88-91 Colony Park

Anyone have a late 80's Colony Park, or Country Squire with the auto level option?

IF you still have your factory springs, and air shocks.. my question is this: when you release all of the air from your shocks, does the rear drop past level trim height or stay level?




my colony park stays level with all of the air let out of the air shocks, but rides very stiff like a 3/4 ton pick up. Im thinking a previous owner installed heavy duty springs. I want a nice ride. If my car has the correct wagon springs, then im going to go softer with the town car springs. If my wagon has some hard ass heavy duties, then im going to go softer with the correct wagon springs.

 

anyone have any ideas on this?

 

I don't have my old wagon anymore with that option but I do remember that if the air leaked out it only went a little lower than stock height unless you have weight in the back then it will go lower. Why you ask? Is it because it broke or is leaking? Ours broke so we actually bypassed the auto level and ran a line to the rear bumper and had to pump about 80psi to make the ride like it used to be.

 

mine holds air, its just rough riding as hell. im wondering if its the gabriel high jackers or the springs making it so rough

 

That car shouldn't ride that rough, Jase. Springs or shocks were likely changed. Or both.

 

autozone calls for gabriel high jacker shocks for the car with auto level and thats whats on it. the suspension isnt taking the bumps, just transfering the harshness thru to the body.

if i jump on the bumper the bumper only drops about 2 inches, raises the same 2 inches then stops. so you take that stiffness and put it on the road and youve got a rough ride.

 

I would do some research and find out if you have the correct springs on there or if they were changed over to heavy duty. My guess is that the latter is the case. That wagon should ride smooth.

 

whatever wasdone to it was done prior to 91. i need to go measure the spring wire to see how thick it is so ill know if its the wagon spring or a heavier duty one.

also need to find out if the hijacker shocks are stiffer than the regular shock for teh same car. but autozone calls for the same shock part number for towncars too, so its got to be a soft riding shock.

 

ok.

measured the coil wire and its .63 like the wagon springs call for, so they arent heavy duty coils.

The gabriel hijackers dont seem to have any give to them if i jump on the bumper, so it makes the rear very stiff. Does anyone know if the hijackers are a stiffer shock absorber than the non air lift equivilant?

ooh and the spring isolators look like they are coming apart.

 

well good luck with that I remember doing the air shocks at midas when I was a kid and the ride was very smooth if anything call them up see what they use. You could enter the wagon in a touring race if it is that stiff of a ride lolz

 

im doing research now to convert over to the air springs like the towncar and grand marquis had. Im not going to be able to get the ride i want and the correct ride height at the same time with the old coil spring and air shock set up. it sits too high, and there isnt enough adjustment in the seat. the rear of the car needs to be an inch or two lower than it is with the current set up.

the cost is going to be the same as buying air shocks and coil springs, so i might as well go with the new set up. researching now how to mount the airbags. hopefully going to the junkyard tomorrow or saturday to crawl under a towncar and see how its all set up.

 

Other thing you could see is how much sag you have in the bushings. What I mean by that is take off the shocks and springs and with a jack under the rear diff slowly lower the jack and see if it sags down alot. I don't know if this will work with the wagon but on my firebird to lower the car more it worked. Before installing the shocks and springs I would loosen the bolts on all of the control arms etc. hooking up to the axle then raise the jack to where it almost hits the bump stops on both sides then tighten all the bolts except for my panhard rod (the wagon wont have this I think). After I did this I could lower the jack and the bushings would actually hold the axle up. Then after I installed the springs and shocks back in I lost almost another inch of height on the rear end. Like I said I don't know if this will work on the wagon.

 

i was driving the car on a trip this weekend and couldnt stand the harsh ride, so just as a test i dropped $36 on a cheap set of regular shocks, threw them on and its 100% better. its still a little more harsh than Lincoln TownCar driving me would like, but its way better. So now im deciding if i want to use the softer towncar springs with the air shocks, or just move on with my air spring plan.

this is my first road trip in this car, and i loved it.

i think its funny on the interstate that people cant stand to be behind a wagon, no matter how fast you go.

 

They are probably passing you so they can see all of the car and admire it!

 

haha, thats not they look they are giving me. i guess they are trying to guilt me into a battery powered car.. not gonna happen till i have to. Certain people get excited to see a wagon, but most people today think we are horrible people for still driving them. They think they are better than us and need to be in front. I got news for them theyre the ones with the problem.