Hello.

Sorry for the waffle. But I just need to get this all off my chest. 

I have 2006 fiesta Mk6 Ghia with a 1.6 tdci engine in decent condition, except the front suspension looked rusty and grubby and the front springs were an advisory on the mot. And i was worried about the springs breaking. 

However the top mount nuts were ridiculously rusty therefore the shock absorbers couldn't be dismantled and reused. Which is normal for these cars. 

I enquired to ford about buying some new front shock absorbers, however they said the parts were discontinued. They provided no help, and neither did the dealers.

Not happy i ordered some Monroe shocks and all new parts. No parts were genuine. I was trying to save some money.

However on rebuilding, the suspension looks a lot cleaner, but the front of the car now sits 30mm higher. I know this because the bottom of the door trim was in line with the top of the alloy and now sits 30mm higher.

I remember springs can affect the car, so I've managed to buy genuine springs with the correct part and colours. Which I know will help.

But not keen on the look I've bought all new ford parts, too, except the shock absorbers which are unavailable.

The parts needed are

1349766

1349767

5S61-18145-AA

5S61-18146-AA

Ford have been no help in advising about alternative parts and I assumed there would be motorcraft parts available. But again, no help.

I have seen alternative parts available, from ford, but they have a different engineering codes. Some parts look different in the picture but these parts look okay.

5S61-18145-DA

5S61-18146-DA

Can anyone offer any help or advice. 

it's just crap service from ford. They bang on about the importance of buying genuine parts, but anyway, they aren't available I don't know what to do. 

thanks

 

 

 

 

 

16 minutes ago, Gg1984 said:

However on rebuilding, the suspension looks a lot cleaner, but the front of the car now sits 30mm higher.

This sounds about right actually. You have to remember that brand new and un-sagged springs will always make the car sit higher than 15 year old ones. You'll probably find they settle down in a few days.

24 minutes ago, Gg1984 said:

1349766

1349767

Interestingly Microcat lists these as specific to the 1.6L Duratorq engine. I'm guessing it's heavier perhaps?

Thanks for your reply.

I have obtained some new genuine springs which I assume will be always better than the cheap springs from eBay. And yes they will need time to settle.

I just don't have the energy to swap the genuine springs to the Monroe struts. The Monroe struts look okay, but they're not indentical. 

Id rather just rebuild it all again using all ford parts, then I know I did the best job I could... it's just annoying I cannot obtain those parts  from ford. And ford haven't said if theyre permanently discontinued or temporary.

The struts for the 1.4tdci are available. Part numbers 1329534/6. They also have the same engineering code except the last two letters. 

5S61-18145-AA

Vs

5S61-18145-DA

I don't know if the 1.4 tdci engine is heavier than the 1.6. 

Thanks again. 

I just looked up the car weights and the Mk6 tdci 1.6 90 weighs 1118kg and the 1.4 tdci is heavier at 1148kg.