385,266 miles. Time to replace torsion bars?

[84FLH]

Hello all;

2000 Mountaineer (4.0) now has 385,266 on the original torsion bars. Front of vehicle is level as seen by eye (not tape measure) from front of vehicle. Vehicle sits level (eye view, not measured view) front to rear, both sides.

Front ride height, passenger and drive side (measured from middle of LCA pivot bolt to ground) is about 3/4" lower than spec calls for. Passenger side torsion adj bolt is turned all the way in. Driver side has about 4-6 threads still showing.

Ride in front was harsh and jolting over, say RR tracks. So I put new, front, Monroe shocks on a few months ago but ride quality still harsh and jolting.

Is it time to replace the torsion bars? Should I also replace adjusters and keys?

Thank you.

 

[swshawaii]

How close are the bump stops to the lower control arms? If always making contact you're bottoming out and the ride will be jolting. If you see bare metal under the rubber on the bump stop contact points it may be time for replacement torsion bars or pads. There will also be witness marks on the LCA's from metal to metal contact.

 

[84FLH]

How close are the bump stops to the lower control arms? If always making contact you're bottoming out and the ride will be jolting. If you see bare metal under the rubber on the bump stop contact points it may be time for replacement torsion bars or pads. There will also be witness marks on the LCA's from metal to metal contact.

Thanks, swshawaii. Will check today and report back here.

 

[swshawaii]

Here's pics of my modified bump stops. Shortened 1/2 inch because I'm lowered 2-1/2" inches in front. Second pic shows about 1/2" clearance to the LCA. Made hard contact over large bumps and ended up removing them completely. Yet to bottom out and make metal to metal contact.

 

[84FLH]

swshawaii​

Welp, I swapped front tires side to side to even out wear on inside edges (too much toe in?), sprayed WD40 on all UCA/LCA bushings and on sway bar bushings.....and completely forgot to check for indications of contact/wear. Then I went on with my day. Will look/see tomorrow.

Wow. 1/2" clearance and no contact. How many miles on the vehicle/TB's?

 

[swshawaii]

I REMOVED the front bump stops. I'd say around 1 inch of clearance now.

About 90,000 pavement miles.

 

[84FLH]

I didn't see any bump stops for my LCA. All I saw was the sway bar end link from LCA to end of sway bar. I'll have to look again, though, because I didn't look around real good near the LCA pivot bolt area. Maybe that's where the bump stop is.

Will report back here.

Edit: Found this pic. So that's where I didn't look. Will look again for signs of contact and report back here. Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction.

Explorer Express bump stops

I know they are out of business. Reading through some old threads I remember that they used bump stops (modified somehow) from the older ARC Explorers and modified bump stops from Energy Suspension. Anyone know the specifics on either of these? I have a photo of the ones that they used to...

www.explorerforum.com