Thinking about doing something with rear suspension above and beyond!

[vroomzoomboom]

rear end links, someone posted up that you can use ones from i believe from a f250 (or f150) for the rear if you are lowered 2 inches. for the bushings, i have moogs. energy suspension rear sway bar bushings (1 1/8), and a EE rear sway bar. for leafs i have a pair of 4 door leafs with a add a leaf in them (from dono's old v6 supercharged truck) i went threw i think 3 different sets of leafs until these not only felt right, but also didnt bottom out and have 2 inch lowering blocks. the front i cut the sway bar endlinks, and found bolts that are also 2 inches shorter. have gone threw 2 different bars because the first one ate bushings like they were free. monroe shocks also up front. why monroe? life time warranty. when i drive my truck, then drive my sons 01 sport,the handling is extremely noticeable. his truck i feel like i need both hands and my teeth on the wheel to steer. mine, i can do a cloverleaf at almost 60 mph.
if anyone has the part numbers for the leaf polly bushings, please share if you dont mind.

 

[Centaurus5.0]

Another thing about the RAS's is it eliminates axle wrap like Caltracs. Definitely something that will need to be addressed if you want your rig to hook off the line.

 

[swshawaii]

vroom- Here's the lowered rear end link thread posted in #11 above. (Moog K80268)
Rear Sway Bar End Link Question (91-94) | Page 2 | Ford Explorer and Ford Ra

ES poly leaf bushing thread found in STOCK 1995-01 sub forum sticky's:
leaf spring bushing sizing and suppliers | Ford Explorer and Ford Ranger Forums

 

[vroomzoomboom]

anything on the front bushing?

 

[swshawaii]

NEW complete kit may be worth looking into. Appears to be polyurethane, but does not specify.

Also note fitment is listed for 4WD only, and "No chassis upper bushings in this pack"

https://www.suspension.com/KIT066K

 

[corkey]

wanna tighten the front end,and make it smoother?

coilover front conversion,, t bars are brutal

Fox and QA1 make em,, andddd they are fully adjustable,,,

 

[CDW6212R]

wanna tighten the front end,and make it smoother?

coilover front conversion,, t bars are brutal

Fox and QA1 make em,, andddd they are fully adjustable,,,

Hi Corkey, have many people done the coil over conversion for near stock height trucks, or lowered? That's on my list to finish with, using the BTF upper control arms.

 

[delexploder]

not sure if this helps anyone but i found this in my shop today , its the front parts i put in mine

 

[CDW6212R]

Aren't our front bars 34mm?

I would like to find a 1.5" or 38mm frame bushing.

 

[delexploder]

Might be a 97 sohc sport thing idk but all the energy suspension stuff fit like a glove and has held up very well

 

[corkey]

Gregs build the Black Hole is stock height on coilovers,, it has all the part numbers for the shocks and springs in his registry i know for sure,,
making the brackets would not be very difficult, i experimented with a bunch of stuff and had a set of brackets done, but the motor went in that explorer and i bought a Ranger and didn't pursue it further,,

 

[CDW6212R]

Gregs build the Black Hole is stock height on coilovers,, it has all the part numbers for the shocks and springs in his registry i know for sure,,
making the brackets would not be very difficult, i experimented with a bunch of stuff and had a set of brackets done, but the motor went in that explorer and i bought a Ranger and didn't pursue it further,,

Yes, Greg is the best example and I hope to bend his ear when I get to doing my front suspension.

 

[Rhett]

View attachment 98040

What bushing / where did you find that thicker bushing for your front sway? I've never had success with bushings for my EE front bar -- they are much thinner than the bushing you have pictured, above.

Like you, I have had custom brackets made -- and I did drill and tap the frame for a bigger bolt, because of the problem you alluded to...but now I'm having trouble with the thin-walled bushings. I need some meat around that sway bar.

 

[CDW6212R]

What bushing / where did you find that thicker bushing for your front sway? I've never had success with bushings for my EE front bar -- they are much thinner than the bushing you have pictured, above.

Like you, I have had custom brackets made -- and I did drill and tap the frame for a bigger bolt, because of the problem you alluded to...but now I'm having trouble with the thin-walled bushings. I need some meat around that sway bar.

That bushing is the 1.5" size that came with the Addco front bar. I'd like to find another set myself, from Energy Suspension preferably. Addco probably has a source for those if you needed it. Do you have that bigger Addco front bar also? I like it, but I haven't spent time fine tuning the handling.

 

[Rhett]

That bushing is the 1.5" size that came with the Addco front bar. I'd like to find another set myself, from Energy Suspension preferably. Addco probably has a source for those if you needed it. Do you have that bigger Addco front bar also? I like it, but I haven't spent time fine tuning the handling.

I bought an Explorer Express front sway bar back in, oh, about 2001 or so. I ran it using their supplied bracket and bush for about a year or two. The thin little bushing they sent kept "walking out" of the bracket. Eventually I didn't catch it in time and the bushing walked out, and the bracket bent and gave way. That wallowed out the front bolt hole on the pass side. I had custom brackets fabricated, but they too, were built for the thin EE-supplied bushing. I reinstalled the front sway after that and haven't run the EE bar for *years* but it's sitting in my store room.

Long story short...I haven't spent much time messing with getting new bushings for it. But I saw your thicker bushing picture and post and figured I'd ask. I haven't looked into an Addco bar -- not even sure they make a bar for the 1st gen, but I have seen you 2nd gen guys threads on the Addco's. I may be able to make their 2nd gen rear bar fit -- but I haven't looked into it. Anyway, thanks for the info about the bushings you're running.

 

[CDW6212R]

I recall the 1st gen front sway bar frame bracket as being longer/taller, yes? I think I remember that because it's similar to the tall bracket of my Mark VII's.

You did well at making a bracket for it, to fix a problem. I think you may just need to go back at that bracket, adjust or rework it. Do you know what other bushings yours will fit, other applications? If it isn't common then I'd want to make a bracket to make use of the common kind, such as what the Mustangs use, or the 2nd gen Explorers. Then you could easily get the bushings that you want.

The 1st gen Explorers should be able to use the same EE rear bar made for the 95-01's. Jim who started this thread did install one on his previous 93/94 Limited. The rear bar is the most helpful thing anyone could do for their 91-01 Explorer's.

 

[Rhett]

I recall the 1st gen front sway bar frame bracket as being longer/taller, yes? I think I remember that because it's similar to the tall bracket of my Mark VII's.

The 1st gen OEM front sway bracket is long/tall yes. The custom brackets I have are shorter -- they look like the ones in your pic, except that they are steel, and about 4 times thicker. The EE bar / bracket is very similar in appearance to what you have.

You did well at making a bracket for it, to fix a problem. I think you may just need to go back at that bracket, adjust or rework it. Do you know what other bushings yours will fit, other applications? If it isn't common then I'd want to make a bracket to make use of the common kind, such as what the Mustangs use, or the 2nd gen Explorers. Then you could easily get the bushings that you want.

I will do that. It looks roughly the same as what is in your pic, so I'll start there.

The 1st gen Explorers should be able to use the same EE rear bar made for the 95-01's.

^^This is good information, thanks. That's why I hang out in the 2nd gen forums sometimes. More similarity between 1st and 2nd gens than many realize.

 

[CDW6212R]

Does your EE front bar mount close to the frame like mine(98), and have plenty of clearance etc? It sounds like EE moved the bar up a hair, and likely used shorter end links to keep the bar horizontal.

What is the bolt center distance of your truck, the original brackets and what you had to do(drill new hole you said)? I had two sets of brackets made, one for a member in Europe who didn't get back with me about them. He also had the same 1.5" Addco bar, but these brackets I made are the same bolt pattern.

I have not painted either pair yet, was going to remove the one set and have them all powder coated. It may be that you could use these or the original 2nd gen bracket, plus a bushing from ES that fits your bar. I had my machine shop make these from a good steel, he did a fine job bending them with a sharp radius to accept the OEM bolts.

 

[Dono]

I know we kinda went the sway bar and bushings with this, but I am looking for opinions.
I was underneath double checking boost controller fittings, etc. and saw one of my monroe coil over shocks is leaking. What to do?

1. replace with same.
2. buy something like rs5000 (The adjusters on the 9000's wont fair well in the winter with rust) and get my coil overs replaced with an extra load carrying spring.

option 2 obviously being the more expensive, but probably right thing to do.

Any other thoughts guys?