Can't deal with the bouncy ride anymore after two weeks with the Mach-E. What do I do?

Mike16

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Or for reference, I have 99V tire instead of 103H and barely feel the bounciness.
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dbsb3233

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Just thinking out side the box. Maybe Ford's tire choice is at fault causing the bouncy effect. Could 335 tires create a different ride quality than 225's . And, the tire construction and load capacity. I don't want or expect excessive bouncing from a $50k vehicle.
Maybe, but I doubt the bouncy/wavy effect is a result of the tires. That suggests it's the tires vacillating between squish and unsquish, and I really doubt that's what's happening. I just don't think these tires with 39+ PSI squish much at all. I suspect the bouncy/wavy is a suspension effect, not a tire effect.

However, softer tires might improve the hard-tire jarring (road bumps) that the MME tends to experience <55 MPH, and make the ride a bit less harsh. At least that's my assumption, anyway.
 

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I would say that it is worse on some stretches of freeway than others and the faster you go, the worse it seems to get, as it becomes more and more constant bouncing as the speed increases. It seems to become most noticeable as we get above 35 miles per hour on the expressway, but the bouncing never seems to go away between 35 and up to maybe 55-60. Even accelerating on the on-ramp to the expressway closest to my house, the car starts doing the bouncing as we smoothly go from about 10 MPH up to the full speed on the highway. In city of Chicago driving, it is not often that we get the chance to get above 55 given the heavy traffic.
The problem you have been describing sounds a lot like what can happen if the suspension "packs down" due to too much rebound damping and/or tightness/friction in the suspension's movement. This problem can be made worse by cold weather when the damper oil is cold. If this is the issue, a long, fast trip on bumpy roads can heat up the dampers and cause the problem to go away. Like rally driving.

It could be the suspension is tuned such that it's susceptible to packing down when the dampers are new. But I would have the shop check the suspension for binding. Anything that causes resistance to the suspension rebounding after hitting a bump can cause the suspension to pack down. This robs you of your full suspension travel and causes the car to hit the next bump in the already partially compressed state.

The best way to diagnose the problem is to put ride height logging devices on each damper and drive the roads causing the issue. If the car is riding lower around 50 mph than it sits static, then the suspension is packing down.

One way this can happen on a new car model is if management test drives the car and tells the engineers it hits the bumps too hard, the ride needs to be softer. So they reduce the compression damping or use springs with a slightly lower spring rate which gives the requested softer ride but either of these changes will increases the chance of "packing down" under certain conditions or on a new car with a little tightness in the suspension's movement (travel).

Whatever the problem is, it can be fixed by adjusting the spring rates, damping or fixing binding or another fault in the suspension. It might even go away as the dampers and suspension pivots wear in.
 

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Anyone have an idea of whether the Mach-me-sick bouncing is only on the AWD model? If the front lights are going up/down, it might not be shocks, it might be motor control resonance. I had an excessively firm ride that was helped by reducing tire pressure to spec, but I would not call it bouncy. Mine is a RWD model. I wonder if it might be another software glitch, sort of an oscillation trying to balance the rear axle torque with the front axle torque. Any Geeks want to weigh in?
mine isn't bouncy. have the AWD FE.
 

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I don't get the 'bouncy ride' complaints. I'm guessing this has to do with roads wherever you live whether or not you experience this? I have not.
 


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Maybe, but I doubt the bouncy/wavy effect is a result of the tires. That suggests it's the tires vacillating between squish and unsquish, and I really doubt that's what's happening. I just don't think these tires with 39+ PSI squish much at all. I suspect the bouncy/wavy is a suspension effect, not a tire effect.

However, softer tires might improve the hard-tire jarring (road bumps) that the MME tends to experience <55 MPH, and make the ride a bit less harsh. At least that's my assumption, anyway.
It's kinda strange that none of the expert reviews I watched on youtube pointed out any bouncy ride quality. And, I would expect it more with a shorter wheelbase than MMEs.
 

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Yeah there are sections of highway around here that the expansion joints were spaced such that our former RV combination (F-350 + 5th wheel) would hit the natural frequency of the combo.

I'd have to really pay attentiong going through that stretch as it would really get the truck+trailer bouncing quite significantly.

It is possible that something like that is occurring for you: The wheelbase is just perfect to hit the expansion joints just right.

Our mitgation strategy was simply slow down a bit as changing speed changes the frequency the vehicle is hitting the cracks (as suggested above to try different speeds).
This is a good point. Although a properly setup suspension can handle normal expansion joints at any spacing without experiencing any significant problem. However, this could exacerbate the suspension packing down issue that I mentioned previously.

And it sounds like this problem is not limited to specific roads.
 

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There is no fix for this. The car is designed this way to compensate for the extremely heavy battery, and trying to give the car some dynamics. Yes it is "bouncy". It takes a lot of getting used to, and it won't be for everybody. The Tesla for instance, is designed with less ride dynamics and, a more stable ride. Just the way it is.
And all of those statements would be false.

There is nothing about extra weight making the ride bumpy or bouncy. If that were the case Cadilacs would be famous for having bumpy rides. My F-150 actually gets smoother as more weight is added to the bed. A lot smoother.

The problem is not the weight of the vehicle, a sporty, non-bouncy ride can be designed for any vehicle weight.

And a Tesla is not designed with "less ride dynamics". Stock Model 3's can beat most cars out there, even on bumpy tracks. Neither the Tesla Model S or the Model 3 is a sports car. And the Mach-e isn't a sports car either. It's a sporty car.

The OP has a problem that needs to be fixed. I really doubt it's just the way all Mach-e's are and the OP is particularly sensitive to it. A car does not have to be bouncy to be sporty and it sounds like Mach-e's are not typically bouncy under most temperatures and conditions.
 
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Yeah, this thread has covered everything by now.
OP, it's quite possible you have one or more damaged strut/shock absorbers. That would cause it to bounce excessively on any car.

Test drive another one and take yours to the dealer to have it inspected. If so, it's a warranty item and a quick swap out of the damaged one. @bellyer
I think you could be right.

One symptom of broken shock absorbers is this especially when doing a hard or emergency stop.

Take it back and ask for the shock absorbers to be replaced as one is faulty
 

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I agree that you should take the car into your dealership. This is not normal performance. I received my Premium AWD yesterday and have put about 60 miles on it, and haven't experienced anything like you are describing. For those of you who live in the Northern Virginia area, I drove 30 miles on Route 66 (a hellish highway) and had no suspension complaints at all.
 

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It's kinda strange that none of the expert reviews I watched on youtube pointed out any bouncy ride quality. And, I would expect it more with a shorter wheelbase than MMEs.
That's a good point but it doesn't mean the OP doesn't have a problem.

The thing about suspension packing down is that the vehicle will often have the best driving dynamics and great comfort when the suspension is tuned to the ragged edge of being susceptible to packing down. At that point it doesn't take much to make it go from excellent to total crap (if it starts packing down).

We are talking about mass produced vehicles here. Anything can go wrong on one or more cars and it's particularly hard for a customer to prove a problem like this (as opposed to something like an exhaust leak, squeaky window, or even a rattle). And suspension tuning issues are not typically inexpensive to fix, particularly if it requires specifying different damping or such.

This will be a real test of how good the local dealership is.
 

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And suspension tuning issues are not typically inexpensive to fix, particularly if it requires specifying different damping or such.

This will be a real test of how good the local dealership is.
This is what I'm afraid of.

My car has gotten better over time, so it's also possible it's wearing in as you described earlier. I'll try to keep an eye on it... For me the issue was mainly noticeable during highway driving, where the shocks may not have had a chance to recover if they were indeed packing.
 
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The problem you have been describing sounds a lot like what can happen if the suspension "packs down" due to too much rebound damping and/or tightness/friction in the suspension's movement. This problem can be made worse by cold weather when the damper oil is cold. If this is the issue, a long, fast trip on bumpy roads can heat up the dampers and cause the problem to go away. Like rally driving.

It could be the suspension is tuned such that it's susceptible to packing down when the dampers are new. But I would have the shop check the suspension for binding. Anything that causes resistance to the suspension rebounding after hitting a bump can cause the suspension to pack down. This robs you of your full suspension travel and causes the car to hit the next bump in the already partially compressed state.

The best way to diagnose the problem is to put ride height logging devices on each damper and drive the roads causing the issue. If the car is riding lower around 50 mph than it sits static, then the suspension is packing down.

One way this can happen on a new car model is if management test drives the car and tells the engineers it hits the bumps too hard, the ride needs to be softer. So they reduce the compression damping or use springs with a slightly lower spring rate which gives the requested softer ride but either of these changes will increases the chance of "packing down" under certain conditions or on a new car with a little tightness in the suspension's movement (travel).

Whatever the problem is, it can be fixed by adjusting the spring rates, damping or fixing binding or another fault in the suspension. It might even go away as the dampers and suspension pivots wear in.
So, the shocks should be able to be adjusted then, is that right? I am definitely contacting my dealer when they open tomorrow to discuss, but in the meantime, I am trying to figure out if it is even possible to adjust the suspension or I might even be able to be convinced to shell out some money for some different shocks if there is a way to adjust them. I definitely want this car and have no interest really in getting rid of it. I so badly want it to work out, so if there is something that can be adjusted with the suspension, I am happy to do it, even if it ends up costing me some more money on this already pricy vehicle.
 

dbsb3233

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It's kinda strange that none of the expert reviews I watched on youtube pointed out any bouncy ride quality. And, I would expect it more with a shorter wheelbase than MMEs.
True, you would have thought we'd have heard more about it. I guess they were too busy talking about whether it was a Mustang or not.

I do remember a few mentioning it, but not many. It's all so relative to what you're used to. Also possible something changed between the preproductions (which most of the reviews were don in) vs some of the customer units.
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