is there anyway to strengthen frame?

[cantspell]

Hi there, in my old little import, everyone had strut bars, they added stiffness which helped to increase handeling and rattles and generally made the car 'feel' solid.

Is there anything that we can do for our trucks that is similar? Perhaps adding a frame member to the frame some where? Or am i totally out of my mind here?

Thanks, Matt!

 

[Alec]

Traction or trac bars for the rear. These are common on leaf sprung (modded) rigs. This will help with axlerap and wheelhop.

Besides that, the frame is beefy enough.

 

[99SportX]

I have a similar question:

Is there any way to get a traction bar for an explorer? When my rear wheels start to spin in the snow, the axle hops and the whole car shakes, especially the steering wheel.

 

[Hartman]

If you want better handling, I suggest getting the EE sway bars. They really help to plant the wheels.

In all honesty, your Explorer will never feel like a unibody car. Explorers have a body-on-frame, which can't compete with unibodys as far as stiffness goes. All that aside, this is a truck, not an import. It sits much higher off the ground. You can get it to perform VERY well if you lower it, get the sway bars, and get some performance shocks.

 

[X~FACTOR]

Unibody aren't so stiff either, Hartman. My Pony car was a unibody that flexes more than my Explorer. Although in the Camaro world there was a quick fix for it. Once that was done you eliminate 90% of the body flex.

 

[SteveVB]

Originally posted by Hartman
In all honesty, your Explorer will never feel like a unibody car. Explorers have a body-on-frame, which can't compete with unibodys as far as stiffness goes. .

Thank God.

I think you have that backwards. Framed vehicles are stiffer than unibodies. Look at anyone who races a uni body- they add a "frame" to the body to stiffen it up. Sub- frame connectors are a must in most any car without a frame.

As far as traction bars- some V-8 exs come stock with them, torque links they call them, may want to see if you can get some out of a junk yard and adapt them to the Sport. A bigger sway bar will help some also.

 

[V8BoatBuilder]

Yup. My 1997 V8 has stock traction bars on the rear axle. I also installed EE swaybars, and they made a huge different. I have adjustible Rancho 9000X shocks, which are great. I can make the truck rather stiff, or "comfy" but sloppy.

 

[Hartman]

You have any pictures of those traction bars? I've never seen them.

 

[99SportX]

I wanna see pics too.
Is that the shock that goes from the diff to frame, or is that some other helper for axle hop?

 

[410Fortune]

Ditch the stock transmission mount.


The stock POS tranny mount allows all sorts of movement in the drivetrain, good place to start.

james Duff makes some good above the spring traction bars for the rear axle

First things first though, you should already have poly bushings in the sway bars, shocks in good shape, and decent suspension bushings.......

the 5.0L AWD trucks have stock traction bars built in, I had to cut the mounts off my 8.8 axle. A friend of mine added a set of these Ford bars to his 93 Explorer after a 5.0L conversion, they fit the truck perfect with only minor mods to get them on

 

[cantspell]

I wasn't really thinking of handeling, as i have no front sway bar (i can actully stuff my front tires into the wheel wells!) and 31's, i was more thinking of just making the rig stronger, but perhaps i was thinking about the body, just to reduce rattles, etc.

If anyone does have a pic of the traction bars, I too would love to see them.

 

[Hartman]

What a second, you drive your truck on the street with no front sway bar?

 

[410Fortune]

I drive my truck all over the place with no front or rear sway bars....

Much better ride, but highway speeds are not as good....

 

[Alec]

Originally posted by Hartman
What a second, you drive your truck on the street with no front sway bar?

Sounds bad to me too. Remind me never to get into your truck.

 

[99SportX]

No swaybar could mean :redexp: to :roll: = :frustrate

 

[Hartman]

I drove my truck without a front sway bar once and it was downright scary, even lowered! I can't imagine what a lifted truck would be like without sway bars.

 

[410Fortune]

What in the world are you guys talking about?

Alec you never drove your Sport on the street with no sway bars? Is this an IFS issue?


Am I missing something here? The only reason I even have sway bars is because I still tow a boat with my truck, otherwise they would be history.

I know MANY people who drive on the street with no sway bars, whats the big deal?

Lifted truck with no sway bars = drives just fine. Body roll is the only thing the sway bars prevent. Also with the sway bars hooked up the truck is MORE likely to lift a tire when cornering.
My rear sway bar is normally hooked up all the time, the front I only hook up if I will be driving a long distance or towing the boat.

I can adjust the body roll with the settings on my shocks.

OKay lets review my truck:
Springs, front and rear are about twice as soft as stock springs. Suspension has a 6" lift to it, so my center of gravity is higher from that and from 33" tires.
I also have tires that are much wider than stock, so that helps. Overall in the front my track width is 12" wider than stock. In the rear its 9" wider than stock.
the tires are 12.5 wide
I can adjust the stiffness of my shocks (so the spring rebiund rate) and when set on 9 (stiffest) the body roll is minimal at best. When set on 1 basically its like not having shocks.
My truck corners better than any stock BII WITHOUT sway bars and with the shocks set on 5 (half)

The TTB front suspension is horrible for cornering, because the camber change is so dramatic throughout the suspension cycle, much worse then the later IFS
With the sway bar connected the two beams have a semi solid lonk to each other, so when one goes up it wants to push the pther down. Without the sway bar it is a truly independant suspension, and I can tell you the truck is easier to turn and more responsive without the sway bar. IN fact with teh front sway bar hooked up the truck likes to lift the inside front tire on tighter corners.

I can say that with the rear sway bar hooked up the truck handles slightly better then without it, but it is easily manageable without it.

Maybe you guys should disco your sway bars and drive it around a little. Give yourself some time to get used to it and then see if you still feel it is "unsafe"
I can admit the first time I drove on the highway (for about 50 miles) from the trail back to town it was a little "different" and the truck likes to wander more in corners, but nothing you cant compensate for. Once you get used to it you dont even want sway bars again.....

 

[99SportX]

It seems to me that if you needed to make a quick correction, the car would have excessive body roll and maybe flip without a swaybar. I find it scary to think about.

 

[etc]

I drove around with a broken end link for a couple of weeks. I had to take turns at like 2 mph. It was a rather uncomfortable feeling on the highway too. Might be an IFS thing though. I could see the first gens being more stable sans sway bar.

 

[cantspell]

I have to agree, it's a little scary, but you get used to it, and i find the rear sort of 'kicks in' after a certain amount of sway. I took mine off cause it broke off during an 'outing'! and a bolt snaped, and is now stuck in the frame. It's even drilled thought, but i still can't seem to get it out - anyone have any ideas? I do indeed think for the snow, i's rather have it on, i won't be going off road until the summer, and if i do, it's only mud/snow - don't need articulation for that.