I'm heading to Houston today to help some family get packed to move and to retrieve my trailer. I replaced my spark plugs on Wednesday, installed new springs/struts on the front end yesterday (thank you guy who invented pneumatic impacts), and had planned to wait until I got back on Sunday to swap out the rear shocks. It's only 2 bolts per side so a ~15-20 minute job total; Ford made it extremely easy to access and change. I'll be pulling my 20' gooseneck trailer on the way back so said eff it; I'll knock this thing out before going.

I'm really glad I did because the rears were completely blown. I was basically just riding on springs. The new shocks are heavy, but the factory shocks weighed next to nothing because they had NO OIL AT ALL left in them haha! Apparently 104k miles was too long to wait for the rears. I see in the forums now that it's recommended every 50-80k miles. I always thought shocks/struts were more of a 100k mile part. I learn something new every day!

Long story short, check your shocks/struts!


Some of that new oil-less suspension technology!
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Fun photo of the ridiculously large lower strut mounting bolt. Ball joint for reference, this thing is massive!
"That's what she said" -Michael Scott


Look shockingly good for 104k miles; I didn't expect that. You can see that the ground strap is eroded away to ~1/3 of it's original thickness though. What's harder to see is the dome cut into the bottom of the ground strap from the arc chewing away at it.


Colors all looked good. All had gaps measured over .060 due to the erosion of the ground. The one with the cracked porcelain was broken during removal; all were solidly intact before beginning removal.

 

Wow, I'm just shy of 100K, guess I need to check my shocks.

 

Mine were the same way!

 

That is not enough Spark Plugs, I have 16