Lowering '01 Sport

[CDW6212R]

How many miles are on the suspension parts, the ball joints and bushings? You might have ball joints now which are loose or will need replacing soon, if they have over 100k miles on them. I rebuilt both front suspensions on my last 98's shortly after buying them(174k and 153k miles). Replacing the four control arms alone is around $400 for Moog CA's. I also did hubs on both knowing what I was going to use them for.

The lower ball joints are the weakest links. Check all the BJ boots first, and expect any BJ with a torn boot is bad already.

Moog is the best choice still for lower CA's, Ford has almost doubled in price(over $210 each), Moog's are about $120 on Rock Auto. Mevotech makes a really good heavy duty UCA, about $80 each, and the Moog's best are about $55 for their best. That one you linked to is a good Moog upper, they make several different parts of various levels.

Check the Rock Auto listings to help compare parts and prices; 1998 FORD EXPLORER 5.0L V8 Control Arm | RockAuto

 

[swshawaii]

Depends on the condition of your UCA ball joints and bushings. If either are worn it's a no brainer to replace the complete UCA. Other thing is if you have a two-piece UCA on the passenger side that offers caster adjustment. I'd go with the stronger one piece UCA's for both sides with camber kits.

EDIT- Don posted while I was typing. He's a really fast guy. LOL And ditto, use only premium grade control arms and ball joints for long term use.

Don's point regarding Moog and other ball joint boots is well documented. ALL rubber ball joint boots suck. I've been waiting forever for Energy Suspension, Prothane, or Daystar to make custom fit lower and upper POLYURETHANE boots that hasn't happened yet, and probably never will. I bought two new Moog upper control arms for only the boots since they don't sell boots separately, and the cost for both UCA's was less than a rear thrust alignment would have been. No manufacturer including Ford sells replacement non universal boots separately. It's a conspiracy.

 

[swshawaii]

This may be of interest when replacing lower control arms. Thanks again Don.

Replace torsion bar?

This is just one of reasons im changing every control arm. Yes, that is day light you see and no, I'm not 100% sure what what caused it. But that doesn't matter. As I said that is just one of the reasons. The other two reasons are bushings and to change the two piece UCA and make it a one...

www.explorerforum.com

 

[CDW6212R]

Yeah, I did my first suspension in about 2006 and there weren't many pictures to follow or write ups different from the shop manual(which points you to using a special puller to remove the LCA(to hold pressure on the torsion bar key)). I figured out how to simply unbolt the torsion key parts, after the LCA and BJ, and it drops down without incident. Once you learn the tension isn't a danger with the LCA dropped fully, then it's a simple puzzle of what angle to have the LCA at with the torsion bar inserted into it.

I never had a new LCA with the torsion bar holes too big, I believe that was a bad run of Moog parts. Moog is very good, but not perfect and they have their issues. I would prefer Ford if the price is feasible, and Mevotech if it's their top level versions. They all make cheap lower level parts, so you have to be careful of which you are looking at.

 

[swshawaii]

In the IFS Heavy Duty Upgrades! thread Raybestos responded by saying it's normal and have had no complaints.

Moog said the oversize "fit" was by design to work with a wider range of vehicles or something to that effect. Weak excuse IMO.

SEE POST #27

 

[CDW6212R]

I missed that ending part. I figured for some odd reason, the CA's they made too big for a short time. Raybestos is another brand that has had good and bad quality parts, different versions of the same part. I had new hubs from Amazon about 6-7 years ago, by Raybestos, and bith hubs went bad within two months. I got them both swapped by Amazon, and the new replacements have been fine. It's hard to tell by sight if a part is really good, or very poor. That's why most of us lean towards the higher end stuff, the best Moog has etc. I haven't had any bad hubs, but none of my new ones have been the cheaper $50 type. I began with OEM hubs, then tried Timken and Moog, but the last four have been SKF; More Information for SKF BR930252

 

[swshawaii]

Apparently the oversize hex issue was never resolved by Moog OR Raybestos unless something's happened since then.

IFS Heavy Duty Upgrades!

Wow I just got my shippment from rockauto the last week and they had the inner and outer tie rods from raybestos.

www.explorerforum.com

Jan. 14, 2013 (Page 7 #137)

• Sadly this was never resolved. I did in fact call Raybestos about it and they were much less than helpful. Both Raybestos and Rockauto claimed that they have sold dozens of these without 1 complaint or return due to deffect. I guess I screwed myself because I waited beyond rockauto's return policy time frame to put them on. The whole deal left me with a bad taste for Raybestos.

Aug. 25, 2015 (Page 10 #188)

• So just spoke with Moog and Paul said that "In his experience they fit loose". I asked why since there wasnt a problem getting a tight fit when it was OEM and he said because sometimes it has to fit multiple vehicles, years etc. Which of course is true however the OEM control arms were all identical anyway and fit well so thats not really an excuse IMO.
  
  He said that his spec sheet reads that flat to flat on the hex in the control arm should be 38.4mm +/- .5mm. I'll measure mine when I get home and see if it's within their spec. Otherwise I'm not going to mess with a swap, I think I'll just weld on some shims since apparently they slip around otherwise.
  
  If that doesn't work it seems that the consensus is to go with motorcraft for the best fit.

Stock Motorcraft LCA's

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

 

[CDW6212R]

Hmm, I think gman hinted at the answer with CA's being made to fit F150's, it didn't occur to me then, that those could be a larger size on the ends. The last two pairs of Moog LCA's have fit well. I'm nut sure those cute BJ boot covers are an improvement, I'd prefer larger with more grease inside. But I see Mevotech makes more LCA's than they did before. Those are all cheaper, maybe soon they will have one that is at the same level as the Ford or Moog.

 

[swshawaii]

Good catch, but using the wrong F150 LCA's would have made it too easy to solve. LOL Guess the only guaranteed fit is OE.

Post #101

I doubt they would be F150 LCAs, because I imagine those would be larger than Explorer arms and the knuckle couldn't line up properly. Although I could, of course, be wrong as I haven't actually seen an F150 LCA up close or been able to compare.

Post #115

Sorry about the F-150 guess. There are plenty of other makes that use T-bar LCA set ups. My thinking was along the lines of them being to big and used for a heavier vehicle such as an F-150 or an Expedition/Excursion is all.

 

[jjsimpkins]

How many miles are on the suspension parts, the ball joints and bushings? You might have ball joints now which are loose or will need replacing soon, if they have over 100k miles on them. I rebuilt both front suspensions on my last 98's shortly after buying them(174k and 153k miles). Replacing the four control arms alone is around $400 for Moog CA's. I also did hubs on both knowing what I was going to use them for.

The lower ball joints are the weakest links. Check all the BJ boots first, and expect any BJ with a torn boot is bad already.

Moog is the best choice still for lower CA's, Ford has almost doubled in price(over $210 each), Moog's are about $120 on Rock Auto. Mevotech makes a really good heavy duty UCA, about $80 each, and the Moog's best are about $55 for their best. That one you linked to is a good Moog upper, they make several different parts of various levels.

Check the Rock Auto listings to help compare parts and prices; 1998 FORD EXPLORER 5.0L V8 Control Arm | RockAuto

The truck itself has about 134k miles on it and, although I'm not sure nor have I checked, I expect that it is still all original parts.

As for the RockAuto link, is the front suspension on the base explorer the same as my vehicle?

 

[CDW6212R]

Yes, your truck share the same front suspension as all the 95-01's. Only the front brakes are slightly different, larger.

You might have your alignment shop check out your front suspension fully before doing any work. They may find a tie rod end that's a bit worn, or bad end links etc, if the CA's are original, they'll likely tell you that some bad joints are bad. But that would give you a real inspection to know what's actually needed to start with.

 

[jjsimpkins]

Yes, your truck share the same front suspension as all the 95-01's. Only the front brakes are slightly different, larger.

You might have your alignment shop check out your front suspension fully before doing any work. They may find a tie rod end that's a bit worn, or bad end links etc, if the CA's are original, they'll likely tell you that some bad joints are bad. But that would give you a real inspection to know what's actually needed to start with.

If it does turn out that I need to replace/rebuild, should I get that done at the same time as lowering the front, or should I wait until after to drop it? I would Imagine that it would be smart to do them at the same time, so that I don't need two alignments, but I'm not the expert here lol.

 

[CDW6212R]

Yes if you can afford it now, that would be much better. The cost of CA's should be in the $400 range for all four, TRE's are not bad, $20 each or so for top brands, hubs need to cost a good $75 for quality choices.

Some shops will inspect the vehicle without a big charge, or credit you that when the work is done. But note that most shops will inspect very fast and often miss things.

My sister had a 2008 Wrangler with a common death wobble. After trips to her choice Firestone, and then my choice shop, nobody had identified the whole problem. So after professional "help" I worked on it, reading and replacing what most commonly caused the issues. It turned out to be a few things, all which the shops should have caught, but missed. I had to buy a new track bar, which was the most recent part but on before I started(so I assumed that new part was good(the rubber bushings had wallowed out slightly)). A death wobble is a terrible suspension issue, it really fast ruins multiple parts, even recently new parts. I did her BJ's first, PITA, that didn't fix it, then TRE's, pitman arm, and new bushings. With the problem still there, I bought the aftermarket bolt kit(larger diameter than stock), and an aftermarket track bar. That fixed it finally, but the issue was probably the BJ's first, and the looseness started the wobble, which killed the rest of the parts. So I would avoid a Wrangler or if you have it, replace everything once one symptom begins.

 

[jjsimpkins]

Yes if you can afford it now, that would be much better. The cost of CA's should be in the $400 range for all four, TRE's are not bad, $20 each or so for top brands, hubs need to cost a good $75 for quality choices.

A few questions:
Is Moog a good choice for reasonable performance without dumping money into it, or would you recommend otherwise?
What failure might the hubs have that would warrant replacement?
If I replace the tie rods, should it be both ends, or does it vary?
Thanks

 

[jjsimpkins]

Is there any apparent difference that justifies the price disparity between between Moog's Daily Driver and Premium control arms?

DD UCA, L & R
DD LCA, L & R
Premium UCA, L & R
Premium LCA, L & R

edit: You can actually see all of these in the same place, as well as another set of premium 1-piece UCAs from the link that Don provided already.

 

[CDW6212R]

Most of us here can suggest which parts are most likely to fail early and which hardly ever go bad(at this point of a 20+ year old vehicle). Ideally you want a local shop to trust and who will try very hard to locate all bad parts(that you are interested in). You don't go to an alignment shop to find out about your engine or brakes in general.

I've only had a few outer TRE's go bad, out of five Explorers and about 300k miles. I've bought mine with between 98k and 177k miles. I have really only had two hubs to be bad, both on my prior 98 that was the young lady's first car and no maintenance was done to it(177k miles). I had to replace all of the BJ's and hubs, and one TRE was bad(both were replaced before me).

Look at the rubber boots of the ball joints, you can check those easily yourself. If the boot is torn, it's past time to replace that BJ. On my last two 98's, all four BJ boots were torn, gone, or dry rotted and coming apart, plus had no grease fittings.

 

[CDW6212R]

Is there any apparent difference that justifies the price disparity between between Moog's Daily Driver and Premium control arms?

DD UCA, L & R
DD LCA, L & R
Premium UCA, L & R
Premium LCA, L & R

That's why my past posts hinted at multiple levels or quality, there are a ton of choices. I like Moog and Ford and Mevotech, but only their top levels. I have not owned any of the cheaper versions, but others have posted on this forum about how they don't last as long as most people would want. From what others have posted, I'd say the lesser parts will last in the range of 1-4 years depending on how harsh they are used(off roading etc). The higher level parts seem to go a long time, possibly similar to OEM, which often hit 150k miles, or when the rubber BJ boots wear out etc.

Those DD level Moog parts are would say are a middle level quality part, those should last as much as 100k miles. Other brands have some really lower quality stuff, that's why these recommendations are very helpful to others. We'll suggest avoiding some brands like Detroit Axle, and Dorman has lots of parts available, but many people hate them.

The Mevotech LCA's are new to me, I don't recall that choice when I bought my last set almost two years ago. If their LCA's are very good, then I'd consider those like the Moog LCA's, which are about $120 I noticed before.

Have an alignment shop look at the truck if you can. Ask them to carefully check the hubs, TRE's, and BJ's. Most likely they will tell you it needs four BJ's, and maybe a TRE. That's my best guess about an original parts 134k miles Explorer.

 

[jjsimpkins]

Have an alignment shop look at the truck if you can. Ask them to carefully check the hubs, TRE's, and BJ's. Most likely they will tell you it needs four BJ's, and maybe a TRE. That's my best guess about an original parts 134k miles Explorer.

Would I be able to replace the ball joints alone, or will I need new control arms?

edit: if plan on adding power (i.e. : exhaust system, turbocharger, etc.), should I go ahead and replace all of the front (and perhaps rear) suspension?

 

[CDW6212R]

If it's a long term "keeper" truck, I'd want those suspension parts to be new. I'd consider the hubs and outer TRE's to be almost as critical to do soon, as the control arms. The CA's are almost always in bad shape at this age, the other parts don't as often turn out to be bad.

You can do just the lower BJ's, they cost a good $35ish each from Mevotech or Moog. The factory UCA's cannot have the BJ's replaced, those you have to buy new arms, but the aftermarket UCA's can have the BJ's replaced later.

If you think the rubber LCA bushings are in decent enough shape(134k isn't bad these days), you might just change those BJ's alone. But depending on your skill, doing BJ's isn't much fun.

The rear suspension is not as bad to "wear out." The leafs will over time get weaker, so what's left are the eye bushings and frame shackle mount bushings. You can do them when it's convenient.

 

[jjsimpkins]

In the case that I cannot find blocks that fit my needs: do lowering leaf springs do exactly what they sound like they do? If so, what's the consensus on them vs lowering blocks.