Hello Everyone!

I decided to replace my shocks and struts since I have 90K and plan on keeping the truck forever. I changed the rears and good thing, they were dead! I replaced the front strut assemblies with the quick struts from monroe. They went on ok, but when I lowered the truck down off the lift, I noticed that the front was about 2" higher than it used to sit. I checked the box and it said that it may ride higher than usual until the new springs "settle" Its been a week and its still the same. It rides good and better than before but sometimes when i go over a bump in the road I hear a "kuh-klunk" that wasn't there before. Put the truck back on the lift twice to double check all the fasteners and they are all tight. I hope its not my ball joints stretching to the breaking point! How much longer do they need to "settle?" Has anyone else used these quick struts and experienced anything like this?

Thanks in advance,

Alex

 

As soon as they have been driven 4-5000 miles they should be settled. It way even be quicker than that on those Chicago area roads. It takes a little while for the coils to settle in and compress to the proper height. The more compression/rebound cycles the struts are given the sooner they settle.

 

I guess I'll just have to aim for the holes in the road now lol! Im leaving to go to South Carolina soon so Ill see how it is on the highway and after all that driving.

Thanks for the response!

 

I haven't tried them on my truck, but I did put a set on a car and they did raise the front end compared to how it was with the old struts. That was because the old worn struts and springs had sagged and were causing the front end to ride low. I compared the car with the new struts to a newer version of the same model with original struts and the new ones were only slightly higher, maybe 1/2" at most. I assume the same would be true with truck struts.

 

I've been leary of the quick struts for our trucks as there are a number of different spring heights that came stock........it may settle a bit.....but there still may be a difference in height.

 

I have new KYB struts on my '04 2wd. I put new Moog springs on mine and had very little height difference. The ride was noticably smoother over the OEM had ever been. If your height was different I was wondering if the upper and/or lower control arms were tightened in a lowered position than it was originally at. This can cause it to set higher also. I measured the position on mine and put them back to the same position as before.

 

Added note: The Moog springs have more coils than the OEM springs (which look like the Moog Cargo Coils). This may account for the smoother ride of the Moogs.

 

Just as a reminder, whenever you mess with the front suspension - make sure to get an alignment afterward.

Also, you might try flexing the truck out... help settle them springs a little bit quicker.

-rockstate

 

I see that this thread is almost a month old. Hope things have settled down for you.
With the geometry change, you certainly need an alignment. One other thing - due to the change in geometry - you might want to inspect your sway bar links. This could be the root cause of your new "klunk". Be sure to check them with the front end loaded and unloaded, as wear to the links may not present itself while on the lift.

 

Thank you to all who have given advice about my issue. Im sorry I havent been around in a while to report back. Anyway, I found the "klunk" knoise and I'm very upset about it. Also, the truck has not returned to its normal ride height and they've been on there for a month and about 200 miles. While I was under the hood yesterday changing the idler pulleys and the tensioner, I leaned on the truck to reach for somthing and my weight lowered the front of the truck slightly. When I let my weight off the truck, it popped back up making the "klunk." I had my buddy stand on the bumper and bounce it up and down while I looked at the strut towers. The center stud with the nut on it that holds the strut together was moving up and down! Thats whats making the noise. Both sides are like that. I tried to tighten them but they wouldn't budge. Its almost like they forgot a washer or shim when they were assembled. From my experience, the stud is not supposed to move when the strut moves up and down. I will be calling Monroe's tech support people on monday to tell them whats going on. The website said that I have 90 days to decide if im satisfied with their product. So far, Im not. Good thing I saved my old struts, I may just throw them back on before my 1,000 mile drive next week.

Thanks again guys!

 

Looks like I've fixed it. After talking to Monroe this morning, their tech told me that I should be able to tighten up the loose shock nut. He also said that there isn't a washer that goes under the nut so it just wasn't torqued correctly. It took a while, especially on the passenger side (not a lot of room to swing a wrench around) and I was able to get them both properly torqued which made the noise go away! Im so glad that it turned out to be a minor thing. I must say that they handled my complaint very well and were eager to assist even if it meant that I was still dis-satisfied and was going to return them.

Thanks again to all for the imput!

 

Glad you got it!

Got any before and after pics of hte truck?

-rockstate

 

Thank you for posting this! I just put the quick struts on yesterday evening and spent most of today trying to find the "klunk" noise. After basically going over the entire front end....again....I read your post. Took me about three minutes to fix with an air gun. No more "klunk"! It is a shame that a company who is aware that something such as this happened, didn't do anything about it. Even something as simple as adding a note to each box saying to tighten it. However, they work great now! I also installed Sensatrac load adjusting shocks in the rear. My F150 handles and rides fantastic. Thanks again for the post! BTW, I accessed the nut from the engine compartment with an air gun and extension. This saved a tremendous amount of time. I tried tightening the nut through the wheel well, but the rod just span.

 

Glad that I was able to help and that you were able to get it right! That is really sad that we had this problem. That means that probably all of them have this problem of being loose. When I called monroe they claimed that they had never had anyone call and complain about those nuts being loose. My struts have been fine and the truck ride height in the front has come down a little bit, it is not as low as it was with the old struts but it now is pretty close. So far so good. Does your steering effort feel a little different? At first, mine was a little tight but then returned to normal.

 

The steering may be just slightly tight, but nothing very noticable. It definitely sits taller in the front. I bought the truck used and found it had a front-end leveling kit installed, which is simply a block on top of the strut. Maybe this is why I didn't notice much difference in the steering.

Did Monroe tell you how to torque the nut? Just curious, because I had to tighten it all the way in order to eliminate the noise.