Just replaced all four shocks on my 2000 Navigator with LLS, 4x4. At 82K the truck was bouncing pretty bad the last few months. I thought I'd pass on a few tips that someone may find helpful. I bought them at shockwarehouse; best prices I could find including free shipping. From the research I did it looks like the only choice for brand is Monroe and I've read Monroe makes them for Ford but I can't confirm that. The new shocks made a huge difference. I'm very pleased with the result.

Before I start I have one comment and a question. I called Monroe and they said the #4004 for the front was perfect bolt on replacement. However the threaded rod and bushings on the OEM's that I took out are MUCH more beefy than the new shocks. Makes me wonder if I had bought at the dealer would I have gotten 4004's or does the dealer have a better quality replacement? If someone does buy from the dealer I'd be interested in knowing if the new ones from the dealer look identical to the OEM. The OEM bushings actually snap into the shock tower whereas the new ones just get cmpressed in the shock tower and are one third the size.

The new rears were identical to OEM.

Rears:
Fortunately I have access to a drive on hoist. I did not jack the rear nor take the wheels off. As has been posted elsewhere in this forum, to get at the upper bolt on the drivers side you need many long extensions to get over the gas tank to reach.

These shocks are shipped compressed--don't remove that until you have the shock in place. They need to be somewhat compressed to get them in place at least with the vehicle on the wheels. Maybe if you had the wheels hanging it might be different.

One tip on the rears: there are a few posts that say the new upper bushing had to be shaved to fit into the upper brackets. The issue is the nut for the uppers is welded to a healthy clip that should hold the nut in place on the outside of the bracket. This falls out when the shock is removed. If you bend the clip tighter and try to clip it to the bracket and then install the shock it won't go in. You actually have to hold the clip/nut to the side of the shock upper bushing and insert the clip/nut assembly along with the upper bushing at the same time into the bracket. Takes a little coordination but worked fine for me.

Fronts:
Do yourself a favor and remove both wheels when doing the fronts. Allow the truck to lower by itself so the air pressure is lower. After it's lowered shut off the LLS switch in the passenger kick panel, jack the vehicle up by the frame. Remove wheels. You will then need a bottle jack or second jack to raise and lower the lower control arm to get the shock out and in. As has been posted previously the air line is removed by pressing the colored ring in toward the shock using two flat screwdriver blades (one on each side) while pulling out on the line. The passenger side upper nut zipped right off with an impact wrench without holding the shock piston. Bottom bolt came out easily. You then have to manipulate the lower control arm up and down to slide the shock down and out. This is a little tricky, and careful the bottle jack doesn't slip out. If you have a sawzall or air cutoff tool you might consider simply cutting off the bottom of the shock.

The best tip I can give you is to compress the new shock as much as you can and wire it in that position with strong wire. This will make installing the new one much easier. You still may have to raise and lower the control arm to get it in but having it compressed makes it much easier. Put the large washer and bushing on the upper rod; insert the shock into the tower and the lower bracket. Put the upper bushing on, washer and nut just finger tight. Insert the lower mounting bolt. Remove the wire once the shock is supported. Then using the bottle jack raise the control arm so that the lower bushing is compressed some, then tighten the upper nut and you will then evenly compress the bushings. If you don't raise the arm to partially compress the lower bushing they may not compress evenly. Torque the upper bolt and the lower mounting bolt and just push the air line in til it locks in place (there is a plastic nipple on the end of the air line that goes into the fitting on the shock)

Unfortunately in my case the drivers side was more difficult--the upper nut was restricted by the ABS controller lines. So I had to remove that nut with an open end wrench operating from the wheel well--the threads at the end were really bad so had to cut off the upper rod under the bushing with a air body saw. Again had to compress the new shock as much as possible to snake the new one into place.

To test the system on a quiet side street; I put the truck into 4L and sure enough the truck rose quickly to it's highest position and stayed there.

Hope these tips helps someone--overall not a really hard job and saved alot of money over what someone would have charged. I think the dealer wanted $180ea for the front shocks--parts only!

 

Fantastic technical article!

 

Sounds like you had seen my posts on the same replacement a few months ago. On my 2002, the Monroe number you posted was exactly as the OEM as I recall.

For the rear, I used Bilsteins, and bought them from Summitracing for a steal of a deal.

I bought my fronts from Auto Parts Giant .com really cheap.

While you are in there, replace the sway bar bushings with Energy Suspension (Summitracing) - though on the 03, the end link bushings are beefier and the ones in the kit do not match.

PS - I send dimensions to a guy at Energy Suspension after talking to him on the phone - so MAYBE they will update the kit to allow for the 03 to be supported (end link). The center mount is identical.

 

I was a little confused Racerock on your post - sounded like you had two SUV's then I saw your other post about the Exp total. Sorry but glad your wife made it through.

On my Nav I could find no web site that would list a Bilstein for the rear. So I went with Monroe all around. Don't know if the Bilstein's would have fit my Nav or not--I didn't want to take the chance.

Yes I should probably do the bushings---probably will wait til the end links rust out which is fairly frequent!

Good luck with your Nav--I like mine--first three yrs were filled with repairs but last couple have been trouble free.

 

My bad - I missed that you had the Navigator.

Thanks for the kind words.

 

Thank you Trucker22! Your walkthrough just helped me through the process of replacing my front air shocks on my 99 Exp 4X4 with LLS. Anyone thinking about doing this yourself, it really isn't so bad. Just to add .02 cents, I used nylon zip ties to hold the air shock in compressed state. (24" big ones - even then it requires two per shock. Lasso one zip tie arond the top stud, and fish the other through the bottum bolt hole. Compress the shock by putting the bottum on the ground and push from the top, then while the shock is compressed, have your best mate run the bottum zip tie through the zip tie looped over the top stud (think "links of a chain") and zip them both up tight. Now the shock is held in compressed state. Put the compressed air shock in place (remember to put your washer and grommet in place on the top stud)then cut the zip ties. The shock pretty much decompresses in place and nylon zip ties fall out of the way.

Good luck! - Again, great article Trucker22!

 

BWAUSTIN---good tip with the plastic ties---I didn't think of that.

While I had a hoist---I think with some time a person could do it on the driveway without too much trouble.

I'm sure you found your ride much better after doing this. My feeling is the OEM last only about 60K--about the time some need new tires---so new tires and shocks will help the tires last longer and the ride is sooo much better.

Enjoy your improved ride!