Installed Mach-E Rally Springs on my 2023 RWD ER

[giwu42]

I installed the MME Rally's front and rear springs on a 2023 RWD ER MME about a week ago. I've been talking with @markboris for a while now about how to improve ride comfort for someone who mainly uses the MME for commutes. My main goal was to soften the ride for rear passengers. Browsing the forums, I saw that there were two options, the progressive Eibach GT performance lowering springs and the linear Eibach lift springs. I copy and pasted their specifications below.

GT lowering springs
Part# E10-35-054-04-22 Pro-Kit
Front – 148-235 lbs/in (progressive)
Rear – 799-1089 lbs/in (progressive)
Lowers: 1.4" Front, 1.3" Rear

Lift springs
Part# E30-35-054-01-22 Pro-Kit
Front – 200 lbs/in (linear)
Rear – 950 lbs/in (linear)
EXT. Bat. Raises: 1.5" Front, 1.5" Rear
STD. Bat Raises: 1.8” Front, 1.8” Rear

I wanted springs which had a softer spring rate like the GT springs without the drop, because I remember reading about the poor Ioniq 5 owner who hit road debris and totaled his car because of suspected battery damage. I saw that MotorTrend posted an article about the Rally where they stated that Ford developed new springs which were 20% and 35% softer in the front and rear respectively compared to a GT. Furthermore, the springs were taller with a 0.8" lift compared to a GT. Huge shoutout to @markboris for finding out from Eibach that the GT springs are ~225lbs/in and ~1015lbs/in in the front and rear respectively which makes the Rally springs ~180lbs/in and ~660lbs/in in the front and rear respectively. This provides a dual benefit, because the springs are both softer and also taller which increases the number of coils which can be compressed. I decided to install them on my RWD ER since they provided the ideal combination that I wanted: softer springs without lowering the car.

Ride comfort: I immediately noticed that the ride is definitely softer than before. There is a street near me that has extremely uneven pavement, and whenever I drove on it I was constantly being jostled around. I drove on that road again, and I noticed a huge difference. I no longer feel any of the small bumps and imperfections on the road. Any larger bumps/imperfections were significantly duller and less bothersome. I no longer felt like I was being jostled left to right over the uneven surface. I also drove over some speed bumps. I used to be unable to drive over them at any speed greater than 20mph, because the rear always felt like it was slamming back down. This always knocked the cargo floor off the top position. Now I am able to comfortably able to go over them at speeds ranging from 20-30mph without that sensation. Honestly it feels pretty close to my wife's RAV4 in terms of ride comfort over uneven surfaces. Truly feels like a different car.

Bounce: I took it out on a road near me that I know induces the bounce, and I was very happy to find out that the new springs reduced the bounce. I no longer felt like the car was ping-ponging up and down. As a caveat though I put 120lb of concrete blocks in the subtrunk a while ago to help reduce the bounciness, and I kept them in the vehicle when I tested it again. This kind of makes sense since the rear bounce is likely caused by a combination of a high spring rate and weak dampers.

An unexpected consequence though was that the front of my car was about 0.7" taller than the rear of the car. At first, @markboris, @HuntingPudel, and I had no idea why that was the case, but then it came to @markboris that my car is missing the front motor and is lighter in the front compared to the AWD/GT/Rally MMEs. I'll be installing the spacers and aligning the car this week.

Pros:
- Ride is much smoother now
- Bounce is not as pronounced

Cons:
- You have to get 2x 1/4" spacers to restore the original rake if you have a RWD car
- Vehicle is about 0.8" taller but honestly not noticable
- Can be expensive to replace springs + align

Parts: (Edit: Many members have found that these parts are now on backorder and that the rear spring has been replaced with a new part that is much more expensive)
2x RK9Z-5310-A --> Front spring
2x RK9Z-5560-A --> Rear spring ("Sport Appearance Pack" is the Rally package for the GT)
2x 1/4" spacers --> https://www.steeda.com/steeda-s550-...iW94m_dtkhNF6yKN9akH2Gkoq7M3Fmu68T6IRYljjKhkI

I ordered the springs from fordpartspros.com for about $300 after shipping.

Side profile

Front

Rear


Huge thanks to @markboris for all his help!

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[phil]

I get 180 lbs for the front Rally springs, not 169 lbs, based on your numbers. Is my math right?

Thanks for the writeup. I may have to try this!

 

[giwu42]

I get 180 lbs for the front Rally springs, not 169 lbs, based on your numbers. Is my math right?

Thanks for the writeup. I may have to try this!

I could be wrong , please double check my math!

 

[phil]

I could be wrong , please double check my math!

225 lbs x (1-20%) = 180 lbs

 

[giwu42]

225 lbs x (1-20%) = 180 lbs

Got it corrected

 

[Mike G]

When you mentioned the ride height change I remembered that there is a configuration question in FDRS that wants the tech to reconfirm the ride height at the front and rear...but I'm damned if I can remember what module it was for. Might be the IPMA, but I'm not sure now. Maybe Mark remembers. I'm sure he knows what I'm referring to.

 

[markboris]

When you mentioned the ride height change I remembered that there is a configuration question in FDRS that wants the tech to reconfirm the ride height at the front and rear...but I'm damned if I can remember what module it was for. Might be the IPMA, but I'm not sure now. Maybe Mark remembers. I'm sure he knows what I'm referring to.

It’s the VDM and only in the GT model so he doesn’t have this ride height calibration for his car.

 

[nicholsjon]

Just a question about the 120lbs of concrete blocks: You mentioned they are still in the car - what is the rear lift without the added weight? And will you do test rides w/o the added weight as well?

 

[giwu42]

Just a question about the 120lbs of concrete blocks: You mentioned they are still in the car - what is the rear lift without the added weight? And will you do test rides w/o the added weight as well?

When I took them out it was only about 0.2” higher than now. Where are you at?

 

[nicholsjon]

I'm in Georgetown, north of Austin.
I just finished installing E10-35-054-04-22 Pro-Kit "rear" springs in my car with Koni rear shocks. My front springs are from E10-35-054-03-22 Pro-Kit. I wanted minimal drop and progressive springs front and rear. I made custom front spacers and put in rear spacers to get the ride height back up to near normal. About 0.25" drop in the front and basically stock in the rear. I have yet to test ride it (finished install last night).

 

[phil]

I just finished installing E10-35-054-04-22 Pro-Kit "rear" springs in my car with Koni rear shocks. My front springs are from E10-35-054-03-22 Pro-Kit.

Why did you use parts from two different kits?

 

[nicholsjon]

Why did you use parts from two different kits?

I did so because I wanted the lowest drop, as well as progressive springs front and rear. The -03 kit has linear rear springs with the lowest drop progressive front springs. The -04 kit has the progressive rear springs with about the lowest drop. So I combined them and had to use spacers to get the ride height back up closer to normal. Not an easy task, but I'll see how it rides soon.

 

[giwu42]

I'm in Georgetown, north of Austin.
I just finished installing E10-35-054-04-22 Pro-Kit "rear" springs in my car with Koni rear shocks. My front springs are from E10-35-054-03-22 Pro-Kit. I wanted minimal drop and progressive springs front and rear. I made custom front spacers and put in rear spacers to get the ride height back up to near normal. About 0.25" drop in the front and basically stock in the rear. I have yet to test ride it (finished install last night).

Very interesting strategy. So do you just have 2 extra front and rear springs?

 

[nicholsjon]

Very interesting strategy. So do you just have 2 extra front and rear springs?

No - I just have extra linear rear springs (and the set of stock springs). I bought the -03 kit and installed it and still thought the rear was a little too stiff. It was better, but I wondered if progressive springs would be even better. So I called Eibach and just bought rear springs from the -04 kit ($99/ea). Later today I will be driving a road that has bumps/construction on it which have always made me brace myself when going over the irregularities. I'll see how it handles them.

 

[giwu42]

Oh wow I didn't know you could just buy parts of the kit from Eibach

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