Explorer gets bouncy/kinda like floating above 80mph

[C420sailor]

I don’t know about y’all, but my Explorer does not stop at 95mph.

 

[Chris_A.]

There’s places with speed limits in excess of 80mph. Why have a speed limiter in the 90s if a car is “certified” at a little over half that speed. Why doesn’t this show on the manufactures window stickers? Why isn’t it posted on the car somewhere? Is everyone supposed to guess and just adhere to slower than the speed limit for this made up number?

I am sure that you are familiar with "special service vehicles"?
Please, read the sticker fine print and then do your "do diligence" research. Note that is says complies with and then tells you what it complies with. The safety requirements as of the day of manufacture. This includes rated speed. If you recall, on many vehicles, prior to 1996, they had 55 circled or hi-lit on the speedometer. The manufacturer(s) did not do this because it was pretty. The first picture is the dash on a 1993 Mustang. The second picture is the tire warning notification on a 1998 Explorer. Often, you have to do research around the specific issues to figure out what is not being said, only implied or based on a 'universal' understanding.

Yes, the front suspension is of a different design.

No, I do not believe the suspension changes are significant from a speed/quality/handling, they are just different. This is not a fact. It is my opinion.

The aerodynamics changes are far more pertinent - in my opinion.

I have seen people loose their license in a single traffic stop (yes, I read the citation). And as I have been told in the past, ignorance of the law does not effect the applicability.

 

[94Eddie]

One thing I can say is that when I took pressure readings it would be times when the tires were cold, hot and it different times of the year (we have four seasons where I live). I never saw hardly any variation in pressure but then I rarely run a heavy load or one heavy enough, for long enough, to worry about tire loading. I think the thermal rate of expansion of oxygen is quite a bit more than nitrogen. Around 3X more so might give more stable psi with varying conditions. Oxygen makes up 21% of air and nitrogen 78% so there is enough oxygen in air to effect psi in tires based on temperature influences than with nitrogen alone. It would be interesting to see the effect of running pure oxygen in tires. I bet the temperature effect on tire pressure would much more than air. It is a good thing air is 78% nitrogen.

 

[Gary Crist]

Not mine it say this....



Where I go I don't need no stinkin' roads

 

[Mbrooks420]

Yeah. A sports car that sits low and is made to go twice as fast as “certified”. Nonsense. 5 google search pages in and nothing about a cars certified speed. There’d be lawsuits for this. There’s no way a car could be allowed to go twice it’s “certified” speed, and someone wouldn’t have capitalized on lawsuits over this.

The tire sticker means nothing other than to run P radials. It’s about running off-road tires.

If a car had a specific speed it could go, it’d be limited, and it would spell it out exactly what the speed was, like how it tells you the exact tire size and pressure to run.

Losing your license for a speeding ticket means nothing. It’s about going over the speed limit, not a cars limit. If this was the case 20 over in a Lamborghini WOULDN’T cause you to lose your license. Same with a litre bike. They’d be “certified” well over 100.

 

[donalds]

Mine only goes 87 mph after that ... its like I can see the future

 

[Mbrooks420]

Doing my “due diligence” shows that the “55” highlight began with the oil embargo where ALL speed limits were lowered to save gas.

It has absolutely nothing to do with the cars speed limit.

 

[Exp98]

question- when i look at my tbars it says
gs 238 on the deivers side and hb 218 on the passenger tbar... does this mean i have 2 different spring rates???

 

[J_C]

question- when i look at my tbars it says
gs 238 on the deivers side and hb 218 on the passenger tbar... does this mean i have 2 different spring rates???

That would make sense. Driver's side has battery, driver, and fuel tank. If the rear leaves were set up the same then maybe I wouldn't have had an extra 1/2"+ sag on the left rear vs right rear before I put the Monroe coilover shocks on.

 

[Exp98]

That would make sense. Driver's side has battery, driver, and fuel tank. If the rear leaves were set up the same then maybe I wouldn't have had an extra 1/2"+ sag on the left rear vs right rear before I put the Monroe coilover shocks on.

oh, ok... someone had said jt shoudl be "L_, and R_" but mine doesnt have that... also ive never geard of g rated tbars... and doesnt that mean the g ones (if they exist idk if they do) would be softer than the b rated ones on the passenger side?

 

[Mbrooks420]

Ford part numbers are wild. Your bars are supposed to be the same left and right. The factory bar code will be on the door jam sticker.

 

[CDW6212R]

I used to have a decent picture of the front end of the bars, which is where the rate is stamped into them.

 

[swshawaii]

^ Not yours, but viewable pics.

Torsion Bar Stamp

www.explorerforum.com

Don's indexing info should be a STICKY for those replacing original LCA's with premium Moog or Raybestos.

**EMERGENCY** Torsion bar help needed!

Hey guys. I had to put a lower control arm on today b/c my lower balljoint that I just put on last month was sliding up and down with ease. I marked the nut that lowers and raises the torsion bar. I took everything loose from the lower control arm and then slid the lower control arm off of...

www.explorerforum.com

The issue:

IFS Heavy Duty Upgrades!

I understand that also and I've done that before. I saying the torsion bars hadn't "twisted/ slipped" until after I hit a few bumps. I checked it before and after the drive. If you want, I can take a picture of how it looks now with the little shims in it and how far it is twisted. (driver...

www.explorerforum.com

 

[fireftr]

I agree with most of what was suggested. Start with a front end check/alignment. Replace roll bar bushings front and rear. No, they are not sway bars. As a short wheel base vehicle, most of anything that you put into the vehicle will end up on the rear axle. Put the hd shocks on the rear first. Leave the front shocks alone till you test it with the rears. Change the front shocks if you are not satisfied. If you cannot get new rear springs, a set of adjustable helper leaves might give you options for stability vs ride quality. I would not recommend the use of coil over helpers in the rear as they can make the handling worse. This is due to the upper mounting point being narrower than the lower mounting point. If you are running "tall" or off-road tires, some of your bouncy is in the tires. If so, you may need to consider different tires. Another thought is where you load things. Shifting weight (that you are carrying) or if not needed, removing it, will act as more front end weight and will reduce the floating feel. Consider tire pressure as well. Overloaded/under pressure tires will feel the same way. If none of the things suggested helps enough, you could consider adding a watts linkage which will eliminate rear sway except for what is in the tires.

Or just slow it down. These vehicles were designed for a maximum of 65mph.

 

[fireftr]

That's what I thought it would be good for. I have to alter the pressure when the temps go up or down a lot in days time. I wonder how the TPMS works to have a different limit range and warning signal for those. My dad's old car has one tire that loses a little pressure over weeks, and you can see it in the TPMS data on the dash.

A “roll bar” is an interior metal frame that protects the driver in case the car tolls over!
Anti-sway bars are solid metal bars attached to the chassis with clamps and bushings with the ends attached to the A frame of each wheel to help stabilize the chassis when cornering or going over bumps.
Two entirely different items and uses.

 

[Mbrooks420]

A “roll bar” is an interior metal frame that protects the driver in case the car tolls over!
Anti-sway bars are solid metal bars attached to the chassis with clamps and bushings with the ends attached to the A frame of each wheel to help stabilize the chassis when cornering or going over bumps.
Two entirely different items and uses.

A anti roll bar is very similar to a sway bar but the attachment is different.

 

[JohnH55]

I agree with most of what was suggested. Start with a front end check/alignment. Replace roll bar bushings front and rear. No, they are not sway bars. As a short wheel base vehicle, most of anything that you put into the vehicle will end up on the rear axle. Put the hd shocks on the rear first. Leave the front shocks alone till you test it with the rears. Change the front shocks if you are not satisfied. If you cannot get new rear springs, a set of adjustable helper leaves might give you options for stability vs ride quality. I would not recommend the use of coil over helpers in the rear as they can make the handling worse. This is due to the upper mounting point being narrower than the lower mounting point. If you are running "tall" or off-road tires, some of your bouncy is in the tires. If so, you may need to consider different tires. Another thought is where you load things. Shifting weight (that you are carrying) or if not needed, removing it, will act as more front end weight and will reduce the floating feel. Consider tire pressure as well. Overloaded/under pressure tires will feel the same way. If none of the things suggested helps enough, you could consider adding a watts linkage which will eliminate rear sway except for what is in the tires.

Or just slow it down. These vehicles were designed for a maximum of 65mph.

Yeah I'm going to check the sway bars end links out and throw a poly kit on front and back. Anti-Roll bar and sway bar mean the same thing/are the same thing. I'm just running the factory 255/70r16 at 40psi, though I might try 35. In general use it won't go over 65, but I want it to be able to safely when I need it to. It could go 85 easy before my last trip, so it can do it again although with some work.

 

[CDW6212R]

A anti roll bar is very similar to a sway bar but the attachment is different.

LOL, I know what he was talking about, but he was talking to someone else. I never mentioned an anti-sway bar, or a roll bar. I have a bigass sway bar though, larger than any 2nd gen has ever had on it. It works well, 1.5" in diameter.

 

[JohnH55]

Read on the internet saying nitrogen filled tires improves ride quality and MPG.

Maybe the OP's just using "regular" air? Anyone tried helium?

I use that cheapo free gas station air.

 

[JohnH55]

LOL, I know what he was talking about, but he was talking to someone else. I never mentioned an anti-sway bar, or a roll bar. I have a bigass sway bar though, larger than any 2nd gen has ever had on it. It works well, 1.5" in diameter.

View attachment 330267

May I ask where did you get that beefy thing?I'm definitely interested in any upgrades to improve handling.