UPDATED: Replacing Rear Shocks: Reducing the rear end bounce.

[markboris]

Make sure they get a GT and a Premium car for testing.

I hope they do. I will contact Koni and let them know. Of all the eleven members I messaged, there were Selects, Premiums and GT's so hopefully Koni will be able to find what they need if any of the them are willing to give up their cars for a few days.

Sponsored

 

[markboris]

I contacted Koni and explained what we have done here on the forum to try to improve the ride on the Mach-E and tame the bounce. I explained I had built up about 5 sets and sent out to owners all over the US to test out and have had favorable reviews. I told them that these shocks (their adjustable yellow sport model) would help many owners achieve a better ride. I also let them know I messaged 11 members from this forum that live in Cincinnati about this project they are working on and if they did not hear anything within the next couple of weeks, I have more members in Ohio that live not far from Cincinnati I would contact.

I did explain that there are two different ride heights on the Mach-E. All models except GT and the GT which is .5" lower. Also that their shocks would not apply to the GTPE since it has the Magneride suspension.

I sent them the thread that Jeremy started on the bouncy ride which has over 1300 replies and 130,000 views and this thread on building up their Koni yellow sport shocks which is less than 2 months old that has 480 replies and over 30,000 views.

I am very excited for this project to get started and hopefully will not be too long from them to bring something to market.

 

[azerik]

I'd like to see them add 1.5 to 2 inches of length to the shock rod and widen that lower bushing to 2.5 inches. It will still require drilling the upper mounts out otherwise turn key.

I'm almost willing to try putting standard range rwd front springs on the factory front struts (for a lighter spring rate). But if they are now going to be working on the front strut I won't bother with a spring swap in the front.

 

[markboris]

Got a follow up email from Koni after talking with them on the phone.

Mark,

Thank you for contacting us here at KONI NA. A few other forum members also had reached out to us pertaining to the same thread concerning the ride quality issues that many find with the Mustang Mach-E. The Mach-E is in the early decision making phase of the process to see if there is sufficient demand worldwide to justify the development and production costs for this application. However, we here at KONI NA are already actively pushing for the development and have expressed the interest of owners here in the US to our European development team in Holland. Our team in Holland does have a set of the Ford original equipment shocks for the Mach-E for review, though at this point we cannot say for sure as to whether or when KONI will have an option for the Mach-E, but is certainly on our radar.

Mason O’Hara
Technical Sales Representative
KONI - an ITT company

 

[mkhuffman]

Got a follow up email from Koni after talking with them on the phone.

Mark,

Thank you for contacting us here at KONI NA. A few other forum members also had reached out to us pertaining to the same thread concerning the ride quality issues that many find with the Mustang Mach-E. The Mach-E is in the early decision making phase of the process to see if there is sufficient demand worldwide to justify the development and production costs for this application. However, we here at KONI NA are already actively pushing for the development and have expressed the interest of owners here in the US to our European development team in Holland. Our team in Holland does have a set of the Ford original equipment shocks for the Mach-E for review, though at this point we cannot say for sure as to whether or when KONI will have an option for the Mach-E, but is certainly on our radar.

Mason O’Hara
Technical Sales Representative
KONI - an ITT company

I am willing to step up and help find a front solution since that response sounds like anything from them is a year or more away.

 

[Dadams]

I am willing to step up and help find a front solution since that response sounds like anything from them is a year or more away.

I am willing to help with testing a GT on a mix of concrete and asphalt roads in Michigan. I noticed the front is bouncy now after replacing the rears with Koni's

 

[markboris]

I agree and when I get some time I will start looking into it but that will be at least a month or more for me. Too much going on right now to dive into that.

 

[Nikzee]

I own a GT and earlier last year I installed the sway bar, which slightly decreased the bounce. I’ve been reading these threads and have been waiting and watching for a viable solution to this ongoing headache, but recently I went to load up on landscaping supplies (bags of mulch, dirt, sand, etc) which came in 20lb+ bags, and placed them in the back. Seats down. All of the bags took up the entire back space and stacked about 3 bags tall. Probably around 300lbs total. I quickly discovered that my normal, bouncy, route home was surprisingly bounce free! I was shocked. The ride was firm but not bouncy. It felt like I had a totally new vehicle. I’ve had passengers in the back seat before and never noticed a change in the ride quality, but apparently distributing the weight further to the back dampened the bounce. So, if you want to save a few thousand dollars on ridding yourself of a bouncy ride, and don’t need the back seats for a while, then keep about 250lbs of sand bags handy.

 

[Mach-Lee]

I own a GT and earlier last year I installed the sway bar, which slightly decreased the bounce. I’ve been reading these threads and have been waiting and watching for a viable solution to this ongoing headache, but recently I went to load up on landscaping supplies (bags of mulch, dirt, sand, etc) which came in 20lb+ bags, and placed them in the back. Seats down. All of the bags took up the entire back space and stacked about 3 bags tall. Probably around 300lbs total. I quickly discovered that my normal, bouncy, route home was surprisingly bounce free! I was shocked. The ride was firm but not bouncy. It felt like I had a totally new vehicle. I’ve had passengers in the back seat before and never noticed a change in the ride quality, but apparently distributing the weight further to the back dampened the bounce. So, if you want to save a few thousand dollars on ridding yourself of a bouncy ride, and don’t need the back seats for a while, then keep about 250lbs of sand bags handy.

If you do this, just remember to put the trunk floor in the lower position first to save yourself $1200 worth of damage to the side supports.

 

[HuntingPudel]

<SNIP>
if you want to save a few thousand dollars on ridding yourself of a bouncy ride, and don’t need the back seats for a while, then keep about 250lbs of sand bags handy.

My current inventory of sand bags is nil and my inventory of lead shot is down to about 450 pounds. ??

 

[markboris]

I own a GT and earlier last year I installed the sway bar, which slightly decreased the bounce. I’ve been reading these threads and have been waiting and watching for a viable solution to this ongoing headache, but recently I went to load up on landscaping supplies (bags of mulch, dirt, sand, etc) which came in 20lb+ bags, and placed them in the back. Seats down. All of the bags took up the entire back space and stacked about 3 bags tall. Probably around 300lbs total. I quickly discovered that my normal, bouncy, route home was surprisingly bounce free! I was shocked. The ride was firm but not bouncy. It felt like I had a totally new vehicle. I’ve had passengers in the back seat before and never noticed a change in the ride quality, but apparently distributing the weight further to the back dampened the bounce. So, if you want to save a few thousand dollars on ridding yourself of a bouncy ride, and don’t need the back seats for a while, then keep about 250lbs of sand bags handy.

About 9 months ago, Anton was at my place and we were installing both Steeda sway bars. He mentioned to me when at Costco he buys several cases of water and loads them up in the rear of his Mach-E. His drive home is almost free from the bounce he usually gets so between this and Jeremy's super long bounce thread, that's what actually got me thinking to start this shock project. We have a suspension that has very little travel (2 1/2" for non-GT, 2" for GT) and very stiff springs to handle any weight when loaded. Problem is, when unloaded the OEM shocks don't dampen the stiff springs enough and we get the bouncy rear end. While the front does have a bit of bounce, it is not nearly as much as the rear because the frunk is not designed to handle much weight so the springs up front are not nearly as stiff.

I agree the cheapest way to solve this problem is to lower the rear cargo floor to its lowest position and keep at least 4 cases (40 bottles per case) of water in the rear. Otherwise modifying a set of the Koni rear shocks I have stated in the first post would be the next best thing.

 

[Ghost Ryder]

Have anyone tried softer springs in the rear? Downside is that you can't carry lots in the trunk, but most people I surmise do not load up their trunk frequently.

 

[johnmark]

So is the recommendation to upgrade both the sway bars AND the shocks? Or just the shocks?

 

[markboris]

Have anyone tried softer springs in the rear? Downside is that you can't carry lots in the trunk, but most people I surmise do not load up their trunk frequently.

Yes I’ve tried standard battery, RWD springs on my Premium which was extended battery and AWD. It had a slightly softer ride and the height dropped about .5”. The ride also had a bit less bounce and I posted this in the bounce thread about 2 years ago. However it was only a slight reduction and the car definitely bottomed out easier when loaded with weight in the rear. I ended up replacing all four springs and shocks with the GT versions which gave me what I was looking for. A lowered slightly more firm suspension. The GT does have slightly less bounce than non-GT since the shocks are more firm but again it’s very minor.

Again, with such a short suspension travel that the Mach-E has, going with softer springs means the car will bottom out very easily which is not a good thing. I think the springs that the car is designed with are ok for the weight it potentially needs to carry. It’s the shocks that need to be improved on. I have the GTPE with the Magneride active shocks and in the unbridle mode where the shocks are at their most firm setting, I get very little bounce.

The OEM shocks give a decent ride over smooth surfaces. Nobody really complains about that. Ford very easily could have firmed up the shocks to tame the stuff springs and reduce the bounce but then you would feel more of the road all the time even when it’s smooth. This is exactly what the magneride shocks are like when set to unbridle and the Koni’s I’ve modded. The ride is always more firm but there is much less bounce.

 

[markboris]

So is the recommendation to upgrade both the sway bars AND the shocks? Or just the shocks?

While the sway bars do slightly improve the ride as I and several others have stated, their main benefit is the substantial improvement in handling. The shocks are what mainly reduce the bounce.

Sponsored