Ford ThunderBirdFord thought they'd take their own stab at the nostalgia business. There are quite a few last-century icons that wear the blue oval. For a revival subject, why not use a car famous enough to have been the subject of Beach Boys songs, starred in George Lucas movies, and has been gone long enough to be missed? Why not indeed. In 2002, the Thunderbird was reborn.
Didn't know about the WD-40 being bad for suspension. I'll never do it again. Just bought new lower ball joints for both front driver and passenger side. When I get them in I'll give an update.
To Elderwolf: The sway bar linkage was another suggestion I just recently received from a guy who works in a Ford dealer repair shop. I'm going to try the ball joints first, but if all else fails, the linkage will be next.
Thanks for all the help guys, I'll update when the work is done. Hopefully this will help others.
Unless you have a hydrolic press, you need to take it to a garage and pay to have them put the lower balljoints in. The tool you rent from autozone does not work. Iv had to replace both of mine. Seriously....the press from autozone, stripped a few teeth.(had to pay for it)IT WILL NOT WORK FOR YOUR CAR. Thats just the balljoint press they have. Its not specificly for thunderbirds.
Personaly.....i took a chain and wraped it around the control arm and a 1/2ton floor jack, and jacked it up in there.
__________________
1993 Thunderbird LX, V6 Turbo, Accel dist cap, Accel(48000v)ignition coil, 4-12"s, two 1000W amps, 220w Dual head unit, 4-way 6x8 door and rear speakers
Its not that hard actually. Take the wheel off, and loosen the bolts. When I did mine, I had to turn the wheel back and forth to loosen it up so it would come out. Couple taps with a hammer and it should pop out rather eaily.
??? getting it out is the easy part. Putting the new one in is a "ho nudder mud hoe"...."fun"
__________________
1993 Thunderbird LX, V6 Turbo, Accel dist cap, Accel(48000v)ignition coil, 4-12"s, two 1000W amps, 220w Dual head unit, 4-way 6x8 door and rear speakers
Place the bottom end of the link in first, then turn the wheel, and slide the opposite end in the top, it does take a little elbow grease and I suggest a hammer to lightly tap it in. It will go in rather easily though.
How hard was it to replace the end links? I'm thinking about tackling it on mine as I find it hard to get motivated to wrench these days.
devodev, those swaybar links are probably one of the easier things to remove and replace, but a bit on the pricey side if you ask me. The top end can be broken free after the nut is removed with a hammer. You'll need a tie rod fork to break the lower end free. After you get the lower end of the new link in place, you'll need a pry bar to move the swaybar up enough to align the upper end of the link. It took me about 10 minutes to do my '94 bird.
devodev, those swaybar links are probably one of the easier things to remove and replace, but a bit on the pricey side if you ask me. The top end can be broken free after the nut is removed with a hammer. You'll need a tie rod fork to break the lower end free. After you get the lower end of the new link in place, you'll need a pry bar to move the swaybar up enough to align the upper end of the link. It took me about 10 minutes to do my '94 bird.
The creaking/squeek went away with a pair of new ball joints. Endlinks didn't fix the problem. Also, replaced both upper control arms which (partially) got rid of the thumping noise. After fixing most of the suspension in the front, I could finally hear the real problem. Bad struts. I hope this helps somebody. This was a nightmare to do without a mechanic, but I have learned a few tricks if anybody needs to do this work as well.
Thanks for helping me diagnose the problems everybody!
I have a 96 with a v8 and when i got it whenever i hit a bumb or turned it squeked, all i had to do was replace the sway barl links and it solved the problem
my lower passenger balljoint was bad and it was the reason for my squeaking. i used to put wd40 on it all the time to make it shut up for a little while. then one day the balljoint came apart and that was bad.
Shopping for new Ford can be a stressful experience especially if you don't have the right information. Our new car research center at CarEverything.com can help relieve this stress and bring the joy back to new car buying!
The Car Blog, or TCB for those who are acronymically inclined, is alive because some of today's top Web designers needed a place to drool and bitch about their motor vehicle obsessions.
Read the auto blog at Automotive.com to get the latest news and opinions, view the newest concept cars, and join discussions with auto experts from around the world.
Linear Mode
