What a world of difference!
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 520
Likes: 80
From: Berkshire, NY
What a world of difference!
The '07 just turned the 70K mark and lately it's been giving me fits with occasional front end shaking. It could go many days as smooth as butter at speeds of 90 MPH, then the next day start shaking almost uncontrollably at 45-50 MPH on the same roads. Tires and balance were ruled out. So I then replaced inner and outer tie rods and the steering shaft... Better, but the problem was still there so I said f**k it and decided to replace everything. I ordered new Rancho quick lift struts, Moog bearing hubs, Moog lower control arms, Moog upper control arms and for good measure, new Moog end links.
All the ball joints were like floppy fish with noticeable play in a couple of them. The bushings were definitely weak in the control arms. I could have saved some coin and rebuilt the LCA's but being short on time I just replaced the entire assemblies. I cleaned and regreased the IWE's as I have had no issues with 4WD engagement. The end links could have been re-used, but the new ones are greaseable. I did re-use the poly link bushings, as I had replaced them along with poly sway bar bushings. Oh, I also had to buy a new torque wrench that could read 350 lbs and some new deep well impact sockets. I hate when that happens
Anyway, the moral of the story is that she's once again tight and right, and smooth as silk. I've had the truck for little over a year now and put 20K miles on it. It never felt the same as my '05 (that I had rebuilt), so I knew what was coming...
All the ball joints were like floppy fish with noticeable play in a couple of them. The bushings were definitely weak in the control arms. I could have saved some coin and rebuilt the LCA's but being short on time I just replaced the entire assemblies. I cleaned and regreased the IWE's as I have had no issues with 4WD engagement. The end links could have been re-used, but the new ones are greaseable. I did re-use the poly link bushings, as I had replaced them along with poly sway bar bushings. Oh, I also had to buy a new torque wrench that could read 350 lbs and some new deep well impact sockets. I hate when that happens
Anyway, the moral of the story is that she's once again tight and right, and smooth as silk. I've had the truck for little over a year now and put 20K miles on it. It never felt the same as my '05 (that I had rebuilt), so I knew what was coming...
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 21
Likes: 1
Great job. Did the same to mine in July and you are right... Made a huge improvement in the ride. I have had my 04 FX4 since it was new, and I don't remember it riding this nice when it was new. Love my Rancho quick lift struts... Highly recommend them to anyone.
Ron
Ron