TheDeal526

I'v heard that my 89 Thunderbird (standard v6) has an Independent Rear Suspension. Does anybody know what this means??? Does it mean that my car doesnt have a rear-end? I'm pretty sure it's rear whell drive, how can i find out if it's positive traction or not? I dont have any rear suspension problems, i was just curious as to what Independent Rear Suspensions were, and how if relates to driving performace...

Altimas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indepen...ear_suspension
To find out of your have limited slip (posi traction is a marketing term for limited slip ) you can do a few things.
You can jack of the rear of the car and turn a rear wheel and if the other wheel doesnt turn, or can be stopped with a little pressure (get a friend to place his hand on it) its an open differential (search on the first link if you don't know what that means).
Or you go into an empty parking lot stop and turn your wheels and gun it and see if you're only spinning the inside tire.
You can't just gun it from a stop on loose gravel to see because it's easy to spin both wheels if the surface has equal traction.
i.e I can spin both tires on my 70 beetle if I side step the clutch with enough revs and leave two skid marks.

CamaroSSBoy346

Yes, all MN12's (89-97) have IRS-Independant Rear Suspension.

IRS is better for cornering, handling, and just daily crusing, although there is more parasitic loss, compared to a conventional live axle.. (This would only be considered a problem when drag racing, with ALOT of HP/TQ) IRS is basically, each rear wheel moves independantly over bumps/ruts what ever you hit on the road, making the ride more 'comfortable'

Yes, your car is rear wheel drive.

I'm pretty sure your car IS NOT posi. Most 3.8L NA cars ARENT.

__________________
1992 Lincoln Mark VII LSC; Removed air silencer, open element air filter, Cobra upper/lower, Professional Products 65mm TB, Flowmaster 40's catback, Pypes shorty headers, Pypes hi-flo catted X-Pipe, MSD Cap & Rotor, MSD 8.5mm SuperConductor wires, AR133 mod, TC Front Sway-Bar

TheDeal526

CamaroSSBoy346 thanks for your input. You seem to know much about "IRS". Tell me, does this mean that i would have to have a rear wheel allignment if i do any work on the rear of the car???

CamaroSSBoy346

depends... say you install different springs (like lowering..) then yes, an alignment is reccomended.

__________________
1992 Lincoln Mark VII LSC; Removed air silencer, open element air filter, Cobra upper/lower, Professional Products 65mm TB, Flowmaster 40's catback, Pypes shorty headers, Pypes hi-flo catted X-Pipe, MSD Cap & Rotor, MSD 8.5mm SuperConductor wires, AR133 mod, TC Front Sway-Bar

coondawg6

not to get off subject but nice pic SSBOY

__________________
DONT EVER LEAVE WELL ENUFF ALONE , ITS BORING.