Deteriorated Body Mounts

It seems that later '01 Fords had body mounts that were of substandard quality, that literally fall apart after the material breaks down;

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

Replacing these with the same parts from the dealer doesn't seem to make much sense, as the same thing will probably happen all over again.


Daystar makes a polyurethane body mount bushing kit, part #KF04009BK, for the 91-98 Explorers, that also fits the 99-01 Sports. It's around $150 online, but 4WheelParts has it on sale for $130. The kit may or may not fit the Sport Trac, but my guess is it will, or at least some of the bushings would, since I would think the cab mounts of the Sport Trac use the same 6 body mounts as the front of the Sport. They also make kits for other Fords, including newer full sizes, so it might be possible to find another kit that would have all the correct bushings, either by comparison to their stock rubber mounts or otherwise, if the kit doesn't have everything for a Sport Trac.

It's probably also possible to use the 91-98 Explorer kit and compensate for any differences between the heights of the bushings with steel washers, which might still be a better and less expensive alternative to the bushings from the dealer if they are $98 a pair and made of the same material that is just going to fall apart again.

On the plus side, since the rubber of the body mounts has fallen apart, the steel inner hardware is now accessable and super easy to remove, which is a good thing since you can re-use it with the new Daystar mounts.

Thanks John for the info. My co-worker's son works at a Ford dealer and said that he will replace the 4 center sets, which are the only bad ones for $600 with parts. I hope I'm not being had, as I was first told by another repair shop that the noise was caused by bad shocks(replaced) then bad ball joints(replaced both upper and lower) and still had the noise!!!! Not much left is there. Thanks again.

ncranchero said:

Anyone tried matching these POS bushings up with the real rubber bushings from other Ford models? I've never heard of bushings deteriorating like these Explorer bushings do.

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I don't think they are the same part #'s. But the thought had crossed my mind to try something like that.

It doesn't make any sense and does piss me off that both my trucks are the same age. One with the deteriorating bushings and one with perfectly fine bushings.

Never heard ANY complaints about bushings on F150's etc.

Here's a heads-up on the poly body busings: MORE noise and MORE vibration. These are MUCH harder than the rubber mounts and do not cushion as well. Had them on my Ranger when those went to "S", using your same logic. Not a big fan. They work very well though - constant height and solid.

ncranchero said:

Never heard ANY complaints about bushings on F150's etc.

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You should do more internet searching. Plenty of Fords, from the full size Broncos, to F-series pickups, to Bronco II's, Rangers, and Explorers all have their own body mount bushing woes. Even if the rubber itself is still in one piece, the metal hardware inside of it rusts solid, making replacing them a bear of a job. It's a solid design, which works great for a few years. Long term, it sucks. Usually replacement requires using new washers top and bottom with a metal sleeve, and new bolts and nuts as well. 1/2" grade 5 or 8 bolts seem to be a great fit and would be stronger than the factory 12mm Class 9.8 stuff.

Fredness said:

Here's a heads-up on the poly body busings: MORE noise and MORE vibration. These are MUCH harder than the rubber mounts and do not cushion as well. Had them on my Ranger when those went to "S", using your same logic. Not a big fan. They work very well though - constant height and solid.

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What brand of poly body mounts did you get through? Daystar says their poly is formulated to be the same durometer as the factory rubber, just more durable. I'd suspect Energy Suspension uses a similarly soft durometer on replacement bushings. They seem to offer a firm and soft durometer on their universal aftermarket body mounts, so my guess would be they'd use the softer durometer for most things, maybe the firmer stuff for larger bodied vehicles. If you went with a cheap-o poly brand, that might have been the issue.

Anime said:

You should do more internet searching.

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In this world of internet you can find anything if you SEARCH for it. I'm on and have been on a lot of Ford forums for years and bad bushings are NOT the common day in day out discussion subject that they are on Explorer forums. I've repaired a lot of salvage Bronco II's, F150's and even a couple E-vans changing frames/major body sections (clips) and have not seen the deterioration of insulators spoken of in the Explorer forums. In other words, I've done it not searched the internet for it. Of course I don't live in the great white north where rust buckets are common either.

How old are the vehicles you posted the photos of? Those photos look to be from vehicles that are much older than the Explorers being discussed, IMO.

Anime said:

1/2" grade 5 or 8 bolts seem to be a great fit and would be stronger than the factory 12mm Class 9.8 stuff.

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BTW, 9.8 metric grade is 9% stronger than a grade 5.
( I did search for that! )

I wasn't saying it was common, just that the rubber bushing equipped rides have their own woes. Mainly my point was, it's easier to replace bushings that fall off the metal hardware than it is to replace ones that rust together and fall apart, sometimes damaging the body frame mounts in the process.

DeRocha's is a '93, more pics in his body mount replacement thread:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122116

The other is from a '93-'97 Ranger:

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/bodymount_lift.htm

They are older, sure and some of the body mounts are in better shape. BUT the inner sleeves are still rusted solid!

It sucks that Ford put crappy mounts on the '01+ 's, BUT on the plus side, you can just swap out bushings before the hardware seizes together.


Depends on the diameter of the bolt. A larger diameter Grade 5 bolt is 'stronger' than a smaller diameter Class 9.8 one. The newer Fords might use Class 10.9 though, so using Grade 8 might be in order.

Body lift kits seem to come with 1/2" boths of either Grade 5 or Grade 8, so they just seem to be an easier solution for those of us with shot hardware if you are replacing everything else anyway. Hopefully those won't rust to anything and need to be cut later on down the road too, though.

I hear ya. The mounts, in whatever condition are a PITA to remove. A little anti-sieze goes a long way towards the ease of assembly and dis-assembly later even though hopefully that wouldn't happen.

Another thought. Daystar makes body mounts for 80's-90's Rangers, both the regular and extra cab, and Energy Suspension and James Duff make some too. These are much less expensive than the 91-98 Explorer kit. Since they both use six mounts, and the Sport Trac is a RBV (Ranger Based Vehicle) too, one or both of those kits might work. We just need guinea pigs willing to try them out, or maybe people can upload pics/measurements of their stock mounts to determine if they're similar enough they look like they'd be proper replacements.

With the deterorating mount problem, it would be helpful to those who don't want to keep replacing factory bushings.

Daystar #KF04003BK
83-93 Ranger Body Mounts (No Extra Cab)
~$50.00 online

Daystar #KF04012BK
83-93 Ranger Extra Cab Body Mounts
~$60-70 online

Energy Suspension #4.4103
83-88 Ranger Body Mounts (2WD & 4WD)
~$60-70 online

James Duff #6396 (Daystar kit with blue color bushings)
Body Mounts, '83-'97 Ranger
$79.50

Despite the labelling, my guess is all the kits fit all '83-'97 Rangers since the Duff kit says it does. If any '98-up Rangers have used a kit and it works, it'll probably work for other '98 up RBVs such as the Sport Trac, or would just be a cheaper option to replace any messed up front urethane bushings instead of buying a whole kit for Explorers.

Hi I was having a bang noise when hitting certain bumps. Upon checking it out. It appears my right rear cab mount has rusted out on the cab itself (ouch). Mount looks ok. But what can I do about repairing the area where the mount contacts the cab. Are there panels you can buy? At a loss what to do. Vehicle is: 2001 sport trac 4x4

02 st body bushings

All right I seen alot of post on body bushings and ideas.I ordered some universal body bushings from engery suspension.I have got them yet. They said it would be about 2 weeks.Im going try and see if they work to replace the 4 foam ford POS.I will post my findings and pics. ZOMBIE OUTLAW OUT

body mount rubber replacement

Guys,, Larry in the Philippines, I need to replace the full set of underbody rubber mounts on my '01 sport trac, we have a bloke here who makes the rubber mounts with a more suitable rubber compound (but not the hardware with it, like the bolts, sleeves, washers ect) thats no prob,,,,,,YET,,,I want to know can anyone explain the procedure for raising the body high enough off the chassis to do the replacement ?? and finally exactly how many mount locations are there ?......thanks boys,,,keep the good stuff comming

Man, reading through this thread and others really makes me miss John that much more. Damn.

There's two rad support mounts, six body/ cab mounts and four bed mounts.

Jack up the body one side at a time just enough to remove the bad bushings a replace with new ones.

Check out the body lift projects in the modified Explorer section, there's step-by-step instructions with pictures.

Thanks Midnight,, Im just about on the way, lift one side at a time is a good tip, but hell!! Ididnt know there were 12 of the suckers, (6 each side huh) looks like Im gunna need 24 of them doughnut sized rubbers ( uppers, and lowers,) do I need to remove the tail gate (easy) and the inner plastic tub to make acess easier ? or can all of them be got at, I guess once the tub is released it will move independent of the cabin ,,right ?, and loosen off the opposite side, but leave the bolts located so nutt'n bends huh......thanks again mate, the info you guys supply is better than a workshop manual

There are none under the bed.
One under each side of the radiator support:
Here are the other six.

My bad, for somereason I was thinking about all the bolts to do the bodylift and added the four for the bed in there.

Steve's right there aren't any under ther bed to woorry about.

This one was completely gone

Found this site pretty useful

Here's the link to the page http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/fex/full.aspx?Page=25

Any new updates on the replacement rubber bushings?
Did anyone find something other than the factory bushings that will work properly?

Not yet but i'm gonna be the guinea pig on the daystar ones