Making a SHO last a long time....was: Re: [Shotimes] Archives

[George Fourchy]

On Thu, 5 May 2005 14:10:42 -0700 (PDT), Peter Maggiacomo wrote:

>In 10 years my 95MTX only has 83,000 on it, so it'll
>be playing catchup real fast.
>Issue #2 my stock suspension is shot and front strut
>bearings are cluncking and rear springs are sagging.
>I want to go with cargo springs in the rear.
> What's a good parts outlet for them...NAPA??

My car (Lowrider) gets 40K or so a year, as long as I can keep it from getting
rear-ended.  It's on its third rear clip now.  It'll get to 300k miles in the next
month or two.  It has a lot more than that in it..at least another 75k, but I want
to retire it and start driving my 3.2 conversion.  (Its life will be a lot easier
than Lowrider's!)

Daily highway usage is the best thing you can do to/for a car.  Make sure you keep
the fluids up, watch for slow trends to overheat in traffic or in mountains when it
is hot over time (especially with the A/C on)...the radiator will wear out every
150k miles or so no matter what you do to it, and don't lug the engine....consider
using thicker oil down the road...I use 10-40w and STP, and it likes it fine (still
gets 27+mpg on trips at sea level), as the clearances throughout the engine become
more loose....not just the bearings.  You especially will hear the chain tensioners
when it starts, when it gets really loose (beyond 150k miles).  Listen for your rod
bearings at the first start of the day....most all V-6 SHOs will need those changed
after about 130-140k miles.  The instant you hear them banging two or three times on
the first start, change them.  Too many engines have suffered spun bearings because
the warning was ignored.  They sound different than tensioners....tensioners buzz,
and bearings bang.

You can get strut bearings and mounts in the aftermarket.  Google them, using Taurus
or SHO in the search.  Napa Cargo Coils (for LX Tauri) are fine.  They will last at
least 150k miles....I'm beginning to wear mine out after that much (they went on at
150k original miles).  Original springs only are good for 80 or 90k miles...less
than that if you drive sportingly.  After a few thousand more miles, you will need
new front springs too...you can get CCs for the front.  Use Tokiko or Koni
struts...the others won't last the distance.  My Tokikos have over 200k on them. 
They're OK, but I won't take them out and reuse them when it retires....they've lost
that tightness they had before (still better than original stock).  But I would have
used 3 or 4 sets of stock struts in that distance....much more money than the
Tokikos, plus the time and effort.

While you're in the front, change the tension strut bushings, front and rear (of the
strut bars, not the car), and change the lower control arms.  You are wearing the
lower inner bushing, as well as the ball joints, which aren't greaseable if they are
original.  Your tires will like the reduced negative camber you will give them with
new LCAs.  LCAs are special (different than SLOs) for SHOs....NAPA has good
greaseable ones.  Josh Teixeira has the tension strut bushings (as well as LOTS of
other parts) at shonutperformance.com    Change your sway bar links, too (all 4). 
They can cause rattles and clunks when you go over driveways and unevenly tilted
roads.  You also might consider Gen 3 subframe bushings.  All these things will keep
your steering nice and tight, with no slop or looseness...the car will stay younger
longer, no matter what the odometer says.

George