Posted by steponmebbbboom does the crown vic have a box on it? is Ford the only manufacturer that has captive parts? If you break the cupholder off the dash do you really expect autozone to be able to get it? go to the junkyard theres tons of clapped-out taxis in there, what's the problem?

Honey, we tried the junkyard, most of what was there were BROKEN U bolts, a lot of people will just haul the old box off and build one of their own for a Ford Ranger. We called every junkyard between Albany and Canada, came up with nothing as far as bolts.

Mechanic said it was either call the local dealership and get raped on the cost or find someone that can machine the bitches and get raped on the cost, our choice.

I even went as far as asking someone at work to try to machine the bastards, but the company machine shop didn't have the right size materials. Since it's a non standard size. I went to the hardware store as well that normally has most size U bolts, no go there either, all were too big.

So, you either go dealer or build your own box and my stepdad wasn't up for building a box for a truck.

Shael

Clowning fords cause they charge $25 for a dealer-only u-bolt? Every brand has dealer-only parts, if you think Ford is the only one youre mistaken... Chevy will ding you for something else, and so will mazda, toyota, it may be a body mount here or a shock absorber there but this is nothing new and of course the junkyard isn't going to go out to their yard and carefully remove box mount u-bolts for you so you can pick them up at the counter and pay them $5 each for them. the insurance risk to you guys monkeying around teetering major body components isn't worth it, either. Dealer-only water pumps, rad hoses and brake rotors are worth whining about, but body mounts? How many $25 u-bolts are we talking about? Four? How much time did you spend trying to save pocket change on u-bolts?

Posted by steponmebbbboom Clowning fords cause they charge $25 for a dealer-only u-bolt? Every brand has dealer-only parts, if you think Ford is the only one youre mistaken... Chevy will ding you for something else, and so will mazda, toyota, it may be a body mount here or a shock absorber there but this is nothing new and of course the junkyard isn't going to go out to their yard and carefully remove box mount u-bolts for you so you can pick them up at the counter and pay them $5 each for them. the insurance risk to you guys monkeying around teetering major body components isn't worth it, either. Dealer-only water pumps, rad hoses and brake rotors are worth whining about, but body mounts? How many $25 u-bolts are we talking about? Four? How much time did you spend trying to save pocket change on u-bolts?

the truck was a piece of shit.
wasn't even worth the $25 in u-bolts.

Velco, I think you will be fine with the Crown Vic LX; its a good vintage and with that low of miles, you will be fine.

I'm talking about six U bolts at 30-40 dollars a piece.

Not cheap and not something I'd spend on a 11 year old truck, but it was that or watch the box fall off.

I'm just not fond of Fords to begin with, I and my family have had nothing but bad luck.

Take for instance a brand new 1989 Ford Escort station wagon. One year after it was purchased, the engine was blown. Why? Factory crack in the engine block that got worse when the weather hit below 0 for at least a month that winter. It finally let go Christmas day of 1990. We barely made it home. Ford made good on it, but it took over 3 months to get a new engine. Even with the engine, it was never right afterwards.

Ford and Hyundai are the ones I refuse to go near nowadays.

Shael

Posted by Shael I'm talking about six U bolts at 30-40 dollars a piece. Not cheap and not something I'd spend on a 11 year old truck, but it was that or watch the box fall off. I'm just not fond of Fords to begin with, I and my family have had nothing but bad luck. Take for instance a brand new 1989 Ford Escort station wagon. One year after it was purchased, the engine was blown. Why? Factory crack in the engine block that got worse when the weather hit below 0 for at least a month that winter. It finally let go Christmas day of 1990. We barely made it home. Ford made good on it, but it took over 3 months to get a new engine. Even with the engine, it was never right afterwards. Ford and Hyundai are the ones I refuse to go near nowadays. Shael

Why didnt you just weld the damn box directly to the frame, if it was a POS to begin with?

The only thing I would be potentially concerned with would be the rear air bags on the lx sport, but you can always get rid of them when/if they go. Just go with the regular lx base/ or interceptor rear suspension since 04 has the rear suspension moved outboard of the frame rails. The sport and town cars are the only ones with the air bags, which also I've found tend to adjust themselves at some real weird times.

Also I would never compare any other ford vehicles to a crown vic. While Ford may not be the greatest, they are not anywhere near the worst cars.

Good point, the air suspension is a liability on an older car. Remember the Mark 8 continentals? You couldnt give those away at one point because they were all dropping bags left and right... yikes...

Posted by steponmebbbboom Good point, the air suspension is a liability on an older car. Remember the Mark 8 continentals? You couldnt give those away at one point because they were all dropping bags left and right... yikes...

and you couldn't convert them to the non-air ride suspension, either. That was a huge liability with the older Fords.

I'm not too worried about the air ride, if it even has it... but if it does go, I'm just going to replace with performance suspension and start the conversion to my fast land yacht with some fancy suspension.