North American Turbocoupe Organization



New Struts
LorainO88 Offline
Member
#1
Hello Everyone:
Here I find myself again amongst the BEST. My quandary is.....My 88 is about to rattle off the frame. I'm quite sure all the undercarriage is original right down to the Tokico struts. Lately, the ride has been feeling rough in the front end. The ride control switch still works. When I am in firm a least little bump or dip is like a major pot hole. When I switch it off it is like still floating on air in the rear-the front is still a bit rough. I've been driving this one regularly for about 2 years now. Any recommendations? Advice where to start? Thank you.
Reply

Jeff K Offline
Administrator
#2
You need to check EVERY bushing and joint (ball joints, inner / outer tie rod ends, upper strut mounts, etc) in the front and rear suspension to look for worn parts, damaged / rotten bushings before condemning the PRC shocks / struts. Also look for broken springs. Springs like to break at the very bottom coil in the spring pocket, making the break hard to see. Look for missing / damaged spring isolators too. Dont forget to check all the front sway bar bushings.

New PRC shocks / struts are made of unobtainium. Very occasionally used or even new PRC shocks / struts show up on Ebay, but the prices are WAYYYY up in the stratosphere.

PRC struts / shock can be replaced with standard parts, but, of course, you lose the PRC feature.
Jeff Korn

88 Turbo Coupe: Intake and exhaust mods, T3 turbo at 24 psi, forced air IC, water injection, BPV, Ranger cam, subframes, etc., etc.
86 Tbird 5.0 (original owner): intake, exhaust, valvetrain mods, 100 HP N2O, ignition, gears, suspension, etc., etc.
11 Crown Vic Interceptor
14 Toyota Camry (wifes car)
95 Taurus GL Vulcan winter beater
67 Honda 450 Super Sport - completely customized
Reply

firebirdparts Offline
Member
#3
Are they unrebuildable? I know that Koni used to rebuild their shocks, and I never used them, but it seemed like one of those things that would just unceremoniously get shut down someday.
Reply

Pete D Offline
Administrator
#4
Many years ago a member looked into the possibility of getting these things rebuilt, Tokico replied that the original tooling had been destroyed. End of story. On the other hand, these are usually pretty long lived. If you have a "relatively" low mile car, I'd check out the other things Jeff mentioned above. including tire balance.
Pete Dunham


Reply

anasazi4st Offline
Senior Member
#5
Pete D Wrote:On the other hand, these are usually pretty long lived.
I am fortunate to still be on my original OEM set. Yes, there is a bit of leakage on the housings and yes, there is perhaps a little more “float” in “Soft” and a little less stiffness in “Firm”...but overall nothing to complain about. I’ve got 264,000 original.

Some years ago I was lucky enough to score some PRC shocks from a seller on eBay for about $100 if my memory serves me correctly. Unlike Jeff—who I believe has an actual NOS set—these are used. The seller told me they had “about 50,000 miles on them”, pulled from a salvage vehicle...but who really knows, right? How well were they taken care of—potholes, curbs, etc.?

The last set I saw on eBay—again, used—were almost $300. I really enjoy the PRC feature, though, and would be tempted to make that purchase.
Another proud dues-paying member.

1987 Turbo Coupe w/T5OD, 8.8 axle, grey smoke; most options. Got it in 1991 with 41K miles: 3 turbos, 2 heater cores, 3 T5OD full rebuilds, 6 clutches, 1 head gasket, 2 Teves II ABS units, etc. later....
Reply

Jeff K Offline
Administrator
#6
My set is for sure new. I paid $500 for the complete set of 4 back in around 2003. Certainly the deal of a lifetime!! They came in the Motorcraft boxes, which were sealed. They looked new, were 100% clean, and even smelled new. They came from a Ford dealer. The parts guy at the dealer (an SVO owner and poster on TF, if I remember correctly) had found a few sets laying around collecting dust, and his boss told him to sell them. He posted that he had a few sets on TF, and they were all gone within a few hours. I still have them in storage, waiting for my current ones to give out. I take them out of their boxes every few months and "exercise" them to keep the seals lubed, etc.
Jeff Korn

88 Turbo Coupe: Intake and exhaust mods, T3 turbo at 24 psi, forced air IC, water injection, BPV, Ranger cam, subframes, etc., etc.
86 Tbird 5.0 (original owner): intake, exhaust, valvetrain mods, 100 HP N2O, ignition, gears, suspension, etc., etc.
11 Crown Vic Interceptor
14 Toyota Camry (wifes car)
95 Taurus GL Vulcan winter beater
67 Honda 450 Super Sport - completely customized
Reply

LorainO88 Offline
Member
#7
Thank you all. I took advice to heart and had the entire front end shook down. They "greased" her and I got up under there myself for the diagnosis. Everything is still tight at 38,000 miles. Guess I forgot this is a young 30 year old. We'll see. Appreciate you folks.
Reply





Users browsing this thread:
1 Guest(s)



Theme © iAndrew 2018 - Software MyBB