ExploreHudson
Active Member
- Joined
- May 21, 2018
- Messages
- 63
- Reaction score
- 6
- City, State
- San Antonio, TX
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '91 Explorer Sport 2D
We have all heard of the Ford vs. Firestone lawsuits and issues with tire separation and Ford Explorers rolling over. Well I'm not here to get into the details; but in short, they both had issues that were valid. I did not look further into the tire issue, because I do not own those specific tires. I do however own a 1991 Ford Explorer, so I have now informed myself of some of the design flaws of the UN46 that were carried over from the Bronco II. Although some flaws were fixed, others were exaggerated. In the months before the release of the 1st gen Ford Explorer, a Ford engineer suggested a few design changes to decrease the chances of a rollover during a high speed J turn maneuver.
Ford didn't take that advice, and many people have lost their lives as a result. Please take the time to read the following and consider the following mods to make your 1st gen Ford Explorer much safer!
Much of the information here came from this document. It's a little long at 26 pages, but its full of pictures and a good read that I recommend to any Ford Explorer owner.
https://www.ammonslaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/ford_explorer_rollover.pdf
Ford didn't take that advice, and many people have lost their lives as a result. Please take the time to read the following and consider the following mods to make your 1st gen Ford Explorer much safer!
- Widen the track by ~2". You can do this with different wheels or with HIGH QUALITY (do not cheap out here) bolt on hubcentric wheel spacers (70.5mm centerbore, 5x4.5 lug pattern). - - This moves the "trip point" outward from the center of gravity.
- Lower the car some amount. You can do this with lowering springs from the Ford ranger and rear leaf spring blocks. Or you can run a smaller size tire on the original wheels. The smaller size stated in the owner's manual works well. Most people opt for the bigger tires because they fill up the wheel well better, but bigger is not better in this case. - - This lowers the center of gravity.
- Stiffer sway bars. - - Reduces chassis roll.
Much of the information here came from this document. It's a little long at 26 pages, but its full of pictures and a good read that I recommend to any Ford Explorer owner.
https://www.ammonslaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/ford_explorer_rollover.pdf