VBCWIZARD

Here is the conclusion of all of my recent efforts. The strange noise that I encountered when I started all of this was coming from the BALL JOINTS. That was the last thing that I changed on my SUV. So here is the items that were changed in chronological order. Struts, shocks, strut bumper, spring insulator, break pads and rotors, upper strut bracket, and ball joints. All of these items are wear items so it doesn't hurt so bad when I tally up the prices for them. It sums up to around $650. Luckily I was able to do all the labor. Also I changed the thermostat, radiator hoses, and heating core hoses. I flushed the antifreeze and lubed all of the suspension parts when I was doing all of this. Next project is in the spring of 2010. By then I will change all of the belts, PVC, IDC, MAF sensor etc... B.T.W. I still have to do an alignment.

Has anyone ever replaced the rear bushing on the front lower control arm? I would like to know what pressing tool was used and if the control arm needs to be taken off from the steering knuckle for this type of service. I've just replaced the ball joints and I don't want to damage the ball joint boots. I've never been able to separate a control arm from a steering knuckle without damaging the grease boots. I know that I could just get another control arm, ball joint, and bushing from rockauto.com for around a hundred bucks. I would like to keep as much of the original Ford parts as possible and not make a big project out of this. After I replaced the ball joints I noticed a tear in this bushing. Search on http://www.rockauto.com for MOOG Part # K80400/#80399{Control Arm w/Ball Joint} Frt Susp; Lower; LH; Incl. bushings. Thank you!

I finally found out what that plastic thing was. It is part of the “STRUT-MATE BEARING PLATE”. Here are some pictures:

This part may have been placed in the wrong sequence when I had the SUV serviced by the dealership when it was under warranty. I took it in over 2 years ago for a squeaking suspension noise. The service person did not realize that the sway bar link kit was making the noise. This person may have taken the struts out and took off the springs and boots. I've taken it to them three times for the same thing. All of the service people were clueless as to what was making the noise. I did not think to use the lemon law because I loved my Escape and I saw that they were trying to fix the problem. The last thing they did was to resurface my rear rotors even though the noise originated from the front. Luckily, I found info on this problem on the internet and I changed the sway bar link kit myself. I did not want to wait a week for them to try to fix it again. Can anyone tell me if this thing belongs at the bottom of the strut boot? Thanks.

I took off the struts again to have another look. It is possible that this broken plastic piece is from the bottom of the strut boot and not from the top. I took the broken pieces and place them over that location and they seem to fit. However now it seems that I need to buy these boots. I reassemble every thing and it seem like the noise has subsided a bit. Any ideas or first hand experience would be helpful.

Can anyone please tell me what is this plastic strut part from my 2005 Escape? It came either in between Part 7 (Bearing) and 6 (Bearing Plate) or in between Part 6 and 9 (Dust Boot). I'm not sure of the order because when I removed the strut nut (Part #1) the spring shot out and so did the upper pieces. I replaced the struts and shocks with Monro Sensa-trac and the ride was immediately stiffer. I also installed a new Bumper (part # 10) and a upper coil spring insulator (part # 5). I will change the break pads and rotors this weekend (ProStop Ceramic and Duralast). I am doing this to get rid of this new noise that recently started whenever I ride over a rough roads (56K miles). The next thing that I may try after doing this is the front wheel bearings. The parts person at the Ford dealership was was clueless when I showed him these broken plastic pieces. His computer screen did not show any thing similar to this when I was ordering the bumper and upper coil spring insulator. B.t.w if you are so inclined to replace your struts then it would be worth it t get something like this... Harbor Freight MacPherson Strut Spring Compressor Set Thanks!