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

[kennethjk]

Ken, I don't think you understand how simple it is to retrofit these shocks to the car.

If you disassemble the top shock support on the OEM shocks, then you can use the bumpers stop and the top support without having to buy them. You need to drill the hole out just a bit bigger in the center of the shock support (I gave the drill sizes in one of my posts) and you need a couple of aluminum spacers to mount the shock to the top support. Assemble all to the shock and mount the shock to the car. Should I take even more photos that the ones I took in this post? #1,322

You did a great job and I don’t think more pictures are needed. This is not something I would try, maybe when I was younger before my neck and back surgeries.

I just don’t know if a good independent shop would do something like this.

if they do and I will ask them when I go back north that would be great. Otherwise I might be taking a cross country trip to see you.

Sponsored

 

[azerik]

Shops do this all the time.

 

[HuntingPudel]

<SNIP>
I feel bad for people in low cars because to them I'm just constantly flashing them.

I have images in my mind of @Mach-Lee wearing a trench coat in the headlights of an MME.

 

[markboris]

You did a great job and I don’t think more pictures are needed. This is not something I would try, maybe when I was younger before my neck and back surgeries.

I just don’t know if a good independent shop would do something like this.

if they do and I will ask them when I go back north that would be great. Otherwise I might be taking a cross country trip to see you.

Shops will install the shocks no problem. It’s an extremely easy job. I did both sides in Anton’s garage with a small floor jack in less than 30 min for both sides.

As far as retro fitting the shocks, if you supplied the parts I’m sure the shop would assemble the shocks. You don’t need to come here. I can easily assemble a set and send them to you to have installed if this all works out.

We need to do more testing though. I am ordering one more Bilstein that will fit. It’s a B8 model which is 10% more firm than the B6 I have. I also have a dual adjustable Viking shock coming in today so we have more testing to do. Once Anton and I figure out which ones we like the best, going to send to Erik so he can test out on his roads to confirm. If anyone else is interested in trying them out for testing purposes let me know. Only really need a couple of testers.

One thing that will piss me off is if this actually does help several of us on various roads, this could have been done two years ago. Not sure why I or someone else didn’t think of it. I wish I could do the same with the fronts but unless I want to take up welding, that’s not going to happen.

 

[azerik]

Yeah we'll get the rear all sorted and still have the pogo stick of a front. That's next on the menu. I have spoken to QA1 about building a front but they want a complete strut in order to get the measurements. I didn't want to spend the $100'ish in extra parts in order to put in another factory strut while they mock and build a custom strut. But a Koni front might be just enough to keep sanity.

@markboris did you pick up a full set of bump stops for these as well?

 

[Guss-E 2021]

Sorry for this long winded post. I wasn't sure even if changing out just the rear shocks would make a difference but it definitely does.

Don't be Mark. This was great. I fall under the my roads are mostly okay group but I still love the idea of make a good car even better. Saving this post for sure.

 

[markboris]

@markboris Do you still have the old GT springs in the attic?

Yes I do have both front and rear GTPE springs. I also have two sets of tires left from the many (at least 8) sets I have tested.

@markboris did you pick up a full set of bump stops for these as well?

I did pick up bump stops and I do have one front strut (it may be a magneride) if you want it to send to QA1 for measurements. I don't need it back.

 

[Guss-E 2021]

Are you doing your testing with both loaded and empty "truck beds" so to speak?

 

[A-A-Ron]

There are thousands of Mach-E owners that are very happy with the ride, then there are those that believe it is the worst riding car they have ever owned and then there are those in-between. One thing for sure, it has been a hot topic on this forum as evidence from one of the longest running threads we have ( #1 ).

There are so many variables with this issue and that's why I think we have a big discrepancy. Some owners with the magneride suspension love it and have no issues, others think it could definitely be improved, myself for starters. The non-magneride models are all different depending on standard battery, extended battery, RWD, AWD. Then we have the tires which really do make a difference on how the car rides as has been stated many times by owners, me included. Above all, there are the various types of roads everyone drives on. I have absolutely no roads anywhere within 2 hours of where I live that induce any bouncing and yet some owners have to drive over these types of roads every day. I can go on and on but these things have been beaten to death so I'm going to stop here.

I'm not any type of a suspension expert while many here are (Steve HuntingPudel for one) but wanted to set out to see what I could do to tame the bouncing of this car. I know if you put 6 or more cases of water in the cargo area, the bounce literally disappears. This tells me the car has very firm springs in the rear, as it should to handle the extra weight of a fully loaded car of passengers and cargo. However, when the car is not weighted down, over certain road conditions, it can bounce like the empty bed of a truck. I figured maybe what I could do is replace the springs with air bags and see how that goes. While I did have a great ride with a full air bag suspension, virtually no bounce, I had a lot of other issues that needed to be addressed in customizing brackets and spacers and after one month of doing this, I didn't feel like going at it any further ( #1 ). I could have gone the coil over route (KW make an excellent kit) but that is more on the expensive side for those who just want to try and soften their bucking pony driving to work.

Sticking with the OEM springs, the only other thing we can do to try and tame the ride is change out the shocks. Again, while I am not a suspension expert, I feel the shocks are not firm enough to settle the springs down fast enough. So, I set out to find shocks that would closely match our rear OEM's which I did and I'm testing them out with Anton (eidbanger) on his Premium with OEM wheels and tires. He does have aftermarket wheels and tires which actually make the ride a bit better but changed to the OEM's to keep it more fare since most people don't change their wheels and tires.

Last week, I posted on fitting and testing shocks in the bounce thread but thought maybe I should start a new thread on this subject ( #1,322 ) << Please read this post as it explains more about this project.
This post explains a little more about the particular shocks ( #1,325 )

Today, Anton had a bit of time so I went over to his place and installed the Koni's in his premium. Now, I am not use to Anton's car and he will be posting explaining in more detail how it rode and he will also have some data as he monitored each run with some type of motion app (not sure what it was). On the softest setting, they were worse than the OEM shocks. On the middle setting he said it was possiblely a bit better than OEM. Then went to the firmest setting and he had a huge smile on his face and said, my back end is barely bouncing. Again he will post here and explain in more detail with data but I know he would not let me take the shocks off the car. He wants to drive around with them for a week at which time I will go back down to his place and we will swap the Koni's for the Bilstein's.

On another note, we took my car out on the same stretch of bouncy road to see how the magneride did. With my car set to Unbridled, we both had a hard time finding a difference but decided if we had to pick, it would be the Koni's. Going over speed bumps at a slow speed, the Koni't definitely had the advantage as the rear went up, down and settled where as the magneride has a slight second bounce (which is why I think Ford needs to improve the tuning of the magneride VDM module).

Sorry for this long winded post. I wasn't sure even if changing out just the rear shocks would make a difference but it definitely does.

Both Anton and I will be adding to this thread as we do more testing. I think he may even post some charts off his motion app. He is backed up with work so don't expect him to post for at least a few days to a week.

I want to mention the Erik (azerik) is also working on some QA1 rear shocks and we are anxious to hear what his results are.

View attachment 95187

This is awesome. My wife claims the MME makes her far more motion sick than the X3 I had previously. It's the only thing she doesn't like about the car.

 

[markboris]

This is awesome. My wife claims the MME makes her far more motion sick than the X3 I had previously. It's the only thing she doesn't like about the car.

Keep fingers crossed Aaron.

 

[njb]

When people complained about the ride I was wondering what they were talking about. At first I found it to be acceptable to great. But then I found that stretch of road that made my car buck and bounce and I couldn't believe it. I have never had a sport car/sedan/suv do that.

So I'll be watching for the solution. Right now I'm avoiding that road which is doable but eventually I will find more like it I'm sure.

Thank you for putting in the work to resolve.

 

[markboris]

Are you doing your testing with both loaded and empty "truck beds" so to speak?

No, only empty. When the rear is "loaded" (just needs min 6 cases of water) the ride is ok. The issue as Lee said, the rear springs are very stiff to handle extra weight when loaded but the shocks are too soft for the stiff springs. This is less of a problem in the front as the springs are not nearly as stiff since you can't load up the front with as much weight. The bounciness of this issues is more in the back than in the front even though the front does have some we can only work on the back at this time.

 

[CAL465]

This is great guys. The after market tires made a difference in my Premium AWD. Changing the shocks will diffidently help on these crappy California roads and freeways. I can't wait to learn more once you done testing.

 

[kennethjk]

This is great guys. The after market tires made a difference in my Premium AWD. Changing the shocks will diffidently help on these crappy California roads and freeways. I can't wait to learn more once you done testing.

What after market tires did you get

 

[Avelli]

Yes Ken they can be. The Koni has a large round knob that fits over the top of the protruding stem. However that dial is too large to fit on the stem once the shock is installed. I took one of the Dials and cut it down into a square that any 1/2" or 13mm wrench can easily turn. In order to get your hands in there, you do need to lift up the car slightly so you have to use a floor jack but only a couple of inches. You place the now square knob on the top of the shock and with one hand you hold the knob down on the stem and the other using the wrench to adjust.

However, when we adjusted the Koni's, the closer we got to the most firm setting, the better the ride so I personally would not suggest anything less than that setting. And again, it only adjusts the rebound. The compression virtually stays the same throughout the entire adjustment.

Unfortunately I did not take any photos when I was installing or adjusting the the shocks on Anton's car but I will this weekend.

Below is a photo of one of the knobs I cut down and at first I made it into a T but I then realized that would not work. I could only adjust with a wrench so I also cut down the T part and made it a square but never took a photo of it. I am sure Anton can snap a photo or I will this weekend.

It's too bad there isn't a remote adjuster/extension option for the Konis, so you could have the knob in a pass-through to the trunk area. I love my coilover extensions in my wag

Koni does offer a flat steel knob for hard to reach areas.

If the yellows are running best at the top of the rebound spectrum, that suggests the adjustment window is not tuned for the application; not a bad thing, but gives hope that Koni can make a vehicle-specific application for the Mach-E (or set of applications, as I'm intrigued on how a Special Active shock would perform on a Mach-E)