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New Owner

csimon

Member
Joined
June 3, 2013
Messages
42
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0
City, State
Acton, MA
Year, Model & Trim Level
2015 Ford Explorer Sport
Hi there. I am a proud owner of a new 2013 Sport Blk/Blk and really like the car.

I traded my 2012 Pilot as it was soul-less. I was considering the new 2014 Jeep SRT, but couldn't justify the price and the third row comes in handy.

The only issue I have is a minor steering alignment. Anyone know a really good alignment shop in the area of Acton, MA? The dealer tried and got it better, but I feel it could be done even better.
 



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I Have not gone to Ford dealer for alignment yet, but I know Chrysler does a bad job at it. I have taken my cars to Sears, they have done a good job aligning my vehicles. I will try Ford on my 2013.
 






will u need a 4 wheel alignment ?
 






Hi there. I am a proud owner of a new 2013 Sport Blk/Blk and really like the car.

I traded my 2012 Pilot as it was soul-less. I was considering the new 2014 Jeep SRT, but couldn't justify the price and the third row comes in handy.

The only issue I have is a minor steering alignment. Anyone know a really good alignment shop in the area of Acton, MA? The dealer tried and got it better, but I feel it could be done even better.
Welcome to the Forum csimon.:wavey:
Congratulations on your new ride.:thumbsup: When you said steering alignment I assume you mean centering the steering wheel. In any case, I don't know why the dealer shouldn't be able to correct that for you to your satisfaction.

Peter
 






Congratulations on the new ride and welcome to the forum.
 






I wouldnt spend my own money on something thats under warranty, make them do it till your satisified.
 






Is it alignment or do you just feel the torque steer? :)
 






Additional thoughts.

Hi everyone and thanks for the warm welcoming!

It is definitely the 4 wheel alignment not the torque steer. The dealer tried, but it is so small of a difference that I do not think they want to put in the effort. I know I am being a PIA, but it is annoying.

The only things that would raise the rating of this SUV from an 8.5 to a 10 would be:
- Torque Steer. Seems there are two culprits for this. The control arms are unequal length(like a mini) and the 4-wheel drive system is sending the power to the front vs. the rear wheels. The new escape 4wd system sends the power to the rear during start and launches, then during cruising speed to front wheels. Makes total sense and drives really well. This should have been done for this monster.
- Seats. I am 6'3, 250 and the seat bottoms are too narrow and short. They should model a BMW for this car for their shape and the extra length. Again this is a Sport.
- Rear cargo cover. The one they offer is ridiculously cumbersome. Couldn't they simply make a retractable?
- Small rear trunk. It would have been nice to have a spot on the left side or around the spare to hold a few things, like a first aid kit, armor all, rags, etc. I have two small dogs and child and do not like having this stuff exposed in case of a crash.
- Front parking sensors. All the other manufactures in this price range include fronts, so this is a weird one for me, especially since there are rears and a rear camera.
- Heated steering wheel. Another no brainer for me to offer at least as an option. I know it is offered in the limited, but I wanted the sport.
- Third row power folding seats. Not a big deal, but could be offered as an option.

Other than those - I really like this car and might just hold onto this one for a while.
 






Hi everyone and thanks for the warm welcoming!

It is definitely the 4 wheel alignment not the torque steer. The dealer tried, but it is so small of a difference that I do not think they want to put in the effort. I know I am being a PIA, but it is annoying.

The only things that would raise the rating of this SUV from an 8.5 to a 10 would be:
- Torque Steer. Seems there are two culprits for this. The control arms are unequal length(like a mini) and the 4-wheel drive system is sending the power to the front vs. the rear wheels. The new escape 4wd system sends the power to the rear during start and launches, then during cruising speed to front wheels. Makes total sense and drives really well. This should have been done for this monster.
On mine, when starting from a stop, the power goes to both front and rear wheels with the majority to the front. Once you get going, it is all front. That is what it shows on my display. The quicker the start, the more power goes to the rears.

Peter
 






Peter,

I played around with the Terrain System and looking at the 4wd display and it seems that on the snow setting, power seems to be split 50/50 vs. normal mode having more power to the front.

Does yours show this?

I really wish there was a ECM update to move the power to the rears on normal vs. the fronts.
 






Peter,

I played around with the Terrain System and looking at the 4wd display and it seems that on the snow setting, power seems to be split 50/50 vs. normal mode having more power to the front.

Does yours show this?

I really wish there was a ECM update to move the power to the rears on normal vs. the fronts.

I'm not really sure the drive system can handle it...? I noticed on my new Sport that the rear half-shafts had "Sport" on the pn tag. Digging around I read normal awd explorers can only send about 30% power to rear wheels...

You notice Sports are marked 4wd on the rear
Hatch, and regulars are marked awd? Anyway, the sport can send up to 50% to the rear.

But also the PTU had to be beefed up to handle the extra torque and extra torque going to the backs... The escape is much smaller with less torque, so can handle the loads better without being "beefed up"...

The current system in the explorer sport would have to be altered considerably to handle more than 50% going to the rear. Could be flashed easily, but would break a lot of stuff in the process?

Just my observations..
 






I'm not really sure the drive system can handle it...? I noticed on my new Sport that the rear half-shafts had "Sport" on the pn tag. Digging around I read normal awd explorers can only send about 30% power to rear wheels...

You notice Sports are marked 4wd on the rear
Hatch, and regulars are marked awd? Anyway, the sport can send up to 50% to the rear.

But also the PTU had to be beefed up to handle the extra torque and extra torque going to the backs... The escape is much smaller with less torque, so can handle the loads better without being "beefed up"...

The current system in the explorer sport would have to be altered considerably to handle more than 50% going to the rear. Could be flashed easily, but would break a lot of stuff in the process?

Just my observations..
All Explorers have the 4WD badge although actually they are all AWD, or 'On Demand AWD', including the Sport.

http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=24795

Peter
 






Peter,

I played around with the Terrain System and looking at the 4wd display and it seems that on the snow setting, power seems to be split 50/50 vs. normal mode having more power to the front.

Does yours show this?

I really wish there was a ECM update to move the power to the rears on normal vs. the fronts.
Okay, it's 72 F today and there I was in the driveway doing stop and go testing in SNOW mode. :D
As yours indicated, the power on start-up was split 50/50, front/rear. I didn't drive it on the road to see if it remained that way. Maybe next time.

Peter
 






hmmm, so sounds like hard launches should be in snow mode ?!?
 






All Explorers have the 4WD badge although actually they are all AWD, or 'On Demand AWD', including the Sport.

http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=24795

Peter

4WD is different from AWD; is 4WD - full-on all the time - 4WD - a real option?

When i looked up vehicles in dealer inventory to purchase,
with the specific selection of a feature listed as '4WD' in the build & price pages,
the price shot up something like $2K and the number of vehicles went down from 35 to only 2 or 3.
Also 4WD and AWD were 2 separate features in the selection chart and could not be combined.

I dont remember if the results were all Sport's...can probably see it now on the same pages...
 






hmmm, so sounds like hard launches should be in snow mode ?!?
In 'Sand' mode, a quick start sends more power to the rear wheels than the front. Mine showed 2 bars for the fronts and 3 bars for the rears.

Peter
 






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