Leaking Shock

[Dan-O]

16000 miles, no hardcore off-roading and haven’t hit any hard bumps. Found a puddle of bluish-green fluid near inside drivers tire to find my shock has burst a seal it looks like. It seems I’ve only been able to find 1 other example on web for this. I hope this is just a one time unfortunate incident and doesn’t happen to the others after warranty expires. Anybody else know of or had this happen?

 

[TurboS]

16000 miles, no hardcore off-roading and haven’t hit any hard bumps. Found a puddle of bluish-green fluid near inside drivers tire to find my shock has burst a seal it looks like. It seems I’ve only been able to find 1 other example on web for this. I hope this is just a one time unfortunate incident and doesn’t happen to the others after warranty expires. Anybody else know of or had this happen?

Welcome to BroncoRaptor.com. Unfortunately we have had several members experience Fox shock failures. So far, members have returned to their Ford dealership for resolution/shock replacement.

If your between 36-41 months since new it still qualifies for the Ford Protect new car warranty if under 36k miles.

Besides returning to a Ford dealership, since you’re out of warranty, I would also check with Fox Racing to see if it can be rebuilt or warranted by Fox.

 

[Dan-O]

Thanks for reply. Thankfully I’m still in warranty. It’s funny, I did a search query on here for leaking shocks and got no results. However, as soon as I posted I saw another member post. I’m just concerned when 36 mo warranty expires and it happens again. Not clear on extended warranty……I read that shocks aren’t covered even though it’s supposed to be an extension to the 36 bumper to bumper. Are you aware if this is true or not?

 

[TurboS]

I think shocks are covered, I’ll have to check my FP extended warranty. I believe the hardtop isn’t covered.

 

[Dan-O]

Thanks in advance for that. Ya, MIC top is my other worry after warranty, already had back and middle piece replaced……I’m not happy about that either. Had a 21 2 door before this and not 1 single issue.

 

[Motorpig]

Unfortunately, extended warranties are needed as these parts are too expensive to replace. Price we pay for nicer toys.

Thanks for reply. Thankfully I’m still in warranty. It’s funny, I did a search query on here for leaking shocks and got no results. However, as soon as I posted I saw another member post. I’m just concerned when 36 mo warranty expires and it happens again. Not clear on extended warranty……I read that shocks aren’t covered even though it’s supposed to be an extension to the 36 bumper to bumper. Are you aware if this is true or not?

That was me. I have a feeling these shocks may be covered under extended due to the electronics.

 

[RennWagen]

Welcome to BroncoRaptor.com. Unfortunately we have had several members experience Fox shock failures. So far, members have returned to their Ford dealership for resolution/shock replacement.

If your between 36-41 months since new it still qualifies for the Ford Protect new car warranty if under 36k miles.

Besides returning to a Ford dealership, since you’re out of warranty, I would also check with Fox Racing to see if it can be rebuilt or warranted by Fox.

I spoke with Fox at Hammers. They offer a rebuild service. Mail in or they have a shop available near Phoenix IIRC.

Intervals will depend on how you use your truck but the fox rep said a good rule of thumb would be rebuilding the shocks when replacing the tires.

Two of mine have been replaced under warranty. But I’m at 50k miles, ~20k of that off road.

 

[TurboS]

I spoke with Fox at Hammers. They offer a rebuild service. Mail in or they have a shop available near Phoenix IIRC.

Intervals will depend on how you use your truck but the fox rep said a good rule of thumb would be rebuilding the shocks when replacing the tires.

Two of mine have been replaced under warranty. But I’m at 50k miles, ~20k of that off road.

Good info, thank you for asking Fox and posting here as I suspect this may assist many of us in the future.

 

[Motorpig]

Also, Angry Pumpkin Offroad rebuilds them too. He is a one man operation but does a ridiculously good job on all our Raptor shocks. That’s who I will use when out of warranty. Great guy.

 

[Dan-O]

It just seems wild that a $2600 shock failed while sitting in garage. Doesn’t give me a warm fuzzy feeling about the life expectancy of these things.

 

[Motorpig]

Ya. Well, Fox make’s thousands of shocks and some may not be perfect. Any product is like that. Great shocks though. I’ve seen brand new Kings leak out of box. Seals are finicky.

 

[Ape Factory]

I've always been a suspension/chassis guy and can usually feel when something's changed, even if it's something very small. Coming out of a very mild winter, I feel as though the shocks have softened up and lost some of their damping. They're just not as firm in sport mode as they used to be. I'm a few hundred miles shy of 25K miles. Getting a good bit of rear hop over some bumps as well which I've not experienced before.

It's a bit disconcerting to hear Fox say they should be rebuilt when you change tires. I'm guessing that's 50K miles if you really push it til they're down to the wear bar but probably less before they become ineffective and develop wear pattern issues.

 

[Motorpig]

I'm the same. I'm guessing the 50K is for street driven only Raptors. For me, I will try and make 30K before a rebuild. As you know, tire wear will make the vehicle feel different, too. Compound gets harder.

 

[Ape Factory]

Not sure how many Raptors were sold each year but as the miles accumulate, that's a lot of rebuilds. Here's hoping Fox has their ducks in a row for that process because if they don't, it could be a real nightmare for owners.

I deal in Ohlins and some Bilstein stuff. While Ohlins has a number of master shops in the U.S., Bilstein has one and getting your high end dampers rebuilt by them was a painful and slow process.

 

[Motorpig]

I wouldn’t send my shocks to Fox to rebuild. Plenty of companies that can do it faster or cheaper, is my guess. APO is my first choice and then I have a local shop that can do it, too. Orrrr, just run em until they spew oil everywhere