Not a nice ride....

[eddiev8NZ]

Hi guys, just after some advice before I throw more money at it.

My 2005 Explorer (about 71k miles) used to ride quite nice and smooth. However it started getting a bit bouncy so I went ahead and changed all four struts with Munro quick struts.

This certainly helped the bounce, but had a fairly firm ride. I figured it might just take a while to settle, but 3 months later the ride is still terrible. I finally assumed it must be the Munros, and put the old original struts back on.

But the terrible ride has hardly improved. It seems like you feel every bump in the road, through the seat and the steering wheel. When you hit a series of corrugations on the road it almost feels like the car is shuddering over the bumps, felt through the whole chassis. There doesn't seems to be any metallic rattling or clunking though. Also, and maybe unrelated, occasionally it almost feels like a wheel steers around a bump, rather than going straight ahead?

It did help a little dropping the tire pressure down to 32 PSI, but didn't go away. And I don't really want to drive around with lower than spec pressure anyway.

I was thinking of getting new shocks, perhaps trying Gabriel struts, but after the problem remained after replacing the original shocks, I am now not so sure it is shock or strut related.

Parts aren't cheap here in NZ by the time you add postage from the USA, so although I will chuck parts at it, I would at least like to do it in a logical way.

I understand the chassis mounts are a problem with the sport trac, not so much with the standard explorer. I have checked mine, and while a couple are not in great shape they are at least there. Could this cause this issue?

I have replaced the sway bar mounts and links, and changed them back to original, no difference there

So now I am looking at upper and lower control arm bushes, and I guess ball joints and tie rod ends. There is no noticeable movement in any off them, but I might be checking it wrong.

I should say this is not a off roader, just an around town car, so much more interested in a nice smooth ride than off road ability.

So any suggestions as to where to start? What is the most likely to require changing at that sort of mileage, which is most likely to make a shudder though the car when going over bumps? What have you changed that had the most positive effect on ride quality? Any suggestions on what (and how) to check various items?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

 

[eddiev8NZ]

hmm looks like it has already been answered in this post
Suspension replaced and can still feel small bumps-what else needs replaced?

But still I can't imagine someone buying a new car that feels as rough over bumps as this one....

 

[Mbrooks420]

You probably just need a better riding strut. I’d put the factory springs on a different strut. If you want to restore the factory ride, buy Motorcraft struts.

What’s the tire pressure supposed to be?

 

[Mbrooks420]

Looking at Motorcraft “assembled” struts they are only 60 more for the pair with springs.

 

[eddiev8NZ]

Hi Mbrooks420, thanks for the reply. I am running 35psi in the tires, as per the owners manual and the door sticker. It is better lower, but I think it masks it rather than fixes it.
Yes would definitely go Motorcraft if I had my time again. I have emailed Gabriel and they even said theirs would ride a bit firmer than OEM. So not going down that route. In discussions at the moment with Amazon about returning the munros outside the return period, which would help.
I saw on another threat a chap was talking about the ride with Motorcraft verses aftermarket. He was saying Ford have minimal damping on the compression stroke, but more damping on the extension stroke. Aftermarket struts have equal dampening both ways resulting in a harsher ride. Sounds feasible.
Anyway, still wondering if anything else could be contributing to this issue before I get some more shocks. Anybody have thoughts on control arm bushings? Upper or lower more likely to contribute, or known for failure? Anybody replaced body mounts?
Thanks again