Thinking about doing something with rear suspension above and beyond! | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

Thinking about doing something with rear suspension above and beyond!

MuscleJunkie

Elite Explorer
Joined
April 14, 2007
Messages
1,028
Reaction score
352
Year, Model & Trim Level
'00 Ford Explorer LTD AWD
So as many of you know I have done quite a few mods to Big White. One is I've lowered by 2" in the rear with Saleen lowering blocks and 2" in the front via Torsion Twist. I've also replaced all the front suspension components with new OEM and added camber adjusters. Bilstein shock have been installed on the front as well as the rear 3rd shock and new OEM rear ARC shocks. I also have the Saleen rear sway bar installed. No need for the front since I have a 2000. I've also trimmed 50% of the bump stops - front and rear. I was thinking about buying the Explorer Express rear bump stops.

The handling improvement from these mods has been great but I'm thinking it can be better. I really would like to keep the rear ARC system but not sure if there are any improved shocks that will work with that system. I'm also thinking that maybe I should replace the rear springs as well. What do you all think? If so, who makes the best set of rear springs and why type/specification should I be going for? Cost is not a factor for me here.

Thanks in advance for any advice.
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





What are you looking for? Better handling? I would think ditching arc would firm it up slightly and improve handling. Do you have your ARC height sensor in the rear adjusted for the 2" drop?
 






What are you looking for? Better handling? I would think ditching arc would firm it up slightly and improve handling. Do you have your ARC height sensor in the rear adjusted for the 2" drop?

I found I didn't need to adjust the sensor when I lowered. I have a post on here about that very thing. The ARC seems to function as expected and handling is improved after the drop and new ARC shocks. I really would like to hold on to the system so if there were some aftermarket shocks that were comprable to the Bilsteins that I have on the front that would be cool. I think I might get the biggest improvement in handling from some new Springs but really not sure what to get. I would like to get the best of the best and something that would give me even better handling then I have now.
 












New springs are not going to help handling unless you stiffen the spring rate or your current springs are flattened out. Instead of spending big money on new aftermarket(sometimes junk) I would get your factory pack refreshed. Have any local spring shops near you that can re-arch them? You could always try an addaleaf to stiffen the pack up. They make poly bushings for the ends also.

Shocks are really what dial in the handling and the factory arc shocks are designed to be more plush than to handle like a sports car. Have you replaced your 5th shock? How about the traction bar bushings, are they still good(I assume your truck is v8).
 






The ARC cars have softer springs, front and rear. That makes for a nicer ride, but the handling suffers. The 4WD trucks without ARC should have the stiffest springs. There are multiple springs for front and rear to choose from. Someone posted a torsion bar diameter spec chart a long while ago. That would be helpful to select the front bars.

I didn't know how many were available when I did my Mountaineer about 12 years ago. I chose the "B" torsion bars as what was common for the 4WD models. I aimed for the stiffest thinking it wouldn't be too much for my tastes. The rear of my Mercury has always bottomed out easily, because the rear leafs are the soft models.

So Jim, you need to decide what level of stiffness you can take, the stiffer springs will improve handling. I have the 1.5" Addco front bar and 1.125" EE bar, those are great, with minimal affect on ride quality.

The rear sway bar links can wear out completely, check those. My Mercury didn't need them after 160k miles, but my Explorer did at 120k, used at work.

Those rear ARC shocks are going to be softer than Bilsteins, but you can't really know if you need/want something else, until you try new springs(torsion bars, leafs). The sway bar bushings/links are fine tuning items, harder urethane or larger bushings stiffen it up, and balance front to rear.

Interesting thread, I've thought on this for years. The back end of these trucks move a lot, because of the inherent leaf spring suspension. I've pondered what space if under there to try to fit a panhard bar. That would help a lot if it could fit. I've considered the old car builds which use a 2003-2006 Crown Vic front suspension, frame and all, under old F100's etc. It made me think, how wide is the 3rd and 4th gen Explorer, in the rear, how high is the floorboard versus the 2nd gen. Good thread, brainstorm and come up with some great ideas.

Oh BTW, buy the EE rear bump stops if you can, those are the best. I'd like to have two more sets, but I've been busy and space is running out. The front bump stops of the ARC Explorers are the shortest, that's what EE sold in their EE kits. I found two NOS a year ago but those are obsolete too.
 






Pure street machine ? fab work ok? ive kicked around the idea of a crown Vic rear , its a little wider , coil sprung , the intercepters have a built in watts link , imo it would be cost effective and work really well
 












Thanks for all the replies everyone. So a few more comments.

My understanding from what I'm reading is the torsion bars and rear leaf springs on my 2000 Limited with ARC are the "softer" of those made available during the same model year. I remember reading a post when I was researching lowering that someone talked about installing different leaf springs and torsion bars if one chose to lower their vehicle. Also considering that Saleen used XLT models (and maybe one Eddie Bauer) for the XP8, I am assuming that all of those probably had stiffer torsion bars and leaf springs from the start. Probably in order to keep costs down and maximize his profit he most likely didn't go to the trouble to install different springs/bars. But would he have if price/profit was of no concern and he wanted to further maximize handling/suspension performance?

So again this is what I have done so far and what I am thinking

I have replaced the oem shocks in the front with Bilsteins
I've installed new control arms/ball joints and tie rods and camber adjusters
Replaced the 5th shock with the appropriate bilstein
New OEM ARC shocks in the rear
2" Saleen Lowering blocks
Saleen rear sway bar (with original bushings)
Torsion twist in front to match back 2" drop

So maybe I should (looking for the best of the best here)

Goals - maintain good AWD performance even though lowered 2" and improved street/track performance. Probably a good balance here. What would Ford or Saleen had done if $$ was not a factor and keeping the rear ARC was a must?

New (stiffer) torsion bars in the front that will do better with the current 2" drop. Which and by who?
New front sway bar bushings (what type and by who)
What other front bushings or components should be replaced/upgraded?

New rear Sway bar rear bushings for my currently installed Saleen sway bar (which type and by who?)
Better shocks that are compatible with the ARC system (by who?)
New rear sway bar links (remember reading I should have shorter ones since I've dropped 2") (by who?)
Explorer Express rear bump stops
Any other rear bushings or components that should be replaced/upgraded??
New rear leaf springs (what type and by who)

Thanks again for the input and helping push this project further along.
 






It sounds like you are at the fine tuning stage, like a track car that the driver is deciding if it needs more sway bar, stiffer springs, shocks etc. You need to decide if you want the body to roll a little less, in the front that's a bigger bar and/or urethane bushings(frame and end links). Same for the back, and note the balance is affected when you change just one. So you likely have a good balance now, if you had the EE rear bar I'd expect it to have some oversteer. Mine is relatively neutral with the larger Addco/EE bars, urethane except for the stock rubber rear end links. I hadn't decided if I needed to do more, or adjust etc.

Stiffer springs will reduce front end dive some more, and make big bumps harsher. I think the OEM or Monroe shocks are going to be the only choice to keep the ARC. Stiffer rear leafs will help handling a decent amount I think(assuming you have the softer leafs(back bottoms out easier on dips)).
 


















I have the 1.5" Addco front bar and 2.125" EE bar, those are great, with minimal affect on ride quality.

.

Don, am I reading correctly that the EE rear sway bar is 2.125" diameter? I was seriously considering the Hellwig (which is 1"), but if the EE is another 1.125", I'll wait and get the custom one from Addco. I thought I read in other posts that the EE was 1.125" total.
 






Sorry, I miss-typed that. It's 1 1/8" and I was trying to do the math for the 1/8" while I typed. LOL, it is very thick, but 2" I think would be bigger than the torsion bars.

Notice the frame mounting bracket Addco sends with the big front bar. It has a mild radius where it is bent to set against the frame. This picture shows the factory bolt snugly up against the bracket. See how the bolt is not anywhere near the frame? It is not tight, and cranking it down would likely break or bend the bolt, and maybe damage the threads in the frame.

I had my local machine shop make brackets for me, I took them a crappy one and bushing, to build them with. They did a fine job making new brackets, I just need to take them off and have them powder coated.

Addco 1.5 front bar.JPG


PICT2347.JPG


Addco 1.5 front bar frame mount.jpg


EE rear sway bar.JPG
 












I think someone should try these.
I'm really not sure how they would handle a winter though.
 












For $430ish I'd get custom leaf springs made up and maybe have change left over.

I have a great spring shop near me and have dealt with them in the past making new crewcab dually leaf packs. They say that factory spring packs other then the main leaf is basically filler or low grade spring steel. They can tell and told me what grade my leafs were made of but I forget.

So if a crewcab dually has low grade filler spring steel in the pack you know that they wouldn't put the good grade in an SUV pack.

After the custom leaf packs my dually never handled better with a load and didn't squat till I had about 3 ton on it. Yes we were hard on our work trucks and broke lots of springs till we went custom.

Ever think about how a single add a leaf will perk up a set of leafs? They are made of good quality metal and are arched a little extra. If they were low grade they would flatten out in no time.

If I wanted to do what you are doing and keep the leaf spring setup I'd get a set made up with less arch and ditch the lowering blocks.
 






Good stuff in that. There have been mixed reviews of what people find with replacing leaf packs, with either OEM or aftermarket. I've avoided dealing with that because others. The leaf is the core of that rear suspension, having the right and known spring rates is super important. If they sag it's because they lost spring rate, which isn't good no matter how old they were or who made them.
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





I would like to put those RAS pieces on Cent but like you guys said, $430 is $430. Installing fresh and or upgraded springs is always good but I'd think there is only so much you can do. At some point, The ride just gets too harsh and your still left with the same shortcomings of the basic leaf suspension. Those RAS's are like installing progressive springs while also adding a level of adjustably to the rear spring rate. I would imagine you could also adjust the driver side 'tighter' to take out the drivers side sag and weight bias. From what I seen researching them, they also make it so the sway bar doesn't work as hard so needing an after market sway bar wouldn't be necessary.

Then again, this is all theory gathered from reading a few webpages and watching a handful of youtube videos. If i see cheap set I jump on them but until then, exhaust and camping mods are at the top of my list.

I did call the company about retro fitting a set from an F150 I seen a deal on and they said it wouldn't work but to give them a call when I'm ready to order a new set and they'll cut me a deal. So there is that.

Now who's gunna be the one to talk them into being a EF vendor so we can all get a deal?

:shifty:
 






Back
Top