Explorer really a rollover risk???

[ksaldibar]

if you drive an explore rlike a roadster ro whatever, u could probably flip, but if you use it the way it was intended and stay with int the limits, it'll be fine

 

[tcbarney]

Ya'll do recall the article in Car and Driver a little while back, where they TRIED to make an Explorer roll due to catastrophic tire failure, right? They rigged a tire to deflate instantaneously at will, and did several runs at increasing speeds to see what would happen.

By the end (IIRC) the driver was blasting past at 60mph+, no hands on the wheel, standing on the brakes after the tire went down, and the X still stopped upright with little drama.

Their conclusion: definitely driver error, most likely jerking on the wheel in a panic.

Ford was impressed enough to mail me a copy of the article.

I wore out those OEM Firestones, and was ready to replace them right at the time that Firestone said they'd replace all of them, so I got a free set right when I needed them. (I'm not proud. ) My replacements are General Grabber ST, though, which aren't great IMO. Noisy, and they're wearing funny even with a good alignment. (And it's interesting to read that Grabber SW's are now being recalled on the Expedition...)

Just my .02.

 

[98EBinMO]

Yeah, that was a good article...

I did notice that the NHTSA findings were that the newer 2nd gen. explorers were the ones they were more negative about, and that they weren't that much (if any) worse than the other SUV's of that year...

I agree with someone earlier in this post that said the media had a lot to do with it- maybe it was a conspiracy by the other carmakers to try to bring down the "golden explorer" and take a chunk of the market back...

Thanks to everyone for their replies... I have a feeling this topic will be discussed for a long time to come...

Thanks...

 

[98EBV8]

Show us pics of your rig, will ya? I'd like to see how you did with your lift.

Shane

 

[98EBinMO]

Workin' On It

I took some pics of the ride last week, but have yet to use the film up- as soon as I get it developed, I will scan it and include a link...

My rig is weird, though-

It has 121,000 and has had overload springs since early in its life.

The rear sat almost an inch lower than the front when I got it, and it looked DUMB

I decided to lift it after becoming addicted to this site, and did the AZ shackles in the rear, which raised it 2 1/4 inches- I gained back the inch + 1 1/4 more... The shackles were 8.5 hole to hole...

Anyway, I cranked the front to match, which was only 1 to 1 1/4 inches, and it now sits at an even 34 1/2 all the way around.

Sorry for the story, but I wanted to tell somebody

Thanks,

 

[JGAMBLE]

I, like most, think that for the most part it's the driver's fault. I ran into a deer head on doing 75 one night. I was coming back from Austin and about 4 "beverages" in my system. By the time I saw it I never had time to hit the brakes. I wouldn't have even stopped if it weren't for everyone wanted to see the damage. Problem is people think cause they passed the license bereau they know how to drive. All they know then is the laws of driving. I think everyone should take a professional driving course and learn to "drive", not just stick it in gear and go.

 

[98EBV8]

121K miles ?! Where the hell have you been?
I only got 25K on mine since I got it new.

I complained about the sag to the dealer when it was new, so they ended up lowering my front end about an inch to inch and a half.

Shane

Here are some:

Another one:

 

[98EBinMO]

Sweet Ride!!!

Hey 98EBV8-

Good lookin' rig!!! I like the way it sits- I was gonna go with that look originally, and am still thinking about lowering it back down before I get new tires...

I bought my sploder off the original owner- he is a local broker who drove it 100 miles one way to see his girlfriend 4 to 5 times a week...

It wouldn't have been my pick for a commuter (with the crappy gas mileage,) but to each his own...

He ended up marrying the chick, and had to liquidate some autos (she had two, and he had two...) so he put the sploder up for sale- I caught him a week before he took it to auction, and he let me have it for auction price...

It is a really nice rig- I like all the bells and whistles, but don't like the creaks and moans from the front and rear end... It also doesn't corner the greatest- I'm getting ready to order front and rear poly bushings for the swaybars- I figure that should help a lot.

I recently took the rear bar off to see how the bushings come out, and noticed that it rides WAY better without it, with little difference in cornering- the only reason I'm gonna put it back on is so I can pull a trailer if needed.

How does your sploder handle? Does it corner well?

Sorry for the long post...

 

[Black Magic]

Just to share my .02 cents and little story. I have had three Explorers in a row. 91 4door, 97 4door, 01 sport. In my 91 4door, 4wheeldrive, I was driving down the highway one day with rush hour traffic, between 60-70 mph. I was following a fullsize van. Then all of a sudden he swerved to the side and took the only open spot. Right in front of me was parked traffic, dead stop. I slammed on the breaks and swerved to the right. Then the explorer started to spin. I went a 180 then over corrected. and went the other way a full 360. I rolled backward into the side of the highway. Then I just turned and pulled right out into the same spot did not even loose my place in traffic! I did not tihs myself but came darn close. Everyone arround me and that passed me was looking, pointing, laughing and was like Holly Molly!

Now if I was ever to flip I thing spinning arround on dry pavement in the summer at anywhere from 60-70 down to 30-40 mph. Never stopping but to finally turn arround and get back in line that would have been the time. I was very happy to have not hit anyone or anything else. Image a 91 4-door spinning arround in rush hour traffic!

 

[AK47]

wow, thats one hell of a story! Glad to hear you made it out allright

This whole debate of whos fault it was in all the explorer roll over deaths is one that I had with a very ignorant co-worker of mine. He swore that it was all due to the design of the X. I swore that it was the tires. It was impossible to change either of our minds. So, with this in mind, I gave up the argument and decided to research the whole thing.

I found quite a few tests that showed the explorer is more likely to roll over due to a tire blowout than any of the other popular mid size sport utes. In fact, it was quite a big margin. I was fairly suprised, but that still didnt change the fact that the tires were to blame. With a good solid set of tires, your X wont have to wory about tread seperation, and thus the probable rollover.

Oh, I just gotta say that those Wilderness ATs were total crap. Once I got mine replaced (with a very nice set of Michelin LTX M/S), I couldnt believe the difference. The ride was infinately better and the handling... good lord... it was like I was driving a totally different vehicle.

With the Wilderness Ats, it felt like I was driving Fred Flintstone's car (with the big rock wheels)

--oh, anyone know where I can read that Car and Driver article?

 

[dogfriend]

Originally posted by AK47

This whole debate of whos fault it was in all the explorer roll over deaths is one that I had with a very ignorant co-worker of mine. He swore that it was all due to the design of the X. I swore that it was the tires. It was impossible to change either of our minds. So, with this in mind, I gave up the argument and decided to research the whole thing.

Oh, I just gotta say that those Wilderness ATs were total crap. Once I got mine replaced (with a very nice set of Michelin LTX M/S), I couldnt believe the difference. The ride was infinately better and the handling... good lord... it was like I was driving a totally different vehicle.

I read the NHTSA report, and I believe that it supports your position rather than your coworkers position.
Dead Link Removed

Also, I agree with your second point. I was amazed at the difference in handling with a different tire (Goodyear unfortunately because the Michelin was on national backorder at the time )

I haven't ever read anything about this in any news reports or the NHTSA report, but I'm convinced that the tires were contributing to the problem because the handling was so crappy due to the rock hard tread of the Firestone tire.

"Of course, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong" - Dennis Miller

 

[98EBV8]

Thanks Toby!

Originally posted by 98EBinMO


How does your sploder handle? Does it corner well?

I say that on the highway, it is more stable than the first few weeks I had it before the front end adjustment. So, yes it handles better. I can change lanes quickly like I could with a car. I had the Firestones for about 3 years before the changeover to an National Chapparal A/P, rather than the A/T. I felt no different in the ride or the handling, just sounded a bit quieter.

On the road, the most I could turn without having to worry about pushing it too far is like 35-40mph like the roundabout-like freeway ramp.

My X is noisy too. Especially the wind noise and from the tires. I'm thinking about putting a sound insulation of some sort sometime. The only noise I like is the engine

Do you have this noise where it is high pitch, and it happens at low speeds like 10-20 mph? I figure that must come from the AWD, but I have no idea as the techs cannot find the noise.

Shane

 

[Texan01]

I'm agreeing with what I've been reading that the rollover risk is due to driver error than bad design.

These people that have rolled their Explorers most likely drove regular passenger cars (ie, Taurus, Lumina). I also drove passenger cars (a 76 Chevelle, and a 86 Pontiac 6000.) The Chevelle I drove with out a sway bar for a year before I decided to fix the mounts and it's chassis dated to the '60s before they figured out good handling, so it rolled like a boat in turns, I hit a sharp curve in it like that and all it did was start sliding toward the outside of the curve at full body tilt.

The Explorer seems to handle no different, other than it's 2 feet taller than the Chevelle and 2.5 feet taller than the 6000. I've wailed on it and it does ok, it's not a spectacular corner carver but it does ok with it's Goodyear Wrangler's on it. I would like to lower it a bit since it's 2wd and I don't plan on taking it rock crawling.

 

[fastcougar]

I autocrossed my stock V8 AWD and have many videos: http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=18&threadid=104538

 

[Jefe]

I autocrossed my stock V8 AWD and have many videos: http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=18&threadid=104538

Way to wake up a 2 year old thread

Nice video though

 

[Ford_Racing_Guy]

the way i look at it, is that most OEM tires are crap, some are more crappy then others, but some barely last 20 thousand miles!!

i can understand why because the Companies try to save money in some places like tires, order the cheap ones in bulk and save

 

[smiley1]

I like the video.

On the firestone topic... I had a blow-out with mine at 75 mph going down a windy mountian road. No roll over, nothing. Just slowed down and pulled over. Woopty freekin do.

I think people just dont know how to drive in general. Its too easy to get a drivers license.

Sew firestone? Sew Ford? How about swift kick in the butt to those that dont know how to drive!

 

[jsrustad]

Blowout Experiences

Nearly 25 years ago I had the left rear tire blow out on a '74 Nova at about 70mph. I slowed down and pulled over without any trouble.

Just last week, I had the left rear tire blow out on my '94 Explorer at about 70mph. I slowed down and pulled over without any trouble.

About the only difference I noticed was that the tire on the Explorer made a WHOLE bunch more noise. (Well, one other thing -- tire-changing was a little easier 25 years ago -- but that's not the truck's fault.)

I think most of the rollover problem was driver panic triggered by a blowout. (My first Explorer showed no tremendous signs of instability when it was climbing curbs at 45mph after hitting a Neon.)