2019 less than 11000 miles and 3 out of 4 shocks leaking?

[wakeboarder]

A

My wife had a 2014 Wangler she drove it off the lot. It was the normal Pavement Queen. It had all 4 shocks replaced under warranty at about 12K miles. The TIPM replaced at 10K 15 K and 20 K miles. At 30 K miles two of the four springs had busted and it needed shock again. I replaced them all with after market. At 35K miles the TIPM went out again under warranty. They said if I keep using it off road thy will not replace it again. I pointed to the nice clean frame and asked them to show me an ounce of dirt or any rock scratches. They couldn't. I trade that POS the first time my wife went out of town after that.

Sorry so long. I have seen shocks go bad at 5K mile with many more never going bad. If mine go I will replace with aftermarket and keep on moving.

Ford didn't make the shock they bought them just like you or I would. They spec them and say this is what we want, they send them out for bids. A company comes along and says we can do it for this much money. Ford agrees to it the other company agrees to it. if the shocks are going bad or leaking then it is not Fords fault, but the company that made them. Ford entered the agreement on good faith, just like you did when you bought the truck. Now if Ford said sorry we are not going to fix it then that would be on Ford. If Ford fixes them then Ford lived up to its good faith promise and did the right thing.

Seems to me like Ford needs to get onto their suppler and get this fixed. Anyone know who is the MFG of these shocks? That is whom to blame.

A supplier quality issue is also the manufacturer’s quality issue. Ford is just as much to blame as the supplier.

 

[Deadman]

A


A supplier quality issue is also the manufacturer’s quality issue. Ford is just as much to blame as the supplier.

Just buy the premium model Expeditions, they have better struts. 302A, 303A, Platinum, King Ranch all have the better struts that last 3X as long. I wouldn't expect premium struts on a middle or lower end unit myself...... just sayin.

 

[Mlarv]

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A supplier quality issue is also the manufacturer’s quality issue. Ford is just as much to blame as the supplier.

True enough. Bring it to them let them fix it. If there is a delay on parts sounds like Ford is going after the supplier and having them fix the issue at the source.

 

[Expedition Dave]

I've been scared to poke around under my Ex. It has been riding a smidge rougher lately and I' m wondering myself... Either way I have the Bilsteins ready to go but still. I owned a Tahoe for over 90K and never even considered it needing shocks. Or brakes for that matter...

For the guy who kept going back, and "the stop off-roading BS" I would have been like "here install these shocks I bought and you and cover 100% of the labor and you WILL NEVER SEE ME AGAIN FOR SHOCKS. No? Then fix the shocks again, and I'd drive across the street, install my own, and keep the crap Fords on standby if I had to rebuild my new ones.

 

[5280tunage]

Sorry, responding to @Mlarv

You're sort of correct. The manufacturer likely makes shocks/struts for many brands. When they enter in to an agreement to source them, ford has every opportunity to choose quality, but I think in general, to increase profit and reduce costs, they knowingly select lower quality parts. And yes, I do blame ford as well, one would think good testing would also help find problem parts, but I think they forgo a lot of testing these days. We all see the articles out there, they send maybe 10 of them out on road trips with wrap to hide it. 5k miles and they check a box.

Just like when you buy aftermarket parts, you can buy entry level all the way up to amazing. When a vehicle has an msrp of 85k (two wranglers as you stated), a shock that can make it through 50k miles of roads (not off-road) shouldn't be too much to ask for. At their volume, it's likely $10/shock if that higher.

 

[rscpa]

It is the Limited model and never had it off road.

 

[duneslider]

At the end of the day, the stock shocks are not great even before they start leaking. Upgrading to something else will be better no matter what. When one of mine left a puddle on the floor I just went with bilsteins and am very happy with them. When I pulled all 4 I discovered that 3 for sure where leaking and the fourth may have been starting to leak but still looked pretty good.

Anyone who says their shocks or struts were still good after 90k miles is mistaken, they may not have totally failed but I can guarantee they were not as good as new, shocks are a wear item and they break down with time. I have some older shocks on my jeep and while they still perform mostly acceptable they are not performing like they used to and I need to replace them this year but I could keep driving on them for several more years and live with the so so performance.

 

[Deadman]

At the end of the day, the stock shocks are not great even before they start leaking. Upgrading to something else will be better no matter what. When one of mine left a puddle on the floor I just went with bilsteins and am very happy with them. When I pulled all 4 I discovered that 3 for sure where leaking and the fourth may have been starting to leak but still looked pretty good.

Anyone who says their shocks or struts were still good after 90k miles is mistaken, they may not have totally failed but I can guarantee they were not as good as new, shocks are a wear item and they break down with time. I have some older shocks on my jeep and while they still perform mostly acceptable they are not performing like they used to and I need to replace them this year but I could keep driving on them for several more years and live with the so so performance.

I would bet 1/3 of the cars on the road today are running on worn/worn out/failed struts and shocks. Its something the average person doesn't realize because they wear out gradually and you get used to that "feel" of your car.

 

[DCS_express]

I agree with Deadman completely. . . 3/4 of my shocks went bad (at different times) on my 2018 and I can honestly say I didn't "feel" them go bad, but I did "see" them go bad when they were leaking and looked like they were oily but not so bad that they left puddles under my vehicle in the garage. I can also say that I had to google the difference between a strut and a shock so clearly I am no expert in suspension.

 

[Trainmaster]

Ford traditionally used Monroe shocks. In the past couple of years there has been a push to decrease costs by moving to Chinese suppliers. This has come to bite Ford on several parts. Maybe they have a new supplier or maybe just a bad batch of shocks. Monroe wasn't exactly top shelf stuff anyway.