Leaf springs, shackles and squeaking suspension | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Leaf springs, shackles and squeaking suspension

Joined
October 12, 2013
Messages
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City, State
New York, NY
Year, Model & Trim Level
2000 4.0 SOHC XLT
Hey guys,

I'm new to this forum and looking for a little help/advice/suggestions. I've got a 2000 ford explorer xlt - recently picked it up from an old lady with low miles and i love it but it squeaks a lot. I'm already considering changing the shocks for a smoother ride since it's quite stiff and that might help with the squeaking but I also noticed that the rubber insulator around the middle of one of the leaf springs had ripped/torn and suspect that maybe the leaf springs are also involved in the squeaking. My main question is when changing leaf springs is it wise to also change the shackles (just read about shackles on here) and is there anything else in the suspension I should look out for that may help with the squeaking?
 






Sway bar bushes. More likely than the springs, though shockies can squeak sometimes.

Balljoints can squeak too.
 






My leaf squeaked really bad and drove me crazy for about 2 months before I fixed it. I took them apart, cleaned with a wire wheel, rounded off the edges and painted them with a dry poly lubricant and put them back together. The squeaking over bumps and cracks was gone. But you should check the ball joints and bushings on the truck too just to be safe. Being though that you say the rubber insulators are gone on the spring pack then it would be safe that's where the squeak is coming from. The way I checked mine was just getting under and pushing up on the frame to hear where the squeak came from.

You don't have to change the shackles though as long as they aren't bent or terribly rusted, or if you're trying to lift. There is bushings where the shackles get bolted to the leaf spring and the frame and those may need to be changed.
 












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