2002 Suspension replacement costs

[SimpleMan]

Hello All,

I am new here and looking for a reasonableness check. I bought a 2002 with 29,000 miles at what I consider a very good price. It has had very little action in the past 10 years and sitting in a dusty partially open garage. When I say little action, maybe driven 2-3 times in 10 years. The body is in beautiful shape. Driving it first I found there were multiple issues like the steering wheel held 25 degrees left to go straight, electronic mirrors not working, leaky battery, CD player not working, tires wore unevenly, AC not working and what appears to be a higher than normal negative camber on the rear tires. I took it to the local Ford dealer and they found the obvious stuff but also found for both left and right suspension that the following need to be replaced: sway bar links both back and front, upper control arms front, outer tie rods front, rear tie rod assembly, upper rear arms and lower rear arms. The suspension piece alone will cost about 4K.

I am wondering if the need for these suspension corrections sound reasonable. I am inclined to trust the dealer and get it done but curious if anyone sees a red flag. Thanks you for your time and I am glad to be a part of this community.

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[Rust]

I can't post about most of your needs, But c/w "electronic mirrors not working" I'm not a mechanic, & with you tube and ebay I fixed mine. I'm saying it is easy. Searchthis site for more info on the mirrors & everything else.

 

[Jerry Johnson]

Hello All,

I am new here and looking for a reasonableness check. I bought a 2022 with 29,000 miles at what I consider a very good price. It has had very little action in the past 10 years and sitting in a dusty partially open garage. When I say little action, maybe driven 2-3 times in 10 years. The body is in beautiful shape. Driving it first I found there were multiple issues like the steering wheel held 25 degrees left to go straight, electronic mirrors not working, leaky battery, CD player not working, tires wore unevenly, AC not working and what appears to be a higher than normal negative camber on the rear tires. I took it to the local Ford dealer and they found the obvious stuff but also found for both left and right suspension that the following need to be replaced: sway bar links both back and front, upper control arms front, outer tie rods front, rear tie rod assembly, upper rear arms and lower rear arms. The suspension piece alone will cost about 4K.

I am wondering if the need for these suspension corrections sound reasonable. I am inclined to trust the dealer and get it done but curious if anyone sees a red flag. Thanks you for your time and I am glad to be a part of this community.

Experiencing deteriorated front and rear suspension parts is a common malady > while having an oil change done on my 2005 with 39,000 miles, noticed bushings falling apart on the rear suspension and failing parts on the front suspension > ordered front and rear sway bars ($62.74 including s/h & tax), front upper control arms & front & rear tie rods ($256.59 total), front tie rods ($42.75 total), ball joints ($55.20 total), and $107 for a specialist alignment > and oh yeah, my gearhead godson did all the labor for $100 > so my total was $517.28 and the 50th Anniversary handles beautifully > I purchased parts from online supply houses.

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[edward301]

Most T Bird owners have had to replace all their suspension components. You can purchase all the parts on ebay, amazon, and some online
parts stores. I had to replace the suspension on all three of my T Birds, parts cost about $700 to $800, I did the work myself, not hard to
do. There are other threads on this site talking about this.

 

[bobk250]

Hello All,

I am new here and looking for a reasonableness check. I bought a 2002 with 29,000 miles at what I consider a very good price. It has had very little action in the past 10 years and sitting in a dusty partially open garage. When I say little action, maybe driven 2-3 times in 10 years. The body is in beautiful shape. Driving it first I found there were multiple issues like the steering wheel held 25 degrees left to go straight, electronic mirrors not working, leaky battery, CD player not working, tires wore unevenly, AC not working and what appears to be a higher than normal negative camber on the rear tires. I took it to the local Ford dealer and they found the obvious stuff but also found for both left and right suspension that the following need to be replaced: sway bar links both back and front, upper control arms front, outer tie rods front, rear tie rod assembly, upper rear arms and lower rear arms. The suspension piece alone will cost about 4K.

I am wondering if the need for these suspension corrections sound reasonable. I am inclined to trust the dealer and get it done but curious if anyone sees a red flag. Thanks you for your time and I am glad to be a part of this community.

I have a 2005 edition and it developed the steering wheel problem all of sudden as I was driving. I was able to get home safely and had the car towed to a local dealer. They ended up replacing the Rack and Pinion as a large section on one end had been cut off. HOWEVER as I drove away from the dealer the condition came back. They were shocked but ultimately found a loose clamp which resolved it. Luckily when I bought it used w/44k mileage the dealer sold me a Ford approved aftermarket warranty. Car now as over 100k and runs fine. Hopefully someone else can help you with the other problems. This forum is a great resource.

 

[1984shovelhead]

Changing suspension components that are not worn just because of torn dust covers is a total waste of money.but obviously the choice is up to the individual.sway bar end links are cheap and super easy to change though.also the dealer is the last place I would use with all things being equal.specifically a lot of the cost is labor so I would make sure WHAT KIND OF parts they use as some aren’t worth the labor despite a lifelong guarantee.this coming from someone with a lift and a lot of tools.

This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated. As an eBay Partner, and Amazon Associate I may be compensated if you make a purchase at no cost to you.

 

[T-Top dave]

Hello All,

I am new here and looking for a reasonableness check. I bought a 2002 with 29,000 miles at what I consider a very good price. It has had very little action in the past 10 years and sitting in a dusty partially open garage. When I say little action, maybe driven 2-3 times in 10 years. The body is in beautiful shape. Driving it first I found there were multiple issues like the steering wheel held 25 degrees left to go straight, electronic mirrors not working, leaky battery, CD player not working, tires wore unevenly, AC not working and what appears to be a higher than normal negative camber on the rear tires. I took it to the local Ford dealer and they found the obvious stuff but also found for both left and right suspension that the following need to be replaced: sway bar links both back and front, upper control arms front, outer tie rods front, rear tie rod assembly, upper rear arms and lower rear arms. The suspension piece alone will cost about 4K.

I am wondering if the need for these suspension corrections sound reasonable. I am inclined to trust the dealer and get it done but curious if anyone sees a red flag. Thanks you for your time and I am glad to be a part of this community.

Hello, I don't have one of those cars. But i have a few friends with them. Mine is a '79. Anyway, everybody highly recommends Thunderbird Bob for parts and tips. 2002-2005 is all he does. I've met him a few times, and he seems to be very knowledgeable. Good luck!

 

[TNtbird]

Has anyone upgraded to polyurethane bushings while installing replacement suspension parts?

 

[tbird.blue]

Has anyone upgraded to polyurethane bushings while installing replacement suspension parts?

I haven't replaced any with polyurethane on my 05 tbird, but I have used them previously on other vehicles. I would be wary of using them on suspension parts that have an effect on ride comfort as they tend to make the ride harsher and more unpleasant. Things like sway bar bushes seem to be a better use of polyurethane. Unless of course you want to go track racing! Lol

This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated. As an eBay Partner, and Amazon Associate I may be compensated if you make a purchase at no cost to you.

 

[TNtbird]

I haven't replaced any with polyurethane on my 05 tbird, but I have used them previously on other vehicles. I would be wary of using them on suspension parts that have an effect on ride comfort as they tend to make the ride harsher and more unpleasant. Things like sway bar bushes seem to be a better use of polyurethane. Unless of course you want to go track racing! Lol

When I rebuilt my 73 vette suspension, I replaced with poly. The main reason was not so much for performance is it was for wear. Poly, in most street applications, will not wear out like rubber. When I replace the Tbird bushings, I don't want to ever have to do it again.

 

[Ed R]

Hi, All I now have a 2005 and would like to improve the handling, but not at the expense of a hard ride. I have all original suspension with 50k miles.
Bushings in the real could be replaced, but that is about it on a visible inspection. Handling now can be described as "Big Car Float", especially in the curves. I am looking for more stability, a more sporty nature, not track worthy. Can anyone recommend shock replacements to accomplish this?

 

[Uccello Tuono]

Changing suspension components that are not worn just because of torn dust covers is a total waste of money.but obviously the choice is up to the individual.sway bar end links are cheap and super easy to change though.also the dealer is the last place I would use with all things being equal.specifically a lot of the cost is labor so I would make sure WHAT KIND OF parts they use as some aren’t worth the labor despite a lifelong guarantee.this coming from someone with a lift and a lot of tools.

I wondered about this. The suspension on my 2004 with 44K miles is completely original, and although the car rides tolerably well no doubt not as well as it should (my daily driver is a 2020 Mustang, so the Thunderbird of course feels very soft and unresponsive by comparison.). Looking underneath everything is fine except for rubber bushings and such. I'm in Texas, so nothing rusts, and the car came from northern Louisiana, so similar climate. I don't know enough about suspension to know what to ask, but what is involved with replacing all the deteriorated rubber parts that I see? Can they be purchased separately and pressed into the control, arms, etc.? Thanks.

This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated. As an eBay Partner, and Amazon Associate I may be compensated if you make a purchase at no cost to you.