[Dedbent]

I just found these boards a couple days ago and had some questions about changing my suspension. First, would it void my warranty? Also, what would I expect to pay in labor costs? I don't feel confident enough in my skills to change it myself. Any replies would be greatly appreciated.

 

[felixthecat]

Read the suspension stickey's at the top of this page!

[welcome]1st off, Welcome to FF! I believe if you go w/ FRPP's= Ford racing performance part's, you probolity, won't have any issue's. Give Steve at Toulsey Ford a call. Afew option's for FRPP's are SVT spring's/strut's/shock's= -.05". the next is M-5560-ZX3B= -1.5" or M-5560-ZXM1= -1.5''. And a set of SVT strut's/shock's= M-18000-ZX3B. What ever you do Go w/ strut's/shock's speced for thou's spring's your looking at. Don't go cheap & throw some spring's w/ your stock damper's= no good! How low do you want to go is up to you. sample= H&R has a sport cup kit= -2.6f/ 2.5r / Eibach sportline system= -2.0f/2.2r, & both thou's kit's come w/ damper's. I'd ask about voiding your warranty. I changed out my suspension w/ in a month off buying my car. For the most part if you have no issue's w/ your suspension now, for the most part you shouldn't! There is some suspension stickey's for you to read at the top off this page.[welcome] I don't know what kind of shop's are near you, you could call or go down to them & ask them.

 

[CJohn364]

I just found these boards a couple days ago and had some questions about changing my suspension. First, would it void my warranty? Also, what would I expect to pay in labor costs? I don't feel confident enough in my skills to change it myself. Any replies would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome to FF. As far as your warranty. Obviously, the warranty for your stock suspension wouldn't apply, but should be covered through whatever aftermarket suspension company you go with, i.e. Eibach, H&R, etc. IF Ford can track an issue with your car back to the aftermarket suspension as the cause of the issue, your warranty will NOT cover it, so be careful. If you have the aftermarket suspension professionally installed, then the shop that installed them should guaruntee the install work.

As far as labor costs, I'm not sure, but it will depend on where you take it. I've heard labor costs as high as $500-$800, though.

 

[Geezer]

The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act would require that Ford prove that the aftermarket part was responsible for the damage submitted for warranty coverage before they could deny any claim. In general, reasonable drops should not be a problem. I have seen that some Ford Racing performance parts (FRPP) if installed by a Ford Dealer at time of purchase are even covered by the new car warranty. If that is the case, it seems like they would have a tough time denying coverage (except for the spring and shocks themselves) for the car even if you installed a Ford Racing suspension or for that matter any other one that results in a reasonable drop. My guess is that a reasonable drop would be no lower than what a FRPP one does (currently -1.5"). I haven't heard of any FF member being denied warranty coverage because of an aftermarket suspension installation.

Labor costs very widely. Naturally a dealer will charge you more and your corner gas station generally less. 200.00 to 300.00 seems to be quite common but as mentioned costs can get out of control. For a pro with a lift it shouldn't take any longer than 3 hours on a newer car (no rust issues). Since you have a newer car, the rears would be very easy even for a rookie mechanic. There are online instructions that help make it very straight forward. Only normal hand tools (metric wrenches and/or sockets), a decent jack and a jack stand are needed. I guess what I'm saying is try the rears yourself and if all goes well then do the fronts as they really aren't that much harder but you will need to rent or borrow a spring compressor to assemble the new strut the spring.