Let's brainstorm the front suspension

[azerik]

As the work on the rear suspension has completed for now and is receiving happy reviews lets talk about this front end. There is a few things that I'm going to outline here for people to think about and purpose ideas or experiences.

Currently KW is the only offering for the front end. But it comes at a cost of quite a bit of money and work, with possibly camber/alignment issues. I'd love to hear from those that had/have the KW's v2 or v3 set up chime in about the ride quality they have experienced.

If you have/had the KW set up:
1. How is the ride, realistically
2. How many miles have you put on it
3. Did you buy it for the lowering ability
4. Did you buy it to try to improve the ride
5. Price aside, do you feel it was worth it

If you have swapped springs on your MME:
1. Do you have a GT/GTPE/Prem/AWD/ER
2. Did you swap wheels and tires
3. How did it change the ride
4. Did you have rubbing or other issues with them

From what I have seem of the front struts, when the tire have enough air in them to allow the suspension to work they dampen well. My experience is that the front doesn't cycle several times when going over a speed bump. And it stops the motion swift and firmly. But if the tires don't have enough air in them the tire does all the work and just acts like a ballon bouncing with the weight of the car, it's uncontrollable because unless the tires were filled with a slime like jelly they don't dampen anything. That's why I'm thinking the front is just over sprung. I had put a 60lb bag of salt in the front and the struts still were not doing much by way of work. Possibly 120lbs in the front would make a difference. While I try to think this through I'll be digging through the 'bogs of sand vs snow' thread to see if I can gather anything useful there.

My feelings on the front are:
Over sprung slightly
Too much dampening on the compression side (again.. but this is due to the design of the suspension)

Please chime in if you can answer either of the 2 above

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[21st Century Pony]

As the work on the rear suspension has completed for now and is receiving happy reviews lets talk about this front end. There is a few things that I'm going to outline here for people to think about and purpose ideas or experiences.

Currently KW is the only offering for the front end. But it comes at a cost of quite a bit of money and work, with possibly camber/alignment issues. I'd love to hear from those that had/have the KW's v2 or v3 set up chime in about the ride quality they have experienced.

If you have/had the KW set up:
1. How is the ride, realistically
2. How many miles have you put on it
3. Did you buy it for the lowering ability
4. Did you buy it to try to improve the ride
5. Price aside, do you feel it was worth it

If you have swapped springs on your MME:
1. Do you have a GT/GTPE/Prem/AWD/ER
2. Did you swap wheels and tires
3. How did it change the ride
4. Did you have rubbing or other issues with them

From what I have seem of the front struts, when the tire have enough air in them to allow the suspension to work they dampen well. My experience is that the front doesn't cycle several times when going over a speed bump. And it stops the motion swift and firmly. But if the tires don't have enough air in them the tire does all the work and just acts like a ballon bouncing with the weight of the car, it's uncontrollable because unless the tires were filled with a slime like jelly they don't dampen anything. That's why I'm thinking the front is just over sprung. I had put a 60lb bag of salt in the front and the struts still were not doing much by way of work. Possibly 120lbs in the front would make a difference. While I try to think this through I'll be digging through the 'bogs of sand vs snow' thread to see if I can gather anything useful there.

My feelings on the front are:
Over sprung slightly
Too much dampening on the compression side (again.. but this is due to the design of the suspension)

Please chime in if you can answer either of the 2 above

I do have the KW v3 suspension, along with the Steeda anti-sway bars.

I put the Steeda bars on late last Summer. I threw the KW coilovers on in December last year, so several months later.

I purchased the KW coilovers not to lower the suspension, although of course they did do so. I purchased the KW system to get better quality, rebuildable shocks. In my experience, whether with cars or with motorcycles, OEM shocks is almost always the area of "Value Engineering" back at the home factory.

My 2015 Ford Fusion and my Sonny Boy's 2013 Ford Fusion certainly were proof of that... both Fusions' shocks were worn within 30 - 40 thousand miles. When I say "worn", I mean that I was able to hand-compress one of his rear shocks when we swapped his set for a set of orange Koni shocks.

Can't say that I blame the OEM corporation, in this case Ford... most users will not notice the gradual yet guaranteed degradation of the OEM shocks. ...and when they do notice, the average buyer will just purchase another set of OEM cheapo shocks.

Had Bilstein B6 shocks been available I would have bought them rather than the much more expensive KW setup.

A related reason: KWs, like Bilsteins and other high-end shocks, are rebuildable, unlike the throwaway OEM shocks.

So, now 17 thousand miles after I threw the KWs on:

1. The ride is excellent. Would not go back.
2. About 7 thousand miles with OEM shocks and OEM sway bars. Then another 6+ thousand miles with OEM shocks and Steeda sway bars. Finallybout 17 thousand miles with KW shocks + springs and Steeda sway bars.
3. I did not buy it for the lowering ability. However, just this month I adjusted the rear KWs to their top (highest) range and left the front KWs in their middle range, just where I locked them in back last December. Why: a slight 1970's "ass-up-in-the-air" posture for the car, subtle but it's there. And, BTW, this helped in the rear with some Steeda sway bar clearance issues.
4. I did buy the KW set and also the Steeda set to improve the ride - and both did improve the ride.
5. Absolutely worth it for me, for several reasons listed above.

So for your front suspension question: 17+ thousand miles later, it is hard to remember exactly how the OEM front suspension felt... but my KW + Steda setup in the front feels stable, firm, well-planted, and well sprung / well balanced.

Also, my front camber and toe and trail issues after all the sway bar and later the KW shock swapping were non-existent, once the suspension had settled in and I had reputable suspension shops dial stuff in, within the 1st 2,000 miles. I did have some camber issues in the rear but they are sorted out as well now.

Hope I answered your questions to standard. Good questions BTW.

Oh yeah - my car is a Premium AWD Extended Battery.

 

[markboris]

As the work on the rear suspension has completed for now and is receiving happy reviews lets talk about this front end. There is a few things that I'm going to outline here for people to think about and purpose ideas or experiences.

Currently KW is the only offering for the front end. But it comes at a cost of quite a bit of money and work, with possibly camber/alignment issues. I'd love to hear from those that had/have the KW's v2 or v3 set up chime in about the ride quality they have experienced.

If you have/had the KW set up:
1. How is the ride, realistically
2. How many miles have you put on it
3. Did you buy it for the lowering ability
4. Did you buy it to try to improve the ride
5. Price aside, do you feel it was worth it

If you have swapped springs on your Mach-E:
1. Do you have a GT/GTPE/Prem/AWD/ER
2. Did you swap wheels and tires
3. How did it change the ride
4. Did you have rubbing or other issues with them

From what I have seem of the front struts, when the tire have enough air in them to allow the suspension to work they dampen well. My experience is that the front doesn't cycle several times when going over a speed bump. And it stops the motion swift and firmly. But if the tires don't have enough air in them the tire does all the work and just acts like a ballon bouncing with the weight of the car, it's uncontrollable because unless the tires were filled with a slime like jelly they don't dampen anything. That's why I'm thinking the front is just over sprung. I had put a 60lb bag of salt in the front and the struts still were not doing much by way of work. Possibly 120lbs in the front would make a difference. While I try to think this through I'll be digging through the 'bogs of sand vs snow' thread to see if I can gather anything useful there.

My feelings on the front are:
Over sprung slightly
Too much dampening on the compression side (again.. but this is due to the design of the suspension)

Please chime in if you can answer either of the 2 above

Even though we worked together on the rear suspension and you know my car, I’ll answer your second question here.

On my previous Mach-E (Premium) I changed out the springs with the GT springs to lower the car 1/2”. I noticed the car handled a bit more flat in the corners (also changed the shocks to the GT’s at the same time). The ride also seemed a bit less bouncy. On my current Mach-E (GTPE) I changed out the springs with H&R lowering springs to lower the car 1/2” and again noticed a slight difference in the handling. It’s a bit flatter with a more firm ride. Don’t think the bounce changed though.

I’ve changed wheel sizes twice and tires sizes several times, maybe 5 or 6, don’t remember. All have been staggered sizes… 255/45/20 F - 285/40/20 R, 265/45/20 F - 295/40/20 R and 275/40/20 F - 315/35/20 R. The larger sizes always gave me a better ride since I could run the tire pressures lower and still maintain the proper load rating. Never had any issues with rubbing in the front which is what you are inquiring about here.

 

[azerik]

Koni is listening: https://www.koni-na.com/en-US/NorthAmerica/Car-SUV/Contact-(1)/ Looking to a test subject near Cincinnati

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