Need to fix a few things on my 2000 Limited

[Nuar]

As the title says, i have a few things i need to tackle before winter and I could use some advice from you guys.
my 2000 limited awd explorer is in need of
front suspension (upper/lower control arm replacement)
rattling sunroof
Rpm gauge on the cluster acts up.

first, i want to replace the front control arms and the ball joints wih moog pieces since they have greasable ball joints.
my truck has that odd two piece design upper control arm on the passenger side.
I've looked everywhere to try and find replacement of both sections of that control arm and all i am finding is the outer part... so my question is...

1.IS IT POSSIBLE AND OK/RCOMMENDED TO REPLACE THE STOCK TWO PIECE CONTROL ARM WITH A SINGLE PIECE MOOG BRANDED CONTROL ARM?

I was also going to get the moog camber bolt kit along with the control arms.

2. HOW DO THE TOSION BARS WORK?? IS THERE SOME GUIDE ON THE LOWER CONTROL ARM REPLACEMENT?


3. My damn sunroof rattles like crazy over every bump in its regular closed position. Is this a common issue? I have been looking for a fix for quite some time now.

4. Finally, my rpm gauge works /doesn't work randomly. When it stops working, i can tap the instrument cluster and it starts working again for a while. I assume thats a pretty common problem?

Any help you guys can provide will be MUCH appreciated!

Thank you!

 

[crunchie_frog]

For the control arms, one piece is fine, Ford later changed to this anyway.

For the rpm gauge, I have had to replace the whole instrument cluster, maybe others will comment.

 

[rb142]

The one piece upper control arm is fine.

As for the lower control arms, it is MUCH easier and cheaper to just change the ball joint instead of the whole arm unless you particularly need to replace the bushings too. To replace the whole arm, you will need to release the tension on the torsion bars and remove them -- which is a dangerous thing to do if you don't do it right. You will need some sort of device to release the twist. The official tool is quite expensive. People have used various forms of C-clamps, 2-jaw pullers, and such to do this job with various degrees of risk. Do a search for torsion bar replacement or torsion bar twist and you will find some threads demonstrating the process.

 

[Nuar]

Awesome, good info guys, thank you.
I finally found my sunroof rattle.... i won't be able to fix that without at least lowering half of the headliner somehow