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I've always loved that body style, but when it was released, there were huge dealer markups, which curtailed demand and sales.
i have never been aware of a strut brace (if that's what you're referencing) for this platform. I had one on my old Infiniti Q45, and it DID make a difference, on a heavy car. Not much aftermarket for S-Types, nor their Ford cousins (LS and T-Bird).
I've always loved that body style, but when it was released, there were huge dealer markups, which curtailed demand and sales.
i have never been aware of a strut brace (if that's what you're referencing) for this platform. I had one on my old Infiniti Q45, and it DID make a difference, on a heavy car. Not much aftermarket for S-Types, nor their Ford cousins (LS and T-Bird).
Yes, lovely looking car. Isn't is closer to the S-Type than the XF though? The S-types came with a front steel strut/tower brace as as standard, like this one:
neilr, yes under its skin the Thunderbird is an S-Type with shortened wheelbase (107 vs 114.5 inches).
Access to DEW98 was one of the main reasons Ford bought into Jaguar Cars. At one time Ford contemplated using DEW98 as basis for the 2005 Mustang however when that was deemed too expensive the Thunderbird became collateral damage. That was the major reason 2005 was Thunderbird's last year.
Thought was that as early XF/XFR cars are built in DEW98 platform there would be some parts interchangeability.
Folks on XF confirm the factory XF/XFR rear shock tower brace is a good candidate. There appears to be no factory front shock tower brace.
Yes the Thunderbird DEW98 chassis has a front "cowl brace" similar to S-Type and XF/XFR. My car could benefit from additional chassis stiffness of both front and rear suspensions.
ETA: This was originally proposed to be Jaguar-based
Quite a nice looking car especially with the S-Type R Zeus alloy wheels. Better looking in convertible form than its coupe sibling. I'd forgotten this Ford model used the jointly developed premium DEW98 platform.
It would ride nicely with this platform and I assume it has the hydra mount bushes as well found in the Jaguar but sounds like you may have a bit of scuttle shake.
You are aware of the front strut brace as mentioned above but you may want to note that the S-Type R's versions featured a vertically mounted rear internal strut brace found behind the rear seats. I got annoyed at mine and foolishly removed it (a very easy task) as I could not fit long items in the boot across the full width of the rear seats when they were folded down.
Having since removed the sagging roof lining to replace it I noticed the rear most (width ways) roof brace has come away from the adhesive/roof. I also noticed both length ways roof braces have also started to move away from the mastic type glue/roof.
An easy fix to reseal these areas but err I thing I will place this brace back now..
Not sure what bracing the early XF had in the rear.
jya, Thank You for the kind words and yes the Thunderbird also has a cross brace behind the passenger seat compartment.
DEW98 Thunderbirds are built around THREE structural cross braces. The vertical cross brace you describe behind the passenger compartment, an X-cross brace under the engine and a large X-cross brace under the passenger compartment. In the USA owners of Lincoln LS sedans (also built on the DEW98 platform) scour junkyards looking for Thunderbird cross braces to stiffen their cars chassis. I believe Thunderbird is the only member of the DEW98 family that has the large center brace as standard and it's to compensate for the lack of steel top. Thunderbird owners pay attention to maintaining torque on the large center X-brace bolts as they tend to loosen.
There are lots of Jaguar parts in the Thunderbird. By accident discovered all Thunderbirds have the stiffer anti-sway bars as standard. That kind of thing.
Some interesting facts on the S-Type's close cousin Sierra977. That's some reasonable bracing too on this convertible but the stiffer the better. Not sure if the Thunderbird model went anywhere other than the US. I did pay particular attention to a few I saw when I was in the US around that time when they were near new, being a small market here we get starved of all the exiting models here. Its amazing Ford has not revived this again. What direct competitor is offered by Ford in the US to the Corvette?
jya, the only other place I'm aware Thunderbirds like mine were sold new is Canada. Thunderbirds sold there have metric speedometers and gov't mandated deletion of secondary parking lights. There are several now owned by English, German and Swedish owners but don't know if they were originally sold there or imported after sale. Let me ask the good folks on ThunderbirdNest and I'll let you know what they say.
Addressing your last question, Ford of course offers the Ford GT (built in Canada) with hypercar price around USD500,000. Dunno how this compares with the new mid-engine Corvette as the release MSRP of USD64,000 is interestingly low. In international endurance racing the Ford GT is penalized 100-150hp to keep Corvettes competitive (street-driven Ford GTs make more horsepower than WEC race cars). The new 2020 Mustang Shelby GT500 is more likely a direct competitor as it makes 760hp and does 0-100-0mph in 10.6 seconds for a price similar to the new Corvette.
I have to say that I am no fan of vehicles styled by Tom Peters at GM the new Corvette included. Pontiac Aztek, current generation Camaro and the C7 and C8 Corvettes do not visually appeal to me. At best the styling of the new Corvette is ho-hum.
Also, the new C8 Corvette technically disappoints as I hoped it would include hybrid powertrain. The future of automobile racing is not internal combustion.
jya, asked ThunderbirdNest about where Thunderbirds like mine were sold outside the USA and got a reply from the best expert on our cars, the renowned "Dot" from PortholeAuthority. She says our cars were sold new only in USA, Canada and Mexico. Ford never developed a right-hand drive version of the Thunderbird and that kept them from being sold in Australia.
Aarcuda, the bolts retaining the brace on Thunderbirds are torque specced 20Nm/15lb-ft.
Thunderbird "strut tower support brace" may differ from Jaguar as the Thunderbird part is retained by seven bolts, two on each side and three on a central mounting plate. All bolts have the same torque spec.
ETA: In the illustration from Ford Workshop Manual the brace is Item 8 and the seven retaining bolts are Item 7. Torque spec is listed
Aarcuda, the bolts retaining the brace on Thunderbirds are torque specced 20Nm/15lb-ft.
Thunderbird "strut tower support brace" may differ from Jaguar as the Thunderbird part is retained by seven bolts, two on each side and three on a central mounting plate. All bolts have the same torque spec.
ETA: In the illustration from Ford Workshop Manual the brace is Item 8 and the seven retaining bolts are Item 7. Torque spec is listed
That is EXACTLY the same configuration as my STR!
What is this magic workshop manual that you speak of??? I sense I my need this as it probably minics our STRs in some ways!!
Aarcuda, here is a link to the genuine Ford Workshop Manual for 2004 Thunderbirds. It is about two inches thick. There is also a separate Wiring Diagram Manual. There used to be DVD versions available on eBay but they were date limited and required re-setting your computer's clock to make them work. Might check there now to see what's available. DVDs were cheaper.
ETA: I would be shocked if Jaguar did not have a similar manual. I need to acquire a Jaguar Workshop Manual for the Gen III 5.0L engine to learn the Denso Generation 1.6 Engine Management System. At some point will need a code monkey to integrate the Denso EMS to the Ford system now in my car.
it would not take much to put the Thunderbird on the road here in NZ . as we are allowed both left and right hand drive cars here . plenty of LHD stuff round here.
BTW thats a stunning looking car Sierra977.
really suets the zues wheels too.
Datsports, Thank You and yes I agree the STR/S-Type front tower brace is the same as what my car now has. Hope was there might be a front brace similar to the XF rear shock tower brace however it appears that is not the case. Plan for now is to acquire/install an XF rear brace and have a local shop like Vorschlag or Texas Track Works fab a front brace. Vorschlag is just a few miles from my garage and Texas Track Works has previously done suspension work/alignment/corner balancing on my car. TTW has a nice Hunter Optical Alignment table and people who know how to use it.
In the pics above, in my less than humble opinion, the strut brace is very close to the cowl brace to make that much of a difference. The "usual" location is directly over the front shock/strut tower, which on our S-Types is closer to the midpoint between the cowl brace and the radiator mount, where it theoretically adds stiffness. It would straddle the engine in the middle, probably parallel to the motor mounts.
The rear brace looks like the one I had on 2 previous vehicles, but they were adjustable like a tie rod.
08-04-2019, 07:11 PM
Shock tower braces
