2004 LSE shocks

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csamuels

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So.....looks like the choices for shocks has dried up to only having poor options.
I just did a front suspension refresh (upper, lower control arms, tie rod ends, sway bar links, hubs and shocks), and rear sway bar links, shocks, lateral links.
While the car now feels tight, the ride is terrible above 55 on the interstate. Feels like I am driving a marshmallow when I hit overpasses. It makes the car no fun at all to drive.
I installed the KYB shocks. Obviously a mistake.
The only other choice I can find are the Monroe's
Tried reading through the past post but everything mentioned is no longer available. And as you guys know the LS info links are broken.
Any suggestions????

THANKS
 
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I had these parts made knowing the difficulty location oem shock hardware. The bumpers are Energy Suspension 2" dia 24" rounds machined as the oem and same for the spring perch of 6061 aluminum.

IMG_1620.jpg


9338BF3A-A318-4BBB-ACC8-7C0F35FB9BB5.JPG
 
csamuels said:
installed the KYB shocks. Obviously a mistake.
The only other choice I can find are the Monroe's
Tried reading through the past post but everything mentioned is no longer available. And as you guys know the LS info...
Click to expand...

Only one way to get a factory or better ride... but it's not cheap. Be prepared to spend $1200
 
Sachs used to be good, but that was back in the day when Koni and other performance shocks wete good too. The sun has faded on the LS. It has been relegated to be an obsolete car... which means there are no longer any performance parts for it.

With some research though... good parts can be found. Or... if there is enough demand... they can be made.
 
I found the machinist to make those spring perches, all of plastic cooling replacements including the degas tank to aluminum, oil filter bypass block and many other parts i couldn't find anywhere. I found Swift Springs USA to make an exact coils f+r copies of what i sent, 800/set. Read up on the Swift steel. The most comfortable ride with or feel of the road with the top shocks having a Nanolub oil bath for shaft/seal lubrication. I also found Ron Davis to make me a custom 2 two core radiator, top quality unit. You might want to send a old one for example. A little investigating can yeild some pretty talented people to create better parts for these LS's and also repairing them.


Sent from AT&T Yahoo Mail on Android

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Wow! What a great bunch of parts your getting made!
Thank you very much!
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A talented machinist can do about anything... especially when they have a part to work off of to duplicate.

You may want to consider having some urethane pieces made for the spring seats. Otherwise you may have some NVH from the metal to metal contact between the spring and seat.

There is a cheaper way to get a good performance ride out of the LS.

Jaguar S-Type springs, and Bilstein B4 or B6 shocks make the LS handle like it should.

Total parts cost is around $1200 total... not including any labor... which if skilled enough, can be done by the individual/owner.

There is a "write up" on this forum about it.
 
Swift Springs made me a set from the oem front and rear examples I sent. The only problem getting the car aligned was the rears were 1/2" short. I had 1/2" delrin sheet the shims were made from and the old car was arrow straight again. ( 04 V8 Sport )
I aslo sent Swift the oem sway bars which because of covid the replacement haven't been created.
He will need a commitment of a firm order for custom work. Springs snd sway bars as a set would be avantage over a mixed oem and non oem parts

I have been very happy with the set though there were 800. I have a couple hundred thousand on them wirh no loss of ride height.

Swift Springs USA

|
www.swiftsprings.com www.swiftsprings.com
I had these made also

IMG_0638-1.jpg


IMG_0638-1.jpg
 
Forgot to mention that the rear sway bar mount bolt are APITA. To access them, i drilled a 1" hole ( cover with 1" dia body plugs )above those bolts and with a 8-10" extension with 3/8" swivel on a 13 or 14mm socket can break and remove them snd bracket with a help of a magnetic retrieved tool.
 
SteveOwens said:
Springs snd sway bars as a set would be avantage over a mixed oem and non oem parts
Click to expand...

Well considering that the LS and Jag S-Type are "sister cars", many parts are interchangeable. Bilstein shocks are OEM for the Jag... and available on the aftermarket too.

Main difference on the suspensions are that the LS uses a fixed rate spring... and the S-Type uses a progressive rate spring. The other difference is that the S-Type uses solid rear toe links... whereas the LS uses passive rear toe links.

The progressive rate springs and solid rear toe links on the LS makes a noticeable dfference in handling. The only choice at that point... is the Bilstein B4 or B6 shocks. The B6's are pretty stout... but either combo makes the LS a very capable car that is fun to drive.
 
I appreciate the background info. I use the dampened tie rod. I hade the solid which seemed to impact loosen the inner mount. The dampened tie rod soften the handling a little but is ok.
 
Steve, or anyone else thinking of having parts made, please make your intentions known. There is most likely someone else out here that is looking for the same part and piggy backing orders will lower costs for everyone. I am presently looking for a clutch actuating hydrolic hose to copy (for the manual equipped cars). I'l make extras because they will all start leaking soon. Rear sport struts are another thing I am passively searching for now.
 
Yeah Mark,

I tried to get people to do a "group buy" years ago... for the (unobtanium) lower spring seats to be made out of urethane.

People were hesitant due to the initial suggested pricing (depending on the order quantity)... so it went nowhere.

Everyone is "all in" at the idea of improvements... but otherwise non comittal when time to "pony up" the $$$.
 
And rear sport coilover shocks are unobtanium now. Fronts too.

Bilstein shocks are very good... but that opens up a can of worms of having to do all 4 corners at once... which is not cheap. Plus the springs on the front of the LS are smaller than the rears, which more or less requires getting 4 S-type springs (2 front/2 rear) for balanced handling.
 
I'll talk to the guys that made the springs at Swift and spring perch & cooling system parts. The Swift rear spring made was about an half an inch short as the old example was for proper rear height to get the car to align right i shim an half an inch.
I had powder coating ( any color ) on most front engine brackets and anodizing cooling sys part, whole radiator ( black only ) reasonably done too. FYI
 

i have had very impressive results from strutmasters on a 2011 e550 4 WHEEL AIR SUSPENSION CONVERSION KIT​

has anyone tried their 2003-2006 LINCOLN LS 4 WHEEL AIR SUSPENSION CONVERSION KIT (FD24F)​

 
I put kyb on mine a couple years ago and they were a definite major improvement over the blown out ones that were on it when I bought the car, however I've never driven this car with the proper shocks so i don't really have a frame of reference on the difference. Next time i might bite the bullet and go for the Bilstein conversion. You generally do get what you pay for and the kybs were all 4 for the price of 1 Bilstein, ha
 
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