Seeking Advice on Suspension Rehab/Upgrade

[EastoutWest]

Hey folks,

I'm totally confident I can do any mechanical work but I'm not sure what work to do... I recently came into a couple thousand dollars and my 91 XLT with manual hubs and transmission, 3.73 Limited slip, overall good condition... is starting to get old and loose. I really want a truck but it would need to be diesel, 4x4, extended cab (or 4 door), and short bed. In my $3-5k range, the only ones like this that I see are Chevy and have ~300k miles... In other words, I either put money into my explorer or buy a truck and put more money into it...

I drive through a couple miles of gravel every day and commute mostly. I occasionally travel regionally, pull a small boat, a 4x8 trailer, and generally light off-roading. I'm thinking instead of buy a truck, I could put like $1500 into my explorer and use a bigger trailer.

So, with $1500, what can I do to fix my explorer's deficiencies?
-rocks violently over rough ground unless going faster than 15 mph (with 2 yr old sensa trac shocks - rear end sags without coilover shocks)
-front end noise over bumps
-low axle clearance (currently running taller tires than stock - 245/75/16)
-steering play and it turns left sharper than right (I bent the left side radius arm bracket off-road, had it replaced and it "wouldn't align without the steering wheel upside down..." this can be annoying when backing a trailer. I suspect the radius arm is bent as well and left side of axle is further back on the frame)
-needs tires
-has an intermittent top-end tick, what's that about?
-could use a little exhaust work (real dual exhaust would be sweet)

I don't want a rock-crawler or mud bogger, just a better-handling and more capable explorer. I can mig-weld and have access to a lift for a weekend at a time.

Why do people do solid axle swaps? Can you do that in a weekend?
Is there a newer steering gear box I could bolt in?

I realize I've asked a bunch of questions and I don't expect everyone to answer everything but if you feel like chiming in, I'd appreciate it! I'm also searching the forums, but its a lot of info to sort through and is taking time.

Thanks!

 

[EastoutWest]

My Explorer as she sits.

 

[EastoutWest]

No dice huh?
Bump.

I've been looking at full size pickups...

 

[Anime]

You can do a lot with $1500. You can do a lot with even less if you spend your money right.

Part of the rocking is the solid rear axle, there's not much you can do about that. Sensatracs are great shocks for ride quality, but if they are worn out they can be as bad as cheap shocks that aren't up to the job. I had Sensatracs for years and they worked great even when they had lots of miles on them, but maybe the newer ones aren't as good. You could get new Sensatracs, maybe even get them replaced free under warranty if you have the receipt still, or just get Monroe Reflex shocks or even Bilsteins. Bilsteins ride firm though, but they do take care of the rocking, except what's unavoidable from the rear axle design.

Front end noise over bumps can be a lot of things, but is usually worn out ball joints clunking around, and sometimes the radius arm bushings being either loose or falling apart. Since you have the money the best fix is a whole front end job, taking the steering knuckles off and replacing the ball joints and radius arm bushings while you're in there. I'd suggest getting the top of the line ball joints from Napa since they seem to be the best and have a lifetime warranty. Raybestos makes the same ones if you want to get them somewhere online.

Low axle clearance is a design flaw of the TTB, but it can also just be from suspension sag over time. The coil springs sag and ride height is reduced, which affects the suspension geometry and puts the axles closer to the ground. You can fix this with new coil springs, either stock height replacements, or get some for a smaller 1.5-2" lift. You can also just stack 1-1/4" washers under the coil springs as spacers to restore the stock height and get the alignment perfect, too.

Steering play could be the steering tie rods being loose, there are four in the steering system. You can get good standard or heavy duty replacements from Raybestos. Be sure to get the right ones, they are different for the 2WD and 4WD. If the radius arm brackets or arms are bent, they should be replaced. Replacement brackets and arms are available from Moog, or you could even just spend some $$$ and get longer aftermarket radius arms, which improves suspension travel over the short factory arms.

Top-end engine tick is usually the rocker arms, they get indentations in them where they contact the valves, due to the metal being slightly too weak/soft. Fix is new rocker arm assemblies from Ford that use stronger metal. Good excuse to replace the valve cover gaskets with some upgraded non-cork ones as well.

Flowmaster makes a cat-back exhaust kit, Dynomax used to make one as well, but now they only make it for the 93-94 (which is different due to the single exhaust hanger at the muffler). You can buy the 91-92 Walker brand exhaust pipes for the cat-to-muffler and tailpipe, and use the Dynomax 17747 muffler, get some stainless steel band clamps, and have an awesome DIY cat-back exhaust. Dual exhaust doesn't help anything and just takes up a ton of space and adds weight. If you just wanted the look of dual exhaust, you could always get a single-in-dual-out muffler and either run the pipes out the side in front of the rear tire, or a skilled exhaust tech could run dual 1.75-2" pipes side by side along the factory route, but really, a single 2.25" pipe is simpler, and probably cheaper.

People do solid axle swaps for a variety of reasons, some do it for rock crawling, to have a stronger front diff (Dana 60 vs the stock Dana 35), others do it because they just don't like the TTB design or independent suspension in general. The only way a solid axle swap takes a weekend is if you have EVERYTHING you need, including all the tools, and lots of people doing the work 24/7. It takes weeks or months to DIY.


There are options for a power steering box:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=240227

 

[Jason94sport]

I buy a newer Explorer with that $. It would be cheaper then trying to keep a 91 going.
You could part out/use parts from the old one & the scrap it for a few hundred dollars.

 

[Pollarican]

The used car market today is insane. If you are mechanically inclined you can get your Explorer to better than new condition for very little money, and it will be more capable than anything for the price.

My latest setup is a 4door/Mildly rebuilt 4.0/5 speed/4.56 gears/35 inch tires. I tow a 16 foot bed car trailer every other weekend with 4 quads on it round trip about 60 miles. It pulls it with ease, and gets decent mpg while doing it. A while back I came across a dead in the highway Duramax Diesel 2500 on 38's and I pulled him off the road to an area he could safely work on the truck. The 4.0 is a workhorse of a motor - reliable, torquey, and undervalued in the used car parts market. If yours died today, you could probably find one with relatively low milage for less than $500 in a short amount of time.

Bottom line is, there are very very few cars as out of the box as capable and cheap to maintain as the stick shift first generation Explorer. You have the same 31 spline Ford 8.8 rear axle as a half ton truck (F150 or Bronco) without a gas guzzling overkill engine. The 5 speed you have is simply a shrunken version of the 5 speeds put behind the 4.9 and 5.0 engine (M50DR2 in the fullsize and M5ODR1 in the Ranger/Explorer). Your front axle has axle shafts roughly equal in strength to a Dana 44 solid axle, yet you get some ride comfort being that it has two independant arms vs a rigid teeth chattering monobeam. Ranger parts are 95% interchangable.

The auto trans was the achilie's heel of the ranger/explorer. Your explorer dodged that bullet.

Start with a new set of radius arm bushings - you will be amazed how much slop and clunking that will remedy.

 

[mr cribb]

Yet again another 5 speed explorer from Carolina. I bought mine in NC 3 years ago, but mine is 2wd, and the only 4wd at the time was auto.

Invest in the Explorer if you love it. It will return the love later on.

My upper end tick was resolved by seafoaming the engine. I used a vacuum line on the intake manifold.