A Crown and I

[Patch]

Man OH man I’m not the man I use to be!

 

A bit of background: Now that the boys are getting older and starting families so too are their friends. I do miss the activity of them around the house bringing projects over to our little shop, sitting around and sharing experiences…

I tell you all that, I very much enjoyed watching them grow, some with family structure and some lacking there. Really I enjoyed my sons choices in friends and, I just liked being there for them whatever the situation; one of my favourite go to questions was “what are you not telling me;)”

 

Well Rocky now about to have his first child is going thru what so many of us have had too at the time, which is to get serious and weigh our decisions and consequences..

As I’ve mentioned before Calgary and AB. In general has a struggling economy, opportunities today are hard finds regardless of age and experience so we stretch, sometimes over reach and, things get tight. Breakdowns can sometimes just be that tipping point. Well my young buddy started a small business 100 klm form Calgary before the bell rang its doin ok but of course there isn’t any security just risk. So he dusted off his engineering degree and found work some 400 klm east of home, traded a car he had plans for, for a Crown Vic police pack???

 

Now for those that don’t know, that is a 3.55 ratio, that is ring divided by pinon which means high rpm which also means poor highway mileage! Now what can we expect from a diff that constantly gets stepped on, right axel shear is correct. Yep and add to that expensive towing from nowhere to somewhere.

So Rocky wouldn’t ask but my son mentioned it to me, and we went pulled it here but I have to work on it, on the RV pad cause you know the garage is stuffed with projects. I’m in-between work projects at the moment so yesterday I began pulling it apart; I thought I'd change the axel and bump the ratio to 2.73 or 3.08/ I found a nice 2.73 set which I planned to get but, after pulling the wheel I discovered the only reason it hadn’t run off was due to the caliper, once removed well the housing was pooched so..

 

Well I can’t tell you how sore I am today, I can’t think of a part on my body that isn’t screaming at meJ

That is one serious setup them Vic’s have tying the diff to the chassis! And that top 24mm nut above the shaft for the upper control arms between the 2 mufflers….yikes! Working on this yesterday between rain bursts I finally get to pull it using my heavy floor jack and just like that I is flat on my back, the bar pulled thru…

Today it rained here steady thankfully meaning I didn’t need to come up with a reason for hiding out! Tomorrow the boys will be around to help get the replacement unit in, tonight I’m going to soak, pop some Motrin so when asked “how did it go” I’ll lie and say “easypeezy” wouldn’t want them to think Dad’s too old to play these games, anymore!

Patch

[Jayceesfolly]

Patch, I feel for you, been there, done that and got the aches and pains to prove it. I too have learned I am getting too old to lie on the cement floor in the garage. The autos in my driveway all are repaired and/or maintained by a local mechanic now. The biggest thing I work on now is my Venture and the lawn tractor, both of which fit on my platform lift, so I can work on them standing up.

 

 

Jim

[Flyinfool]

I know the feeling well. I get every time there is a family get together and all of my kids, grand kids, and great grand kids all have to go home wondering just how that old fart could make them all look bad while playing volley ball, foot ball, or even just wrestling on the floor. What I do not ever let them know is just how crippled up I am for the next week afterwards while they all feel fine the next day.

 

At least you do not have to impress the car, it don't care......

[djh3]

One added point when bolting the axle back in. You want to load the springs, and control arms with weight before you torque down the mount bolts. Reason is if you have the axle hanging and tighten everything, it is not where it want to ride and you have introduced twist into the control arm bushings. The will be twisted in the loaded (down) position and prematurely rip out. How about them drive shaft bolts. 12 point bolts there was a smart idea huh?

[Patch]

One added point when bolting the axle back in. You want to load the springs, and control arms with weight before you torque down the mount bolts. Reason is if you have the axle hanging and tighten everything, it is not where it want to ride and you have introduced twist into the control arm bushings. The will be twisted in the loaded (down) position and prematurely rip out. How about them drive shaft bolts. 12 point bolts there was a smart idea huh?

 

Yep thankfully my ratchet keys 12mm worked.

 

I've grown accustom to German cars where maybe 2 or 3 sizes is all you require at some end of the cars, this Vic I had standard and metric and way to many sizes...

 

Oh well she's done, I'm done too;)

Oh and some putts stole my small floor jack I left under the drive shaft last night:(

[luvmy40]

I feel for you Steven! I'm crunching Ranger Candy today and all I did was wheel bearings!

 

Every Crown Vic Police Package I have ever encountered needed the rear end replaced. Most of them had been "repaired" once or twice previously.

[RDawson]

I never ran into the rear end changes but our sheriff's dept had a run on transmissions in the mid 90s. The Crown Vic police packs were put together to stay together. I remember using a 3' cheater just to break the cross member bolts loose. The rest of the job wasn't much better. Think I did 5 or 6 of em one year.

[BlueSky]

Isn't the overdrive a 0.7 ratio? 3.55 x .7 = 2.485. Seems to me a reasonable ratio for highway driving. Does he have a means of reprogamming the speedometer?

[Patch]

Isn't the overdrive a 0.7 ratio? 3.55 x .7 = 2.485. Seems to me a reasonable ratio for highway driving. Does he have a means of reprogamming the speedometer?

 

 

You may be right there Bluesky, I don't know the trans ratios at all on them.

I took the point of view at the outset that 3.55 for a car that was to run highway period, would benefit form something closer to 3.0. In the end what I found, out of a 2011 was a 3.27 I think out of a Marquis...

 

But thinking while writing here I still feel 3.55 is an unnecessary ratio for his use of the car; I'm looking at (minds eye) the the MASS and Throttle position at our highway speeds 120-130 klm seems to me that there is a savings to be had considering his one way trips are over 400 klm. I might venture as far as to say that the breakdown may pay dividends some 4 months down the road? Providing his O2's agree with the logic like close to standard compression, no vac or exhaust leaks, and clean injectors I would think she wouldn't see the need to richen up.

 

You made a good point tho

Patch

[Patch]

Luv I've been meaning to ask how your career move is going? Happy?

[luvmy40]

All is good so far.

 

I knew going back there was going to be some time needed to find a home for me. About 4 months in and I still don't have a title. Not that it's an issue. They way the company works is more like a mom and pop entrepreneurial kind of thing rather than the multi million dollar a year enterprise it truly is.

 

I'll find my place, or make one that suits me.

[Patch]

All is good so far.

 

I knew going back there was going to be some time needed to find a home for me. About 4 months in and I still don't have a title. Not that it's an issue. They way the company works is more like a mom and pop entrepreneurial kind of thing rather than the multi million dollar a year enterprise it truly is.

 

I'll find my place, or make one that suits me.

 

Right On Luv!