02 LS-V6, 5sp Manual. Needs new Shocks

[jmlckls]

Driving my car for awhile with the impression that the tires are bouncing around on the highway when they hit any moderate bumps. Still on the original shocks--car has 87K miles.

Rockauto shows Motorcfraft struts/shocks: $125 for fronts, $42 for the rears. They also show Sachs- Super Touring $95 for the fronts, $92 for the rears.

Ford/Motorcraft lists 2 front shocks, one for $146 the other for $168. The rear(lavender) goes for $162. What's the meaning of the color?

Any opinions on the Sachs vs the Motorcraft shocks? Or other recommendations.

Thanks

 

[lsjams]

Hello jmlckls, It gets pretty complicated. The color represents the suspension tuning from the factory. There were three tunings available: Base, Sport and Euro and they even varied for V8 vs V6 models. Since yours is a V6 Manual (Like Mine) you probably have a sport suspension tuning. There is another posting that goes into more detail on this issue, but the "Lavender" specifies the "sport" tuning. The other Motorcraft part number is a retail replacement part number that is probably close to the base model (that means softer) suspension tuning. For V6's my research shows that sport tunings had "White" Front (PN AST-26) and "Lavender" Rear (PN AT-704G). I love the balanced sport tuning on mine, so I already have a replacement set for when mine need replacing. If you like the original tuning, get them while you can. I checked this morning and there are some "green" (Euro) rear shocks on Rockauto being wholesaled at $42, also a bargain if you like a little harsher tuning.

I have data on production numbers of V6 manuals that I downloaded years ago, I probably have your serial number in my file, but suffice it to say, that if you indeed have a 2002 in a 5 speed V6 manual, you have a very, very low production car. Only 372 were produced, congratulations. Please take care of her. She is very rare, if not underappreciated. lsjams.

 

[jmlckls]

Here's the tag from the car. Tell me what you can about the car. I figure it's got to be one of the last manual LS's built in black since it's build date is 9/02.

Thanks,

 

[LS4me]

http://www.etis.ford.com/vehicleRegSelector.do

 

[lsjams]

(Thanks LS4me, I was looking for that post--still a rookie on this site) I have an excel file that shows your car listed. It's basically production numbers, trim and paint colors, not much else. The etis.ford site that LS4me has linked will give you the actual colors on your shocks from the factory. I will upload my excel file as soon as I can figure out why my upload is failing - I'll have to research that. It was an old excel file from around 2003 or 2004 that came from The Lincoln LS Owners Club (LLSOC) if I remember correctly. I'm not sure if they are still around, but they were an excellent source of info in the past.

Here's the info in the file, sorry about the formatting, I couldn't copy the columns directly beneath each other:

Model Year VIN Parsed VIN Audio Disk Desc Warranty Start Date (Orig) Trans- mission [TR] Tire Manufacturer [D3Y] Tire Size Sell Dealer Code Radio Desc Color Paint Color Trim Fleet / Non-Fleet Engine Calib Arrival Date Axle Ratio


2002 1LNHM86S22Y709740 1LNHM86 LESS AUDIO DISC PLAYER 3-Sep-02 C/R1 AC D3KJD 38460K CDX6 RADIO WITH 6 DISC CHANGER PNUAA 000ZU L 2LQ26S0A 4-Sep-02 EGACE

 

[LS4me]

....... The Lincoln LS Owners Club (LLSOC) if I remember correctly. I'm not sure if they are still around, but they were an excellent source of info in the past........

Yup..... We're still around.....