Removing the front springs...

How about Hotchkis Springs? Don't know if they make them for MM/GM but might be worth a try. I took the Eibachs off my Lightning and replaced with Hotchkis. Much improved ride and handling. Don't get me wrong, I'm not condemning Eibach. I feel they do make a good product. This was just my experience with one set of springs on one truck.
 
cyclone03 said:
...Zero camber and NO toe out is a good start.
Carfixer posted the specs and thats the way to go.
Don't fall for the "cross camber" "cross caster" drible that some places spew to make up for their lack of skill in aligning your car.
They'll try to tell you,and show you the fancy print out,that says +.5deg left and -.5deg right camber = 0deg camber aint true only ZERO = ZERO in the front end alignment world.
You need to find a shop that will set up your car to spec and not only in tolerence.
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Personally, I would recommend for any vehicle starting at manufacturer's specs because of limit handling / evasive manuever concerns. Also, you need some camber to counter body roll and suspension/tire compliances. But, that's me.

To add to to you're second statement, yes, you need LH camber = RH camber to prevent drift/pulls and to wear both tires the same. However, LH caster does not have to equal RH caster in some cases. In most cases it will. But, sometimes RH caster is set a little higher than LH caster to make the vehicle pull left some and counteract road crown. People sometimes complain that their vehicles pull right. Sometimes its just the road crown. Therefore, making it pull left makes it appear that the vehicle travels straight. This caster offset/split occurs more often in southern states with a lot of rain. Their roads are crowned more.

Logan said:
Indeed. Bloody roads in Michigan BLOW CHUNKS. Holy crap your roads suck. Reminds me of Montreal.
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The roads are getting better here - at least the highways - thanks to the Superbowl. It seems like every major road is under contruction.
 
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Warpath said:
Personally, I would recommend for any vehicle starting at manufacturer's specs because of limit handling / evasive manuever concerns. Also, you need some camber to counter body roll and suspension/tire compliances. But, that's me.

To add to to you're second statement, yes, you need LH camber = RH camber to prevent drift/pulls and to wear both tires the same. However, LH caster does not have to equal RH caster in some cases. In most cases it will. But, sometimes RH caster is set a little higher than LH caster to make the vehicle pull left some and counteract road crown. People sometimes complain that their vehicles pull right. Sometimes its just the road crown. Therefore, making it pull left makes it appear that the vehicle travels straight. This caster offset/split occurs more often in southern states with a lot of rain. Their roads are crowned more.
My point here is that some shops will use the cross camber calculation to prove the car is in spec.

For tire WEAR negitive camber and any toe out will eat our wide front tires.

I also know the Marauder carries a different camber and caster spec than a Grand Marquise. If you drop your Marauder off you will more than likely receive a GM spec front end.

I do agree that caster offset helps prevent pull,but most OEM's tune the stock as delivered spec in the front end to pull right as a saftey measure to help offset head on collisions when a driver falls esleep at the wheel.
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cyclone03 said:
...For tire WEAR negitive camber and any toe out will eat our wide front tires...
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Toe in wears tires too. So does turning, driving, etc. Everything is a compromise. There is no one correct setting. If all a person is concerned about is wearing tires and is not concerned about handling or ride, then 0 camber and 0 toe is the settings they want. Actually, 0 toe may not be exactly right since toe may change to toe out while driving due to the loads on the tire and suspension. However, if you want a "fun to drive" vehicle or a "well handling" vehicle, then you will have to run negative camber and toe not equal to 0.

cyclone03 said:
...I do agree that caster offset helps prevent pull,but most OEM's tune the stock as delivered spec in the front end to pull right as a saftey measure to help offset head on collisions when a driver falls esleep at the wheel.
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Huh? Who told you that? I work for an OE and worked on alignment settings for a few years. We never have set specs for sleeping drivers. We minimize complaints about drift/pulls and make sure the number of pulls left complaints equals the number of pulls right complaints.
 
Logan said:
Indeed. Bloody roads in Michigan BLOW CHUNKS. Holy crap your roads suck. Reminds me of Montreal.
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Why do think I keep the stock springs and shocks on my cars??? I have had a set of lower springs for my PT since May but I keep thinking about the roads here and not so sure I want to do it.
 
Front coils

I spoke in great length and detail of this to CarFixer upon delivery of my tasty 2004 Silver MM (13,900 miles). I was interested in the Eibach kit (which IS on my 1995 Taurus SE) He stated that the kit stiffens the suspension and makes for a sportier and more harsh ride. After being in a lowered Taurus (2.5"f & 1.25"r) for eight years, the Marauder feels like a floating luxo-barge and it is way too soft for my liking. I am cutting three quarters of a coil off at first and trying that. I may take off a whole coil. I like the nose-down "inhaling asphalt" look that my Taurus had. I will submit some photos as soon as the mods are complete.




Rider90 said:
I'm considering removing the front springs and chopping a coil, similar if not exactly to what was done by Kenny Brown on the Marauder S cars. After all the opinions given on the Eibachs, I'd rather not go that route. I do not have enough money to spend on the Naake system yet, what other options do I have to lower the car an inch or so? I've heard chopping one coil does not affect the ride.


What are your thoughts on this? And has anyone removed their front springs, was it a PITA?
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I have the Eibach kit and I love it. There isnt that huge gap between the tire and wheel well anymore and the car feels like the suspension was tuned up and is tighter. only on HARSH bumps is it choppy, but not the bad choppy that you see in some of those Ricers. I left the rear as it was and the car looks like more of a muscle car now. Ive heard bad things about chopping a coil off...but am not an expert on it. Thats my thought.
 
Cut Springs

Rider90 said:
I'm considering removing the front springs and chopping a coil, similar if not exactly to what was done by Kenny Brown on the Marauder S cars. After all the opinions given on the Eibachs, I'd rather not go that route. I do not have enough money to spend on the Naake system yet, what other options do I have to lower the car an inch or so? I've heard chopping one coil does not affect the ride.


What are your thoughts on this? And has anyone removed their front springs, was it a PITA?
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I've don 20k miles in a stock MM and another 20k miles with 3/4 cut front springs. Look is better cut, ride is better with stock. Handling is no noticeable change to me.
 
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