I’m stumped… I traded my 97 F-150 last month for a 2004 F-150 and went to order some shocks to add to my front leveling kit and I keep getting the wrong part… I have a coil over system! Was there a change somewhere or am I missing something? I believe that I have a heavy duty but nobody ask me when I price shocks… What’s up with this???

 

It's definately shocks.

 

Thats what I thought until I brought home some Monroe Reflex shocks... In no way do they look alike. I pulled the coil over system out and there is no match... Back to the parts place and they say there computers are from the 1980's... I did hear something about "heavy duty" somewhere so this is the point of this post. Anyone else have this issue???

 

2003 was the last year for the torsion bar setup as far as i knew. computers from the 80s??? lol what do they store there parts list in those huge 5" floppy discs??

 

Thats what he said to me on the phone ... From what I understand, even the fellows at NAPA had some problems getting the right number. They confirmed the proper "shock or strut" has a plate on the top and another towards the bottom as if it was ready to accept a coil spring: Of course at a hefty $100 bucks a piece instead of $44 they don't have them in stock. So were back to the question: Shock or Strut???

 

There are several shocks for you on ebay.

 

had to be shocks, struts are for cars. ive never seen a truck with a strut.

 

If you want to be technical, an '04+ F150 has a strut. A strut is a shock with an integral spring perch.

 

Technically it's a coilover shock. A strut pulls double-duty by taking the place of the upper control arm. A coilover shock is not the same thing as a strut.

 

I see that I got several of you to chime in on this thread ... I was torn between pulling my hair out and slappin' my computers monitor.

Whatever you do call it, its certanily not the shock part # that was told to me by 3 differant shops that I called. So why was I given the wrong info in the first place? Who knows!!!

I will settel for calling it a coil over, and already hit the credit union to pay for these bad boys. I hope the investment will pay off in ride and handling for my labor, and a few cuss words to boot!

I just wanted to know why all the shops gave me the wrong info...

 

Several vehicles use struts and upper and lower control arms, Hondas most notably. '03+ full frame Fords have upper and lower control arms with a strut up front too.

 

I beg to differ.... If the vehicle uses a double wishbone suspension, whether it uses a torsion bar or a coilover or a separate coil spring and shock, it's not called a strut front suspension in my book.

Here's a typical MacPherson strut suspension:


Now, while the '05 Honda Accord may call theirs a strut, IMHO it still falls into the 'coilover' department in my book.


From the Monroe web site http://www.monroe.com/tech_support/t...idecontrol.asp :
Therefore if it does not utilize the shock as the upper positioning member, it's not a strut suspension, regardless of what 'the book' may call it.

-Joe