I think I broke it

[Ozwynn]

There is no pic yet, maybe tomorrow. My wife got a borrowed 99 mercury cougar stuck in the driveway. No problem, I have had to tug on this car before. I wrapped my chain around the driver side trailing arm and wrapped the other end around my class IV Hitch. pulled the slack up so the chain was tight. Tugged on the car with the expedition and it didn't budge, I was just spinning on the ice. I released the tension and removed the chain and no the wheel on the car doesn't look right. I finally did get the car out by wrapping the chain around the passenger side trailing arm, shortening the chain to the point both vehicles were 18" apart and tugged on it in low range.

Tried to drive the cougar around the block and it feels like the driver side trailing arm is broken. It will back straight, but going forward it dog tracks to the left.

I am hoping it broke the control arm and not what the control arm mounts to.

I will put up a pic as soon as I tell my brother I broke his shit.

 

[Broncojumper87]

Perfectly good reason why you don't hook up to suspension parts and pull im sure there was some sort of factory tow hook all cars have them.

 

[Ozwynn]

nope. there is nothing under this car to hook too except the rail car tie down points. I do not have anything that fits those. hasn't been a problem until this morning, not the first time I have tugged on it. not a lot of effort was used so I am wondering how rusted out it is.

 

[90longbed]

I pulled a thunderbird out of a snowbank at work a few years back.....hooked to what looked like a tow point.... turned out it was a power steering cooler..... oooopppps...lol

 

[Ozwynn]

I can get a new trailing arm, but I can not get the lateral link. if I am even looking up the right car. what I need is for a 99 base model cougar. All I can find is performance parts for the V6 cougar. I went to the local Junk yards and either they don't know what I am talking about or the ones they have are rusted. I have hit all 5 of the decent wrecking yards in the area. I've already spent $40 on gas looking for them......

 

[Ozwynn]

I can buy the whole rear sub frame off ebay, re enforced, sandblasted and painted for $190, $45ea for new strut assemblies, $50 ea for trailing arms, and $86 ea for lateral links........ just had to search for ford contour and found the crap for the mercury.

 

[97RangerXLT]

So the cougar is a two door Mercury Mistake?

did not know that...

AJ

 

[naford]

It was probably ready to go anyway. I know the flat bed tow trucks just slide a big hook over the A arms.

 

[Ozwynn]

my brother told me to tell the county I hit a pothole and they have to pay to fix the car. I called my insurance company and because it happened in my driveway they will cover it. My brother said if they total it he get the money, I can buy it back and buy the parts to fix it and have it really cheap. that car sells for about 4 grand around here because it get 35+ mpg.

 

[adsm08]

So the cougar is a two door Mercury Mistake?

did not know that...

AJ

Depends on the year. For years and years the Cougar was a T-bird. The last generation of the Cougar was two things.

1) More closely related to the Contour

2) An electrical disaster.

 

[97RangerXLT]

Yeah I remember the cougar/ tbird were pretty much the same until about 1997 or so. Then they brought out the fwd model. Lol on the electrical disaster. I thought it was gm that had that title

Sent from the Galaxy to the interwebs

 

[adsm08]

Lol on the electrical disaster. I thought it was gm that had that title

Yeah, they were pretty bad. The 4-cyl units were worse.

A common issue was for the main power buss in the battery junction box to break. The last pin on the buss, so the one that always lost power, was the PCM relay.

Last time I saw one the box had been discontinued for years already and the junk yards refused to sell one, so I had to rig up a repair.

 

[tmcalavy]

You BROKE a Mercury????....you're in big T-R-O-U-B-L-E young man. Your Ford card will be revoked and you'll be sentenced to Get-My-Chain land or Dodgey-ville until you repent of your ways.

 

[adsm08]

You BROKE a Mercury????....you're in big T-R-O-U-B-L-E young man. Your Ford card will be revoked and you'll be sentenced to Get-My-Chain land or Dodgey-ville until you repent of your ways.

Not to mention what Allan Jackson will do when he finds out.

 

[bobbywalter]

lol on the electrical....


you would think you were working on a saturn.

not a good ride ime...