Monroe or any current model New Strut Bad out the box

[EdgeAWD]

Warning to check.  Ordered New oe spetrum struts, Monroe for the front of the Edge.  Went to install them, did not think to actually check the gas charge on the struts.  These are not quick struts.  Took a strut out, opened the left side box, the new strut was dead with no gas charge left in it.  The only plus was it was not leaking on me.  Opened the other box, the other strut was dead out of the box.  Now I have the car sitting in the garage, trying to find different struts.

 

I have never had bad struts out of the box.  I have 95k on another oe spetrum strut, those have no issues.  Imagine a quick strut.  You cannot even tell if the strut is dead as the spring is on it.  Kyb may be a better brand but I usually do not have an issue with Monro like this.   

[Blk22Edge]

34 minutes ago, EdgeAWD said:

Warning to check.  Ordered New oe spetrum struts, Monroe for the front of the Edge.  Went to install them, did not think to actually check the gas charge on the struts.  These are not quick struts.  Took a strut out, opened the left side box, the new strut was dead with no gas charge left in it.  The only plus was it was not leaking on me.  Opened the other box, the other strut was dead out of the box.  Now I have the car sitting in the garage, trying to find different struts.

 

I have never had bad struts out of the box.  I have 95k on another oe spetrum strut, those have no issues.  Imagine a quick strut.  You cannot even tell if the strut is dead as the spring is on it.  Kyb may be a better brand but I usually do not have an issue with Monro like this.   

Monro quality has gone down the tubes. They used to be so good but we don't even use them at my shop anymore.

[EdgeAWD]

Yes their tubes have issues.  The ones on my sedan are really good.  These had made in usa stamped on them.  I am usually happy when I see that.  I have been dealing with noise and a squatting front end for a while.  It will eventually trash the expensive tires on the car.  The ones on the car are at about 60k.  Usually you have reduced performance but frankly not enough to worry about on a Edge Explorer unless you are tracking it.  I have no fluid leaks out of these.  

 

Some said fcs are ok.  Some said kyb are good.  I had kyb, those where very good on a taurus.  Usually when I install struts, I get a ton of mileage out of them, do not notice much of a difference.  I have had excellent experiences with sachs but they are not made for this application that I know of.

 

Yes, taking the spring apart is a pain but it pays off if you get 95k out of them.  The springs on my ford sedan frankly show no signs of squat, give, or handling issues.  I do wonder about the quality of the quick strut springs but you end up in a position where it is such a pain that you are almost willing to deal with it.

 

Do not buy cheap quick struts, that is a mistake.  Those springs are junk.  

[garycrist]

If you like KYB, you will love Bilstein. Now if they had Koni for my ST.......

FYI the High pressure gas shock helps tame the spring. It fools your butt

into thinking you have a softer ride from "sport springs". The downside is,

it is easy to die on a wash-board dirt road due to loss of control! 

It was a local trip for me to the KYB when I lived in Cali. I had all kinds of KYB stuff.

[EdgeAWD]

This is  warranty situation.  This is a stock, limited, awd edge. They have fcs quick struts which you may not like.  I was able disassemble them.  The oe spetrums are have no gas charge left at 60k.  This is not a performance application.  I wonder how good the spring and strut bearing is on the fcs.  The bearings are moog, they seem to be good still.  

 

Edited 2 hours ago by EdgeAWD

[STBEAST]

 A lot of changes from the Ford Edge Sport to the ST. They stiffened the front springs by 10%, the rear springs by 20%. They went from a twin tube to a monotube shock. Not sure of the brand, but a big performance boost! Does anyone know what brand they use on a stock ST?

Edited Wednesday at 03:57 PM by STBEAST

[EdgeAWD]

These are interesting changes they made to the performance aspect of this platform.  The pan is use worldwide in many applications, many of which are high performance.  In my case, I have a stock Edge.  The struts thus far are a massive improvement  Taking the monroe oe spectrum struts apart, pushing the tube to the floor, the did not return, they where dead.  This is at 60k.  I have 95k on another pair in a sendan, they are still going strong.  Even with old tires, it corners really well.  I am tracking a front end noise that may be the new sway bar bushings.  They where greased but I may have to get an energy suspension bushing with a geasable joint. 

 

Do not know at if this is the noise but it needs to go way. I have greasable energy suspension on another ford sedan, it was making horrible noise.  I replaced the sway bar links with those, it is dead quiet.  The whole front end has been really good over 95k miles.  Double wish bone.  

 

So the fcs quick struts are performing very well on a test drive.  No plowing with braking.  I need to narrow down this noise, the whole front end was replaced.  However, with the quality of parts, one needs to proceed with caution.  I replace a failed anchor trans mount at 12k, complete garbage.  DO NOT buy them.  It was riding on the mounting bolt, talk about vibrations in the drivers seat.  

 

Everyone can say do oem.  I use a lot of oem parts.  I wonder if the existing anchor engine mount really has hydralic fluid in it.  I put a jack under the oil pan but the vibration at idle did not change.  I do know I would never buy another junk anchor mount.