Explorer Express progressive springs

[AaronE19]

hey y'all-
been awhile, good to be back...

onto the question: I recently got some progressive springs from Explorer Express installed on my '93 and I'm experiencing some problems. first, the springs appear to be too long! they're bowed toward the front of the truck and I guess my mech. had to really reef on 'em to squish them in there. whassup with that? the other thing is, I've now got this mysterious clunk in the front end that wasnt't there before. it basically feels like someone is beating on the underside of my floorboard (i.e. like when your radius arm bushings have had it... but mine are nearly new poly jobs). it happens when a)I come across a sharp bump or b)when the truck's weight shifts foreward (as in under braking... somtimes). I've looked at how they're installed a couple times, and nothing seems out of the ordinary. they appear to be sitting in the bucket the right way, and they're not crooked in the seats at the bottom either... the only thing is that I can see where the bumper on the underside of the drivers side I-beam is perfectly clean (like it's been rubbing all the time). this was never a problem before, and one would think that since the springs seem to be a bit long I'd be riding a bit higher than usual. all this has sent me nowhere but in circles and I'm pretty much stumped here, has anyone else experienced such a problem??? I called the tech people at EXP and they said that there's something wrong if the springs are arched foreward like that, and suggested that they weren't installed properly. their suggestion for the phantom clunk was that when he took the sway bars off to get the springs in he forgot to put a washer back on the end link or something. I know this to be false, I don't repeatedly take my vehicle to someone who doesn't pay attention to detail.

anyway, any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks for your time.

Aaron

 

[AaronE19]

one more piece of info, if it helps: I also had wheel bearings and ball joints replaced when the springs went in and I haven't had it re-aligned yet (I'm waiting on a new set of tires right now, that's why it hasn't gotten done). could this be the root of the problem??? it's hard to imagine that a little radius arm adjustment would take care of that big fat arc in the springs I've got right now, but I guess I'm not sure. ideas????

thanks again

Aaron

 

[leebo]

for some reason my truck did the same thing after I replaced my shackles. I have checked the shocks and sway-bars....now I just live with it.

 

[LukeDog3D]

Mine makes noises like that. I have 1" lift progressive coils. I believe that it is the sway bar. It is very close to the springs in some places. I think I'm gonna take mine off for awhile to see if it stops.

 

[AaronE19]

I didn't examine the swaybar real closely to see if anything was rubbing, the traction beam bumper was the only out-of-the-ordinary thing I spotted. thanks for the tip, though, I'll give that a look. did the problem get any better for either of you guys when you got your truck aligned? I don't know, I guess I have a problem with a sort of pricey part like that not fitting the way it should. as a rule, when something needs replacement I try and get a better quality part than what was on there before, certainly not with the intention of making the situation worse than it was! she has enough odd noises about her as it is, know what I mean?

thanks

 

[Trckmagik]

Here is the only thing I have come up with. I believe that it has to do with your coil spring buckets (where your coil spring sits at the top of the spring) I have noticed that on the 93-94 explorers there is a clamp type device that keeps the spring from moving in the bucket (if thats the right name) and these are not on the 91-91 explorers. I rode w/ Kris G. at the slaps run and his does exactly what my 92 explorer w/ 6inch lift does. I know this is the problem cause I had mine air born and when I did that my spring moved in the bucket and has made that noise ever since. Check your local ford dealer and see if you can find this part on there diagram of teh 93-94 explorer. Let me know if you find out that this is true so I can get it fixed. I will see if I can make it to a dealer today. I know it is not my sway bar hitting the spring due to no markings of this happening. Hope this helps.

 

[91expl-sport]

I just changed my springs (moog performance springs) last thursday along with the radus arm bushings and I am hearing a clunk sound. Its hard to pinpoint the sound sometimes i hear it when hitting bumps. I also hear a clunk when I steering two different sounds.

 

[Trckmagik]

Well I just got back from the ford dealer to try and get a part number and couldnt find one. Let me do some more checking into this (junk yard, and other explorers) and I will let you know if this fixes my problem. Sorry! Let us know if anyone else does any research into this and finds something.

 

[AaronE19]

trckmagik-
yep, I know exactly what part you're talking about. it just slides between the first coil and the second, right? the thing is, mine's a '93 and as far as I can tell the clamp is in the right spot and everthing. I'll go find a parking lot and poke around someone else's explorer tomorrow to do a little comparison though. maybe my faith in my mechanic's installation was misplaced (this is the kind of thing that makes me really resentful of the fact that I don't often have enough spare time to work on my own vehicle .

91-expl-sport-
yeah, I noticed that there are two distinct noises too. one happens over sharp bumps _sometimes_, but not always. and the other _sometimes_ happens when the weight of the truck is being shifted (steering or braking). I'm pretty sure the second one is the spring itself moving around, and the first one is me bottoming out on that bumper I was talking about earlier. either way... ARRRGGGHHH!

when (if) I get this figured out I'll let you guys know. I'm getting tires early this week and alignment will soon follow. I'll try to point out the problem with the spring to whomever aligns it and see if they have any ideas. in the meantime... keep the replys coming. it's nice to know I'm not the only one.

thanks guys

Aaron

[Edited by AaronE19 on 10-30-2000 at 03:28 PM]