Is this stock?

[Gse Brent]

Is this stock? If so what is it? Its in front of the rear diff on the passenger side.

 

[TonyV2000]

Thats the mount for the 5th shock absorber or laterally mounted vibration damper. It is mounted more or less horizontally from the rear diff to the frame. Many run with it removed. Many say it"s there for a reason. Personally I'm in the "it's there for a reason" camp.


More here.

 

[swshawaii]

On a Gen 1 Sport Trac?

 

[OffTrac]

Mine has it too.

 

[swshawaii]

Interesting, opinions seem to be split in the link below.
Assuming the "fifth shock" wasn't installed on the Sport
or Sport Trac models. No mount or provision on my 4x2 ST.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81533

 

[roamer37]

Its a Damper put on by the factory to Dampen NVH issues

 

[MidnightRebel07]

The ST, Ex and Mounty share the same rear axle assembly. My wife's '97 V8 AWD Mounty has the shock on it, my '03 ST doesn't but has the mounting tab and holes for it. Since the accident last month, I had a whole new (10k miles on it) axle assembly installed on my ST. The axle assembly is from eithe a '99 or '01 Explorer, they swapped the ring and pinion (it had 3.73's, mine has 4.10"s), brake setup and sway bar.

In '01 they left some parts on from the Ex when they produced the ST, finally they caught on and removed it.

 

[swshawaii]

Its a Damper put on by the factory to Dampen NVH issues

Ford should have used the money researching the foam body mounts better. Agree Gse Brent?

http://www.agcoauto.com/content/news/p2_articleid/183

 

[colintrax]

If you got the mount on the frame, go buy the shock and put it on. Aint that expensive

 

[interscope8]

Its on mine too, never knew what it was, now I can rest easy

 

[JohnnyO]

Vibration damper. My '02 Ranger had one on the back of the transfer case. My two Sport Tracs did not.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

If you have it on your ST the you can shed some weight because it's pointless to have it on there without the shock. Plus if you offroad then you have something else that will get caught up on rocks, etc... JMO.

 

[SouthernSAR]

I have the holes for it to be mounted on my 04 ST, but no bracket or shock.

 

[OffTrac]

I've considered removing it a couple times while underneath but it's not a big deal either way. It's just not worth the time or effort to do anything about.

 

[Gse Brent]

Ford should have used the money researching the foam body mounts better. Agree Gse Brent?

http://www.agcoauto.com/content/news/p2_articleid/183

Very much agreed

 

[Gse Brent]

Soooooooo let me get this straight.........I can mount an additional 5th shock to my truck??? And lets say i dont need to do that, can i just remove it? Theres like 3 bolts holding it on.

 

[GRNMACHINE]

I believe mine is on there and always wondered it was as well. Will need to check this wkend.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

IIRC, the ST doesn't have the upper shock mount for that shock, so just remove the bracket to shed some useless weight.

 

[JohnnyO]

IIRC, the ST doesn't have the upper shock mount for that shock, so just remove the bracket to shed some useless weight.

IIRC, the extra shock was used on regular Explorers equipped with a V8.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

That is correct JohnnyO, Carol's '97 Mounty V8 AWD has it mounted. I noticed on my neighbors '98 Mistubishi Montero Utility it has one too.

JohnnyO, Wexford Car Cruise starts on the 25th. Not sure if we'll make that one, too crowded.

For those that don't know Wexford Starlite Car Cruise is the largest weekly car cruise/ show east of the Mississippi, it might've earned largest in the country after last years shows. It Averages between 1,500-3k+ vehicles of all kinds every Friday night. People have had their vehicles shipped in from as far away as Australia just to have it in the show for the night.