More Tire/Suspension Quality Help

[smallwwb]

I've read the posts here about improving ride quality, etc. and have some questions.
My 93 XLT rides not-so-good. Little bumps in the road rattle the teeth. The biggest problem is very excessive body roll, and the rear bottoms out on potholes. There is also a bad sounding clunk that comes from the front left wheel on bumpy roads, expecially when braking. The front tires are wearing bad on the inside. I have looked underneath myself and can't see anything that seems to be loose, or any bad bushings. I've had 2 shops look at it as well.
Has Firestone Destination LE tires about 5 years old with 20k with good tread still, stock 235/75/15, usually inflated to 35psi.
Monroe shocks: one level below sensa-tracs, about 10k on 'em. (This helped a bit)
Not sure about Radius Arm bushings?
I had the TTB bushings replaced recently- the ones that bolt the torsion arms to the axle/frame, but I don't know exactly where to look for the radius arm bushings?
My rear leafs are less than an inch off the overload springs. Rear sits about level with the front when unloaded.
Wheel bearings were replaced recently, about 10k miles.
I would really like to get better ride quality out of this vehicle. It is in top shape other than the suspension, low miles, and was given to me for free.
I spend about 5% of the time on bumpy, dusty dirt roads, the rest on bad pavement.

 

[Anime]

Body roll is affected by both shocks and the swaybars, so better shocks will usually reduce body roll, and also do a better job of controlling the suspension on bumpy roads. Cheap shocks heat up under continual use, the fluid inside them gets all frothy, and their ability to dampen the suspension movment is greatly impaired. Sensatracs would have been a better choice, or even the Reflex models. You can still reduce body roll some by changing the sway bar and end link bushings out to Polyurethane bushings.

The radius arm bushings (the round ones on either side of the crossmember that the rear of the radius arms are mounted to - the radius arms are what the bottom of the front shocks are bolted to) make a BIG difference in handling and control of the front suspension. You should probably replace these, polyurethane is a good choice here as well. Energy Suspension makes a whole polyurethane bushing kit for the 91-94 Explorer, explorerexpress.com has it on sale for under 100 bucks.

The new TTB bushings might not have been installed correctly, if they weren't pressed in like factory, and are loose, then that would explain some of the clunk noise and looseness in the suspension.

If the front tires are wearing on the inside, the "toe" setting of the alignment is off...probably from the suspension height sagging over time. You can either just get it aligned (or do it yourself, adjusting the toe of the TTB is simple), or correct the sagging with washers/shims between the coil spring and TTB to raise the height back to stock.

Once all those issues are taken care of, you might also want to try experimenting with different tire pressures. 32 psi might give better ride quality, or you might find anywhere from 30-34 psi gives you what you're looking for but still gives even tire treadwear.

 

[beauboy]

Anime has some good info, but a couple of other things - I had the EXACT same problems on my '91 Ex that you're experiencing a while back. I changed my radius arm bushings, tie rods, springs, shocks, leafs, and all other bushings and still with no change. Every mechanic who has inspected my ball joints says they are in great shape. I keep my tires at 36 psi (no way I'll ever go down to 32).

I installed air bags in the rear, and my ride has improved tremendously!

Another thing you may want to check out is the intermediate steering shaft. Over time, it will wear down and you'll feel the clunk when starting, stopping, or hitting bumps. It's not a safety issue, but it is annoying.

I've taken my truck to probably 10-15 shops and not a single mechanic has ever been able to identify what was wrong, except for the steering shaft.

 

[smallwwb]

Thanks for the input.
Beauboy, when you installed air bags, do you mean the load-leveling helper bags that you mount on top of the leafs, or air shocks in place of the regular shocks?
Any chance the shop that repacked the wheel bearings didn't do it right on the front left wheel? I can feel the clunk under my feet- the clunk was there before I had the ttb bushings replaced.

If I wanted to replace the rear leaf packs, what are some good options. 2nd gen leafs? what about getting some without overloads? what's a good price? I think part of the pitching/rolling problem is due to the leafs bottoming out on the overloads and tossing the rear back and forth.

 

[StryctNy9e]

a easy way to tell if your ball joints are bad is lift the front end up so both tires are off the ground and check the tire for play. Grab the tire on the top and bottom and shake it any play in the tire indicates ball joints going out. I also had play in my tire untill I repacked the wheel bearings and replaced them properly.These things can help with your uneven tire wear.

 

[beauboy]

I was speaking of the leaf spring mounted, load-leveling air bags. I replaced my leaf packs with new "OEM" ones, and as soon as I put the weight of the truck back on them, they were flatter than a sheet of plywood. Rather than try again, I just installed the air bags. They're great!

As for feeling the "clunks" in your feet, the same happens with the intermediate steering shaft. The clunk transmits everywhere, so it's difficult to actually pinpoint the cause, unless you can narrow down the ball joints or faulty bushings, as noted earlier.

I wouldn't suspect that your mechanic repacked your bearings incorrectly. It's a pretty easy procedure, so I'd count that out.

BUT, whatever you do, DON'T lower the psi in your tires (36-40psi should do fine). There's different schools of thought on this, and I'm no automotive engineer, but I say truck tires should OVER-inflated, rather than under-inflated. Recommending a lower psi is how Ford got in the Explorer/Tire problem in the first place. I actually got 100,000 out of my first set of Firestones by keeping them at 40 psi and rotating them regularly.

 

[jaschlum]

You may have already know this or been told this. But, the cluck could be coming from the radius arm bushings being worn out. Mine were worn out in my 92 Ex and when i went over any bumps i would hear i loud clunk. They were totally deteriorated. Might be a place to check out. Goodluck to you!

 

[Anime]

Leaf spring packs are usually pretty expensive. A cheaper "fix" on Explorers is to just swap out the left and right side packs, since the left side sags more over time from the weight of the driver and gas tank. Swapping them out puts the firmer spring on the drivers side now, and also helps to reduce the left side lean. This might even lower the back enough to match the sagging front springs so that the truck is overall just slightly lower than stock, so you can just align the front without any other height adjustments.

Don't get leaf springs without overloads! Ford made 2 doors with mono leafs (only 1 single leaf spring) for awhile, and they were deemed very unsafe, plus they had no load capacity. You can probably get custom packs made, but otherwise the overload is needed in a spring pack.


Tire pressure depends on the weight of your vehicle and what's in it. I usually run 40+ psi, but the ride is a whole lot better at 35 front/33 rear. Cornering and mileage is a lot better at 42/40, but it rides a lot rougher, especially with Bilsteins and the urethane bushings.

The rating that got Ford into trouble was a LOT lower, 26 psi, and the cheaply made Firestone tires were very poor B/C rated ones too. 30-32 psi is not too low for a comfortable ride around town, but would be lower than I'd suggest for a loaded or heavier vehicle.

Also keep in mind P-rated tires usually only go up to 35 psi or so. Going past the highest safe pressure on the sidewall is risky if not dangerous. Usually only XL or LT tires have 44 or 50 psi max pressure ratings to allow 35+ psi pressures.

 

[smallwwb]

So I got it wrong before, I had the Radius Arm bushings replaced about 5k ago, not the TTB bushings, which I glanced at today as I was changing my oil and they seem to be worn out. Also the bushings for both front and rear sway bars are toast. The RA bushings have a little space in there now- should I re-tighten them?
Will lift the front and check the ball joints tomorrow.
How would I know if the intermediate steering shaft is bad? Those are grease fittings in there, right?
On the load-leveling airbags...How easy are they to install? How do you route the filling tubes?

 

[smallwwb]

So I lifted the front today and both front tires have play when I wiggle them. Bearings were repacked already by a shop.
So the ball joints need replaced? How hard is that to do?
Bump on previous post questions?

 

[beauboy]

Yo Small -

It does sound like your ball joints are bad. As for replacement, many on this site are very talented and have replaced their own ball joints. I, however, have tried and failed, and ended up having a shop do it. If you've got the right tools and the patience, along with a good procedure, you should have no problems. Just my two cents.

 

[Anime]

You can shim the Radius Arm bushings with a washer just behind the nut, just a regular steel washer from the hardware store behind each will take the slop out from the nut bottoming out on the threads. Sway bar bushings don't usually wear out, but if they are cracked, dried out, or are messy from oil and other fluids making contact, new ones might be in order. I've seen the rag joint in the steering go bad, but not sure about the shaft itself. If the steering is good and the rag joint is visually ok, it should be fine.

When you wiggle the tires/wheels, can you see where the play is coming from? It's easier to use a big lever to pull up on the bottom of the tire from the front, while looking directly at the upper and lower ball joints, then you can see if either joint moves when pulling up. Just feeling movement from the wheel with your hands doesn't eliminate loose wheel bearings or other problems, just because a shop did it doesn't mean they did it right. There's a particular procedure to tighten wheel bearings on these, and if it isn't followed, you'd get tight or loose wheel bearings. Not that it wouldn't be a good idea to replace old ball joints anyway, they do go out and get loose.

Doing ball joints isn't too hard, but you will need a ball joint press and all the tools to remove everything the same as if you were replacing bearings.