I have a 2019 Ford Escape Titanium with the 2.0L Ecoboost engine. Had the car in for oil change. Dealer is telling me one of the rear shocks is leaking and to replace. They want a little over $600 to do that job, and I have to schedule it as they don't have them in stock right now.

I'm thinking of doing that myself. I haven't looked but I'm fairly certain the shocks are much less, and I've changed shocks on other vehicles, in general, that is not too hard of a job.

Any suggestions, tips or wisdom on this decision would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

It is always a good idea to look over what you need to remove to get at everything before starting a job..

Sometimes, the charge doesn't look that bad, lol.

 

I found a video on this project. It doesn't seem too hard. And with the back jacked up and the wheel off, it looks like I could get to everything fairly easily. Just wish they had the method with the top of the shock having a bolt that comes thru to the upperside (like often a small panel in the trim you remove). But instead they have this where you have to remove 2 nuts from, what seem to be permanent bolts (working from underneath). When I picked up my car, the price the dealer had for the shocks themselves (not any bolts, nuts, or labor) was about $178 each. I found several ranging from $48 to $138 for the pair. In these lower price ranges, I don't mind going near the upper end, if I'd be getting a superior shock. Any brands I should either shoot for or steer clear of?

 

About to do this job, parts arrive tomorrow. When I remount the wheels, does anyone know the torque for the lug nuts on my vehicle, 2019 Ford Escape Titanium. I am almost 65 and all my life I never used a torque wrench when tightening wheel lugs. Just a star tire wrench and cranked it down as tight as I could. But I know nowadays people talk about torquing everything and I bought a nice torque wrench a couple months ago. Thanks!

 

Pretty sure the torque spec is in your owner's manual.

 

Thanks. I can check. But I thought something like that would only be in a Service Manual, not an Owner's Manual. But I did find a chart showing tire/wheel fitment for 2019 Ford Escape (broke out by engine and trim). But all of those said Wheel Torque of 135nm (99.5 ft-lbs).

 

That sounds about right.

 

So I completed this job today. Did one shock yesterday, second today. It went fairly smooth. I did not run into any real problems of having to take something out of the way, or anything like that. I saved over $500 from the price the dealer wanted. The two shocks cost me a total of $108. Monroe OE-Spectrum 39111. It's crazy that dealerships charge so much extra for them to work on your vehicle.