Hey Folks!

Just wanted to share an issue I had this morning after installing my 5100s on my 2013 FX4 a couple days ago. Hoping to get some feedback to confirm that I'm taking the right course of action before I waste any money. (Took long enough to convince my wife to get new shocks in the first place so money is tight)

Back Story
Watched a few videos & found a nice DIY install thread from this forum that I followed closely. Removed/disassembled stock struts, starting with the drivers side first. Had some trouble getting the strut out at first and noticed that the top of the shock mount looked slightly bent to one side but couldn't tell 100% if it was actually damaged. Assembled new strut assembly only to realize the lower spring seat was upside down. Had to compress the spring again ( A LOT) this time to disassemble but reassembled the strut making sure it was seated correctly on both top and bottom. When loosening the spring compressors this time (using 4 like recomended) one of the spring compressors came off and the spring bulged really bad to one side. It was sketchy for sure but after re attaching the spring compressor everything evened out and was able to finish the installation. (Passenger side was painless just FYI)
Torqued everything to spec, and took a 5-10 mile back road test drive & the ride felt smooth, without any vibration or noise to report. Parked it - knowing I would need to schedule a front end alignment to complete the job.

Problem
Fast forward 24 hours to this morning. Opened the door to get something out of the cab, and the minute I sat in the drivers seat the whole driver's front end collapsed! Scared the crap out of me! After jacking it up and removing the tire i could see that my spring had completed snapped. (sheered away at the second coil!) Asked Stage 3 motorsports and they said they never seen a spring snap like that before. Have seen/heard that ford shocks/springs can fail and the truck has 110k miles on it - being abused once in a while. (just being honest)

Gameplan?
Assuming the shock itself isn't bent or damaged, I should order 2 new factory front springs. (was looking at Moogs?) Not trusting the driver's side shock mount, I'm assuming I should order a pair of new ones as well. The lower spring mounts seem fine but the dust covers are cracked and I doubt I can remove them with out destroying them...just sucks because those look surprisingly expensive for a plastic part. Replacing All of the stock strut assembly hardware is adding up fast so wondering what I can reuse or if I should replace all of it?

Costly mistake on my end for sure, but counting it as a mixed blessing considering it could have failed on the road causing an accident. Thank for reading this and any pointers, questions or comments are welcomed.

Driver's side with lower spring perch upside down compared to stock passenger strut (Not sure if top mount looks bent slightly?)

Snap!

 

Take a look at this thread https://www.f150forum.com/f38/bilste...talled-474109/
Your first step is to take it apart and inspect the potential damage, as you said, it could have been much worse.
See if Bilstein will replace that one strut for liability reasons and order the new springs from them as they will work with their struts.

 

Nothing unusual about a spring breaking on this gen truck. Just replace them in pairs or you might get a lopsided truck. I wouldn't worry about the plastic, all it is, is a dust shield. If your ocd is as bad as mine I'd replace both of them considering you have to take it all back apart to replace the springs. They are a bit pricy so it's your call of if you replace 1 or both or leave them as is. Here's a link to them https://www.tascaparts.com/oem-parts...LXY4LWZsZXg%3D
.

 

Thanks for the replies & links!

Was wondering about the Bilstein Springs to complement the 5100s but think they might be out of my price range at the moment. Will Def check into them some more though!

Thanks for providing the tasca website for the dust shields man they are spendy. Hoping I can salvage the old ones or might just go commando...
Really dreading compressing the springs again but oh well...fingers crossed the shock isn't damaged!
Below is a photo to show off the new trail grapps:

 

OEM springs are sufficient. You won't gain anything buying anything else. Post the vin# and I'll give you the part number for them. I seriously doubt there's any damage to the shocks.

 

If you have an air compressor and impact or an electric impact do yourself a favor and rent a powerbuilt spring compressor from autozone. Just remember it is a reverse thread to compress the tool. My buddy and I just installed my 5100’s a couple weeks ago and tried the small compressor and it was bending bad when we started to compress it. Went back to autozone and rented the big spring compressor and mad the job much easier.

 

I've seen a couple post about coils breaking. It was mostly on northern trucks that have plenty rust but I guess the stress of compressing it so much due to installing the spring perch backwards did it in. I would for sure change both sides. As for the dust cover a razor knife and 5 mins of your time would remove them with ease.

Wayne

 

Thanks for the suggestions regarding the coil compressor, the MOOG replacement springs are heavy duty with thicker coils that are closer together so the regular spring compressors I'm borrowing from a friend definitely won't work! Might check to see what the shop would charge to assemble the strut for me to save time finding/renting the right tool.

Found the MOOG replacement springs on advanced auto website then googled part number and they were even cheaper on amazon...almost too cheap? Advanced was charging $142.99 for a set & amazon was charging $75.78 for the set both with free shipping.

MOOG also has the upper strut mount & spring seat insulator about another $20 bucks cheaper on Amazon so going to give them a shot...
Thanks again for all your help! will post a few photos and follow up once the install is complete!

 

Just an update -

Truck has been on jack stands now for over 3 weeks. Moog replacement springs came in but only one of the top strut caps/seats came. (other was confirmed lost in shipping...sucks) Hoping to have that by Monday so I can get this finished. The alignment shop told me they aren't supposed to disassemble/reassemble struts separately without the vehicle present but "off the record" could potentially help me out. They said around 100 bucks but I don't know if thats total or per strut. I'm sure its a liability for them and I didn't press the issue at the time. Wish I could rent the powerbuilt as suggested above but the only autostore around still renting tools is autozone & they closest one only has the mcpherson strut compressor which looks essentially like the same spring compressors i borrowed from a friend.

NEw Gameplan -
* Take the (good) strut to shop and ask them to disassemble/reassemble with new spring and strut cap/seat.
* Install strut assembly on the passenger side again & snug everything up. Let her down and torque to spec.
* Unbolt/disassemble strut with broken spring - Inspect shock for damage & need to source a bilstein provided washer that I had lost during previous install. Not sure how important it is but want to avoid risk.
* Take driver's strut assembly to shop to reassemble once part comes in, reinstall snug, torque ect & take it back to shop for the alignment.
* Load up some photos and report back with how everything went!

Thanks again so much for all that have helped me!

Cheers

JP

 

Hey Again,

Local alignment shop assembled the fresh MOOG heavy duty springs, strut caps & rubber seals I ordered. Ended up ordering the missing strut assemebley parts from partsgeek.com, wished I would have ordered from them in the first place. Thought I was slick saving a few bucks shopping the parts out on amazon, but that backfired into a shipping nightmare...oh well...lesson learned!

I installed the struts & torqued everything to spec without more than the usual busted knuckle. Then back to the alignment shop to finish the job. The 5100's & rear Icons work extremely well together. Noticeably stiffer but not harsh even with the HD springs which I'm really happy about!. The Trail Graps are a little grabby around turns on the street, but I'm writing that off as being brand new vs an alignment issue. Below are some photos after a little romping on some unpaved roads I found on the way home!

I'm a fan of the raked look but this photo makes me consider if the 1.5 setting would have been a little better...oh well i'm not trying to take her apart again for a while!

3 inch rear blocks, and rear Icon 2.0's to handle the extra lift. So far handling is vastly better than before!

All I need now is the hide away winch, spray in bed liner, tuner & a blower but doubt I'll get all that for father's day LOL

I'm not a suspension expert, not sure if the photo is legible, but appears that only the toe was off on the DS front. Not a master tech but the shop said I did a good job? Assuming that machine says its green than its fine? I have a 6 month warranty on the alignment so should I take it back to have them dial it in some more? Seems to handle pretty good but the truck did have 110k miles on the stock suspension hard to tell if it handling could get any better!