[trus03]

Hi everyone! I have a 2003 Taurus with a little under 53K miles. I recently replaced my rear suspension with Monroe Quickstruts to cure my SAS. Note that before I replaced the rear strut assemblies the ride quality seemed fine to me, and all front suspension components are original. Now, after having the rear strut assemblies changed, the ride quality is horrible, and I think it has to do with the front suspension. City driving, I can tell that the rear suspension is really stiff, while the front suspension seems to bounce a little. But when I'm driving down the highway, the front end bounces a lot and the car feels unstable on the road. This bouncing makes me think the front struts need to be replaced. Also, the front end seems to sit a bit high. So I'm undecided if I should just replace both front strut assemblies with Monroe Quickstruts (but I don't want to raise the front ride height any because it's already high enough), or should I just replace the strut and keep the coil spring, as that looks to be in good condition? If I should replace just the strut, should I stick with Monroe since I have Monroe's on the rear? What I'm looking for is an OEM ride quality. The thing that gets me is how the ride quality changed for the worse after I replaced the rear suspension. Has anyone else had this problem? And if there's anyone around the Philadelphia area that could install front struts for me, I would be willing to pay them for their help!

Thanks for your advice!

Matt

 

[loudsho92]

I would replace the front with quick struts. Your front height might not change much and if you do not like it you can always go an cut a coil. You would need to let it sit for a while before deciding though.

 

[ford_ses]

You shouldn't have to worry too much about it being too high...in this pic, the car on the left (Nick's 2000) has brand new Quickstruts all the way around, and the car on the right (my 2001) has new Quickstruts in the rear and Ford stuff up front. Nick's car has lots of stuff in the back as well, but the Quickstrut springs don't sag anything like stock parts.

.

The Quickstruts are stiffer than stock in both the spring and strut department...the springs are softer than a Gen 3, but stiffer than a Gen 4.

 

[trus03]

QUOTE (ford_ses @ Jul 20 2009, 11:14 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=740922

You shouldn't have to worry too much about it being too high...in this pic, the car on the left (Nick's 2000) has brand new Quickstruts all the way around, and the car on the right (my 2001) has new Quickstruts in the rear and Ford stuff up front. Nick's car has lots of stuff in the back as well, but the Quickstrut springs don't sag anything like stock parts.

.

The Quickstruts are stiffer than stock in both the spring and strut department...the springs are softer than a Gen 3, but stiffer than a Gen 4.[/b]

Thanks for the info LOUDSHO and ford_ses! I think I'm going to go with Quickstruts up front. BTW, two great looking Tauruses in that pic

 

[crackhead]

I think you are just noticing how bad the oem struts are.

I wouldn't put those things on a powerwheels.

 

[qwertz9586]

This is how much lift my QuickStruts gave me:

 

[trus03]

QUOTE (Qwertz9586 @ Jul 22 2009, 01:16 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=741175

This is how much lift my QuickStruts gave me:

[/b]

Thanks for the pic Qwertz. Is that a pic of the front or back?

 

[bull geek]

QUOTE (tRus03 @ Jul 22 2009, 03:52 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=741282

QUOTE (Qwertz9586 @ Jul 22 2009, 01:16 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=741175

This is how much lift my QuickStruts gave me:

[/b]

Thanks for the pic Qwertz. Is that a pic of the front or back?
[/b][/quote]
He just did front struts on his car.

 

[trus03]

Update: I finally purchased some Quickstruts for the front from Rockauto and had them installed. Now, after getting the car back, I hear this rattling noise in the front end whenever I go over a bump in the road. It sounds like it is coming from the driver's side. The rattle can be felt in the steering wheel, and the rattle seems to be worse when I am coming to a stop. Any ideas what could be causing this rattle? I know the mechanic dropped the subframe to install the Quickstruts, so I don't know if it's a subframe bushing? I checked the swaybar endlinks, and everythings seems to be pretty solid, which is why I think it may be a worn bushing. BTW, only 53,000 miles on the car. Thanks, as always, for the help!

Matt

 

[bull geek]

You and I both have rattles...see if you can get a recording of it. Put it up on YouTube.

Say you are backing out of a garage, and it has a 1 inch drop from the slab to the driveway (or somewhere similar), mine clunks/rattles up front, passenger side.

 

[trus03]

QUOTE (Bull Geek @ Aug 19 2009, 09:18 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=747516

You and I both have rattles...see if you can get a recording of it. Put it up on YouTube.

Say you are backing out of a garage, and it has a 1 inch drop from the slab to the driveway (or somewhere similar), mine clunks/rattles up front, passenger side.[/b]

I park in my garage and it has about an inch drop from the garage to the driveway. I can definitely feel a rattle as I go over the drop. I will listen for any noise and see if I can get a recording of it.

 

[trus03]

Ok, so I took the car to Ford and they told me that the rattling feel and noise are coming from the newly installed Monroe Quickstruts. So I call Monroe and tell them what Ford told me and they sent me out another set of Quickstruts. I took the new Quickstruts back to Ford for them to install them for me and the rattling is still present. Ford is still saying that it's the Quickstruts that's causing the problem. What are the odds that I would get two sets of bad Quickstruts? To me, the rattling still seems like it could be a bushing of some kind, possibly a subframe bushing or control arm bushing. The dealer also told me that they checked the tie rods, control arms (not the bushings that I know of), endlinks, balljoints, and said that everything looks good. Are there any other suggestions from the experts? I really don't want to replace the Quickstruts with Motorcraft struts just to have the rattling come back if it isn't the struts. Also, would it be possible to use Motorcraft struts with the coil springs from the Quickstruts? Thanks again for the help!

Matt

 

[loudsho92]

Take it away from Ford, they see a non-Ford item so it must go according to them.

Get a second opinion. The only thing I could say is make sure the quick strut is tight enough as there isn't much to clunk around.

if they say it is the quick strut have them point out what it is exactly. Spring not seated, etc...

 

[thomasvita]

I recently completed installing all new Monroe Sensa-Trac strut cartridges on my 2000 Sable. It has the Dura-Tech 24Valve engine and 84K miles. It had and STILL HAS a similar rattle in the front-end [driver's side] over bumps and on less than smooth roads that the original poster is referring to. During the job, I also replaced the upper front strut mounts thinking they were the culprit. This is always a good idea for the front ones anyway and I wished I had done so on the '95. Also on this Sable, I replaced brake pads and shoes all around, rotors, drums, wheel cylinders [rear]with no real probs. Used all Wagner components. Reused front calipers. Flushed and bled system with no problems. In comparison to my '95 Taurus GL with 3.0 OHV engine and a rusty '95 Toyota Corolla I did for my daughter, this Sable was not a fun job. Think I used every bad word I knew during the process. Took it to Firestone and had it aligned immediately after bleeding out brake system. They said everything looked good and tight under there. Guess they 'road-tested' on smooth roads. I'll keep looking myself and post something if I find it. If unsucessful by myself, I purchased a lifetime alignment warranty with them, so I could take it back there as a last resort. Wish it would do it in the garage when not moving! In fairness to Monroe, I've installed their Sensa-Trac strut cartridges on various US and foreigh vehicles and have been very happy with them. Always have reused the coils.

 

[trus03]

Update: So I took the car to yet another mechanic and he too said that he thought the noise was coming from the Quickstruts. So I told him to just put back on the original Motorcraft struts that I had saved for the time being (I didn't want to buy new struts only to still have the noise). Now the rattling noise is gone! There is still a little clunk in the steering, which may be coming from the original struts since everything else (bushings, control arms, tie rods, endlinks) checked out OK. Oh well, I can put up with it for now.

 

[bull geek]

Wow so that clunk really is the QuickStruts? Great...money well spent on the fronts.

The rears seem pretty quiet on mine...but rattling and pattering continue up front. I'll give some KYBs a try next year.

 

[Girtski]

2002 Taurus here...I am searching this forum since I've decided to change my struts...for the second time in 2 years. Originally in 2007, I purchased Quick Struts (Monroe) and installed them in my 02 Taurus. Ever since then I've had a horrible rattle in the front end. Since I took my scrap pile to the junkyard that summer, I did not have the old ones to put back on to isolate the rattle. Well, fast forward 2 years and 60K later and I decided that if Monroe suggests changing them at 50K, I'm going to get myself a new set under warranty. Through my retailer, I ordered a new set and when I unboxed them, there were clearly differences between the two new spring coils. After looking at the old ones laying on the floor and comparing them to the 2 new ones I got, it appears as though I have at least 3 different sets of coil springs installed on 4 struts. I took some pics and put together a Powerpoint presentation for my retailer (Strutmasters) and am looking to hear back from them soon. I installed the strut with the most distance between coils on the RH side and took it for a ride. Voila, my RH rattle was gone! Went to change the LH side and accidently destroyed the outer halfshaft boot. Since I can't afford to be without a vehicle another day, I'm going to install the other new one even though there is a drastic difference in coil spacing between the 2...Waiting to hear from Strutmasters....BTW, there are distinct witness marks where the bottom coil is hitting the strut on bumps and distinct witness marks where top coils are hitting each other on bumps....Anyone interested in my findings can PM me with email address and I'll gladly send the PPT file (6MEG).

 

[Blueox]

I put on sensatracs all the way around last year and new coils (Moog) in the rear since one was broken. No quickstruts. Also did lower ball joints and sway bar links. No rattle problems. But the sensatracs do ride much harder than originals.

 

[bull geek]

The rattle in my car has gotten worse. This is pretty sad on Monroe's part. The rear's are quiet, perfect and do an excellent job...wonder why they dropped the ball up front. Mine can now be heard/felt just driving along a smooth road if you're listening for it.

 

[qwertz9586]

I don't have any noise from my Monroes up front.