Questions for offroading

[Nocturnall]

I went offroading today up, well a heavily traveled trail and there were a lot of the little ruts in the road, like dunes in a dirt bike track. It was a little scary hitting these going more then 6mph because my truck bounced all over the road and slide around. It's stock for the most part suspension wise, 4dr leaf pack in the rear that's about it. So I was wondering what would help or eliminate my truck from bouncing all over when hitting these as I plan on going out on more adventures like these. Springs or shocks? Shocks are stock and who knows how old but the truck seems to handle fine on the street. It is my daily driver and I'm also trying to not spend $450 for the rancho 9000s.

 

[Willard]

If you want to control bouncing, you need stiffer shocks. Explorer's are bouncy stock anyway, and stiffer shocks will help. I would imagine that stiffer front springs would help too, but would limit flexing off-road. I've got a major case of the bouncy's and will be replacing shocks soon. You also have to keep in mind the weight of these trucks, so they're gonna bounce some, you just have to learn to control it a little better.

 

[Nocturnall]

Oh I know they'll bounce and I can control it it would just be nice if my truck would touch the ground a lil more when I'm surprised by these little ruts.

 

[IZwack]

Go slower .

The uncontrollable behavior indicates you're going too fast for the terrain with your vehicle configuration. Plus if you keep it up, you might break something.

If you want to control bouncing, you need stiffer shocks. Explorer's are bouncy stock anyway, and stiffer shocks will help, with variable rates.

I don't think stiffer is the solution -- but a more "plush" or softer suspension like a Baja truck setup, with variable rates. A stiffer suspension is only good for road.

 

[Nocturnall]

If I go 7mph the truck bounces all over. I'm not denying that when the truck was feeling really out of control it was because I had been going to fast. So I slowed way down and let anyone flying up behind me go around. There were also sections with small rocks sticking out of the ground and if I went any faster then what the truck does at 1100 rpms it was all over the place. Wouldn't softer shocks be the way to go to help?

 

[dogfriend]

Go slower .

Hey, I was thinking the same thing.

 

[unclemeat]

A good set of shocks will help. I like bilstein 5100s. Softer springs are better for offroad. You can also air down you tires to around 20-psi. You may want to get a onboard air source if you air down.

 

[Nocturnall]

I have an inverter and a little 1 gallon air compressor for work so I can run that in my truck, takes forever but it works.

 

[glfredrick]

Try the BDS shocks -- they are a good bang for the buck and made in the same plant as the Ranchos.

 

[Nocturnall]

Are ranger shocks the same as explorer? BDS are ranger only.

 

[glfredrick]

Are ranger shocks the same as explorer? BDS are ranger only.

Yup -- except on the rear the Explorer is sprung under instead of sprung over, so check the length carefully.

I ran F250 mounts up front (cut off the factory mounts -- gains you 8" more travel!) and used 6" over Ranger shocks out back. With that setup I had plenty of suspension travel.

Also, for off-road use, dump the anti-sway bars -- much smoother ride on the rough stuff without them.

I'd bet that a decent set-up truck could run a LOT faster on that trail and not have the problems you are having. I know that you're not building a desert racer, but those dudes can run over 100 mph on stuff that would break a stock truck in half -- they use very compliant springs with tons of travel (like 20+ inches) shocks that can handle the load and speed, and have a few other tricks to manage what they do at speed in rough terrain.