Clunking sound on Gen 3 too

[FordTechOne]

Damn it. I think I am going to call my service advisor back and ask him to please do both rear instead of just the one.

They are only supposed to replace shocks that are exhibiting the noise. There is no benefit to replacing a shock that doesn’t have the issue.

 

[ELmx479]

While that might be technically right I'm having all 4 of mine replaced no questions. They already did both rears.

Clearly all of them Covid built shocks are junk and it’s a matter of time until you need all replaced so why delayed it and frustrate the customer

 

[SurfRaptor]

While that might be technically right I'm having all 4 of mine replaced no questions. They already did both rears.

Clearly all of them Covid built shocks are junk and it’s a matter of time until you need all replaced so why delayed it and frustrate the customer

I’m in the same mindset here. All the shocks are bad at this point. Or at least either both fronts or both rears.
Again the service manager and tech could not hear any clunking and told me there was nothing to repair until I gave them the SSM number. I’m pretty sure at that point they just looked at the most common fix in the computer and went with that. I only say this because I stopped in at 3pm and they closed at 6. I’m not sure what magic happened in those hours.

 

[relak]

I’m in the same mindset here. All the shocks are bad at this point. Or at least either both fronts or both rears.
Again the service manager and tech could not hear any clunking and told me there was nothing to repair until I gave them the SSM number. I’m pretty sure at that point they just looked at the most common fix in the computer and went with that. I only say this because I stopped in at 3pm and they closed at 6. I’m not sure what magic happened in those hours.

Tbh most dealers say they don’t hear anything because they don’t know what to look for. It’s usually a junior tech that just takes it for a quick test drive in the lot and when he can’t hear anything because he hasn’t driven it long enough or in the right conditions, he’ll just say “I can’t hear anything, this raptor is awesome”.

It’s not until you give them the SSM they know they need to go a specific route to hear the issue and even then they don’t always use chassis ears.

My dash cam actually caught the tech saying he heard the clunk but thought it was normal and when they tried to say the SSM didn’t apply because it was normal, I had to get the foreman involved who ultimately said to just replace the rears even though none of them used chassis ears to determine the root cause.

 

[FordTechOne]

While that might be technically right I'm having all 4 of mine replaced no questions. They already did both rears.

Clearly all of them Covid built shocks are junk and it’s a matter of time until you need all replaced so why delayed it and frustrate the customer

“Technically” is what matters. All shocks are not faulty, and the shocks that have the issue exhibit the noise at low miles. That is why the dealers are instructed to use chassis ears to isolate the affected shock(s). If they were all faulty, warranty wouldn’t be paying for dealers to diagnose each shock.

 

[SurfRaptor]

“Technically” is what matters. All shocks are not faulty, and the shocks that have the issue exhibit the noise at low miles. That is why the dealers are instructed to use chassis ears to isolate the affected shock(s). If they were all faulty, warranty wouldn’t be paying for dealers to diagnose each shock.

I would assume that all shocks that came off the assembly line and the manufacturing process during this period are in fact faulty, given what we know about the tolerances being too loose. I'm not sure how one side of my truck would get a working shock and the other a bad one. If they were all listed as faulty, Fox/Ford would be buying them back, and they simply don't want to lose that money in the process. I think this is a follow the money situation. The less they have to replace, the more money they save.

The least I can do is politely ask for the rears to be replaced, but I can swear I hear it from the front sometimes also. The last thing I want to do is have to make 4 different trips back to the dealer each time I hear this noise for each shock. Especially since these are on backorder. It would take me 6 months to get the clunk to go away. My JKU with 240k miles on it didn't sound like this, which makes it frustrating.

 

[FordTechOne]

I would assume that all shocks that came off the assembly line and the manufacturing process during this period are in fact faulty, given what we know about the tolerances being too loose. I'm not sure how one side of my truck would get a working shock and the other a bad one. If they were all listed as faulty, Fox/Ford would be buying them back, and they simply don't want to lose that money in the process. I think this is a follow the money situation. The less they have to replace, the more money they save.

Your assumption is incorrect. Not every shock manufactured during the affected timeframe is defective. The majority of owners repoing this issue have only required one of two shocks to be replaced to completely resolve the issue. If all shocks were faulty, the noise would be present in every shock during diagnosis. Which would mean warranty would be paying for hours of unnecessary diagnostic time. They’re not going to do that.

The least I can do is politely ask for the rears to be replaced, but I can swear I hear it from the front sometimes also. The last thing I want to do is have to make 4 different trips back to the dealer each time I hear this noise for each shock. Especially since these are on backorder. It would take me 6 months to get the clunk to go away. My JKU with 240k miles on it didn't sound like this, which makes it frustrating.

It’s a known concern with a clear repair direction. The dealer is instructed to check each shock and replace those that exhibit the noise issue. If they send shocks back that aren’t defective they’re going to get a warranty chargeback.

 

[SurfRaptor]

Your assumption is incorrect. Not every shock manufactured during the affected timeframe is defective. The majority of owners repoing this issue have only required one of two shocks to be replaced to completely resolve the issue. If all shocks were faulty, the noise would be present in every shock during diagnosis. Which would mean warranty would be paying for hours of unnecessary diagnostic time. They’re not going to do that.

It’s a known concern with a clear repair direction. The dealer is instructed to check each shock and replace those that exhibit the noise issue. If they send shocks back that aren’t defective they’re going to get a warranty chargeback.

Ok I will leave it as is and hope that the tech did the correct diagnosis. Always appreciate professional input.

 

[taquitos]

So I have truck that falls within the dates for this. Clunking is very clearly coming from the rear shocks. Took it to the dealer. They heard it and confirmed it was coming from the rear shocks. They then compared it to another 22. It made the same noise so they told me it was normal. I told them if two trucks fall within the SSM window you can’t compare them for likeness. That got nowhere. Kind of frustrated with this dealer, but they are better than the others in the area. Had a vent register that was missing parts. They didn’t fully reinstall the trim around it. Not hard to snap back in, but still… also had the wiper motor recall. One wiper ended up being put back on at a much different angle. Little things, but still have pride in your work.

A couple of thoughts on how Ford could have gotten to this place that would explain it being seemingly universal:
1. Bypass shocks have been known to make noise. The engineers behind the suspension may have viewed this as a thing that would be expected. It would be interesting to hear their take on this. I’m an ME so if that was their intention I’d find the whole situation less annoying because that’s a path I’ve gone down. Unfortunately that means I know this becomes a grey area because the intended functionality would have included the noise. If the shocks don’t clunk anymore it would also be interesting to know why. There’s no guarantee something hasn’t been dumbed down to get the noise to stop. If they don’t clunk anymore and are identical in performance then why not do it that way in the first place? We all would love a bypass that’s entirely quiet.
2. Fox messed up the programming for some part in the valving and didn’t catch it for a year. I would find this odd because you always should verify that the part made by a production program is functional and new generations are a slow process. If this were to be the case, any truck in they window should have the correct part installed no questions asked.

At any rate, I would bet money that just about every truck in the SSM date range clunks.

I would love to take a clunking shock and tear it apart to compare to one that doesn’t, but that would be expensive just to learn something. If I were to ever figure it out and it was a machined part, I have the means to make these sorts of things super easy so it would be a fun project.

 

[relak]

Holy balls! I got my ‘22 back today after getting the rear shocks replaced (fronts already replaced previously) and I have to say this thing drives like a completely different truck. No longer rattles like golf balls are in the bed of the truck and it feels much more solid. I’m finally able to enjoy my truck after a year of ownership. For those dealing with the same issue, there is hope!