Front Struts (Leaking)

[AnthemMike]

Anyone have issues with their stock front struts? If so, what mileage did they go bad at?

Yesterday at the hunting lease driving around I could hear a single clunk from the front driver side while on the back roads when going slow over stumps/rocks/bigger limbs etc. When I pulled in my driveway when I got home when I turned to go up the driveway it made the clunk again..I can only hear it at slow speeds.

I looked at the sway bar bushings, sway bar linkage, all the boots look good behind the wheel. The front strut on the driver side seemed to have been clean (no visible seepage/leaks just dusty). Everything looked good. I then took a hose and sprayed driver side strut and I saw the water beading off almost like it was hydrophobic. Passenger side stayed wet when I sprayed it.

I believe I have a small leak...62k on the truck 2021 F150 XLT SCREW. Is this common amongst these trucks around 60k? This truck doesn't do any heavy mudding, just the dirt rock roads and occasional mud when driving around the hunting lease or public hunting land. Pictures attached of each side to see the difference. Both pictures were taken within a second of spraying with water.

With the struts possibly leaking could they make a clunking sound? Ive tried to film it but kind of hard to do it by myself. I'm going to be ordering the bilstein 5100s here shortly and swap them out.

Thanks for any input/advice.

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[FaaWrenchBndr]

The shocks will make a clunk when they are blown. That shocking certainly junk…..haven’t seen one like that in a while.

 

[SpaceWhiteF150]

Make the switch to 5100s! They are great on mine!

 

[AnthemMike]

The shocks will make a clunk when they are blown. That shocking certainly junk…..haven’t seen one like that in a while.

Thanks.

I just checked the lower ball joints by jacking the truck up 2-3" and put a pipe underneath to lift up and zero noise so the lower BJ are good and solid. My guess is these shocks are just toast after 62k. I've never liked them anyways...I had 5100s on my RAM and loved them. But now I'll put them on this rig.

 

[Fox146]

I thought for a second ,” wow that thing really let go” . Then i reread and you sprayed them with the hose. Normally dirt will accumulate around any seepage unless they are really bad and you’ll see drips. Seems a bit early for them to give up but as others have said aftermarket ones are a lot better so why not change them

 

[AnthemMike]

I thought for a second ,” wow that thing really let go” . Then i reread and you sprayed them with the hose. Normally dirt will accumulate around any seepage unless they are really bad and you’ll see drips. Seems a bit early for them to give up but as others have said aftermarket ones are a lot better so why not change them

Yeah, when I checked them I didn't see any seepage there was dirt in them but no visible leaks or seepage that you'd normally see. So when I sprayed them I noticed that and it appears some of the fluid has had to get on it. So I'm going to replace them.

 

[Fox146]

Ford can build some awesome suspensions (Gt350, GT, Raptors, etc) but their normal ones are a bit lackluster. Not sure why other than $$ savings

 

[TeamCanada]

I put the Ford Performance Bilstiens on at 25K kilometers and it made a huge difference in handling. Love the change.

 

[AnthemMike]

Finally got time to put the 5100s in yesterday. I set them at the 1" setting (#3) as I still wanted to park the truck in the garage and more importantly wanted to keep some rake for when I do haul heavier loads.

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