Which brand of front struts for 2002 T Bird

[Teufelei]

I find the ride a bit soft, I like to feel the road a little more. Shocks / strut brand

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[Bigdog1949]

I find the ride a bit soft, I like to feel the road a little more.

Soft ?? My wife hates the ride ,according to her it’s like a old truck !

 

[Teufelei]

Soft ?? My wife hates the ride ,according to her it’s like a old truck !

The Thunderbird replaced a Miata I had Bilsteins on that and liked the ride

 

[JohnS]

I was thinking that also. I will be watching to see if anyone has any good ideas. I want to lift the back about an inch and stiffen the ride. Maybe new springs and spacers... if you want OE replacements you can't go wrong with monroe and they are $120 each at rockauto.com .

 

[The Flash]

My 2003 with 69,000 miles rides very soft. but the wife does not go too far so I will leave it as is. But if you want a GOOD ride only go with OEM parts for suspensions. Monroe is for Honda or VW not a classic car.

 

[JohnS]

This is not a CLASSIC car. This is a REPLICA of a classic car. The only thing that this car has in common with the Classic Cars is that OEM parts are hard to find. Monroe goes to great lengths to engineer their parts to original OEM specs.

 

[biddle]

This is not a CLASSIC car. This is a REPLICA of a classic car.

Wrong. For insurance purposes the 2002 Thunderbird is almost a classic car.
Classic car is 20 years old.
Antique Car is 45+ years old.

 

[edward301]

On my insurance I discovered when my T Bird passed 15 years, they classified it as a classic car, and the insurance rate dropped
by two thirds.

 

[BillM]

there are three big names in the automotive aftermarket for shocks. KYB, Gabriel, and Monroe. If you replace your shocks and struts which ever of the big three aftermarket or OE make sure you use a loaded strut assembly , this will give you new upper plates and springs which have aged as well as a new strut. This is the way most big automotive aftermarket shop are replacing struts these days.

 

[The Flash]

there are three big names in the automotive aftermarket for shocks. KYB, Gabriel, and Monroe. If you replace your shocks and struts which ever of the big three aftermarket or OE make sure you use a loaded strut assembly , this will give you new upper plates and springs which have aged as well as a new strut. This is the way most big automotive aftermarket shop are replacing struts these days.

I have had the opposite effect with those above-mentioned aftermarket suspension suppliers for vehicles that are not mass production. The aftermarket suppliers like Monroe and Gabriel do not go to all the time testing and engineering for a spring or shock for a low volume part. Thay can not afford to do that.

Springs and shocks are engineered to function as an integral part together by the OEM.

The main reason the automotive aftermarket shops are replacing the strut (shock and spring together) is, they can make more money and the mechanic can do the job faster. He does not have to disassemble the spring from the shock and re-assemble.

if you want your classic Thunderbird to ride as it did when new, use OEM parts. If you have a Honda, VW, or other high volume production car use whatever you want, they are just utility vehicles anyway.