Control arms were a little worn

BigCars4Ever

BigCars4Ever

Senior Member
Been hearing a clunk for a year now when braking or shifting into OD. Thought it was in the trans or maybe the universals. Got under the car an noticed I could see light where rubber was supposed to be in the read control arms. Embarrassing I let tit go this long. Got new stock arms from Taxiparts.com along with a new watts link. They look just like the originals but seem to be a little heavier gauge steel.
 

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BigCars4Ever said:
Been hearing a clunk for a year now when braking or shifting into OD. Thought it was in the trans or maybe the universals. Got under the car an noticed I could see light where rubber was supposed to be in the read control arms. Embarrassing I let tit go this long. Got new stock arms from Taxiparts.com along with a new watts link. They look just like the originals but seem to be a little heavier gauge steel.
Click to expand...

Dang… now I gotta crawl under mine to check


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Taxi,Police Interceptor, and Lincoln Limo are stronger than original Marauder arms. Also, you can use Metco arms, much better.
 
Black Terror... Police Interceptor, and Lincoln Limo are stronger than original Marauder arms...
Click to expand...
Installed back in 2006...

gvrww.jpg

*In case the image is a no-show ... <PIC>
​
 
Black Terror said:
Taxi,Police Interceptor, and Lincoln Limo are stronger than original Marauder arms. Also, you can use Metco arms, much better.
Click to expand...

I know which arms you're talking about but I've never seen a P71 or taxi with those upper arms, I think that was only a limo pkg thing.


BigCars4Ever said:
I considered the Metco but they are so much more expensive. The other thing I had to replace was my air bags and compressor. I ended up with Grand Marquis air bags. They aren't quite as stiff as the limo bags that were the original. If I can find the limo bags I may swap them out but this is what Westar sent me. https://autobuffy.com/kit/2003/merc...COR4C1a_1HHkMcIvTJbexRGpM4aQqvQsaAmvMEALw_wcB
Click to expand...

You should still be able to get the proper airbags from Ford, 3u2z5580aa. The Marauder used the same airbags as the HPP optioned panthers. Base rate bags went in normal cars with air ride but not HPP, including the CV sport.
 
While hooking the 'ol peepers on my Town Car I noticed the rear CA's looked like that. There didn't seem to be any noise and there was no difference in the driving feel....
Or so I thought. New OE upper and lower ones took the 'lane hunt' out of the driving feel and returned straight-line stability back to driving. Also steering wheel corrections were minimalized. Amazing what a wee bit of axle deviation can do.

I replaced the Marauder CA's with Metco Heinous billet ones and that made a HUGE difference.
Many say there was no difference but for me I noticed it while driving on I-4 where there were a lot of lane shifts and the rear seemed more compliant and felt lighter. Also for me, the strong upshifts were now MUCH more snappy with all the pinion deflection removed on the 1-2 and the 2-3. In spirited acceleration far from WOT an audible chirp is present and that's only with a Lidio tune and 4.10 gears.

For my Lincoln though, I wanted to retain the stock characteristics of ride and handling and chose to leave it as smooth and comfortable as possible.
But IMHO dropping some coin on solid arms was a net improvement and I am sure it will be more pronounced once I am under boost.
 
YES, My son and I noticed the difference in the control arm(s) and Watts link swap, before turning the key while getting INTO THE CAR... and closing the doors. He/we were amazed that after each closed our respective doors the car didn't sortly sway or waggle. We each instictively started wiggling in our seats trying to move the car... and the auto mechanics all started laughing as we were still on the lift. The Marty tune... and these parts switched out are IMHO by far the best first upgrades. I was sorry I waited so long to do both.
 
I replaced my control arms and watts link with metco. NIGHT and DAY difference in ride quality, stability and acceleration.

My control arms were just as badly worn as the OP. I can’t believe I never noticed it when working on the brakes.

The metco components are expensive but worth it. I figure it will be the last set I’ll need for the life of the car.


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