Who makes Ford shocks?

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Dec 29, 2004
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150
Location
Colorado
Does anyone know who makes shock absorbers for Ford? We have a '97 Town Car and recently replaced the shocks with Monroe Sensa Trac shocks. The ride is a little firmer than we would like so we are looking for a different set. We were told that the Monroe-Matic Plus would be a little softer but not as soft as the original Ford shocks.If we could find out who makes the shocks for Ford they might be a little less money than getting them from Ford. Any ideas or any ideas what would be a soft shock for a Town Car?
 
I don't know who actually makes the Ford shocks. But I'm sure they are made to Ford's specifications for individual models. Most likely even if you buy the shocks from the same company that made the factory originals they would be different. The aftermarket shocks have to fit more than one particular model. Ford has thousands of shocks made so they can request a "custom" shock tuned to the suspension. Check with the dealer they seem to run specials quite often on Motorcraft shocks. It's usually $100 per axle, installed. I've done that twice so far. The Ford factory shocks on the older, late 80's through mid nineties, were pretty good. They lasted to close to 100,000 miles and still weren't shot. But the factory shocks on newer Fords are worthless. I had to replace the factory shocks on my 2002 F-150 at 5,000 miles because were not dampening the ride at all. I replaced them with Rancho RSX's. Wow! What a difference
shocked.gif
! Yet the factory shocks in my 1989 F-150 were great and I replaced them with the Motorcraft shocks, $200 for both axles, installed. Same great ride as the factory ones. I guess Ford is trying to save pennies per vehicle and is spec'ing cheaper shocks.

Whimsey
 
I have been wanting to replace the Monroe Sensa Trac shocks on our Silverado with the Rancho 9000 shocks but did not know if it would be worth it, they are fairly expensive.
 
Also, shocks and struts are available as Motorcraft parts so you can do the following and likely get a better price than from the dealer:

go to http://www.motorcraft.com and find the Motorcraft part number for your struts/shocks

go to http://www.rockauto.com and do a part search for the Motorcraft part number. AS1091G which is the standard-duty front shock for a '97 Towncar shows up as being $23.79

order the shocks from rockauto.com
 
quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo:
I agree. It is not the vendor, but the specifications. The only way to get an exact replacement is probably at the dealer. Most replacements are valved stiffer than stock because that is what the mass market thinks it wants. I notice that most original shocks have almost no resistance in jounce (compression) and a lot of rebound (extension) damping. Replacements tend not to have such a difference, resulting in a harsher ride. So it does tend to complicate the research a bit.

BTW, I had a 1980 Ford and the front struts were completely, and I mean NO damping at all, shot by 20,000 miles. Two of the factory extra cost "heavy duty" shocks on my 1994 Chevy were leaking by 12,000.


Yes, I would be inclined to agree with you. I happen to know that SACHS makes OEM strut/shocks and shocks for two vehicles tha I own. VW Jetta TDI and Corvette Z06. In terms of longevity and performance the difference is absolute night and day yet same OEM vendor! One other small point is if I just took one product as an example I would come to the conclusion either way that SACHS is the worst or the best and not buy anything SACHS or indeed get mixed reviews. On the Corvette side the SACHS product has been absolutely stellar!

I follow a "shocking"
lol.gif
thread on another web site. From the Ford owners description seems to me the Ford owner is looking for OEM or better compression and oem or less rebound. It would not be too wise to get a shock that has less than oem compression. But it seems to me the cost is high to go to the oem shock for it does not last as long as some others will and can.

I do not know the full range of options for the Ford vehicle but might I suggest something along the lines of Koni Yellows (key word is adjustable) which has fairly good compression values and the rebound is adjustable a full two turns from full soft to full performance

[ February 17, 2005, 03:08 PM: Message edited by: ruking77 ]
 
SACHS is OEM for BMW and those are excellent performing and very long lasting. One front started leaking at 125,000 miles and the rears are still perfect. I was able to get a set of exact replacement struts, same part number, but no BMW label, from Bavauto for half the dealer price.
 
quote:

Originally posted by 74 Laguna:
Does anyone know who makes shock absorbers for Ford? We have a '97 Town Car and recently replaced the shocks with Monroe Sensa Trac shocks. The ride is a little firmer than we would like so we are looking for a different set. We were told that the Monroe-Matic Plus would be a little softer but not as soft as the original Ford shocks.If we could find out who makes the shocks for Ford they might be a little less money than getting them from Ford. Any ideas or any ideas what would be a soft shock for a Town Car?

Ford sources from several vendors, depending on the requirements of the application.

The '97 Town Car uses the same shocks as the Ford Crown Vic and the full-size Mercury, so you should have wide choice of designs and valvings.

Monroe, for the front, lists the

5960 SENSA-TRAC
921960 REFLEX
33127 MONRO-MATIC PLUS

and for the rear

5961 SENSA-TRAC
921961 REFLEX
33128 MONRO-MATIC PLUS

There is no right and left part numbers.

The 1983-2002 Police and Taxi application should also fit:

front:

550010 SEVERE SERVICE SHOCK ABSORBER

rear:

550011 SEVERE SERVICE SHOCK ABSORBER

Monroe is not my first choice for a strut for many foreign cars, but they're still a pretty good choice as a shock for American cars.

I'd give their tech line a call at (734) 384-7809, 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. EST, and explain what you're trying to accomplish.
 
I still have the OEM Ford/Motorcraft sport shocks (4), anf they're still good, actually great; I've heard the same about the Ford/Motorcraft from other T-bird owners.
I don't think anything else is more priceworthy than those oem ones.
 
I agree. It is not the vendor, but the specifications. The only way to get an exact replacement is probably at the dealer. Most replacements are valved stiffer than stock because that is what the mass market thinks it wants. I notice that most original shocks have almost no resistance in jounce (compression) and a lot of rebound (extension) damping. Replacements tend not to have such a difference, resulting in a harsher ride.

BTW, I had a 1980 Ford and the front struts were completely, and I mean NO damping at all, shot by 20,000 miles. Two of the factory extra cost "heavy duty" shocks on my 1994 Chevy were leaking by 12,000.
 
I got rid of the factory shocks on my F150 and went with Rancho 9000's, the "dail in the number yourself" shock. OMG!!! It's almost like a new truck. Even the wife immeadiately noticed the difference and I didn't even tell her I replaced the shocks.
 
I had the complete opposite experience with Rancho 9000 shocks on a 2000 Ford Ranger. They were shot in less than 7000 miles. I now have Bilstein shocks on that truck, night and day. For aftermarket shocks I would put Bilstein at the top of the tótem pole along Koni (never had them) other brand of shocks that have a great following are Tokico.
 
Dont know who makes them but the stock rears on F150's and Fusion's are terrible. Replaced with Billstiens and the ride is much better now.
 
It's too easy to bring up ancient threads! :ROFLMAO::cautious::alien::sneaky:

It's with those threads appearing at the bottom in similar threads! They should limit those suggestions to threads less than a year old :unsure:
 
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