Struts! And over heat question

Hey guys, long time lurker but I don’t post much.
Struts:
I’m in the process of changing all four struts on my wife’s 2017 3.5 eco-boost 2 Wheel Dr. EL.
I just changed out the rears and used a spring compressor to get the old springs off and reuse them. I just reused the top mount as well. I went with KYB struts.
I got the old springs put on the new strut as close as I could to the positioning from the old, but I did have to twist the strut a little to get the bottom hole to line up, so the spring was slightly rotated away from the lower mounts end. Any issue with that?

I’m about to tackle the front. I was planning on doing the same thing, pulling the old springs off and putting them on the new struts. Is it OK to use the old top mount?
Is there anything else that I should go ahead and replace since I am gonna have to get an alignment anyhow? Tie rod Ends or swaybar bushings, sway bar end links, etc. I was looking at Moog tie
Rod ends.
I am considering going ahead and doing front brake pads and rotors as well.
Just looking for anything I might be missing.
We live in Florida, so no salt issues, icing or anything so the rears came apart very easy. I was not going to go back with anti seize on anything.

Over heat:
Speaking of living in Florida. A couple of weeks ago the cooling fan kept kicking into turbo and it seemed like it was getting ready to overheat. I ended up checking the reservoir and it was low. Any known reason for that? The Chuck seems to be running fine. I was considering going ahead and changing the thermostat as I read somewhere that could be an overheat issue.

The reason I am Replacing the struts is 130k Miles and started feeling like a hooptie ride a couple Months ago!
What any other tips?

Thanks y’all! Appreciate it.

I'm no suspension expert, but at 130k & with flaky ride quality, I would have replaced the top mounts while I had it apart (same applies to the front ones too).. and the best way to tell if the rods/ends etc need replacing is if there is a lot of play in the steering/tracking...

you check this by finding a long, straight, smooth road that isn't too busy, get up to about 55 or 65 mph, turn on cruise control if you have it, and let go of the steering wheel for a few moments... if the truck pulls or drifts to either side, then seems to waffle a little when you go to straighten it back up, it is probably time for those items to be replaced too. Of course, if your alignment tech is any good, he/she should/will tell you that before doing the alignment...

As for the coolant thing, since you live/drive in a hot climate, it would be reasonable/normal to need to add some every now & then... but if you notice it being low more often than not, then some additional research is needed to determine why.... probably a small leak in one of the hoses, around the radiator cap (not the resovior one) or near the water pump.

And yes, a bad/worn out thermostat WILL cause overheating for sure, but this should also trigger the temp gauge to go into the red area on the dash fairly quickly if the engine is headed towards overheating...but again at 130k, it's a good candidate for replacement too....

@BigOleFordFan thanks for the reply. I am gonna order the tops for the front struts now. There was no play whatsoever in the rears with the springs compressed.
I want to have everything I want to replace handy so I only have to take apart the front end once.
It drives good we travel to/from TN quite a bit and it’s a very smooth drive. Until the springy bounce started a month or so ago. Both rears were blown, leaking. We don’t hear any clunks or anything from the front end and it doesn’t pull or waffle, but since I’m doing it (and saving a ton by doing it myself and reusing the springs) I have some extra dough to spread over to some other new parts.
We plan to drive this thing til it won’t go anymore!

I just went ahead and ordered the KYB upper mounts, swaybar, bushings, and new end links as well as tie rods. Since I got a pop the tie rods out anyhow, I might as well just slap some new ones in. I went with Moog for the tie rods.
And suspension dudes on Amazon for the end links.

bschoch said:

Hey guys, long time lurker but I don’t post much.
Struts:
I’m in the process of changing all four struts on my wife’s 2017 3.5 eco-boost 2 Wheel Dr. EL.
I just changed out the rears and used a spring compressor to get the old springs off and reuse them. I just reused the top mount as well. I went with KYB struts.
I got the old springs put on the new strut as close as I could to the positioning from the old, but I did have to twist the strut a little to get the bottom hole to line up, so the spring was slightly rotated away from the lower mounts end. Any issue with that?

I’m about to tackle the front. I was planning on doing the same thing, pulling the old springs off and putting them on the new struts. Is it OK to use the old top mount?
Is there anything else that I should go ahead and replace since I am gonna have to get an alignment anyhow? Tie rod Ends or swaybar bushings, sway bar end links, etc. I was looking at Moog tie
Rod ends.
I am considering going ahead and doing front brake pads and rotors as well.
Just looking for anything I might be missing.
We live in Florida, so no salt issues, icing or anything so the rears came apart very easy. I was not going to go back with anti seize on anything.

Over heat:
Speaking of living in Florida. A couple of weeks ago the cooling fan kept kicking into turbo and it seemed like it was getting ready to overheat. I ended up checking the reservoir and it was low. Any known reason for that? The Chuck seems to be running fine. I was considering going ahead and changing the thermostat as I read somewhere that could be an overheat issue.

The reason I am Replacing the struts is 130k Miles and started feeling like a hooptie ride a couple Months ago!
What any other tips?

Thanks y’all! Appreciate it.

Click to expand...

I’d bet your low engine coolant is a result of a water pump leak, which may only leak slowly and while under pressure with the engine operating.

Im in florida as well and ima go with water pump leak or leaking at the turbo fittings but evaporating before it can hit the ground due to the heat. make sure you are using distilled water when filling or 50/50. i had used full strength coolant and that made the temp go higher than normal. ive changed the water pump twice but have 197k on my 17 EL.

OGBobbyJohnson said:

Im in florida as well and ima go with water pump leak or leaking at the turbo fittings but evaporating before it can hit the ground due to the heat. make sure you are using distilled water when filling or 50/50. i had used full strength coolant and that made the temp go higher than normal. ive changed the water pump twice but have 197k on my 17 EL.

Click to expand...

How hard of a job was the water pump?

Pita. Charge pipes need to come off. Thermostat assembly. Believe throttle body. Make sure new pump has same amount of holes, 3 vs 4, as current one for pulley. Put it back in then found it was wrong when pulley went back on.