Where to buy NEW leafs for the rear?

I have searched a few times and found nothing. I am going to be replacing the leafs(sagging is starting) and my AAL here soon and getting shocks from napa that allow me to tow an extra 2000lbs. What I cant find is any aftermarket leafs from any parts store near me. Anyone have a place they recommend other than Ford?

Find a local spring shop. Usually less $ than ordering online after shipping... (At least around me)

www.lmctruck.com You will be surprised about how inexpensive they are (around $100 aeach side for the 4 door pack), but they are pretty close to stock, if not stock. What you can do is get the new ones from LMC truck and disassemble the pack that is on your truck now, and add some (or all of them except the main leaf) to the new pack. That way you will not need that AAL kit.

I just installed some spring loaded shocks from napa,same issue of rear sagging,it leveled it out with a +2 in lift,quite firm ride .this was on a 01 explorer sport.

The "sport" model would benefit even more by purchasing the 4-door leaf pack as it has more leafs in it to begin with. Well worth the 200 for both sets IMHO.

joe dirt said:

find a local spring shop. Usually less $ than ordering online after shipping... (at least around me)

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x2

LMC has free shipping... I just dont wanna deal with more local yokals who keep asking dumb questions about WHY IM MODDIFYING AN EXPLORER...

Mine didn't, it's a spring shop and they just asked if it was a 2 door or 4 door. They were stock replacements. I got both rear leaf sets, shackles, and hardware for $180. If I have a problem, they're right there and I can run to the shop and not have to hassle with the only peril of online buying- not being able to look someone in the eye and getting a problem resolved... Plus, hey- it's local, I like to support local when I can...

Just my path of purchase, doen't make it right or wrong I guess, just an opinion...

Joe Dirt said:

Plus, hey- it's local, I like to support local when I can..

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so do I but you wouldnt believe the crap I had trying to do that transfercase swap, you would have thought I was trying to talk them through brain surgery. sometimes, when I need a part that can only be a certain part and I can order it with no questions or hassles, I prefer to order it.

Electrohacker said:

LMC has free shipping...

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on orders of $1k or more.

Xplorer82 said:

on orders of $1k or more.

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DOH I hate the catches

I hear ya- it's like sometimes I have to tell the guys at the places I go to- "please stop trying to help me, I already know what I need..." It does get annoying after a while, so I can totally relate.

Damn thanks for the help!
If I already have an AAL do I need to get a new set? I dont really understand the concept per se. I bought the car as is and havent looked into it too much.

I just did all that research !!!! Here's what I did !

Hi. The rear was sagging in my 1996 5.0V8 AWD and I also needed new shocks.

So after a LOT of research I found 4 viable options (for me):
Option 1- LMCtruck.com. 2 new rear leaf springs (4 leaf, part number 50-5965) for $200 plus S+H. Then buy shocks on top of that.
Option 2- A well-known spring place in Portland, OR was going to re-arch the existing springs and add a leaf for $325 all labor included. Drive in and drive out. Then buy shocks on top of that.
Option 3- Buy rear air shocks and pump them up. Monroe sells a pair called the MAX-Air Shock for under $60, MA776. (That's two for $60) These you can pump up when you need to tow and can reduce when you don't. I don't know how easy it is to change the pressure.
Option 4- Buy rear shocks with coil-over springs. Monroe sells the Sensa-Trac Load Adjusting Shock Absorber. They have a coil wrapped around the spring, and are not adjustable. These are only a tiny bit more expensive than without the coils. $92.50 plus tax TOTAL for both rear shocks.

I liked the idea of Option 1. And in hind sight this is probably the best option to return an Explorer to its original ride height and spring rate. But in the end I didn't choose it. It is also a more costly option than the one I chose.

Option 2 would likely make the truck's spring rate too firm for me and I didn't want to spend $325 PLUS the cost of shocks and then possibly not be happy. I didn't choose option 2.

Option 3 was interesting. It was the least expensive option and after having had adjustable preload on shocks when I roadraced motorcycles I liked the idea. But the Monroe info said that it was primarily for towing (with at least 400 lbs of load in the rear) so I worried that they might be too firm. Also, they only had 1/2" piston rods and I wanted 5/8" minimum. I didn't go with Option 3.

I went with Option 4, the Monroe Sensa-Trac Load Adjusting Shocks. I thought I'd give them a try. Under $100 for the pair isn't too bad. Installing them was interesting. I removed the old shocks easily and then jacked the truck up very high. I put one shock under the rear bumper and lowered the truck onto the shock. With part of the weight of the Explorer sitting on the shock it notably compressed I tied it off with strong wire. Then I jacked the truck back up. I installed the top bolts of the shock in the cross member and then lowered the jack until the bottom shock mount lined up with the mounting bracket. I slid the lower bolt into place, tightened up the upper bolts and then snipped the wire.

Notes: the compressed shock broke a narrower diameter wire the first time I did it. Be careful. Use a thick enough wire or, better yet, tie off two separate wires. Compressed springs hold a lot of bone-breaking energy.

I measured the truck before and after: the bottom of the trailer hitch is almost exactly 2 inches higher than it was before. The truck sits at a height that is much nicer aesthetically; it looks better. It drives better too, probably because the rear springs were shot and the rear shackles were almost all the way rearward, almost touching the trailer hitch. For me the ride is now firmer than I would prefer (I enjoy driving Cadillacs thought) but I'd imagine that most of the people would enjoy it. If I can recall, it is slightly firmer than when it rolled off the assembly line.

I also bought the dampener that goes between the rear differential and the frame. It was rusting away. After removing it I could feel that it was still working, but for another $35 (price of dampener and optional shock boot) I'm happy to have changed it out. It looks nice under there now. Everything nice and new.

So, if you want to renew your Explorer's ride to factory, then buy new springs from LMCtrucks.com and regular shocks from whoever. The front Ford shocks seemed to be of a higher manufacturing quality than the Monroe's I purchased and installed.

With the coil-over shocks I bought I now don't feel like it would be a good idea to buy new springs, since the ride would probably be too high.

I hope this helps,
Dave

Local spring shop told me the best thing I can do is add a leaf to the existing springs. They said it will give about 2" of height in the rear and the truck will ride better and handle much better. The coil over springs will be adding a lot of stress to you shock mounts. I have seen the mounts break away on other vehicles due to the stress.

3+1 springs

I opted for the 3+1 overload springs from suspensionking.com as shown in the following link:
Rear springs

So the coil-over shocks got rid of the sag?
And also, why do my posts keep being moved from modified to unmodified section? My truck isnt stock, the question at hand isnt aimed towards just a stock replacement...

Electrohacker said:

DOH I hate the catches

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x2. i hear that.

Yes, the Monroe Sensa-Track Load Adjusting rear shock absorbers totally got rid of the sag in the rear. Monroe part number 58617.

My Explorer didn't look quite right before and now it DOES look good. Not to mention that the original shocks were shot and the truck badly needed new shocks. And more importantly, it now rides well (maybe a tiny bit more firmly than I'd prefer) and I think it now sits at the correct height (maybe even 1/2" to 1" higher than stock in the back, but I don't know that for sure- its just a guess).

The cross member in the rear to which the upper part of the rear shocks mount is strong on the Explorer (in my opinion). I wouldn't worry about it breaking that cross member. Yes, I know that adding stress to the shock mounts on some cars can be a precarious thing, but on the Explorer that cross member is thick gauge steel and I doubt that it would be an issue.

As I mentioned, I used Monroe Sensa-Trac Load Adjusting Shocks, part number 58617. They come by the pair, so only order one. The pair cost $92.50 at Amazon. Amazon charges sales tax (a ridiculous 9.5% here in WA state) and I selected the free shipping. But the free shipping is slow, in my opinion. I ordered everything (2 front shocks, the pair of rears, the dampener for the rear diff, and a shock boot) on Sunday morning and received them 8 days later, on a Monday afternoon. RockAuto's prices were a dollar or two more for each thing I would have bought, they don't charge sales tax but DO charge shipping. I've bought a lot of stuff from RockAuto and know that I would have received them BEFORE the following weekend and it would have only cost me maybe $10 to $20 more overall. I mostly went with Amazon because someone gave me a gift certificate that I wanted to use.

I would definitely recommend these shocks to people with sagging rears because 1. the TOTAL cost of eliminating the sag AND getting new shocks was $92.50 plus tax, and 2. you can do ALL the work to replace the shocks in 45 minutes and with four wrenches.

I went to the Monroe web site to see what shocks they recommended to use with what other shocks. Based on that I bought two Sensa-Trac front shocks, part number 911122. I also bought what most sites call the "Steering Stabilizer Shock". The name is totally wrong, in my opinion. The Monroe SC2958 is a dampener (stabilizer) for the rear differential. Lastly I bought one Monroe Shock-Mate boot kit, part number SA1997 (the "kit" consists of a boot and one zip-strip). They come in every different color and doubt they would fit all shocks easily. I put the boot on the rear differential dampener "shock".

I've been driving my Explorer (with the new coil-spring "load-adjusting" Monroe Sensa-Trac rear shocks and the regular Monroe Sensa-Trac front shocks) for a few weeks now. The ride height is correct and it looks much better. It was an inexpensive way to eliminate the visual sag in the back AND to have new rear shocks.

The old shocks were shot so it is nice to have functioning shocks on the car, even though the ride seems too firm for me.

Personally, I like as soft a ride as possible. So if I had to do it again I would probably put on new rear springs (original weight rating, probably from LMCtruck for $200 for the pair) and then normal, softer shocks. For me the ride in the back seems firmer than the original ride (and too firm for me).

I think that for many people on this list the coil-over Sensa-Trac Load-Adjusting rear shocks are a great value. Under $100 and you get two rear shocks that eliminate the sagging rear.

BUT> The rear springs are still appear deformed, as the shackles still are far back (instead of vertical). So I'm not sure the rear suspension works as properly as if the rear springs were in their original "new" arched shape.

So, I can't complain for $93 plus tax delivered (from Amazon). But since I like as soft a ride as possible I'd probably spend more money and put on the new rear springs and new cheaper shocks.

I hope this helps someone.