Thought I would see if anyone has advise or links to help with changing struts on our Expeditions? I have a 2003 with the regular (non air bag) suspension.

I found the link within the site : https://www.ford-trucks.com/article/...Absorbers.html

anyone else have advise on this?

Thanks

 

Expeditions don't have struts.

 

Agreed, they appear to be shock absorbers to me, but for some reason people seem to keep calling them struts when I talk about it at a parts counter.

Given that the assembly does not have a built in rest / perch for a spring built in to the shock body (what i would consider a strut) I'll call it a shock.

Since I am looking for installation advice for putting the bilstein's on a 2003 Expedition, please share any install advice you may have.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

They're called coil over shocks. Remove / replace is very similar to a strut. You need a spring compressor (a pretty heavy duty one at that) and the shock is removed out of the top of the coil assembly. I installed these Bilstein's on my 2004 F150...BE5-A761-H0 from eShocks.com. Not sure if your Expy is the same.

 

I was able to get the full set of Bilstein's delivered.

The rear's went in this afternoon without too much trouble. I found that i needed the following:
30mm socket
21 mm socket
15mm closed end ratchet wrench
17mm closed end offset wrench
6mm open end wrench
Spring compressors (needed a 15/16ths socket)
Hammer
PB Blaster

I found it helpful to remove the rear "tie rods" from the center of the rear of the vehicle to allow the A arms to articulate enough to remove the entire coil/shock assembly for easier replacement.

I'll be working on the fronts later this weekend, if anyone has advice please let me know, but it looks to be easier then the rear.

 

The only other item needed for the front was an allen key to hold the shock cylinder in place think it was a 5mm. Removed the front tie rods from the hub to allow removal of the assembly. Overall, easy to do, great improvement in handling and noticeable decrease in cabin noise.

 

How much did 4 Bilstein's cost for the 03 Expedition?

 

About $390.00, was hard to find in stock. I used Autowarehouse, but was not impressed with them at all.

 

Tire Rack has them for $351 incl tax & shipping, but the rears are backordered.

 

True, I was told they would start shipping backorder when they got their shipment around 11/15.

As much as I can work on the vehicles, I was not interested in working on the ground in NH with possible snow so I ordered with delivery as being worth the money.

 

By the way, Tire Rack is awsome, never had a problem with them.

 

My 03 Expy EB still has original shocks and I am noticing the wheels bounce after going over a bump. I have 75,000 miles and was thinking it was time to put new shocks on.

 

Totally recommend the installation. Not too hard to do, great benefits. i waited too long for sure.

 

i bought my expy w/69k miles. have 123k now in about 3 years. appears to be the original shocks all around. ride is rough, but i attribute most of that to the 20's. how is there less road noise?

 

I found the ride to be springy (especially on offset turns like going in/out of a driveway) before the replacement.
I also tested on a washboard dirt round for about a mile. Before the replacement the truck was skittering across the road, with lots of noise and my 5 year old thought it was "bumpy fun".
After the ride was controlled and the truck stayed planted on the driving line without skittering at all - even with full, abs induced braking.

The reduction in road noise I can easily attribute to the shocks doing their job and absorbing the shocks, eliminating the road noise being transmitted straight into the cabin.

One of my other vehicles was updated to solid motor mounts and the cabin noise immediately went up. All vibration anywhere in a vehicle will get transmitted thru the chassis either motor or suspension. Since that vehicle spends more time in a performance role i did not care about the noise and for that application it was appropriate since the mounts needed replacing anyway - would never do that on the Expedition.