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Explorer gets bouncy/kinda like floating above 80mph

It doesn’t actually. The 5r’s “2nd gear” is just first gear, plus a converter lockup. It doesn’t have another gear than the 4r55e, it just has a second converter lockup.
Yeah, from what I was told by a trans shop guy the only reason the 5r is a 5 speed is because the 4r had a failure that caused an extra gear to pop up between 1st and 2nd. So then ford just made that failure into a win, and got a 5 speed with minimal extra design time. I could be wrong but that's what I was told. Still its really interesting to think about.
 



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Yeah, from what I was told by a trans shop guy the only reason the 5r is a 5 speed is because the 4r had a failure that caused an extra gear to pop up between 1st and 2nd. So then ford just made that failure into a win, and got a 5 speed with minimal extra design time. I could be wrong but that's what I was told. Still its really interesting to think about.
It’s actually a loss since that extra “gear” adds a lot of wear and tear on the intervals of the transmission. I’m sure the real reason was all the other manufacturers were coming out with real 5 speeds, and they needed to match on paper.
 






That explains the TCC data I see in Forscan. Sometimes it will partially lock while accelerating.
 






A “roll bar” is an interior metal frame that protects the driver in case the car tolls over!
Anti-sway bars are solid metal bars attached to the chassis with clamps and bushings with the ends attached to the A frame of each wheel to help stabilize the chassis when cornering or going over bumps.
Two entirely different items and uses.
Yes, I should have said anti-roll.

There are only 2 anti-sway setups that I know of a Panhard bar and a Watts link. The rest are all anti-roll.

A roll cage or partial roll cage Is not part of a suspension.
 






So, Ford made us a wacky wonk.

Serious. Look for yourselves. The extra battery, driver, gas tank and transfer case weight bared by the left side of the truck forced them to make the torsion bars unequal length, and rate. They do not have the same part numbers.

For the rear they moved the sway bar ( anti roll bar) end link mount to frame lower on driver side to help push it up.

Don't drive these over 80 MPH
 






So, Ford made us a wacky wonk.

Serious. Look for yourselves. The extra battery, driver, gas tank and transfer case weight bared by the left side of the truck forced them to make the torsion bars unequal length, and rate. They do not have the same part numbers.

For the rear they moved the sway bar ( anti roll bar) end link mount to frame lower on driver side to help push it up.

Don't drive these over 80 MPH

03e5ef58127249a881906d621dc90937.jpg
 






For the rear they moved the sway bar ( anti roll bar) end link mount to frame lower on driver side to help push it up.
If the end links look different from stock it's because they are shorter to compensate for my rear drop and to keep the sway bar trailing arms parallel with the ground.
gnUEbs1.jpg

If you look closely the driver side end link upper mounting point is considerably lower than the passenger side. @Turdle was the first to point this out on another EF thread years ago and explained it was to help compensate for the common "Ranger lean" or "gangster lean".

Not an illusion if the pumpkin appears off center towards the passenger side because it actually is. LOL
 






So, Ford made us a wacky wonk.

Serious. Look for yourselves. The extra battery, driver, gas tank and transfer case weight bared by the left side of the truck forced them to make the torsion bars unequal length, and rate. They do not have the same part numbers.

For the rear they moved the sway bar ( anti roll bar) end link mount to frame lower on driver side to help push it up.

Don't drive these over 80 MPH
Eh, toss those garbage sway bars. A little body roll never hurt anyone.
 






I had a 1987 Olds Cutlass Supreme, Buick 231 V6...exhaust was totally rotted out, shocks shot, and sway bar links were broken.

That thing was awesome. It floated down the street, rolled like crazy, did 0-60 in about 14 seconds (no kidding) and was louder than hell.
 






I buried my speedometer one day, just after putting my 99 together. The needle had been off for some reason, so I had no clue where to put it back on just then.

93 Limited mirror.JPG
 












It doesn’t actually. The 5r’s “2nd gear” is just first gear, plus a converter lockup. It doesn’t have another gear than the 4r55e, it just has a second converter lockup.
The second gear has nothing to do with converter lockup. The second gear is a combination of 1st and 5th gears, meaning that 1st gear is overdriven or speeded up by 5th gear that has a gear ratio of 0.75.
 






The second gear has nothing to do with converter lockup. The second gear is a combination of 1st and 5th gears, meaning that 1st gear is overdriven or speeded up by 5th gear that has a gear ratio of 0.75.
Okay. In any case they didn’t add a gear to the transmission, and are adding wear and tear to a unit that’s already an unpolished turd.
 






I max at 80. stay in the middle or right lane. I don't have cruise either so it's a PITA to keep speed. I don't wish to drive faster in this thing. I have a real car for that.
OP how are the body mounts?
 






Good catch @Jason94sport. 2001-03 Sports and 2001-05 Sport Tracs are known for dry rotting foam body mounts that cause many handling issues.
Only thing is the OP didn't mention the noises they usually make. IIRC, eight locations on the Sport had foam mounts from the firewall back. Very easy
to inspect and you will immediately see if they are crumbling. 30 pages searching body mounts on EF.
Here's a dated article, but it was a well known issue back then.
2001-03 Sport polyurethane body mount kit.
 






Good catch @Jason94sport. 2001-03 Sports and 2001-05 Sport Tracs are known for dry rotting foam body mounts that cause many handling issues.
Only thing is the OP didn't mention the noises they usually make. IIRC, eight locations on the Sport had foam mounts from the firewall back. Very easy
to inspect and you will immediately see if they are crumbling. 30 pages searching body mounts on EF.
Here's a dated article, but it was a well known issue back then.
2001-03 Sport polyurethane body mount kit.
So I was changing the oil(200 miles late), and looking towards the axle. I noticed and entire half of the upper body mount in my passenger side is missing. The second on from the back, the rest look okay. I did notice some frame rust where it overlaps, which is the stupidest frame design possible. Anyway I'm adding body mounts to the list whit the shocks. The pains of a high mileage vehicle.
 






I remember some talk about torsion bars, and I noticed my driver side is sitting 1/2 ish lower here recently. Should I just crank the torsion bolt in more, or does this sound like a good time to increase the stiffness of my bars? The door code is D3, which if I remember correctly Letters closer to A are stiffer. I also recall someone mentioned Ranger edge tbars since they are stiffer. Do I just match the year, and put them in or is there something I'm missing?
 






I remember some talk about torsion bars, and I noticed my driver side is sitting 1/2 ish lower here recently. Should I just crank the torsion bolt in more, or does this sound like a good time to increase the stiffness of my bars? The door code is D3, which if I remember correctly Letters closer to A are stiffer. I also recall someone mentioned Ranger edge tbars since they are stiffer. Do I just match the year, and put them in or is there something I'm missing?
If I am not mistaken, axle codes are about the differential, not suspension. D3 seems to be 3.54 ratio, limited slip.
 






If I am not mistaken, axle codes are about the differential, not suspension. D3 seems to be 3.54 ratio, limited slip.
No Explorer ever came with a limited slip other than a 3.73 or a 4.10.
 



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No Explorer ever came with a limited slip other than a 3.73 or a 4.10.
So what's the ratio for John's D3? The door sticker on my '98 with 3.73 says D4.
 






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