'87 Thunderbird - Raising rear suspension!

[lestat8you]

I have a 1987 Ford Thunderbird and I want to know what I need and how to raise the rear of the car. I am not sure what it is but I know that it is not a Turbo Coupe. Any info will help, thanks.

[97Bird]

Welcome to the forum lestat8you. Are you trying to (1) make the car sit higher in the back or (2) lift it off of the ground? I would say #1. I am not familiar with your year car but if it has coil springs then you could use what I call "knuckle busters". These are wedges that twist in between the spring coils to hold them apart and keeps the coils from compressing thereby giving you a real hard ride. To install these, jack the car up and put jack stands under the frame so the rearend is free to move. This will take tension off of the springs while you use a 1/2" drive breaker bar to twist the wedges between the coils. Start with two wedges 180 degrees apart on each spring but be VERY careful installing them. They got their name for a reason and they can come flying out! I really don't recommend these. If the car has leaf springs then you can buy adjustable rear shackles to raise it. One end of the shackles bolt to the frame and the other end usually has three sets of holes to choose from to bolt the spring to. If you have a little more money to spend I would recommend using air shocks with either kind of spring setup. Use proper jack stands any time you are going under the car! They don't cost much and your life is worth it!

[lestat8you]

thanks for the reply, I will have to search that.

[97Bird]

Check this out. They don't have the "knuckle busters" I spoke of but they do have different alternatives.
http://www.jcwhitney.com/Ford-Thunde...-600003409.jcw