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My son has a 2019 Ford Ranger XLT 2WD Supercrew w/2.3L Ecoboost (he gave me all that) and his local Ford dealer in Tuscaloosa told him they are leaking and need to be replaced for $3,200 as the shock/strut is one piece. Now I’m a Bow Tie guy so don’t know much about Fords, but is this true-the shock and strut have to be replaced together? Truck only has 75,000 miles on it. I’m thinking they are trying to screw him, and me (he’s 22). NRA Life Member "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Teddy Roosevelt | ||
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| His diet consists of black coffee, and sarcasm.  |
The odds of a shock or strut leaking at 6-7 years and 75,000 miles are pretty low, but not zero. Whether they really are or not, I can't tell from here. But assuming they really are bad, I'm sure aftermarket parts, or even Motorcraft, at an independent shop can be obtained and installed for less than three grand. The rear shocks, per Rock Auto, are just regular, typical shocks. The front, however, have the spring on them. (Although they are called struts, I would call them more of a "coil-over" shock as they don't turn with the steering, but this is a minority view.) This might be what the stealership means by "one piece."  You can buy just the shock/damper part.  But I see no point in reusing the original spring and mount. The shop, if any, will also tell you this. While these springs are not in the extreme compression of most other struts, there is still a hazard. And if these are like the F-series, they may not be very easy, involving breaking the upper ball joint loose. Being 2wd helps as there is no CV shaft to worry about. "The Almighty, He put some livin' things on this earth so a man can eat." - Festus Haggen, Gunsmoke | |||
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Yes. I just watched a yt video and they are coil overs. The rears are simple shocks and easy to replace. The fronts not so much! NRA Life Member "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Teddy Roosevelt | |||
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| His diet consists of black coffee, and sarcasm. |
Even more fun if they're leveling kits. "The Almighty, He put some livin' things on this earth so a man can eat." - Festus Haggen, Gunsmoke | |||
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Member |
An independent shop should be able to do it for a LOT less. The options for the front assemblies are to 1) replace the shock only by disassembling the strut and replacing the old one with the new one, 2) replacing the entire assembly with a new one with the new shock already installed. Option 1 may be best for the best ride, by keeping the factory springs and replacing the dampers with a higher than normal quality sh0ck, such as Bilsteins for example, and may actually improve the ride, since OEM replacement Bilsteins are single stage shocks, which give a better ride than normal double stage factory shocks. The you woulcd just replace the rear with the same brand yourself or pay the same guys reloading your factory springs, and you would probably have the best possible ride. I did this with my F150 years ago, and the ride was amazing. Option 2 can be done with original Ford assemblies, but could be expensive from a parts perspective. Or you could buy the Genuine Ford Assemblies and hand them over to an independent shop. Option 2 can also be done by purchasing ready-to-go aftermarket assemblies, which would be somewhere in between the original factory ride and the aforementioned Bilstein reload option, for considerably less money. But you have to be careful here, because of you buy Monroe or any other Chineseum shit, you could end up in a bad place, since I've never heard on anyone who went with cheap aftermarket assmeblies being happy, somewhere between 99% to 100% of those options are very much hated. Or you could just buy a top aftermarket OEM compatible brand of assemblies, and be pretty OK . I've personally done Option 1 and the last option immediately above, and and now due again to repeat one or the other. since I miss the great ride, I'm gonna pay a good shop to reload my existing struts with new Bilsteins, and replace the rear with Bilsteins myself, this will be my third round with Bilsteins in the rear, but I like doing that work myself. I could try doing my own strut rebuild in my driveway, but it's just too dangerous. Even if you do everything "right" with lots of cheap home brew spring compression gadgets, it's not worth the risk. A good shop will have the correct tooling to safetly compress those springs to replace the shock cartridges, but even then some of them just won't do it, because the risk is too high for some shops if the mechanic they may have on hand isn't up to the the task of preventing serious injury. the shop I personally use has that equipment, but doesn't do it any longer when one of their mechanics fucked up and destroyed a lower jaw. Of, take it to a suspension or off road shop, they're usually pretty well set up for messing with those massively powerful springs. Anyway you can check if it;s leaking yourslef, just look at it with a flashlight and feel around. If it's dry they may just be plain lying to you, even though some dampers that are not leaking may still have reached end of life, like mine have. Lover of the US Constitution Wile E. Coyote School of DIY Disaster | |||
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Awesome rundown, and I like option 1 with high end shocks. I’d check it myself, but he’s three hours away-if only he would have told when I had all this time off! Kids NRA Life Member "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Teddy Roosevelt | |||
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| 7.62mm Crusader |
I am fairly certain, if he buys the whole assembly which includes the spring, it is quite affordable and they just bolt right up, no spring depressor needed and no danger. I will be installing new Monroes on my Sienna van soon. Easy job. | |||
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The video I watched was a disassembly of most of the suspension to replace the whole assembly. NRA Life Member "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Teddy Roosevelt | |||
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| Raised Hands Surround Us Three Nails To Protect Us  |
It’s a Ford truck they are pretty much guaranteed to be leaking!! Fords shocks are hot garbage!!!!! My 15 Expedition they all started leaking under 50k miles I ABSOLUTELY WOULD NOT BUY another set of Ford shocks. Just wants a factory replacement but Bilstein 4600s https://www.shocksurplus.com/p...-ford-ranger-4wd-rwd Have an independent shop do the fronts if you aren’t comfortable doing it. Though is it not a hard job. Just a little time consuming since a lot as to come part. Then with this lot the spring compressor. The rears are very simple to do. ———————————————— The world's not perfect, but it's not that bad. If we got each other, and that's all we have. I will be your brother, and I'll hold your hand. You should know I'll be there for you! | |||
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I have him searching for a shop in Tuscaloosa as we speak. NRA Life Member "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Teddy Roosevelt | |||
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THIS, all of mine leaked before 18k miles on my 2018 Expedition and it was never even driven on a gravel road. all paved nice roads, they covered them under warranty. | |||
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Jimmy above is correct about the Bilstein 4600 OEM replacements. When I put four of them on my F10, I never had a better ride or handling than those. I'm going to do it again this Spring, since I'm due for new ones all around. Lover of the US Constitution Wile E. Coyote School of DIY Disaster | |||
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| Gone but Together Again. Dad & Uncle  |
I guess I’ve been lucky. We have a 2002 Ford Ranger with about 160,000 miles on it and I’ve never had to replace the shocks. | |||
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