Seems to be a 50,000km (30,000 mile) cost of ownership charge. This will be my 3rd set going into this vehicle. This latest set lasted an extra 10,000 kms probably because I disassembled them before installation and greased them well. The bearings are not sealed and have plastic around them. A reasonable seal system or grease zerk to at least push out the crud would help a lot.

Monroe now has Strut mounts (909905) and that is what I am trying this time. Why reward Ford for hiring poor engineers?

Well this was my first experience and a real pain. I will add additional complaints as I am about to tackle this for the 3RD TIME!!! Very poor design FORD. This is a bowl and the bearing and deflector are at the bottom. Just a few of us drive these vehicles where it snows, salt, sand and dirt = disaster for this faulty design.

Update from May 14, 2016: 2nd attempt on the passenger side, Well now that I have the procedure down its only about a 2 hour job. Good news is the part is inexpensive. Bad news is its the same piece of CRAP part and sure to fail again...

I had to replace both strut mounts at 40k, and 48k respectively. Dealerships want $400, local shop did it for $240 each. This is a very poorly designed bearing. Holes in the bottom allow dirt and gravel into the bearings. My mechanic speculated that the holes were for drainage - guess no one thought about the fact that some of us live on dirt roads.

Explorer means going off the beaten path, right? We replaced with sealed bearings. I suspect Ford is well aware of the issue but don't expect any assistance in getting it fixed past your 36000 miles. Like one of the other post on here - we should not have to deal with these types of issues at 40000 miles, after paying 36K for a new vehicle. My neighbor had this same issue - and I am sure that quite a few other explorer owners are experiencing the same problem. No recalls for this design problem - appears to be an annoyance issue rather than a safety issue. Speaking of recalls:

Today, I received two recall notices, one for a steering gear issue, another for an interior door handle. Come on Ford engineers......do you really expect us to have any confidence in your products if you keep having these screw ups? I am not going to wait to see if anything improves. No more Fords for me.