I heart mid-nineties luxury cars.

I've owned 2 Chrysler LHS's, a Lincoln Mark VIII, and Bonneville.
Now I just bought a '95 Riviera, naturally aspirated. White with the red interior.
I really like the car, and plan on using it as a daily communter. I drive about 150 miles per day. It is 3/4 highway, but there is a good stretch of twisty roads.

I'm not too worried about performance, however I am very diligent on keeping up with maintenance. Once I replace a window motor, find out why the power locks dont work (suggestions?) and fix a patch of wear int he leather seat, I feel this car will be pristine.

What I AM worried about is how bad this thing does on corners. On turns where I've taken my Econoline van faster it feels like this car is gonna lose it's ass end. I came here hoping to find out how to remedy that. I'd prefer not to do too much fabrication work, and money IS an object. I would like to see what I can do for about $300 in parts, and can do all the labor myself. I run the service department at a Lincoln dealership in St. Louis.

Thanks for having me!!

-EatDirtFartdust

Hey welcome!


For handling , a great cheap mod is the STS strut tower brace. Do a search for the write up. It take a little fabrication , but nothing that can't be done with basic tools. Took me an hour or so to get it in.

STS rear sway bar , KYB struts and Moroe air shocks ( said to ride firmer than the OEM air ride) shouldn't cost you too much over 300 bucks all together , except the KYB struts might push you over ., and i'm not sure if they're available for a 95 as a direct bolt on. The suspension on these cars changed a bit from year to year.

Good luck!

Thanks, I was just reading up on that strut tower brace...

Welcome! The OEM sway bar end links might be broken. Even in stock form, mine handled impressively for a car it's size, so I suspect you should review all your suspension parts before being to critical. Once it's working like it should, there are still a few upgrades available if you aren't happy...

I would definitely look into the sway bar, my '95 handled like it was on rails

Welcome. I'd replace front struts and rear shocks to begin with. Made a big difference on mine.

EatDirtFartDust wrote:

I run the service department at a Lincoln dealership in St. Louis.

Welcome!!

Which dealership? We seem to be getting more people in the STL area!!

Dave Sinclair L-M in St. Peters

Sweet, I know where that is. If I don't get this job in North Carolina, I'll be in St. Charles in May. 96RivSCMI is moving down there next month, Wentzville.

What year Mark did you have? I've currently got a '93.

I had a 95, then a 96 LHS. Then I had a '95 Mark, then a 95 Bonneville. And now a 95 Riviera. Maybe it's time to switch it up...

nothincame2mind wrote:

Sweet, I know where that is. If I don't get this job in North Carolina, I'll be in St. Charles in May. 96RivSCMI is moving down there next month, Wentzville.

I've got one more week before I move.

Good to hear about more people in the area.

Well, the car was traded in at the dealership I work at. And the mechanic was being very thorough when he did the inspection because I made it known that i was interested in buying it. Anyway, I lifted it back up, actually HOPING to find the links broken, but alas they are in tact. I know it doesn't help, the fact that the previous owner put Goodyear Viva (read Wal-Mart "value" brand) tires on. The shocks/struts do look original, so maybe that's the next way to go.

Ok, so it was raining pretty good today, so here's what it looks like from my son's bedroom window:

I really like the red interior:

And what have all you guys done with the wasted space that is the cassette holders and ashtray door???

Here's my to-do list by order of importance. Any other suggestions?

replace window motor
figure out whats wrong with door locks
replace thermostat
replace shocks/struts?
replace power seat motor for recline
repaint the lower mouldings all-around
Stereo
high intensity lights
sequential taillights

Someday maybe:
Wheels
Interior wood-dash
"accidentally" leave the car out in a hail storm and let insurance pay for a paint job.

I bet shocks/struts is your problem and I would do those first. You may want to put on Caddy STS, or Moog OE replacement springs on at the same time.

Albertj

Hey, Welcome to the site!

albertj wrote:

I bet shocks/struts is your problem and I would do those first. You may want to put on Caddy STS, or Moog OE replacement springs on at the same time.

Albertj

Ok thanks, I usually buy Moog for suspension parts, I've always had good luck with them.

So anyway, my ol junker Bonneville has been sitting for a month while I procrastinate rewiring the headlight switch. Meanwhile, It had fairly new and decent tires, whereas the Riviera was bought with cruddy Goodyear Viva's. So before I stripped down and remounted 8 tires, I figured I'd check and see how the bonneville wheels looked on the Riv. And while it's nothing spectacular, it is a slight improvement over the Riv wheels: