Active Suspension

JoeW90sc

Registered User
Howdy all. I'm new to these forums and I'd like to ask a quick question about the active suspension on my '90 sc.

My pictures included showcase something of concern. The first time I jacked up the car, I was treated to this frightful sight. There's so much corrosion that the mount(?) for the drivers side air bladder does not connect to it. I'm truthfully not even sure that it's the air bladder, all I knew prior to owning this car about active suspension was to shut it off before jacking the vehicle off. (Or is this not even the same used in Lincolns?)

The passenger side is immaculate. But I don't believe it's a replacement.

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1) Those aren't air bladders - they're rubber isolators. The active components in the suspension are the shocks, which have two settings.
2) I owned a T-bird which had underbody rust on only one side of the car. It wasn't as bad as yours, just surface rust. I think it was either due to the undercoating not being properly applied at the factory or blocked spray nozzles at the car wash that I used to frequent.
 
you should replace all your bushings etc. with the polys from spinning wheels or someone...that surface rust should just knock off...how do your rocker panels look???...the ride control uses actuators on all 4 shocks to change from a firm ride to an auto-adjust ride and back....some peeps have put the airbags from lincolns on thier SC,s for better traction in the 1/4...the suspension changes on the SC to firm ride for handeling and less roll in a road course environment...
 
If you look at the pictures you will see that the point where the isolator is mounted to is completely rusted away. You need to get new subframe connectors. Two years ago, I got a couple from the dealer, so they may still be able to get them for you. The MN12 chassis went to 1997, and they usually support the parts for ten years, so you may get lucky. While you are there, you might just as well get a couple of isolators too. Mine were rusted out like yours, and the mechanic that replaced them had one h of a time getting the other bolt off. Right now your subframe is disconnected, and the car should feel loose.
 
I believe that the bolt on the isolator goes all the way up inside the frame, so the subframe wouldn't really be disconnected. But its mounting would be less rigid than it should be.
 
Thanks for the replies!

Is it still safe to drive, I mean I've drive the car a few times up and down a nearby culdesac a few times. It seems to drive alright, but is there any huge safety problem with it as is. (I can't exactly afford to replace that much right now, I'm going to basic training in about a month. ._.)

It's not a daily driver, and is not going to be used for much of anything other than a 1/4 mile pass before basic training. ^^
 
The car should be OK to drive.....but not for anything where you are doing any serious high performance driving. You could run into issues. My rear subframe connectors were that bad on BOTH sides of my 1990 SC. I was able to get replacement connectors from the stealership last year, so like was mentioned...you may be able to get lucky.
 
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