Anyone ever have this happen?

[stretch]

I came close to have a leaf spring failure due to a severly corroded shackle.

Mines not that bad but getting there. Are there aftermarket stock length shacles or are my only options a factory part or extended Warrior shackle? I need to replace them before I end up like this -> :roll:

 

[DeRocha]

Don't be fooled by how your shackles look! When working on my X I grabbed the shackle to help pull me up (it was rusty, but completely intact). My hand went right through creating the hole the hole as seen in the above posts.

You can get universal shackles from autozone. I know several members have used them without any problems... Try searching on autozone shackles and you'll get a bunch of hits like: AutoZone Shackles

 

[Doug]

I call BS, if any one has come close to breaking a leaf spring it's me and I have failed at that task.

 

[nissanboy]

i seen three explorer bend leafs like that one by backing thier shackles into a rock or log.

 

[Brock94]

"Allpar" is a mopar/chrysler site, so can't be too surprised about bad stories about Fords. Derocha I don't see a shackle in that picture!

 

[Doug]

i seen three explorer bend leafs like that one by backing thier shackles into a rock or log.

who?

 

[nissanboy]

the one in your picture, fordbeast98's rig, and mine as of a few weeks ago... all it takes is having to back down a ledge and catchign a rock on the way.

 

[DeRocha]

"Allpar" is a mopar/chrysler site, so can't be too surprised about bad stories about Fords. Derocha I don't see a shackle in that picture!

Of course the real scarry thing is that my X is my DD. I had to drive it for 3 days until my shackles arrived. I drove like my grandma's grandma...

 

[Con Seann3ry]

Mines not that bad but getting there. Are there aftermarket stock length shacles or are my only options a factory part or extended Warrior shackle? I need to replace them before I end up like this -> :roll:

I have my stock shackles from my 94 sitting in my garage, if you want those pm me, i'll let them go real cheap

 

[Doc Brown]

Around here the SUV of choice for the cops are either blazers (very few) or Expeditions. I have yet to see a Explorer. The cars are the traditional crown vics and ugly a$$ malibus

Strange... Here in Calgary, the cops prefer Durangos. I know they have at least one marked explorer, but they've got at least 10 unmarked durangos.

 

[quiksilverdh]

I came close to have a leaf spring failure due to a severly corroded shackle.

my shackles did the same exact thing... luckily I replaced them with warriors soon after I noticed.... Odly enough my sister's explorer is just as old, yet has more miles on it, and the shackles still look great.

 

[gijoecam]

I've never heard of a driver or passenger that was properly belted in the vehicle being ejected in a rollover. It just doesn't happen. Could he have survived the crash was he wearing his seat belt? Nobody will ever know, but at least the odds would have been in his favor.

As for what caused it? Who knows.... The bottom line is you can't drive an Explorer like a Ferrari, just like you can't drive a semi like an Explorer. An officer (just like any car, truck, or SUV owner) must learn the performance and handling limits of his vehicle the same way I have to learn the performance limits of the machinery I use in my daily job.

-Joe

 

[Brandons]

Joe i like your opinion on this, it makes really good sense (mainly since it is common sense ) I doubt that a leaf spring just boke like that. My shackles seem in pretty good shape, i am really surprised at that one!!!

 

[RayLCC]

When I first bought my Explorer, I had been doing research on the rollover controversy. I took it out to a flat road, got it up to about 75 and started whipping the wheel back and forth imitating a defensive manuver. The tires protested pretty good and the truck, while not feeling as confident and manuverable as a mustang, even got a little sideways, but I was able to bring it back straight and stop and IT DID NOT ROLL! It didn't even feel like it would roll. Was this a smart thing to do? No. But I had to convince myself I was in a safe vehicle before I strapped my kids into it. The Explorer passed my test flawlessly. I'm convinced most rollovers, even with tire failure is mostly due to driver error. Its a numbers game. If you sell more of any car than your competition, you will have more problems across the board than the competition. There's more cars out there to have problems. Freak accidents aside, Explorers are as safe, if not safer than most cars on the road. If I didn't believe that I wouldn't be driving one.

 

[wilson_nick]

...

I agree w/you when you say most roll overs are operator error, i'm one of the operators who made the error, it wasn't because of my explorer that i rolled. If i was driving any suv it would've rolled, and i did have my seat belt on, which prolly saved my life. However, the passenger to my right and behind me did not have they're belts on and didn't even get hurt. Pretty darn lucky considering the circumstances: I hit a stopped mustang at about 55 cuz i couldn't see his brake lights due to sun. by the time i saw him i slammed on the brakes, which locked up and i couldn't swerve till the car next to me got out of the way so i hit the mustang's rear passenger corner w/my front drivers corner causing me to shoot up into the air and flip.

I can relate to the rusted shackle-mine were like the pictured shackle above and i recently replaced them w/the war 153. which not only fixed the rusty shackle but also fixed the rear end sag... go warrior.

 

[Rick]

I came close to have a leaf spring failure due to a severly corroded shackle.

I haven't seen cancer like that in years

 

[FROADER]

I broke my TrailMaster passenger leafs during the Arizona 2002 trip. I'll find my pictures and post them.

 

[Paul Gagnon]

Just remember that vehicles don't cause rollovers, drivers do.

 

[IAmThor]

Every since the Firestone thing, Explorers have been stereotyped to roll over by just sitting in a driveway.

I've done some crazy off roading in my 94 Ex and I've never rolled it. I came close, when the rearend whipped around and I went up on two wheels, but never rolled it. I feel that you're more likely to roll a Durango than you are to roll an Ex. Explorers handle 10x better than Durangoes. Just going 35-40 mph over washboard in a Durango and it feels like you're going to roll. I go 60-70 over washboards with my Explorer and she handles like a dream. Just my .02

 

[MrQ]

Seriously digging here man. This thread is nearly 8 years old.