What struts for 2005 Five Hundred

Do you guys have any suggestions on what struts to buy for a 2005 Ford Five Hundred SE FWD? I see that RockAuto sells Motorcraft and Sachs (Super Touring) for the front. It looks like they only sell Motorcraft for the rears.

For the Sachs fronts, they have 2 different lefts (312482, 312481) and 2 different rights (312484, 312483). So which combo should I buy if I go with Sachs?

The two different part numbers would be for FWD versus AWD.
The AWD suspension is approximately 1 inch higher.

If they don't specify the difference on the site, you should probably call them to be sure you order the correct set.

FWD rear struts are 'normal'.
AWD rear struts are Nivomat self-adjusting struts. About $300 per strut.

Thanks for the response.

As far as I can tell, here are the choices offered from RockAuto for my 2005 Ford Five Hundred SE FWD (or at least that is what became available after I chose my model):

Monroe 72255 (front right), Monroe 72256 (front left)
Monroe 71120 (rear left or rear right)

Motorcraft AST269 (front right), Motorcraft AST267 (front left)
Motorcraft AST235 (rear right), Motorcraft AST236 (rear right)

KYB 334640 (front right; FWD; Exc. Self Leveling Rear Suspension; Front Right
FWD; w/ Self Leveling Rear; Front Right), KYB 334641 (front left; FWD; w/ Self Leveling Rear; Front Left FWD; Exc. Self Leveling Rear Suspension; Front Left) - this was confusing...they seem to be for both self leveling, and not...

Sachs 312482 (front left), Sachs 312481 (front left), Sachs (312483 (front right), Sachs 312484 (front right)

Bill

Ask your local dealer for pricing...
And make sure to note the part numbers.

And then go with the Motorcraft parts from the options you list above.

At least that is the route I would take.

I agree. I will probably just go with Motorcraft replacements. I am gonna buy the rears and install them first. I have a rattle in the rear of my car somewhere and I think new rear shocks might help.

As a side note, I think that my parking brake cable might be rattling, so I temporarily zip tied it to the bushings to see if that fixes the problem.

My rear sway bar could also be the culprit. I was not impressed with how easily the sway bar moved. Are the end links supposed to have so much movement in them? I was able to easily move them with my hand. It's no wonder the car doesn't handle that well.

I have 107k miles on the car now, so I think it is time for some suspension fixes.

The sway bar end links should have some 'flex' to them, but you should not be able to move them significantly with your hands. End links do wear out and will cause a 'rattling' or similar noise (been there, done that with my Audi). The actual sway bar should still be fine. Go to your local auto parts and ask for Moog replacement end links. Moog is one of the best aftermarket suspension component suppliers and is usually cheaper than OEM parts, but still high quality.

100K on OEM struts is pushing it a bit. You need new struts front and rear. The difference in handling will definitely be noticeable.

Monroe is making them now.

Yes. The struts are just about completely gone in the front.I was considering the Monroe 72255 (front right) and Monroe 72256 (front left). I have had good luck with their products in the past. JJ, have you replaced the front struts on your car yet? If so, are they a pain? I despise what I call cup style (strut fits down inside the lower control arm). I may have a few questions for you.

Also, thanks for the Moog recommendation for end links. I was wondering Moog, Deeza, and Mevotech. I think I am just gonna buy new front and rear end links when I replace the struts.

I just ordered Monroe sensa-trac replacements for the front (72255, 72256) and the rear (71120). I also ordered new Moog end links for the rear. I'll check the fronts when I install the front struts.

Got my shocks/struts yesterday. Haven't installed anything yet, but I was very pleased that the Moog end links came with grease fittings. Nice...

I haven't replaced mine yet. I am planning on getting the rears replaced in a few months.

JJ, I just replaced the left rear over the weekend. Like a fool, I only ordered one rear...I guess I didn't noticed since I ordered other stuff as well. Not too bad to replace now that I know what I am doing. I should get the right rear within the next day or so. Even with one new rear strut, the car rides much much better. When I took the old strut out, I pressed down on it and it didn't want to come back up, so I know it was shot.

I also had to buy a 19mm deep well socket to be able to tighten the top strut nut with my air gun. I went ahead and bought a 22mm deep well socket for the fron strut nut too. Let me know if you do the job yourself and have any questions.

I thought that I would list the steps that I used for left rear strut removal while they were still fresh in my head:

1. Remove center trunk floor mat.
2. Remove center rear plastic trunk trim piece.
3. Remove left and right trunk carpet pieces. Don't forget that there are 2 push type pins directly behind the rear seat. Also, don't forget to disconnect the trunk light on the left side before trying to remove the left side.
4. Loosen (but don't remove) upper strut bolt using a 19 mm deep socket and impact gun.
5. Jack up left rear of car and remove wheel.
6. Secure and slightly tighten spring compressor to remove pressure on lower strut bolt. You should be able to see the rotor moving upwards when you have enough tension applied to the spring.
7. Remove lower strut bolt.
8. Remove upper strut bolt.
9. Tighten spring compressor further as needed for removal.
10. Remove 2 rear lower control arm bolts (15 mm if I remember correctly) below the front of the rotor. One bolt connects the arm that runs from front to rear and one bolt connects the arm that runs left to right. I had to do this in order to be able to successfully pivot the top of the strut outwards for removal. This step may not be needed if you are able to compress the spring enough to remove the old strut. I also had to loosen the front bolt (15 mm I think) on the arm that runs front to rear, as the arm itself had a little tension on it that was enough to raise the rotor on it's own.

I think most people remove the upper strut bushing bolts instead of the center bolt to remove the entire cartridge. I prefer to remove just the center bolt.

Thanks warment. I am going to have a shop do it because 1: I am crippled from doing hard work. My joints are shot but I still have to work hard in an other field because I am too young to retire and don't belong to the special group. I hope I can make it to retirement. Someone has to pay for all this socialism. 2: I don't have place to do it.

Ha! It is hard work JJ. I am 35 years old and was planning to go to the gym yesterday after installing the right rear strut. I didn't. Removal of those suspension bolts that have blue loctite on them are a pain. And the cranking on the spring compressor bolts are tiring. I did notice one thing with the Monroe struts (Monroe only has one part number for both the left and right rear struts)...below is the e-mail that I just sent them:

I just installed Monroe rear struts (part 71120 for both left and right side) on my car. The car rides much better now, but I do have a question. I installed the left rear strut first and had zero complaints. When I installed the right rear strut, I noticed that the bottom end of the coil spring didn't "butt" up against to "vertical wall stop" on the bottom of the strut as was done on the left side. I then compared the Monroe right rear unit to the stock right rear unit and found that the portion of the strut where the bolt goes was 90 degrees off from where it should be on the Monroe to make the end of the coil spring fit nicely as on the left side. I don't think using the same part number on both sides will cause any problems at all, but I personally think that you should have 2 different part numbers where the right strut bolt mount is rotated correctly prior to welding.

Bill