Suspension Shopping List

[theophile]

I am about to undertake a complete overhaul of the front and rear suspension on my '02 V8 sport. I don't know when it was serviced last, I can see torn/worn boots all around, and it's starting to squeak/clunk. I want to replace all wear items. I've searched and read extensively on these forums for everything I think I will need and have tried my best to source high-quality replacement parts at the best prices.

Below is what I am getting ready to buy. I would very much appreciate it if some of the veterans could take a moment to peruse the list and let me know what if anything I am leaving out. Also, if you have any comments about the parts/prices I'd welcome those as well. Thanks!

Part	Number	Brand	Qty	Rockauto	Tasca	Amazon
Ball Joint, Lower (Front) (16mm)	K500085	MOOG	2	$33.79
Control Arm (complete), Upper (Front Left)	RK621665	MOOG	1	$101.79
Control Arm (complete), Upper (Front Right)	RK621666	MOOG	1	$101.79
Control Arm (complete), Upper (Rear Left)	3063301	Lemforder	1	$115.79
Control Arm (complete), Upper (Rear Right)	3063401	Lemforder	1	$115.79
Control Arm (complete), Lower (Front Right)	RK80736	MOOG	1	$193.79		$166.58
Control Arm (complete), Lower (Front Left)	RK80737	MOOG	1	$193.79		$182.40
Tie Rod End, Outer (Front Left)	ES800415	MOOG	1	$35.79		$35.62
Tie Rod End, Outer (Front Right)	ES800414	MOOG	1	$35.79		$36.64
Tie Rod End, Inner (Front Left)	EV452	MOOG	1	$28.79		$32.16
Tie Rod End, Inner (Front Right)	EV453	MOOG	1	$28.79		$31.61
Stabilizer Bar Bushing
Stabilizer Links (front)	K80261	MOOG	2	$27.79		$27.30
Stabilizer Links, Left (rear)	K80246	MOOG	1	$30.79
Stabilizer Links, Right (rear)	K80245	MOOG	1	$30.79
Lateral (toe) link	6W4Z-5B551-AA	Motorcraft	2		$119.23
Shocks (front) (GREEN)	6W4Z18124D	Motorcraft	2	$83.79
Shocks (rear) (PURPLE)	AT705G	Motorcraft	2	$40.99
Shock Mounts (front)	3W4318183AE	Motorcraft	2	$38.79
Shock Mounts (rear)	3W4Z18197AA	Motorcraft	2	$47.79

 

[elephantrider]

feel free to peruse my thread when i bought my gen 1. went through the suspension
right off the bat.

http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/fo...732-new-owner-2000-ls&highlight=elephantrider

let me know if you have any questions.

 

[kevlarfl]

What about the rear lower control arm's ? High $ item and the cause of squeaking on my 2000 non-sport.
I am considering replacing the bushings and was about to post a thread very similar to yours but just may piggy back for now and see what happens.
Duetchparts items i am considering.....
2000 Lincoln LS Base 3.9L rear lower control arms

 

[theophile]

What about the rear lower control arm's ?

Dang, I knew I was forgetting something. Also left off sway/stabilizer bar bushings. I really hate the idea of replacing whole control arms just to get new bushings. I saw the thread where someone replaced bushings in the rear lower control arms by using things I don't have access to. I'm starting to wonder what it would cost to have a shop do all this, though I don't really like that idea much either.

 

[nastynaters]

Yes..I just went through and had every piece of suspension replaced besides the control arms and shocks on my 01 sport. I've been reading up on the control arm bushings as well, as I've had the squeak for some time now. Please let us know what route you end up taking.

 

[theophile]

Yes..I just went through and had every piece of suspension replaced besides the control arms and shocks on my 01 sport. I've been reading up on the control arm bushings as well, as I've had the squeak for some time now. Please let us know what route you end up taking.

I called my shop and they wanted to take a look at it before writing up a quote. I'm planning to take it in on Saturday. I did make clear that I would generally prefer to do the work myself but am short on time, and that I still may opt to do some or all of the work myself. They're fantastic about that sort of thing, and that's a big reason I trust them with my cars. (They always let me in the garage to watch/talk with the mechanic, which I also appreciate.)

I said that I would prefer not to buy all new control arms and knuckles just to get new bushings and ball joints, but those components have to be pressed out and in and I may not have the ability to do that without risking damage to the aluminum parts. They said if I prefer to do my own work, they would be happy to press in new ball joints and bushings for me.

So we'll see what they suggest on Saturday. In the meantime, I've got to make sure I have good information about what replacement control arm bushings are available.

 

[theophile]

The shop said pretty much everything needs replacing except front lower control arms and ball joints. So I lucked out there. Unfortunately, that was about the extent of my luck. The shop said to replace every other suspension wear item on all four corners, it would be about $6,100 for parts and labor.

By the time I got around to trying to order things, apparently a lot had changed. Moog control arms are apparently now non-existent. No one seems to have them anymore. All Rockauto had was two of the front right upper control arm, and it was on closeout price ($85) so I bought one. In the meantime, the prices for the Lemforder control arms skyrocketed, plus Rockauto evidently ships them from the UK, so they were out of the question. Ended up getting Motorcraft for everything else. For the rear lower control arms, I ordered the Racing Green Jaguar bushings and am going to try to get them pressed in.

I missed the great sales on the Motorcraft shocks, and Rockauto doesn't seem to have any of the rears anymore, so had to get those from FordPartsGiant.

In the end, here's what I got:





Next to order the stabilizer bar bushings from FCP.

 

[RigsLS]

QTY x2, don't be fooled by the picture which illustrates a set.

 

[theophile]

QTY x2, don't be fooled by the picture which illustrates a set.

Yes, thank you! I actually noticed that ambiguity when I went to order, and dug up one of your older posts noting QTY 2.

Looking forward to getting all this work done. The upper ball joints in the front don't even have boots on them anymore, and I bought the car in this condition less than a year ago, so I've really never driven this car with a healthy suspension. I can't wait to see what that's like!

 

[RigsLS]

Yeah, I did a lot of work on mine, mostly the rear, however over the past two years, I've done complete front/rear suspension, including front sway bushings, set of rear upper control arms, non-passive steering toe adjusts and sway bar end linkages, it handles like a go-kart, nice and tight, very responsive! Taking long sweepers and accelerate out of them halfway through is done with full confidence. Rides like on rails is the only way to explain it.

 

[nastynaters]

I know what you mean.. When I finally got my suspension tighened up it was such a different car. I was kind of afraid to push it even a little, with all the sway bar clunking and looseness of the toe links. I've still got some work to do, but it sure is fun looking forward to those tight turns up ahead, while working the gears. Sure wish I had a manual v8 on this damn car..but oh well

 

[milehighmikey]

Has anyone ever been able to change their rear sway bar bushings without dropping the rear subframe? It doesn't seem likely, I'm just asking. I tried to get a pair of these bushings for my rear sway bar, and the Ford parts counter locally said 'not available any longer.' I had my subframe off the car for subframe mounting bushings change, wanted to change the sway bar bushings, but could not get any, but luckily, the old ones were still tight.

 

[theophile]

It just gets better...

Your order requires an additional charge due to the following reason(s):
Hello

Thank you for ordering your parts with us.

Unfortunately part #XW4Z-18125-BA Replaced by: BU2Z-18V125-U has been discontinued by Ford. Due to this part being discontinued there are only a few sources that show to have this part available.

In order to obtain the part from one of these sources the price of the part has a higher cost. The new cost is $278.92 for both parts which is $50.00 more than the original cost of $228.92.

If you choose to accept this cost the order cannot be cancelled or returned at any point. The part(s) will also take us 3 to 5 days to receive before we can ship out the order.

Please indicate on how you would like to proceed with this order.

Regards,

Customer Service Dept.

 

[1LoudLS]

hey, at least they can still get the part somehow...

 

[theophile]

hey, at least they can still get the part somehow...

Yes, and that is what I ultimately concluded. After some additional extensive searching, I decided that part simply isn't available from anyone else.

 

[1LoudLS]

ain't supply and demand a beautiful thing.

 

[Upstairs Chris]

Good ****ing luck on the shocks.



Next time I'll just save myself some time and forge some out of platinum.

 

[theophile]

Good ****ing luck on the shocks.



Next time I'll just save myself some time and forge some out of platinum.

The way I figure it, I'm springing for the Motorcraft sport shocks all around this time because by the time I need to do this again, the Motorcrafts may be ancient history. I'll try to enjoy them while they last.

 

[Upstairs Chris]

No way I was buying Monroes, so I went looking for motorcrafts too. Finding the actual sport shocks is a nightmare, I had my order canceled from at least 3 different places.

 

[theophile]

No way I was buying Monroes, so I went looking for motorcrafts too. Finding the actual sport shocks is a nightmare, I had my order canceled from at least 3 different places.

I would have done the Bllstein/Jag springs conversion in a heartbeat, but I don't want to lower the car. Looks like next time, that will be the only viable option for sport suspension.

 

[theophile]

The first wave has arrived.



I was very pleased to discover that the Moog components all included the new hardware too. Nice!

Also, as a point of interest, you can see that for the front upper control arms I got one Moog and one Motorcraft. As has been well documented, the Motorcraft part has "Jaguar" cast into the arm. Beyond that, it seems that the Moog part weighs about 5 oz more than the Motorcraft, which makes the Moog roughly 16% heavier than the Motorcraft. For whatever that's worth...

 

[RigsLS]

^ again, what is it with these suppliers that can't seem to send two matched L/R control arms from same manufacturer. It's like it's all turned into a "will have to do" world. As long as they get their money.

PS: polish that right one or both up to shinny chrome look. Nice!

 

[theophile]

^ again, what is it with these suppliers that can't seem to send two matched L/R control arms from same manufacturer. It's like it's all turned into a "will have to do" world. As long as they get their money.

PS: polish that right one or both up to shinny chrome look. Nice!

Actually, that was my fault. I ordered one Moog and the other Motorcraft because the Moogs were out of stock on that side.

 

[02LincLS]

I'm looking to do front lower control arm bushings. I've searched but can't seem to find definitive part numbers. There should be one big and one small for each side. There's been complaints about the DP bushings but perhaps a lot more people have used them than I'm aware of and its not a problem. I see the small one on ebay but I think I need the large one (its split with pieces missing). I used to have a squeak but its gone after replacing ball joints and UCA's. It drove good for about 6 months but now the front end wanders too much on the slightest of uneven surfaces or even flat road with cross wind. Nothing seems to clunk, all inner and outer tie rods look tight, new hub/bearing and aligned properly.

The other very pricey alternative was replacement LCA's. I wanted to go Moog if I did this, but there are availability issues at rock auto. It also says black/steel when you search the part number at summitracing. Hopefully that's a misprint. Further muddying of the waters is the whole 14 or 16mm ball joint stud for '02's. It looks like the OP has 16mm studs as do I, but his LCA part numbers no longer show. The arms are fine so I hope to avoid replacement.

Can anyone that has done just front LCA bushings chime in with what they bought?

edit: i see lots of bad reviews for other vehicles on the DP bushings... bummer!

 

[Kumba]

Actually, that was my fault. I ordered one Moog and the other Motorcraft because the Moogs were out of stock on that side.

How was the build quality of that Moog upper control arm? You ordered the "R" version which is their budget version designed to compete with Mevotech and DP. All I keep asking myself is how can they shave $20-30 off a part which just has bushings and a ball joint. It's always driven me away a little because of it.