broke both rear coil springs

[Mbrooks420]

My next street vehicle was going to be a 2002+. Too bad Ford dropped the ball. Nice second gens are getting harder to find. I might have to jump ship.

 

[wi-dogfish]

Mine broke too. 02' with 117,000 miles. both of them broke at the top. They might have been broken for quite some time.

 

[Airdoo69]

You will find when rear bearings go out

Ford for sale! Or can I pay you to take it please!

What a piece of crap! now into 3rd set of rear wheel bearings at 150k. both rear springs broke - NO OFFROAD! Parking brake shoes blown up! 3rd Tranny! Cracked rear panel! yada yada yada!

Waiting for the next problem that everyone has on this platform.

How does Ford get away with re-occuring problems that EVERY EXPLORER HAS!

Going to buy a US built TOYOTA! It's cheaper in the long run.

Does anybody at Ford read these posts?????? WTF! :thumbdwn:

 

[IAmTodd]

2002s are the worst ones made. After that they seem to be much better. Ford rushed the model out and there were quality control issues.

I would get a 2005. Last year of the decent interiors and the 4.6 in the older ones feels like it has more go. The newer ones is smoother at the power delivery but doesn't have quite the kick.

 

[Airdoo69]

Fix Or Repair Daily (FORD) Nuff Said

And should I dare say at great expense!

You guys with X Platform - How can you support those idiots in Detroit.

Relief spelled T O Y O T A!

:roll:

 

[f2racer]

I've heard that Toyota's manufacturered in the US have quality issues as well. It's kinda like what's happening in the financial markets, when corporate greed is the top priority. Everything else suffers...

 

[Airdoo69]

Ford Quality

F2
I know alot of people who post have problems and you don't hear about the good stuff - BUT - As many common problems that point towards saving a few dollars on parts seem to pop up it just doesn't make sense.
You know Trannies (Huge Expense), wheel bearings and springs (VERY DANGEROUS FAILURE MINE PUKED AT 70MPH AND I GOT LUCKY NOT TO DITCH IT god damn tire and hub assembly almost fell off the vehicle), Rear Diff, Brakes (Escpecially parking brake).

You think as long as they have been making the explorer that even a platform change ie 2002, would be more of a refinement than a wholesale change.

Hard not to be disgusted from my end but hey my other vehicle is a Lexus GS400 - other than a 60mph shimmy never had a problem! Lexus makes you a little picky when it comes to quality of build and components!

 

[Mbrooks420]

The 2002 wasn't a refinement, it was a whole new truck. They could have changed the name, and I'm surprised they didn't

 

[f2racer]

Airdoo69, I'm there with you... I had to replace all 4 rotors and pads at 60k and the rear suspension (due to broken springs). And needing to do it all on my own dime since the car is no longer under warranty and there have been no recalls regarding these issues definitely does not make me a fan of Ford.

 

[ummduh]

F2
AND I GOT LUCKY NOT TO DITCH IT god damn tire and hub assembly almost fell off the vehicle)

The spring has nothing to do with holding the tire to the vehicle. The control arms do. The springs just support the weight.

 

[ummduh]

Airdoo69, I'm there with you... I had to replace all 4 rotors and pads at 60k and the rear suspension (due to broken springs). And needing to do it all on my own dime since the car is no longer under warranty and there have been no recalls regarding these issues definitely does not make me a fan of Ford.

So you're complaining about replacing the brakes? Oh darn.. I hate it when regular maintenance has to be done

The spring issue does suck. But it's not every vehicle.

My Ex came from MI, stayed in WI for a couple years, and last year towed my family and all our junk in a 6-7k trailer (not to mention everything we had inside the EX too) to CA, taking the south route through TX, NM, AZ.. Including about an hour pretty much going straight up a mountain, 1st gear WOT at 112 degrees, and never let us down.
In retrospect, we were definitely overloaded, both trailer and truck.. Now, I don't have any broken springs to show for it. It's definitely not a widespread issue. My rear wheelbearings so far are also fine. 70k miles. One front hub when out a few months back.

 

[Beausdad]

You've gotta loe NAFTA. Thanks Bubba Clinton for that genius idea!

 

[Beausdad]

Oh yeah - You wonder why our financial markets and everything else is going to crap. Because you foreign car lovers are supporting their economies and not ours. Make sure you don't whine too much about how the U.S. is now in debt to China and Japan for $6 billion dollars.

Sorry - don't mean to get political, but if people would stop supporting foreign economies by buying foreign made crap the Quality of American products would be as good as it once once because we wouldn't be wasting money on plastic cars from Japan.

 

[rumpledoll]

My 2002 V6 Eddie Bauer with 62,000 miles which I bought new has given me no serious trouble, just a few minor nits. Message boards such as these can give one a very skewed idea of problem rates and how widespread issues are, especially with a vehicle with as many units sold as the Explorer.

Not to say that broken coil springs don't suck and shouldn't happen; but one can't get a sense of how prevalent it is from postings here other than to say it has happened to some.

Rumple

 

[f2racer]

So you're complaining about replacing the brakes? Oh darn.. I hate it when regular maintenance has to be done

Actually I should have qualified about the brakes. I changed just the pads at about 40k miles which was regular maintenance. While doing this work, I noticed that the rotors were wearing in a very uneven fashion. The inside of the rotors (closer to the axle) seemed to be wearing down faster and the outter edges of the rotors seemed to be overly rusty. After 20k more miles, the outside of the rotors were starting to crumble away. It was the strangest thing I've ever seen (and I've been doing the brakes on my cars for years). Simply touching the outside of the rotor would make small pieces flake off. I recently changed the rotors on a Mazda for the first time, that car had over 102k miles on it's original rotors. This does not appear to be only an Explorer issue, it must be an issue with whoever is supplying Ford with their rotors. I had a '94 Mustang GT that needed 2 rotor changes in under 70k miles...

 

[ummduh]

Actually I should have qualified about the brakes. I changed just the pads at about 40k miles which was regular maintenance. While doing this work, I noticed that the rotors were wearing in a very uneven fashion. The inside of the rotors (closer to the axle) seemed to be wearing down faster and the outter edges of the rotors seemed to be overly rusty. After 20k more miles, the outside of the rotors were starting to crumble away. It was the strangest thing I've ever seen (and I've been doing the brakes on my cars for years). Simply touching the outside of the rotor would make small pieces flake off. I recently changed the rotors on a Mazda for the first time, that car had over 102k miles on it's original rotors. This does not appear to be only an Explorer issue, it must be an issue with whoever is supplying Ford with their rotors. I had a '94 Mustang GT that needed 2 rotor changes in under 70k miles...

Yea.. I guess that's peculiar. Hardly anything to be upset about though.
What year is the mazda? I wouldn't expect any car made since the mid 90's to have the rotors last 100k per. I generally change the rotors every other pad change, or every other year. (I'm very hard on brakes.)

 

[f2racer]

What year is the mazda? I wouldn't expect any car made since the mid 90's to have the rotors last 100k per.

A '93 RX-7... The rotors were good through 3 pad changes. And one set of pads were competition grade from Porterfield (for AutoX-ing) no less.

My '06 Saab 93 recently hit 40k miles. I'll change the pads (for the first time) next spring, but the rotors look new. I hope the rotors go at least 80k before they need replacement.

Another note regarding Ford quality, I had the (front) springs on my '94 Mustang GT break also (sometime in 2004, the car was 10 years old with about 70k miles). I wound up buying and installing the "Bullitt Mustang Suspension Kit" for around $500 from Summit Racing, which is a great deal since it included all upgraded suspension parts (springs, struts, shocks, and swaybars). While doing the work I was amazed with how much rust there was underneath the car. 2 years later one of the front ball joints started squeaking real bad and I knew it was time to get rid of the car. Car had 87k miles on the clock when I traded it in. Within that time span, I had to replace the rotors twice (including the front calipers once) and all the suspension components... My wife's '02 Explorer will be the last Ford we buy.

 

[Captj122]

Broken rear spring--me

took off my rear driver side wheel--thinking of doing a brake job--just retired so I now have time to do things I have not done is 30 years--anyhow--I have the same problem--looks like 2nd winding from top the spring broke--looks like about at a 45 degree angle----I'm new here and posted a question myself--about suggestions--I will be watching this thread--learning a lot already--don't mean to steal your post--good luck
Jim

 

[Cobra Jet]

Whatever Company is supplying Ford w/ springs needs to be investigated for quality control or something. There's no reason why a stock coil spring on ANY vehicle as built from the factory and remains stock should be failing and/or breaking.

Here's one for you - My 1994 Cobra, when I went to replace the springs on it to add lowering springs, the driver's side front FACTORY STOCK spring was also "broke" at the bottom. The spring was still secured between the top and bottom of the perches, however, the entire bottom coil was broken CLEANLY as if someone cut it. I have pics of it buried somewhere, I can't find them at the moment - but in any instance, it's BS that the coil springs on ANY Ford are breaking as such, regardless of year. This has been an issue also on numerous other Mustangs.

I'm also really surprised that the NHTSA has not been notified and put out a mandatory recall to fix all of those w/ busted springs - it's surely a safety issue.

 

[f2racer]

Cobra Jet, this look familiar?

In 2004 this is how the front drivers side spring in my GT looked:

When I took the thing out, it was in 4 pieces (old on the right, new on the left):

Fast forward 4 years and this is what came out of the rear of my wife's Explorer:

It'd be kinda funny if it weren't so pathetic...