Mach-E Select RWD Bumpy Drive

[ptran2021]

Recommended cold pressure is 39. Try pumping the tires and see how it rides. Stiff tires like ours respond more to changes in pressure.

it was set at 35 a few months to see how it responded - no change. Today it's back 39 - 40, still not significantly better

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[GreaseMonkey]

When you said this, "But our battery pack is over-speced, under-engineered relative to others. Part of the problem is inherent to EVs given current battery technology, the other part is due to Ford’s inexperience in making EVs," I interpreted it as you doing just that: making a comment about the battery technology.

But why should that be a problem when everything we both said is relevant to the ride? My short range LFP battery weighs as much as your long range NCM. That's not a great thing, and it no doubt affects the ride quality and handling. But my car is rarely driven above 45 MPH more than a handful of times per month max.

It’s not totally irrelevant, but outside of ford’s control. If you compare different cars with similar tech, you’d find out that ours is heavier, which contributes to the bounciness.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

How's your ride? Is it smooth or bumpy on the notorious stretches of road? I think mine is decent, no complaints.

It’s bouncy on city streets. I have gotten used to it, so don’t mind it as much. But I notice when I have a passenger who hasn’t been in it, they get unsettled.

 

[bbhaag]

I don't understand all the criticism over the Mustang Mach-Es ride. I mean we all bought MUSTANGS right? How do you think a 4 door version of the best selling muscle car is going to ride?

I chuckle everytime I see someone complain about the NA market not getting the hitch receiver like the EU does. I mean really? Could you imagine if Ford put a hitch on a Mustang?

The blowback was bad enough when they called the Mach-E a Mustang........could you imagine the hate if they gave it a cushy ride and a hitch???

 

[ptran2021]

A jolting ride is usually because the shipping blocks have not been removed from the springs. Take a quick look under the car. The springs should be free of the stabilizer blocks Ford places in them for railroad and truck shipment. If they are still present, go back to your dealer and they should remove them (it’s part of the Pre-Delivery process to remove them but sometimes dealer techs forget this step). ??

The bounciness is just due to the springs being stiff and the shocks not having enough rebound damping. There are a couple of solutions to that. There is a coil-over system that completely replaces the springs and shocks. It’s expensive but people who have it report a night and day difference. One of the forum members ( @markboris ) created a procedure to adapt an ICE Mustang rear shock from Koni and set the adjustment to mostly get rid of the bounciness. This is less costly but does not completely get rid of the bounciness. ??

I had this car in July 2022, and it didn't have any hard/jolt until a few months ago. I thought suspension is wearing down. and now instead of soft bouncing motion, it is more bumpy/rocky on low speed city roads.

 

[ptran2021]

@ptran2021 - Feel free to read up on what is arguably the longest thread on this site that I started about 2.5 years ago. It is up to 95 pages now. Maybe you can add some comments there to get us closer to 100 pages. ? - Can't deal with the bouncy ride anymore after two weeks with the Mach-E. What do I do? | MachEforum - Ford Mustang Mach-E News, Owners, Discussions, Community .

Ford has never helped to resolve this issue, but some amazing forum members like @markboris and some others did some extensive testing and found some third party rear shocks that make the ride SOOOOOOOO much better. I have been driving on the Konis for the past 5 months or so and the ride is what it should have been from day one. Check out this thread that Markboris started about the Koni shocks - UPDATED: Replacing Rear Shocks: Reducing the rear end bounce. | MachEforum - Ford Mustang Mach-E News, Owners, Discussions, Community .

Will you ever get a smooth ride in the Mach-E? Nope. It does not seem possible, but you can have a much more comfortable ride than you have now by switching out the rear shocks for the Konis. If you want a smooth ride in a Ford EV, get yourself an F-150 Lightning. I love my Mach-E First Edition, especially now that I have the Konis, but the Lightning I picked up about a year ago is definitely a better vehicle in a number of ways, notably ride comfort.

Thanks for recommendation. I think I have read this post, and I don't know it's worth to change shocks for a couple of thousand $? And don't know it's the fix

 

[ptran2021]

Here is brief history.

• Got this car in 07/2022. Noticed it was a little bouncing, however it was soft and only up and down bouncing motion. Looks like suspension observed all hard bumps
• Some time in spring 2023, bouncing was more noticeable in the afternoon (warm weather) on returning home from work (35 miles). In the morning 5:30 AM driving to work, it was firm as usual.
• May 2023, it got so bad, and almost traded it for a different brand EV. Next morning after a software update, surprised, it seems back to normal however only for a few weeks
• 06/2023. Got wheel balance and rotation at Wheel Works, and it seems there was a little improvement temporarily.
• Later in 6/2023, took a vacation for one week and Mach-E was sitting idle. Returning from vacation, the ride seems firm again for a week, and it got bumpy than ever this time
• 4-week vacation in July. Again it was a little firm only for few days after returning from vacation.
• 09/2023, took car to Ford dealer for check up. A technician gave it a test drive around local road and parking lot, and he told me it was bouncing/bumping like a pickup.. However they only did only a wheel balance and said it got better. Oh well it was the same mostly!
• And now I would say it is bumpy/rocky/jolting. The ride is very struggled on local/city roads which are not quite smooth. It jolts from left to right, front to rear when it hits a man hole or a small opening crack. I think suspension/shock is very loose now, and it doesn't observe bump/shocks any more. Also I thought tires hardened like rocks now since they are not sticky on roads any more. Also I hear big hard bumps/vibration and feel them too.

 

[Jtbuster]

And that relates to ride quality how? Nice thread hijack.

And your input into this thread is that you drive on “square” tires.

 

[Maquis]

And your input into this thread is that you drive on “square” tires.

Not even close to what I wrote. Thanks for the effort.

 

[ptran2021]

Here is the update:
A couple of weeks ago, I took my car to a Ford dealer for another look, and it took them 2 days to find the problem. Here is the report says:

Vehicle is not bumpy but suspension feels off.
Road tested a brand new like vehicle.
There is a difference in feel.
Inspected suspension. Found LR spring rotated out of position.
Recommended to remove LR spring and readjust.
...

I picked up my car, and it seems a little "better" on a short drive home. Next day on the way to work, again it jolted/rocked (like a rocking horse!) constantly and violently sometimes. I coudn't take it even the drive is only 10 minutes.

A few days later I got rear ended but not too much damage, and still able to drive normally. A few days I dropped my car a body shop. After a week later, I picked my car yesterday, and surprise the drive seems much better. I would say the drive is about 80% like I first got it. Steering wheel is much firmer and heavier even with Engage mode (no E pedal). When it jolts/rocks, with this drive mode it gets worse. Steering wheel is very loose and sometimes I loose control of it when it hits a bump.

I don't why it gets now suddenly. I had this experience before, when it was idle for a few days or weeks, the drive seems much better, but it lasted only for a few days. Sometimes it suddenly gets better during the drive.

When drive is like normal, I hardly feel a big jolt or hear tire noise. Mostly I hear low frequency noise like hydraulic suspension pushing pressure out. When it is not normal, I feel big and heavy jolt. I can hear tires beating the road clearly, not hydraulic suspension pushing pressure out at all.

What do you think? Is the spring/suspension the problem

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