Stock shocks junk?

[dla]

I have a brand new 2007 reg cab 2wd. I heard a clunk in the passenger front when going over a speed bump. No clunk on the driver side. I showed this to the service technician. I then pushed the front end down and we watched the passenger front bounce like a ball. The technician said this was "normal". Since "normal" sucks, I can only assume that stock Ford shocks are terrible. Couple of questions: (1) "normal" was diagnosed by the dealership where I bought the truck. I had to wait for 2 hours. Would it be worth it to take it to another dealer? (2) Since I might not ever get decent shocks from the dealer, what do you recommend for front shocks on a 2wd? I do run down gravel, washboardy roads.

 

[Gadget X]

Just go grab some Sensa-Trac shocks. They seem to do a pretty good job, and they are only like $40 -$50 a set. And no, it's not supposed to "bounce".

 

[dla]

Thanks and a Question

Just go grab some Sensa-Trac shocks. They seem to do a pretty good job, and they are only like $40 -$50 a set. And no, it's not supposed to "bounce".

I googled Monroe's sensa-trac shocks and got nothing but positive reviews. The best price I saw online was $43ea and NAPA charges $48ea. So unless there is a much better price out there I'll probably head down to my local NAPA and pick up a pair.

Question: The Ranger uses coil springs in the front, with the shock inside the spring. Do I have to compress the spring to replace the shock? Or is it easier to pop one of the ball joints? Or is there another method?

 

[Gadget X]

Unless I'm misstaken, the bottom of the shock should be held from underneath where the coil is by two bolts, which you can get to by just jacking up the front of your truck, and the top should be held by one nut that is on the stud part of the shock sticking out of the top. I don't know for sure, but I think that is how yours is set up.

 

[dla]

True, but how do I remove it from the coil?

Unless I'm misstaken, the bottom of the shock should be held from underneath where the coil is by two bolts, which you can get to by just jacking up the front of your truck, and the top should be held by one nut that is on the stud part of the shock sticking out of the top. I don't know for sure, but I think that is how yours is set up.

You are correct. But I don't see how I can actually get the shock out of there without removing the coil. There is probably some easy way to do it and I'd like to learn it before I do the hard way.

 

[Gadget X]

After you "undo" the bolts, it should slide right out of the bottom. You just need to make sure that your truck is jacked up, and you may need to "compress" the shock by hand to have enough clearance.

 

[Ranger Al]

07 Ranger and shock going bad? I would go to another dealer or demand an up grade or try pushing on their new truck and see if it bounce. If you want go to another dealer and see what they said, chances are they'll replace it under "Factory Warranty" free of charge. Hey, if you want to spend those $48 buck, I could use it otherwise get it fix for free.

 

[rd_turbo]

OE shocks have low damping to begin with although Rangers aren't as bad as Explorers. In general Fords tend to be oversprung and underdamped, which does a number on other chassis components. You mentioned a front end clunk. Welcome to the world of perpetual ball joint replacement and also to the world of Ford dealers using the word "normal". When my Sport Trac was under warranty if I heard the phrase "this is a normal characteristic of this vehicle" one more time I don't know what I would have done. There is nothing in a shock which would cause a clunk, so have another dealer take a look at the front end. I went through two sets of balljoints under warranty. They're weak out of the box and are worsened by poor geometry and high spring rates.

 

[ricere]

NOTHING should clunk under the front end of a brand new Ranger. It's no wonder Ford is having financial problems with the junk they are producing and the idiot dealers that do not want to fix anything under warranty.

I just had a round with my 05 Ranger Edge and a thumping sound under my front end. After a couple of trips to the dealer, and leaving the truck a total of about 4 days, and taking no for an answer, they finally fixed my noise. It turned out to be a binding-up tie rod end. 33,000 miles and a bad tie rod end! Go figure.

I know you will have problems with any vehicle. It's how they take care of you when you do have problems. And...the local Ford dealers I have encountered do a very poor job of doing that.

My son has an 04 Explorer he purchased as a Demo. He purchased the best extended warranty he could get. The local dealer near him was totally and utterly useless to him when he had a problem. He had to drive 75 miles to another dealer who "gave a crap" and fixed his problem.

I have had 18 brand new Ford products in my lifetime, not counting program cars and other used cars, a new Chevrolet, and a new Dodge. Out of the 18 new Ford products, I have had 5 that I would consider "lemons", including my 05 Ranger Edge. Not a good statistic for Ford.

 

[dla]

I agree, but..

NOTHING should clunk under the front end of a brand new Ranger. It's no wonder Ford is having financial problems with the junk they are producing and the idiot dealers that do not want to fix anything under warranty.

I just had a round with my 05 Ranger Edge and a thumping sound under my front end. After a couple of trips to the dealer, and leaving the truck a total of about 4 days, and taking no for an answer, they finally fixed my noise. It turned out to be a binding-up tie rod end. 33,000 miles and a bad tie rod end! Go figure.

I know you will have problems with any vehicle. It's how they take care of you when you do have problems. And...the local Ford dealers I have encountered do a very poor job of doing that.

My son has an 04 Explorer he purchased as a Demo. He purchased the best extended warranty he could get. The local dealer near him was totally and utterly useless to him when he had a problem. He had to drive 75 miles to another dealer who "gave a crap" and fixed his problem.

I have had 18 brand new Ford products in my lifetime, not counting program cars and other used cars, a new Chevrolet, and a new Dodge. Out of the 18 new Ford products, I have had 5 that I would consider "lemons", including my 05 Ranger Edge. Not a good statistic for Ford.

The issue is time. How much of my life do I have to invest messing around with dealerships to get a "clunk" fixed? I let Dick's McKenzie Ford in Hillsboro Oregon have my truck for 2 days and they couldn't/wouldn't fix the "clunk".

Do I have to make my rounds of all the regional Ford Dealerships?

I agree that the "clunk" shouldn't be there in the first place - just one more reason why I should've bought a Toyota. And one more reason why I'm certain Toyota will chase Ford out of the truck market. But I did buy a Ranger, so I've got to make the best of it.