North American Turbocoupe Organization



Rear Shock Dilemma
Nitro_X Offline
Senior Member
#1
I recently redid the suspension on my '87: PST bushings, ball joints, tie rod ends, link kits. I settled on KYB AGX shocks and struts. I must say, it was a bear of a job. But well worth it, the Bird flies better now than she ever has!

The front struts for an SN95 Mustang worked great. But the rear shocks don't fit (KYB P/N 743021), not even close. I took the advice of a prominent NATO member on the rears, that they would "bolt right in". They probably would if they had three more inches of stroke. Before anyone asks, yes, I jacked up the lower control arm to "normal" ride height. The full weight of the car wouldn't compress the rear spring enough to bolt it in. The shock body length (compressed) is the same, but the extended length is about 3" too short.

I really wouldn't care, except that I paid a fair chunk of change for the AGX shocks. If I had known, I would have just bought a set of TBird KYB Gas-A-Just shocks for the rear. Contrary to popular opinion, the rears do wear out (one of mine is weak, no it's not set on "Auto", it's on firm). Unless someone can tell me what I'm doing wrong, I guess I'll try to send them back and get a set of KYB KG5556's for the rear. Any suggestions?

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87 TC, T-5 swap, solid state IVR, fog light relay mod, PST / KYB-AGX, med. red, spoiler, 181K+ Mi's., daily driver, still eating Ricers!
87 TC, T-5 swap, billet quadrant / adj. cable, solid state IVR, fog light relay mod, PST suspension, KYB-AGX fronts, Gas-A-Just rears, K&N cone, billet alum BCV, med. red, 90's wing, polished snowflakes and centers, 195K+ Mi's., daily driver, feeding on ricers!
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Chuck W Offline
Posting Freak
#2
Well, I would have NEVER suggested you to use Mustang shocks on the rear of a TBird..they WILL NOT FIT. Been there tried that.

Anyway, you might be able to use something like the shaft extenders at the top to gain a couple extra inches of length on top to allow it to work. If not go for the Gas-A-Just

I have also seen NOS Konis on ebay for the Tbirds (have a set in my basement [Image: wink.gif] ) recently as well..so that might eb an option.

This subject needs to go into the FAQ....



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Any connection between your reality and mine is purely coincidental..
83 TC Clone, 87 Ranger (soon to be 2.3T), 84 XR7, 80 XR7, 86 XR4 and 62 Mercury Monterey
NATO Member
83 TC Clone, 85 Mercury LTS, 97 Volvo 850 T5 Turbo, 78 Volvo 240, 93 F150
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Nitro_X Offline
Senior Member
#3
Chuck, Thanks for the reply. No it wasn't you. In fact, after I received the new shocks from PST and found out they wouldn't fit, I checked the archives again. I found one of your previous posts that said SN95 rear shocks DO NOT FIT.

I read too much stuff here and elsewhere before I undertook this project and got confused. Then I PM'd a prominent member for clarification. The advice being free was apparently worth what I paid for it. He could have at least kissed me when he was done, huh?

Anyway, I think PST has a 30 money back policy, so I'll call them and see if I can swap for the Gas-A-Justs and see if they'll apply the difference to a set of new quads as well.

Putting this info in the FAQ would be a capital idea. I'm even contemplating an article on the suspension rebuild while it's fresh in my mind. Maybe save some of our fellow TC owners from the same hassle you and I experienced.

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87 TC, T-5 swap, solid state IVR, fog light relay mod, PST / KYB-AGX, med. red, spoiler, 181K+ Mi's., daily driver, still eating Ricers!
87 TC, T-5 swap, billet quadrant / adj. cable, solid state IVR, fog light relay mod, PST suspension, KYB-AGX fronts, Gas-A-Just rears, K&N cone, billet alum BCV, med. red, 90's wing, polished snowflakes and centers, 195K+ Mi's., daily driver, feeding on ricers!
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tps87turbo Offline
Posting Freak
#4
I'm in the process of rebuilding the rear suspension on my 88. Have not started it yet due to family & work issues, but I am anxious to get it done. I got my rear kit from PST also & they seem pretty good. I don't think they will give you a problem about returning them.....you just will pay to ship'em back & again for the right ones. Let us know how you make out.

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Tony Sceia
Red 88 TC loaded with every option, Walbro 255, 3" SS Downpipe with Magnaflow SS 2.5 Cat Back Mustang Dual system Installed by BJL, 3-core Radiator, Star Stage 2 Clutch, Rebuilt T-5 Tranny, 140 MPH Speedo

Now I need to finish converting to Raven/Gray Leather interior & just do some Body work & she'll be like new.
Tony Sceia -

HIS Red 88 TC
http://turbotbird.com/showroom/data_r-z/...a_88tc.php
HERS - Blue 87 TC, fully loaded with every option, Work in Progress
87 Gray TC Parts Car - Gave to BJL and is now his daily driver
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Chuck W Offline
Posting Freak
#5
Well, mine wasn't so much of a hassle as that I had to actually buy some shocks instead of using the ones I already had off a Mustang. This was something like 5 years ago or so when I ran into this. It sucks because it is pretty hard to get your hands on any decent shocks for the back of these cars. It might be possible, like I suggested, to use some shaft extenters to gain the extra length you need.

Hopefully PST will do you right on a return.
83 TC Clone, 85 Mercury LTS, 97 Volvo 850 T5 Turbo, 78 Volvo 240, 93 F150
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Nitro_X Offline
Senior Member
#6
Chuck, I doubt it will be a problem to return the AGX shocks and get the Gas-A-Just's. I better stay away from extension rods, because the stroke is about 2 inches shorter than the correct shock for our cars. It wouldn't be an issue for most folks, but I live down a dirt county road with three low water bridges (fords when there's rain} and I really don't want to lower my car or limit suspension travel. Plus the paved back roads out here in the Ozarks aren't the best either. But right now with the entire suspension done in PST and the new AGX struts, the handling and road feel is already unreal! [Image: biggrin.gif] I'm gonna have to mind my right foot if I want to keep my license! [Image: wink.gif]

Tony, I don't know how far you are into the rear suspension rebuild, but here are some things I found out: Do one side at a time. Reinstall the upper control arms first. This helps keep the rear axle lined up.

The PST kit does not supply outer sleeves, so you have to pull the old rubber bushings out of the control arms and differential rings. The front bushing on the upper and both bushings on the lower come out pretty easy by heating them with a propane torch until they melt. This is a nasty job. Wear heavy work gloves and at least safety glasses (face shield is better).

Lock the control arm in a vise. Grab the inner sleeve tightly with vise-grips (you'll have to force the tip up into the rubber). Heat the outer sleeve until it outgases white smoke and oozes some molten rubber (you won't want to do this in the house, since they will certainly stink, probably catch fire and ooze burning rubber on the floor). Twist the vise-grips and pull. The bushing will slide out pretty easily, but may spray you and the surrounding area with hot sticky rubber (hence the gloves and face shield). Immediately wipe as much of the residue out of the sleeve as possible (an old tee shirt works great shove through with a big screwdriver, like swabbing out a gun barrel.

Once it cools, use brake cleaner to get the rest of the black goo out of the sleeve. I also used a cup type wire brush on a die grinder to polish up the inside and de-rust and clean around the sleeve where the new PST thrust bushing will go.

The rings on top of the differential will have to be drilled out. We used a 3/8" bit in a right angle air drill, but you can probably get a cordless or regular electric drill in there. You'll have to open up a pilot hole with an awl, since the bit will just walk all over the rubber if you don't.

Once you have them out, follow PST's directions for greasing and reinsertion. But you will either need a press or a big C-clamp to get most of the new ones in (especially the oval ones). I also cleaned the clevis where each bushing mounts real well and applied silicone spray lube to ease insertion.

The real royal pain was getting the lower control arm rear bolt back in (you probably ought to go to Ford and get new lower bolts and nuts (mine were rusted to about 2/3's diameter so I pulled good ones off my donor car). When we tried to line the lower rear bushing up with the axle clevis, it did not want to go. Tried everything, line up punches, brass hammer, cussing, etc. We finally put a floor jack under the shock mount on the axle, a bottle jack under the lower control arm and a big C-clamp over the bushing sleeve and axle tube to pull it all together.
87 TC, T-5 swap, billet quadrant / adj. cable, solid state IVR, fog light relay mod, PST suspension, KYB-AGX fronts, Gas-A-Just rears, K&N cone, billet alum BCV, med. red, 90's wing, polished snowflakes and centers, 195K+ Mi's., daily driver, feeding on ricers!
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tps87turbo Offline
Posting Freak
#7
Thanks Nitro_X for the insight into the rear suspension. I know it was gonna be a Pain in the A$$ (PITA), so your notes below will help me out a great deal. I have a buddy of mine who worked @ Ford for 15 years, so he's gonna give me a hand replacing the bushings. He also has a lift which should make it easier to work on (beats crawling on the ground with a creeper). [Image: smile.gif]

I was worried about removing the bushings on the axle, since Ford has a special tool to do this. I like your approach to drilling out the bushings which should solve that problem. Thanks again for the advise.

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Tony Sceia
Red 88 TC loaded with every option, Walbro 255, 3" SS Downpipe with Magnaflow SS 2.5 Cat Back Mustang Dual system Installed by BJL, 3-core Radiator, Star Stage 2 Clutch, Rebuilt T-5 Tranny, 140 MPH Speedo

Now I need to finish converting to Raven/Gray Leather interior & just do some Body work & she'll be like new.
Tony Sceia -

HIS Red 88 TC
http://turbotbird.com/showroom/data_r-z/...a_88tc.php
HERS - Blue 87 TC, fully loaded with every option, Work in Progress
87 Gray TC Parts Car - Gave to BJL and is now his daily driver
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Hybridbird Offline
Posting Freak
#8
You know,when I put my SN-95 AGX's in.......I put them in at the same time as my lowering springs.I think I probably forgot to mention this the first time around,my bad [Image: frown.gif]

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"Finch....get the f*ck away from that fikas......that is a jizz-free fikas!"
"Finch....get the f*ck away from that Ficus......that's a jizz-free Ficus!"
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Nitro_X Offline
Senior Member
#9
No big deal Hybridbird. I called PST earlier and it looks like they will exchange them (waiting for a call back) with Gas-A-Justs for me. With that set up, I should be able to set the fronts on level 4 and get better weight transfer on launch. I'll just leave the fronts on 2 for normal driving since that is essentially the same damping rate as the Gas-A-Justs.

While I was at it, I ordered the PST front upper strut bushings (can't afford caster / camber plates right now) and steering rack bushings. I thought I was due for a new rack, but since I put the AGX struts and PST bushings in, the steering is tighter than it ever has been before. Can't wait to see what the strut and rack bushings do for the ol' girl.

Tony, one more thing I forgot about the rear upper control arm bushings (on the differential). When we went to press in the PST's, they didn't want to go. So we made a "receiver" out of two pieces of 1 X 4 pine (roughly 3.5" square). Cut a hole in one with a hole saw to fit around the back side of the sleeve, then tacked it to the second piece of board. Then we sawed about the bottom 25% of the hole through both pieces of board. We put this over the back of the top ring, pushed the bushing in, put a third piece of 1 X 4 over the front and pressed it in place with a big C-clamp. Worked like a champ and no damage to bushing or sleeve.

One other cool thing is the rear springs don't have to be compressed to get them out. Just put a floor jack under the lower control arm, take tension off the lower bolt, pull the bolt and let the jack down slowly. The springs go back in the same way. Not so easy on the front though. Had to buy a set of spring compressors and cut about an inch off each screw as well as removing the safety pins (don't try this at home, we are rednecks). If you do the front and have access to the Ford spring compressor (goes up throught the middle of the spring), by all means use it. The way I had to do it was a fully pedigreed female pit bull! [Image: wink.gif]

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87 TC, T-5 swap, solid state IVR, fog light relay mod, PST / KYB-AGX, med. red, spoiler, 181K+ Mi's., daily driver, still eating Ricers!
87 TC, T-5 swap, billet quadrant / adj. cable, solid state IVR, fog light relay mod, PST suspension, KYB-AGX fronts, Gas-A-Just rears, K&N cone, billet alum BCV, med. red, 90's wing, polished snowflakes and centers, 195K+ Mi's., daily driver, feeding on ricers!
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Chuck W Offline
Posting Freak
#10
Quote:Originally posted by Hybridbird:
You know,when I put my SN-95 AGX's in.......I put them in at the same time as my lowering springs.I think I probably forgot to mention this the first time around,my bad [Image: frown.gif]



Well, in my instance with the Mustang shocks on the rear I was lowering the car as well...there was no way it was going to work w/o having to REALLY compress the rear springs to get it to work. I did't like that all that much since it took so much droop out of the rear suspension, and left open the possibility of that limiting the rear susp travel. It would be more of an issue "at the limit" and less so for puttering around...but I wasn't about to take that chance and go skittering off the road while taking a big sweeper at 70-80mph....
83 TC Clone, 85 Mercury LTS, 97 Volvo 850 T5 Turbo, 78 Volvo 240, 93 F150
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