I have an 06 Gt with 60,000 miles and OEM suspension. I have a set of Vogtland sport lowering springs, a aluminum on the car adjustable pan hard bar and new Ford "black stud" upper mounts. I am about to order some of the Koni STR.T struts and shocks tomorrow from Strano. I want to build up the front strut assemblies ahead of time but I don't have new boots and from what I understnd from the local Ford parts dept. that they don't sell them separately. Are they needed and if so, is there a source for them besides Ford?
Thanks
Jim

 

I had the same problem. Ford won't sell you the front bumpstops or dustboots without a whole new front strut. If you don't need the front strut and don't want to pay $200+ for each one you can try ebay. On ebay there is a seller called Galpin Motors and they sell new take off OE parts fairly inexpensively. Buy a set of used front used struts with the boots and mounts and just use the boots and bumpstops. You could also try newtakeoff.com, but they are more expensive.

 

I ran mine w/o the little bumpers on the shock rod or boots for about 6 months....no problem. I had them apart again within 6 months to swap another set of springs and installed the little bumpers and dust boots at that time. You'll be ok without but I guess it would be smart to retain them if you live in a wet/dirty climate.

 

You also need the plastic "wrapper" off the old coils.

 

Where is this plastic wrapper? I have an exploded view from Ford and it does not show one that I can see.
Thanks,
Jim

 

The plastic "wrapper" is actually a rubber sleeve. You need to peel it off the old strut spring and put it on the new. So unless you get those, the dust boots, and the white bump stops on the dampers, then you won't be able to build it up ahead of time. I did this exact install a few weeks ago. It's no biggie to knock it out in a few hours. Mine took about 2-3 hours and was pretty simple.

 

It goes around one end of the spring, I think it was the bottom.

 

Yup, it's the bottom. It's gonna be glued on so it will take a little bit of force to get it off.

 

Thanks guys! I asked them in at the dealership if there was a rubber/plastic spring seat for the struts and they told me no, but I bet it comes glued to their stock spring as mentioned above, so it is not considered a seperate PN. Oh well, I'l just build them up as I go. I have to drive about 25 miles to an alighnment shop....think that will be a problem?
Thanks,
Jim

 

You ought to be able to DIY the alignment close enough to go a good bit more than 25 miles.

You'll need a flat place to set up on, and something like this . . .



or even this . . .



to check camber (and even caster if you're willing to do a bit more work and some math).

You can set up a pair of parallel strings to check toe (measure between the string and the wheel rim rather than to the tire sidewall or tread).

Making adjustments is just "wrench work".

If you're interested, I have a more detailed write-up either here (work) or at home, maybe both places.


Norm