Article No. 02-18-6 (SUSPENSION - CNG EXTENDED RANGE VEHICLES SITTING LOW IN REAR)

Publication Date: September 10, 2002

FORD: 1998-2002 CROWN VICTORIA

ISSUE:
Some CNG Extended Range vehicles may appear to sit low in the rear. This may be caused by the rear springs.

ACTION:
Replace the existing springs with revised springs. The revised springs provide a higher ride height at curb weight and reduce the possibility of the rear being too low. Refer to the following Service Procedure for details.

SERVICE PROCEDURE
  1. Verify that the vehicle is low in the rear by measuring the ride height "D" dimension, at curb height. At curb conditions the vehicle should have full fluids but no additional weight of passengers or instrumentation. 
  2. To properly measure ride height, pull the vehicle onto an alignment rack, place the transmission in park, and do not set the parking brake. Pull the pins constraining the wheel pads then bounce the vehicle four times with amplitude of two inches per bounce to neutralize the suspension. If you do not have an alignment rack with floating wheel pads, you must roll the vehicle (forward or backward) four feet before you bounce the vehicle. Measure the ride heights as defined in the following steps.

    For rear ride heights:

    1. Measure from the top of the axle tube to the underside of the frame (Figure 1).
    2. The rear ride height measurement should be 5.2 inches (+/- .3) or 137 mm to 153mm.
    3. If below specification, Replace rear springs with updated part D9AZ-5560-AE.

      Follow the spring removal and installation procedure found in the Workshop Manual Section 204-02-29.

  3. After completion, remeasure the ride height to verify repair.
PART NUMBER
 PART NAME
D9AZ-5560-AE
 Rear Spring

OTHER APPLICABLE ARTICLES:
NONE

WARRANTY STATUS:
INFORMATION ONLY

OASIS CODES:
304000, 305000