How to Replace Rear Shocks 07-14 Ford Edge

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Hi All,

 

With all due respect to Macbwt's videos, I think this is the most straightforward video tutorial on how to do this job. It's short and to the point and does not leave anything out (except, of course, the banging/heating/swearing and surprises of the big rusted nuts and bolts below.) It gives a good look at the steps needed and if you're lucky enough to have the right tools, it sets reasonable expectations that it can be accomplished in a relatively short time.

I'll be doing it this week after I borrow a breaker bar and sockets for the big bolt. He makes the upper bolts and panel preparation look simple. Wish me luck!

 

After seeing it, I thought it would be good to share if you haven't seen it.

 

[bb56]

I just installed KYB's in the rear of my 2011 AWD Limited. I have the power liftgate so there were some extra steps involved than in this video. A few things I learned:

 

1. The liftgate motor can be removed without disconnecting the battery. The service manual says to remove fuse 9 in the fusebox under the left dash. After doing that, I could disconnect it safely. The service manual says that it needs to be calibrated after reassembly. (My lift struts were in great shape so it was rock solid open without the motor attached.)

2. I only needed to remove the rear most plastic body pin holding the side panel to the floor. The shock mount is pretty close to the rear so you don't have to move the side panels out much.

3. I really need a 1/2" ratchet. The video says a 24 mm and 22 mm sockets are needed, but my 15/16" and 13/16" box end wrenches fit perfectly and that's all I had that would fit.  The bottom bolts have a lot of thread lock on them so every turn requires a lot of force. I didn't need to use heat or anything. The bolt/nut is situated so I could use my foot and stand on the end of the wrench (about a foot long which gives me approx 160 ft lbs) and they moved enough to start the laborious process of step - move the wrench one flat, step again, etc. The bolt had a wrench that jammed against the floor so this worked well.

4. The KYB's came with this ridiculous instruction sheet full of pictograms. I've done shocks many times, but you may as well have given me an emoji dictionary. None of it made sense. One area of confusion was the upper thrust washers were different sizes - one slightly larger than the other. I have no idea which way they need to go (larger one, then rubber grommet, then thru the body, then rubber grommet, then smaller one, then the bigger nut. I hope that's right.)

5. Torquing the upper one by myself was impossible. The upper shell underneath would turn, so I used my 1/4" impact in one hand and held the shell with the other until it would not go anymore. The lock nut was easy with two wrenches.

The first shock took me 2 hours with the manual wrenching and initial tear down of the interior and lift motor. The second one took an hour with the manual wrenching then the reassembly of the interior. The final step was to initialize the liftgate motor. I closed the rear hatch manually like the service manual said. Replacing fuse 9 was no picnic. It is directly in line with the hood release cable so the little fuse puller would not go in straight.  I fiddled with it for about 10 minutes before I used a 3" section of 1/4" dowel with a channel cut in the end to fit the minifuse. It fir snug so it was in in 2 minutes.  At that point, I hit the dash button and the hatch opened, then dropped down a few inches. Pushed the button again and it closed properly, the next push opened perfectly.

 

I need some better sockets and wrenches if I'm going to continue this level maintenance on my Edge. It just turned 100K miles and rides like a dream.