Ok guys. New question for suspension.

LunaEros

LunaEros

Well-Known LVC Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2013
Messages
321
Reaction score
19
Location
Hickory, NC
I've had a kinda rattle in the front suspension since I got the car last year. All of the suspension was replaced apparently except for the struts. I had got a good used set from the eBay LS guy in Texas and it quieted down for a bit but is almost back to the same. I think I've finally narrowed it down to the top strut mounts. So I'm going to replace them. The struts seems to be ok since the steering and ride seem to be normal and not "floaty" and when I bounce the front it basically stops after one rebound. I told the guy I needed Sport struts but can't remember if I told him it was for a V8 or not, I think I did but not positive. The only time it ever bottoms out is this one particularly high speed bump coming in to my neighborhood if I go too fast over it and once when I went too fast over a abnormally high intersection. But I think maybe I should get new struts anyway. I use Rock Auto since they seem to be the cheapest anywhere. Mine's an 02 V8 Sport. Which strut mounts should I get? They have Moog and a couple Motorcraft ones. And they have Gabriel Ultras and Monroe OESpectrums for the front. Which would be closest to the original?

Edit: Nevermind on the question about the Moog Strut mount. It says it doesn't include the bearing. Which makes no sense to me. So I guess it's either the Motorcraft or Gabriel on that.
 
Last edited:
I would go with the Motorcraft, especially if you plan on keeping the car for any length of time.
 
I am in the same boat, so to speak. I was able to find 2 (new in the box) motorcraft shocks for the front of my 2002 non-sport V8, but I cannot find any for the rear. So, the 2 front shocks are still setting in the box, I still need to get two new front mounts....been waiting for the price to drop a little.
 
I could've gotten them a while ago seeing as how the Motorcraft mounts are only around $50 but I wanted to wait until I could get those and the struts if I needed to all at once. At least the stimulus is being put to a good use. I also likely need to replace my DCCV, which I'm not looking forward to. Possibly front brakes too. They were replaced right before I bought the car last year but I think the rotors might be starting to warp or something. It kinda feels and sounds like it under moderate to hard braking. I'm wondering if I'll ever be able to get to a point where I can have the driver's rear quarter fixed and the car painted. (sigh)
 
Did you replace the sway bar to frame bushings? That's where my front end clunk was coming from.
 
Yeah. All the rest of the suspension parts were new. The only thing that apparently didn't get replaced were the strut assemblies.
 
I once had a rattle/clicking from the front at low speeds over bumps. It was one of the two front top shock mounts. I replaced it, and that did fix that issue. (To me, these are coil over shocks, not structs. Yes, I know all the parts places call them structs, just like they all say coil packs instead of COPs.)
 
I'm pretty sure that's where it's coming from now. I just need to figure out if I should and which strut/shocks to replace them with. I'm wondering if the Gen2 use the same ones as Gen1 because I know KYB is a performance brand. At least they used to be. But the only ones Rock Auto has listed for my 02 are Gabriel Ultras and Monroe OESpectrums. They have more for the 03 including KYBs.
 
If you could....pleasr give an update after replacing your shock absorbers and/or whatever you replace and the results ...its always good to hear the results of the fix or if the noise still exists after replacing what you thought was the culprit...all this info helps the rest of us if/when we might come against the same problem your facing ...thanks
 
AmsterDutch said:
If you could....pleasr give an update after replacing your shock absorbers and/or whatever you replace and the results ...its always good to hear the results of the fix or if the noise still exists after replacing what you thought was the culprit...all this info helps the rest of us if/when we might come against the same problem your facing ...thanks
Click to expand...
I will. I just need some input as to whether people think I really should replace the struts, which ones to get, if the Gen2s struts are interchangeable with the Gen1s, etc. I'm definitely going to replace the strut mounts since I'm fairly certain they're the source of the noise but what's holding me up ordering is the strut questions.
 
LunaEros said:
I will. I just need some input as to whether people think I really should replace the struts, which ones to get, if the Gen2s struts are interchangeable with the Gen1s, etc. I'm definitely going to replace the strut mounts since I'm fairly certain they're the source of the noise but what's holding me up ordering is the strut questions.
Click to expand...
First off unless you can find some NIB MotorCraft Shock absorbers which are discontinued IIRC your options are slim to none ...KYB would be your best bet unless you prefer Monroes which in my opinion are cheap junk ...unless you can visibly see the shock absorber leaking the only way you can truly Judge if the shock absorber is wore out is unmounting them from the spring and physically push on them to test there integrity...I broke 1 of the 4 top bolts on my driver's side shock absorber mount when replacing my upper control arms last summer ...the shock absorber was a MotorCraft so I was really pissed to say the least I was leaving with my wife on our anniversary vacation in two days so I opted to run to a pick and pull and snatch up a shock absorber off a junked LS and put it in ...I did this because it's hard to find anyone with a good spring compression machine now days that can force the spring far enough down on the absorbers...I did have a mechanic press the shock absorber 8nto rhe spring a couple weeks ago with a new shock mount but after getting it home and looking at it it doesnt look quite right so I think I have to bring it back to him ...long story short these shock absorbers are not your basic struts and the shock absorbers are color coded on the MotorCraft shocks for different reasons such as Sport/Base and other things has far as I know the 1st and 2nd Gens are interchangeable but if you go aftermarket which is basically your only option now days you will feel a a lot more bounce in the suspension with KYB or Monroe unlike the MotorCraft...you can however get new Springs I believe...don't quote me on this but I do believe I saw Ford Parts Giant and Ebay have them for sale New...now it's happened before where I had ordered some parts on Ford Parts Giant and then after purchasing got an email from them saying it was discontinued so take this with a grain of salt ...if you have any other questions let me know
 
If they're interchangeable I wonder why they just don't list the same selection of shocks for the Gen1s as the Gen2s.
I had gotten used ones from the Texas LS guy for a sport last year. I emphasized I needed sport ones and he assured me they were but I didn't know about the paint marks so I don't know if they're marked or not. I'd have to look. They didn't leak when I got them and don't think they are now either and the ride and steering feel normal and firm. When I bounce the front end or go over a bump it only rebounds once and stops. I don't think they're actually bad yet they can bottom out if I'm going too fast over a sufficiently high bump (i.e. speed bump, tall center of an intersection) so I'm not 100% positive. But I've also never really had a vehicle with a real good front suspension sans an 82 GT I had with a Rancho autocross suspension but that was 30+ years ago so my memory's suspect on that plus you can't really compare that setup with a stock suspension of a car 20 years newer. Because of all that this one feels great except for the noise. This is why I'm second guessing myself. If I need to get them I'd prefer the KYBs over the others. I couldn't really afford NOS stock ones if they were available anyway since I know they're expensive. I hate this indecision. The fact that it can bottom out under certain condition like I explained is what's making me this way. I don't know if other LSes with good suspension would do the same.
 
well I can tell you if you're unsure save the original packaging and then you can send it back, but if you throw that away You're screwed if you order from RockAuto.
 
I'm definitely ordering and putting in the strut mounts. If I do order new struts too they will go in at the same time since I will have the mechanic do it because I don't have the tools to do it.
 
Ok, people. I really need opinions. You've read above on my dilemma on whether I actually need to replace the front shocks. I need your opinions on that.
Secondly I think I found KYBs for my 02 V8 Premium Sport at Amazon. KYB Excelon-Gs. If everyone does think I should replace them would these be satisfactory?
I have no idea what these drove like when new but I think the used ones I got from the Texas LS guy on eBay are stock and they seem to be alright except for my one concern above.
Anyway these are the ones I found on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/KYB-341655-E...5-705------------&vehicleName=2002+Lincoln+LS
 
That's 1 part number different from the ones that fit my 2003. My last number is a 6. Everybody on here says KYB suck but they're better than blown out factory ones for sure and unless you want to do the Jaguar conversion with the more expensive bilsteins then I'd say that's about your best bet that I could find. however I have also never experienced the actual correct shocks for this car, but that point is moot because they no longer exist anyways, lol
 
LunaEros said:
Ok, people. I really need opinions. You've read above on my dilemma on whether I actually need to replace the front shocks. I need your opinions on that.
Secondly I think I found KYBs for my 02 V8 Premium Sport at Amazon. KYB Excelon-Gs. If everyone does think I should replace them would these be satisfactory?
I have no idea what these drove like when new but I think the used ones I got from the Texas LS guy on eBay are stock and they seem to be alright except for my one concern above.
Anyway these are the ones I found on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/KYB-341655-E...5-705------------&vehicleName=2002+Lincoln+LS
Click to expand...
Okay first and foremost the tire on your car believe it or not absorbs more shock than your shock absorbers...so make sure you have some decent tires ...but beside that the kyb you can buy off Amazon will be the best option out there for you since the MotorCraft are discontinued...as far as the car bottoming out when going over speed bumps in all my years and different LSes I've never experienced this ...even after purchasing LSes with cracked springs ...so this is quite concerning...did you say that your upper and lower control arm bushings are still good? How many miles are the car? My advice to you is to call around and find a good independent Mechanic Shop that knows his head from his butt ....make sure he does FREE estimates a d let him take it for a test drive with you and go over some dips and speed bumps and have him give you his opinion what the Car needs to stop this bottoming out situation
 
Yes. The car has new upper and lower control arms and bushings all around. Sway bar links too. It has 145K on the car. But it only bottoms out in two places in the city and that's only if I go too fast over those two spots. Other than that the car drives quite well and handles firmly. Maybe not quite as well as the 82 Mustang I had that was set up for SCCA but not too far off.
Maybe it's just these two particular spots in the city?
 
LunaEros said:
Yes. The car has new upper and lower control arms and bushings all around. Sway bar links too. It has 145K on the car. But it only bottoms out in two places in the city and that's only if I go too fast over those two spots. Other than that the car drives quite well and handles firmly. Maybe not quite as well as the 82 Mustang I had that was set up for SCCA but not too far off.
Maybe it's just these two particular spots in the city?
Click to expand...
So what are you going over a big dip in an intersection ...kinda scratching my head here
 
That's one spot. The other is a particular speed bump coming into my neighborhood. Come to think of it though, it only bottoms out on that speed bump when I go too fast over it only when I come in. It doesn't seem to do it going out. Maybe there's a slight decline at that spot coming in.
 
At 145k miles... keep in mind that springs become "wear items" too.

You may not want to hear this...but almost anything aftermarket for the LS suspension is typically junk.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 137 (members: 1, guests: 136)
Back
Top