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3rd gen Explorer Coilovers

Very nice!!! Did you do any before "flex" measurements to see if the new shocks will improve?

And when you say too soft, do you mean there is too much body roll when you turn?
 



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Very nice!!! Did you do any before "flex" measurements to see if the new shocks will improve?

And when you say too soft, do you mean there is too much body roll when you turn?

No measurments, I put on one my wheel ramps before I did the preload though, and it really flexed. By soft I mean just a better ride, no stiffness like the strut.
 






the better ride is cause the shock is way better than the strut could ever be,,

welcome to the next level,, after riding on the coilovers all other rides will seem not as smooth,,
 






the better ride is cause the shock is way better than the strut could ever be,,

welcome to the next level,, after riding on the coilovers all other rides will seem not as smooth,,

Very true! I drove it this afternoon for a extended time and you would not believe the difference! Make's me very motivated to get the back done. I know some of you make think I am crazy, but here me out, Tonight we drove the Explorer down to our favorite place and I got 22mpg, I have not ever got 22mpg out of this explorer but my scangauge said I averaged 22mpg. I know it something to do with the quality of the ride. The only other thing I did was put new front wheel bearings, am I crazy or what?
 






now you know why we want them so much,, the riding on a cloud mod ,,,
 






okay, silly question and i totally forgot all about it till now,,

After the install of the coilovers did you check how close the alignment is ??
did it pull left or right, or track straight ?
how was the toe in or out ?
it may need an alignment now or that may be the reason it drove much better it could actually be better than it was , and not pushing the front, but rolling it better instead making it easier on fuel,,
never know, but it is possible,,
 












okay, silly question and i totally forgot all about it till now,,

After the install of the coilovers did you check how close the alignment is ??
did it pull left or right, or track straight ?
how was the toe in or out ?
it may need an alignment now or that may be the reason it drove much better it could actually be better than it was , and not pushing the front, but rolling it better instead making it easier on fuel,,
never know, but it is possible,,

It tracked straight. Used to to have a pull to the right, but now it tracks straight.
 






If the old wheel bearings were shot then the new ones would have less resistance to being spun, so that also could have helped the fuel economy.

I only changed these because I had a stripped stud on each of the front wheel bearings. I hope the old ones were fine cause I only have 60000 miles on the Explorer. Pretty good for a 2004.
 






Ronin or Corkey I a have a question for you. I have 12" springs but the qa1's recommend a 14" spring. Should I get a 14"? I am looking at ordering a 750lb so I am wondering what you think.
 






14 inch springs would be good too, as long as the block height of the compressed spring is less than the space left over when the shock is fully collapsed,,
you still have the bump-stops on so it should not collapse the shock to the bottom, anyways,, you will just have to reign in the droop with a limit strap to avoid cv damage, and the uniball cup from contacting the spring,,

my shocks on my 96 have an 800 lb 12 inch spring , they are a bit too much really, but after a ton of miles they seemed to work in, and be very good, but i was also carrying a much heavier than stock bumper with a 90 lb winch in it too,,
 






Ronin or Corkey I a have a question for you. I have 12" springs but the qa1's recommend a 14" spring. Should I get a 14"? I am looking at ordering a 750lb so I am wondering what you think.

A longer spring of the same rate will let you run more preload without having the coil bind up before the shock can completely compress.

If you think you'll need little to no preload with the 750 rate then a 12" would be fine I think.
 






14 inch springs would be good too, as long as the block height of the compressed spring is less than the space left over when the shock is fully collapsed,,
you still have the bump-stops on so it should not collapse the shock to the bottom, anyways,, you will just have to reign in the droop with a limit strap to avoid cv damage, and the uniball cup from contacting the spring,,

my shocks on my 96 have an 800 lb 12 inch spring , they are a bit too much really, but after a ton of miles they seemed to work in, and be very good, but i was also carrying a much heavier than stock bumper with a 90 lb winch in it too,,

I hadn't even thought about bumpstops. The bumpstop on the OEM struts on the 3rd/4th gens is actually a foam cylinder that is on the shaft of the strut itself, so the shaft and mount squeeze that when the suspension bottoms out. A similar style could be installed on these coilovers, or we could do one of those fancy external hydraulic deals that looks like a little can with a piston sticking out of it. It would mount on the frame and the control arm would hit it when the suspension is nearing max compression. Pricey though.
 






I hadn't even thought about bumpstops. The bumpstop on the OEM struts on the 3rd/4th gens is actually a foam cylinder that is on the shaft of the strut itself, so the shaft and mount squeeze that when the suspension bottoms out. A similar style could be installed on these coilovers, or we could do one of those fancy external hydraulic deals that looks like a little can with a piston sticking out of it. It would mount on the frame and the control arm would hit it when the suspension is nearing max compression. Pricey though.

Yea thats what I noticed I forgot too. I am thinking about the foam too, but how would you get it on? I was looking at the daystar bumpstomps, pretty pricey.
 






This is the foam type I was talking about. You can get them to fit different shaft sizes:

http://www.polyperformance.com/shop/Eibach-Micro-Cellular-Foam-Shaft-Bump-Stop-p-1354.html

I am not 100% sure it would be needed though. DomincanX doesn't run bumpstops on his setup I don't think. He's running 800lb coils and fox 6.5" emulsion coilovers on a pretty heavily loaded truck. But his front suspension doesn't compress enough (from what I've seen) to bottom out the shocks.
 






Alright, thanks you two. I am going to go with a 14" 750 lb springs, so I won't have too much preload. I ordered my limit straps too.
 






This is the foam type I was talking about. You can get them to fit different shaft sizes:

http://www.polyperformance.com/shop/Eibach-Micro-Cellular-Foam-Shaft-Bump-Stop-p-1354.html

I am not 100% sure it would be needed though. DomincanX doesn't run bumpstops on his setup I don't think. He's running 800lb coils and fox 6.5" emulsion coilovers on a pretty heavily loaded truck. But his front suspension doesn't compress enough (from what I've seen) to bottom out the shocks.

How do you get those on? I do not think I have anyway to take off my eyelet. I will have to check.
 















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