01 expl-sport loud knocking in rear over bumps

Ok, So Ive searched through thread after thread looking to find a similar solution or problem to my extremely annoying knocking sound that I cannot find for the life of me. Sounds like the body is coming off the frame, but hitting the frame with a solid knock. I know its on the passenger rear side. Ive ridden in the back while a friend drove over bumps in hopes to locate the problem. I put in new rear shocks knowing they were bad but again, hoping to resolve this knocking problem as well. In the process of changing the shocks, I noticed the leaf springs front attachment point to the frame had a bolt missing. What to me would make sense as to what the sound is like I added a new bolt. This did not fix the problem. I also noticed the muffler mount absorber thing, moves around a lot so we stuck a towel in between the frame and muffler hoping it might be hitting the frame. The mount doest have a crack in the rubber absorber. Anyone else have experience with locating this sound and do you have a solution for a fix? Ive checked bolts and have not had success with this. Please advise and thanks in advance for any responses. Its almost as if the body is knocking up and down on the frame. I have somewhat a similar instance in the front passenger side like the dashboard is coming off hitting down...

Fritz

Hmm
rear sway bar endlinks ( dog bones) ?

Ill look into that and see what they might turn up. If those are it, do they need to be replaced or tightened?

Thanks for the quick response.

Fritz

The bushings will wear out so they need replacing-
also check the sway bar mount bushings --they hold the sway bar in place.

how the exhaust pipe, after the muffler hitting the body / side panel. check all your piping to body attachments.

Follow up: Ive checked all leaf spring bushings/mounts and they all seem ok. Ive tried so hard to find the solution to this knocking sound and think I found it. Ive attached some photos of the underside and the frame bushing that I think is causing this. I was able to slightly replicate the sound with some swift hits to the bumper from under the car. It seems as though the body is coming off the frame and hitting down on the frame with the slightest bumps in the road. Any thoughts on how to resolve this and what steps I need to take to fix it? If I need to take it in, what kind of costs will I be hit with to fix it?

ooooo....that don't look too good. I have a '00, no issues yet, but following as well.

WOW. I'm thrilled to have found someone with the same problem as me. I've been climbing under the truck for months trying to find the source of that horrendously annoying sound. I finally figured out it was coming from the same joint you posted pictures of -- in my situation, the rubber is cracking and falling apart between the frame and body. It's hard to tell in your pictures, but the same may be happening to you above that beam. The way I understand it, the body is resting on that beam.

I finally have some time this week to look around for a solution. I assume replacing the bushing will fix the problem but I'm starting to think it'll be a difficult job. Can anybody shed some light there?

If I find a solution, I'll be sure to post it...

Im really glad to hear you also have the same problem. Its quite annoying and loud. I also noticed that its increasingly getting worse. My body is definitely resting on the frame and the bushings are falling apart. I'm just not sure how Id be able to take them out and insert new ones without messing something up. Keep me updated on what you discover and how to go about fixing it. Thanks for the reply.

Fritz

I'm having some trouble finding the failing part anywhere online. Using a mirror, I was able to (I think) get the part number on the passenger side lower bushing. It's 23-1L54-1000193-CA. The upper bushings and the lower driver's side bushing are too far gone to get a part number on. Were you able to see any on yours? I see that yours begins with a "68." Putting the part number I found (or random segments of it) into online search engines is getting me nowhere. Tomorrow or Tuesday I'm going to call a dealer and see what I can figure out.

are these easy to change? its just a simple unbolt and bolt right? I saw some of mine were cracked and looking worn...just curious

Mine is another '01 Sport with worn out body mounts. They are still bolted in, but the rubber is crushed on all of them. The body bangs over big bumps too. This is a recent problem. Guess it doesn't like to be jumped! Shouldn't be too hard to fix though. I'm thinking about adding a body lift while I'm at it.

Found an interesting page that might help solve the how to change them issue.
http://www.autozone.com/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/0b/eb/a2/0900823d800beba2/repairInfoPages.htm

Anyone else come up with any suggestions, cost or location of these parts?

Thanks in advance,

Fritz

Most of mine look like this:



The body is almost sitting on the frame in the front on the passenger side. The far rear passenger side bushing is almost completely gone. Time for some more repairs. Good time to add a body lift, I guess.

Well I've finally got this one fixed, but it definitely wasn't easy.

I paid $108 for the rear upper and lower bushings (4 parts total). 6 out of the other 8 locations are looking like they've seen better days, but at this point I just wanted to fix the noise and hope it holds up. Between the dealer and a couple body shops, I've been quoted anywhere from 3.5-8 hours of labor to replace these horribly engineered body bushings.

It turns out the part # I mentioned above is just a manufacturer's number and basically means nothing. The parts dept at the dealer had a current diagram (be careful, the autozone one only claims to be accurate to the 99 model I think). The upper part # for the rear location was 00155C, the lower was 00155G. For the 2001, all of the bushings front to back have a part # that begins with 00155, but ends with different letters depending on location. If I can get a scanner working, I'll gladly post the diagram I have.

The removal/ install was a PITA. Getting the bolts loose was a task and, once those were removed, the lower bushing just has to be forcefully ripped away from the upper. There's probably no saving it, in case you were planning on trying. You'll have to remove the spare tire and unbolt the fuel pump for access to the driver's side. The more forward mount bolts were frozen and I didn't feel like buying an impact wrench, so I decided to try not loosening them. I wound up having to run a 2x4 across the leaf springs (with a jack stand under the jack site just in case), placing a bottle jack just inside the leaf springs on the board. Using a block atop the jack, I *SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY* separated the frame and body. I cannot emphasize the "carefully" part enough. It was nerve racking at times because I would hear an ominous groan every now and then. It's definitely a good idea to place blocks between the frame and body as you go, just in case something gives. Remove the old crappy upper bushing, replace with the new one, and release the jack. Snap the lower bushing into the upper, and tightening the bolt is a piece of cake.

Definitely don't play with the new parts before install, they'll snap together and I'd imagine you'll have to destroy them to get 'em apart.

You really ought to plan numerous hours for this repair. Even though I pulled it off, I'd say it's not a bad one to bite the bullet on and have a shop do it, unless you have the right equipment to lift the whole body in which case you might even consider a body lift.

And by the way, after 6 months of that awful noise, it's like I'm driving a new Explorer...

Skrylla, I cant thank you enough for taking it on yourself and posting the details for all that may have had this problem. I will definitely take my time when I do this myself and will follow your very detailed instructions carefully. Thanks again! You've saved me many hours of searching, researching and then trial and error when replacing this more than problematic noise. I'm so excited to hear its better than driving a new explorer. Thanks again, I will take photos, and update you of my replacement of these parts and the process it takes when doing so. I hope this is useful to many explorer owners out there and ford admits this is a failing part. Did you buy the parts online? If so, can you provide a link?


Cheers!

Fritz

Thanks for posting that. Lots of good info.

I will need to replace ALL 20 of my bushings and was planning to do a body lift at the same time. After hearing the price for just the bushings at the dealership, I'm not sure I'm willing to spend the additional couple hundred for the body lift. It'll be getting close to the $1k mark for all that unless I can find the bushings cheaper.

Yeah, to be honest all of my bushings except the farthest front ones (which are rubber and holding up great) should ideally have been replaced, and I'm sure this is something a lot of Explorer owners are going to be seeing in the near future. Ford should really know better than to hold a vehicle together with foam...

I got the parts directly from the dealer. Not the cheapest route, but I was nervous not having a diagram that was stated to be accurate for the 2001 model. I didn't want to take the risk of ordering parts online based on the autozone diagram and having them not fit. In retrospect, I think I made the right decision because in the autozone diagram all the bushings are the same part# front to back. In the ford diagram (and visual inspection on the vehicle) it's easy to see that, at least on the 2001 sport, most of them are different sizes. Not sure whether or not they'd be interchangeable. I was also thrown off by the fact that a local body shop gave me the same part numbers listed on the autozone diagram, but for my car. Not sure if they were mistaken, or if they know something I don't. May not be a bad idea to ask. I can tell you that I found the part numbers from the autozone diagram (1L5Z.1000154.CA and 1L5Z.1000155.CA) at this site for about half price:
http://www.guerrainternational.com/search/

Fritz:
If you're going to do the same thing I did and place a 2x4 across the leaf springs, make sure you don't place it too far back (the spring will become more vertically angled there and the board may slip - I learned the scary way) and make sure you wedge something (ideally a tool with rubber coating or a small wooden wedge) under the forward side of the 2x4 so that you're keeping it as parallel to the underside of the body as possible. I also used a separate board and placed it between the axle and 2x4 just in case it decided to slip forward.

I tried several different things and only posted what worked. Of course, the best thing to do would be loosening the other mounts to decrease tension and then you might just be able to jack the body up from the ground, but that wasn't going to be easy for me.

skrylla u got any other pics of ur sport like front end or side view or anything like that. I also got an 01 sport.

here are pics of it if u wanna check it out www.cardomain.com/id/sams01xplrsprt