviest travelled roads in the country. They connect Connecticut and New Jersey and have plenty of truck traffic on them at all times. The car was ready to be donated when he gave it to me instead. The car now has 162,000 miles on it - 4,000 of which is me running it and excercising it during the past 16 months. I've pretty much entirely restored it, pouring just under $10,500 into it, $2000 into the suspension alone. By comparison, my 1999 Dodge Intrepid has 159,000 miles (hardly any in The Bronx) on it and is light-years ahead of this Cougar in terms of performance and handling. To be fair - 12 years of technological advancements put the Dodge in a different class of car to begin with. But the car is still much more solid-feeling than the XR7. That being said - I owned  a 1987 Cougar LS between 1987 and 1999 and that car performed comparably to the Dodge in terms of ride and handling (engine performance was no contest - The 1999 Dodge V6 is ten times the 1987 Mercury V6)

Things have not changed since Tuesday. The Cougar has now been relocated to Suffolk County Long Island, where the roads are much better than in the 5 boroughs of NYC. My son Nick is the primary driver. I am heading out to my 3 kids tonight on Long Island and will look to adjust the tires to their correct PSI. Then I'm testing the car on a POS road out there in Suffolk County. If I'm still not happy with the ride and handling of the car over a rough road (I don't expect to be), the car will have it's XR7 struts and shocks replaced, perhaps this weekend. After that, we live with it.

At Wit's End...This Cat SHUDDERS on Bumps

Reply #35 –
I kind of wish I could drive it. My '88 isn't smooth by any means. It's rather clunky and very harsh over bumps and pot holes. It doesn't feel very solid and every time I hit a hard bump I can imaging the car breaking in half.

When I got it, I thought it drove great. As a matter of fact it was fine until I got my new car in 2005. For about the first month or two after getting my new car, they both felt about the same. Now however, if I take the '88 out, the new car is worlds ahead of it in handling and ride.

Reading what you wrote, you drove the '87 LS until '99 when you got the Intrepid. I'm assuming that's when you got rid of the '87 so you really had nothing to compare the Intrepid to(meaning get home in the Intrepid and jump in the Cougar). So you kind of experienced something similar to what I have there. Now that you have this XR-7, you don't drive it daily and you are so used to the Intrepid that you easily see how rough the Cougar is. Much how I'm used to my new car.

That's why I say I wouldn't mind driving it to compare your Cougar to mine. I have a feeling it's just the clunky unibody construction. Maybe look into subframe connectors to stiffen it up. :dunno:

At Wit's End...This Cat SHUDDERS on Bumps

Reply #36 –
my 2 cents:

I have a 88 sport with the handling package and "harsher" springs.  I have new or recent (in last 10K miles) struts, shocks, ball joints, tie rods (inner and outer),  upper rear bushings, che lower arms, and steering rack.  The car does transmit more road feel and harshness over uneven roads, and the ride is harsher than my 02 taurus, however when it comes to actually hitting a decent pothole I would say the bird actually takes it better and I feel it less.  the taurus is on 100% OE parts with nothing done to it.
 

At Wit's End...This Cat SHUDDERS on Bumps

Reply #37 –
I had the original 1987 Cougar LS for about a month after I bought the 1999 Intrepid. Then I sold the Cougar to my cousin Dom, who got another 30,000 miles out of it. The car was donated in 2003 with 215,000 on the original engine (and a blown head gasket).

While it's not fair to compare a near-21st Century vehicle to a car that was developed 25 years ago, what makes this discussion interesting is that the original Cougar LS V6 and my Intrepid had comparable rides and handling. I never once said "Wow this Dodge is such a better car".  The 2002 Taurus HAS to be better than the 1988 for the same reason - that car benefits from an additional 15 years of tinkering by FoMoCo.

I know I'm repeating myself but my LS was infinitely superior to the XR7 I have now. I'm into the suspension for a little over $2000 and that will increase by $400 or so within the next week (See below).

As for the "Subframe Connectors" - That's what I love about you guys - I didn't even know the Subframe HAD Connectors. Moreover, I didn't even know the car had a Subframe. "Subframe Connectors" can be the next chapter in this saga...after I swap out the XR7 Struts and Shocks.

At Wit's End...This Cat SHUDDERS on Bumps

Reply #38 –
Quote from: 87CougarDude;119591
The car's first owner had it one year (1987) and the second owner had it from 1988 - 2005. I've had it between August 2005 and now. It was never in a wreck, and the second owner put money into the car as required.

The car now has 162,000 miles on it - 4,000 of which is me running it and excercising it during the past 16 months. I've pretty much entirely restored it, pouring just under $10,500 into it, $2000 into the suspension alone. By comparison, my 1999 Dodge Intrepid has 159,000 miles (hardly any in The Bronx) on it and is light-years ahead of this Cougar in terms of performance and handling.

To be fair - 12 years of technological advancements put the Dodge in a different class of car to begin with. But the car is still much more solid-feeling than the XR7. That being said - I owned  a 1987 Cougar LS between 1987 and 1999 and that car performed comparably to the Dodge in terms of ride and handling (engine performance was no contest - The 1999 Dodge V6 is ten times the 1987 Mercury V6)


I can sympathize with your situation. After putting a lot of money in my 92 Ranger this past year it still has some issues I find very irritating. My brother in law has expressed to me the same sentiments as you have, that after more than a decade of design and manufacturing advancement the rides can't compare.

For my part,I would rather have the money than the [COLOR="Lime"]best[/COLOR] possible ride. I might change my tune in another decade, I guess I'll see.

Good luck with the car, I think your son is getting a family jewel even if it's a "little rough cut." :)

At Wit's End...This Cat SHUDDERS on Bumps

Reply #39 –
We'll see what happens. this being a holiday week makes it hard for me to get out there to Long Island and tinker with it. At this point I don't see the need for me to the car back from him again. He can get the tire pressure checked and then he can bring the car to the mechanic out there (I'll pay the bill over the phone by credit card).

Although I don't regret restoring this particular car, I would get more satisfaction out of it if the friggin thing started handling like it should over a rough road. Over $10,000 has been spent restoring it. In any case, after this last $425, the car will remain intact unti it's next owner buys it.

At Wit's End...This Cat SHUDDERS on Bumps

Reply #40 –
You never did state what brand struts/shocks you are using.
Long live the 4-eyes!  - '83 Tbird Turbo - '85 Marquis LTS - '86 LTD Wagon

At Wit's End...This Cat SHUDDERS on Bumps

Reply #41 –
Quote from: 46Tbird;110768


Perhaps one of our compadres can get you fixed up in the NYC area...


Great suggestion...

There has to be a Ford enthusiast near you that could take it a ride, check it out and give you a 2nd opinion..

My first guess based on how bad it sounds would be springs…???

Keep us posted..
tbirdregistry.com
26480
27373

At Wit's End...This Cat SHUDDERS on Bumps

Reply #42 –
Quote from: EricCoolCats;110666
My old '88 XR7, and '88 T-Bird Sport, both rode like a truck. Wait, I take that back...my current Mountaineer rides better than both of those cars ever did. The sport V8 suspension is just naturally harsher vs. the base V8/V6 suspension.


Sorry to break up the convo, but uh, my 88 Sport rides incredibly smooth.  The smoothest riding car I've been in by far, and keep in mind my mom once had a 94 Lincoln Mark VIII with air ride.  Dunno why yours was so rough.

At Wit's End...This Cat SHUDDERS on Bumps

Reply #43 –
1. Springs and ball joints were both replaced two weeks ago. Struts and all 6 shocks were replaced over the past 14 months. I don't know what brand my mechanic put in. It's almost pointless to ask.

2. I live in the Bronx and although the particular neighborhood I'm living in is pretty good, it isn't very close-knit and the people I do know are not car-savvy. I owned an '87 LS for 12 years and I know better than most how this XR7 SHOULD handle.

3. I am delighted that your 88 XR7 has such a good ride - it underscores my point all along - MY XR7 should ride like a baby Lincoln after all the time effort and money that has been put into it.

At Wit's End...This Cat SHUDDERS on Bumps

Reply #44 –
Well there aren't 6 shocks on the car ;)  2 struts, 2 vertical shocks and 2 horizontal ones.

Knowing what brand that was installed would be helpful.  py dampers can make a world of difference in how the car rides.

Also, the springs.  They could be "OEM" replacements, but there is a chance they are a "generic" application....and possibly "stiffer" than what you remember.

New parts or not.... in =  out

Without knowing for certain, the ride quality is all subjective....
Long live the 4-eyes!  - '83 Tbird Turbo - '85 Marquis LTS - '86 LTD Wagon