Suspension softening, AM radio poor sound and bad fit and finish

  • Thread starter Thread starter Buster Bo
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Buster Bo

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Hi:

Got 4800 miles on the "Hot Raud". Engine broke-in about 3500. Low-end grunt finally showing it's prowess. Getting small tire chirps off line. Running "sweeeet". K&N air filter replacement & ZMax helped too.

Has anyone had any suspension "wallowing" problems? Getting much more body roll than when new! (???) Dealer felt it might be the Tokico OEM shocks and replaced rear to start. I was skeptical, but it seems to be a bit better. Still nothing like first 1000 miles. Front OEM shocks are next to replace. Nothing aftermarket to my knowledge. (Anybody know of any?) Waiting for Edelbrock IAS Shocks to hit the cateloge. Used 6 on a 1990 full size Bronco and 4 a 2000 Grand Marquis. Eliminates front end nosedive, gives better overall ride, yet stiffens up nicely upon heavy cornering, eliminating most bodyroll. Great product.

The AM radio in this pup is nothing short of awful. No sonic quality to speak of. Can't differenciate between Dr Laura and Bill O'Reilly's voices! Radio has been removed and checked out by independent repair tech and nothing can be done but replace entire head. Ford, National Assn of Broadcasters and local dealer have all been carbon copied. No response. (FM, CD, CD changer and Cassette all sound great!)

Finally, fit and finish on the car is quite poor. Ordering new front turn light indicators as I type, as they simply cannot be made to fit! Anything glued down has fallen off. Door panel crew-covers missing or wrong color, etc. Sorry, there is no excuse for this.

Performance-wise, the car is a winner. Tons (2) of fun to drive! Could it have more HP and torque? Sure. Is it adequate for now? Yep.

-Mike
CA plate "Hot Raud"

p.s. Added more air in the BFGs. (38 front, 40 rear. Rear-end breaking loose on hard turns is all but gone. Much better control.)
 
Buster,

Welcome to the site..

A large portion of the AM issues are due to the antenna location in the rear window. The old mast style antenna is much better for AM reception. One option that may help is a signal booster, you can get them from several sources including good old JC Whitney. You may need an adapter to connect the antenna feed however.. Any decent stero shop can handle that..

The front turn signal housing are a "normal" problem unfortunately.. Mine are on order now...I also had the same problem with my 01 Cobra...
 
Funny, I find the AM and FM reception the best I've experienced in a car.
I wasn't expecting much with the rear-window antenna, but it's great, and I live out in the country.
 
I've had similar thoughts about the finish on mine...doesn't really look like a great deep black as on previous vehicles. Also, this is the first "American made" (I know it's assembled in Canada) car I've ever owned and I'm just waiting for some of the more typical American-car issues to start popping up (i.e. interior parts falling off, body rattle, etc.) Love the car, just hope that it doesn't start to disappoint me with the small things that BMW, etc., seemed to have solved years ago...

Dennis Reinhart mentions he's working with Koni and Billstein on a performance shock for the MM...
 
Hey Buster, welcome.......yeah I wasn't too impressed with fit and finish.....crappiest paint job I've ever seen(and I work at the dealer) still gettin' that worked out(I think it was repaired before I got it)


any plans to go to Knott's in April????

I'm gonna try and get a bunch of us to meet there............

still workin' on it:burnout:
 
If you want more damping, you might want to try the Police Interceptor shocks. Don't use the police front springs, they have the same rate as Marauder springs, but raise the front end.
 
I live far enough away from the radio stations that reception is crappy with either AM or FM. I finally got fed up with the hole deal and installed XM Radio......I nay not get the local stuff, have to be close to the stations anyway so who cares. ut I have a nice selection of news, music, and talk radio.
 

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My dealer says another Marauder complained about poor AM reception in the city, but great reception outside the city area.
Supposedly there is a "chip" that is available for the radio. He couldn't elaborate. (could be just a signal booster)
I have had no problems with the window mounted antenna in the MM. I doubt a mast would be any better, from my experience with them.
 
I am mostly an am guy, no problems there. FM seems ok as well. Any more info on that "chip" for the radio?
 
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