Rear Coil Spring Differences between Sport and Police

[Deleted member 348523]

Does anyone know the differences between the rear coil springs?
There are 3 part numbers for Non-Sport, Sport, Police.

Are the police package ones stiffer to carry more junk all the time like cops would gear up?

I have a 2016, that the springs seem to be total garbage on.
The 2013 Sport with the same trailer and weight, measured side by side on each vehicle, the 2016 has +1.5" squat over the 2013.

So I am wondering:
Are the springs different?
Does the 2013 Sport have the wrong springs installed at factory?
Does the 2016 Sport have the wrong springs installed at factory?
Could the 2013 be Police Springs by mistake? Thus it don't squat as much.

As far as I can tell the 2013 and 2016 call for the exact same spring, but side by side with the same trailer, LDH installed, the 2016 is 1.5" lower.
It rides and tows like ****.
I tried spring spreaders, and that only helped a little, but I don't like the creaking.
I since sold off the 2013, so I can't check part numbers on the spring.

Anyone have ANY ideas? It is baffeling.
I am to the point where I want to buy the police and sport 2013 used pulloff form Ebay/junkyard stock to look at them.
But chances are they are the same height, and it is the compression rate that is different.
For about $100 I can just get police springs for both sides and test, but trial and error seems like a dumb idea.

I haven't pulled the springs out of the 2016, but I can see in the parts diagram that there is a spacer at the bottom and wondered if I could stack two of those for a 1.5" lift.
The cop units have the same rake and don't measure higher in the back, so I'd assume its compression rate.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[Ironworker40]

Does anyone know the differences between the rear coil springs?
There are 3 part numbers for Non-Sport, Sport, Police.

Are the police package ones stiffer to carry more junk all the time like cops would gear up?

I have a 2016, that the springs seem to be total garbage on.
The 2013 Sport with the same trailer and weight, measured side by side on each vehicle, the 2016 has +1.5" squat over the 2013.

So I am wondering:
Are the springs different?
Does the 2013 Sport have the wrong springs installed at factory?
Does the 2016 Sport have the wrong springs installed at factory?
Could the 2013 be Police Springs by mistake? Thus it don't squat as much.

As far as I can tell the 2013 and 2016 call for the exact same spring, but side by side with the same trailer, LDH installed, the 2016 is 1.5" lower.
It rides and tows like ****.
I tried spring spreaders, and that only helped a little, but I don't like the creaking.
I since sold off the 2013, so I can't check part numbers on the spring.

Anyone have ANY ideas? It is baffeling.
I am to the point where I want to buy the police and sport 2013 used pulloff form Ebay/junkyard stock to look at them.
But chances are they are the same height, and it is the compression rate that is different.
For about $100 I can just get police springs for both sides and test, but trial and error seems like a dumb idea.

I haven't pulled the springs out of the 2016, but I can see in the parts diagram that there is a spacer at the bottom and wondered if I could stack two of those for a 1.5" lift.
The cop units have the same rake and don't measure higher in the back, so I'd assume its compression rate.

Anyone have any ideas?

Does anyone make air bags for them. I had a light duty pickup with auxillary aftermarket air bags and they worked great. I ran 20 lbs or air not towing and 100 towing. Ride was great also.

 

[Mbrooks420]

It’s possibly they changed the spring rate and simply do not offer the original spring rate that came factory with your 2013.

 

[Ironworker40]

Does anyone know the differences between the rear coil springs?
There are 3 part numbers for Non-Sport, Sport, Police.

Are the police package ones stiffer to carry more junk all the time like cops would gear up?

I have a 2016, that the springs seem to be total garbage on.
The 2013 Sport with the same trailer and weight, measured side by side on each vehicle, the 2016 has +1.5" squat over the 2013.

So I am wondering:
Are the springs different?
Does the 2013 Sport have the wrong springs installed at factory?
Does the 2016 Sport have the wrong springs installed at factory?
Could the 2013 be Police Springs by mistake? Thus it don't squat as much.

As far as I can tell the 2013 and 2016 call for the exact same spring, but side by side with the same trailer, LDH installed, the 2016 is 1.5" lower.
It rides and tows like ****.
I tried spring spreaders, and that only helped a little, but I don't like the creaking.
I since sold off the 2013, so I can't check part numbers on the spring.

Anyone have ANY ideas? It is baffeling.
I am to the point where I want to buy the police and sport 2013 used pulloff form Ebay/junkyard stock to look at them.
But chances are they are the same height, and it is the compression rate that is different.
For about $100 I can just get police springs for both sides and test, but trial and error seems like a dumb idea.

I haven't pulled the springs out of the 2016, but I can see in the parts diagram that there is a spacer at the bottom and wondered if I could stack two of those for a 1.5" lift.
The cop units have the same rake and don't measure higher in the back, so I'd assume its compression rate.

Anyone have any ideas?

Here you go Air lift makes air bags for the Explorer. These are the basic air bags. You can add all sorts of optional compressors and gauges. My brother has them in his f-250 he opted for the automatic level control. You set a level switch to a height you want and if you load it it will pump up to the same height and deflate when you unload it. I used the manual set up I would fill manually.

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[peterk9]

Does anyone know the differences between the rear coil springs?
There are 3 part numbers for Non-Sport, Sport, Police.

Are the police package ones stiffer to carry more junk all the time like cops would gear up?

I have a 2016, that the springs seem to be total garbage on.
The 2013 Sport with the same trailer and weight, measured side by side on each vehicle, the 2016 has +1.5" squat over the 2013.

So I am wondering:
Are the springs different?
Does the 2013 Sport have the wrong springs installed at factory?
Does the 2016 Sport have the wrong springs installed at factory?
Could the 2013 be Police Springs by mistake? Thus it don't squat as much...........................................

I don't have the answer but I highly doubt the factory would install the wrong springs. The suspension on the Sport trim is different than the other retail units. I'm not sure what the PIU has but suspect that it also would be a stiffer suspension.

Peter

 

[san~man]

I found a spec sheet long ago (can't find it again) stating the Sport springs were 20mm shorter than the other model's springs.

 

[peterk9]

I found a spec sheet long ago (can't find it again) stating the Sport springs were 20mm shorter than the other model's springs.

That makes sense since the Sport sits slightly lower than the rest.

Peter

 

[Deleted member 348523]

It’s possibly they changed the spring rate and simply do not offer the original spring rate that came factory with your 2013.

This is quite possible, but makes almost no sense from a usability standpoint.

 

[Deleted member 348523]

Here you go Air lift makes air bags for the Explorer. These are the basic air bags. You can add all sorts of optional compressors and gauges. My brother has them in his f-250 he opted for the automatic level control. You set a level switch to a height you want and if you load it it will pump up to the same height and deflate when you unload it. I used the manual set up I would fill manually.

Web Hosting by InMotion Hosting

This is an option, but needless in cost, complexity and usage.
Especially when the 2013 that was rated the same as the 2016 worked without 300-500 worth of junk on it.

 

[Deleted member 348523]

I found a spec sheet long ago (can't find it again) stating the Sport springs were 20mm shorter than the other model's springs.

.7" is not enough to cause this much squat, so it is likely the rate.
I have 2 options, buy 2013 sport springs from a pull off on ebay, or buy newer standard springs from a 4x4.
Were there any differences inthe 4x4 and sport that you remember?
From what I can see there are 4 flavors:
FWD
4x4
Sport
Police

Any keywords on that spec sheet that I might look for in a deep long hard search? (lol)

 

[Mbrooks420]

This is quite possible, but makes almost no sense from a usability standpoint.

These aren’t really working and hauling vehicles. 90% of them will never tow anything, or haul the limit weight wise. They will substitute usability for a comfortable test ride every time. If you want it to haul better, just get stiffer aftermarket springs.

 

[Deleted member 348523]

To follow-up on this, which it seems the internet does not do anymore, but I like to be able to give back what I learn.
I purchased Police Intercepter springs off of ebay. One 2013, one 2014 (I was rolling the dice that the compression rate didn't change between those years, as I couldn't find 2x2013). Funny it's rather hard to find a SET of springs off of ebay off of a wrecked vehicle. This vendor was apparently the MOST expensive one there was, as they were ~$71 each.
I went with the Interceptor, just on an assumption that the compression rate was greater than XLT versions due to that platform having more junk installed on it. I could be wrong, but the Interceptor has a different part number from what I could find for AWD/4x4

So $156 bucks is cheaper than ANY OTHER OPTION.
Took about 45 min to pull the wheels, pull the sway bar end, pull the bottom swing arm bolt.
Slip pull out old with a little use of the foot and put in the new.
Bolt it all back up and done.

Outcome:
Overview TLDR: Amazballs at the better ride, much stiffer in general, like the 13. Didn't realize how swishy the 16 was. (Screw ford and their drivability for soccer moms)
Details:
Add's about 3/4" to the ride height. Changes zero dynamics driving without a trailer (course the back of my exploder has lots of stuff in it all the time (BoB and such)
Without Trailer, just with it loaded, I see 33 3/4" from driveway to the fender top at center of tire.
Loaded it down with my WDH, Trailer, and left all the junk in the back, saw 33"
This was far better than the sport springs which was at 31.5"
Drivability of with the trailer is like the 2013 was. And this is what really matters.
Driving it with the 3200 lb trailer now feels like it is not even back there. Less bounce, less sway.
Acceleration is much more controllable, since the WDH can do what it should and force more weight on the front tires.
The front is not as far "off the ground" so more weight on the tires up front keep it from wanting to road walk under acceleration, and get wishy-washy.

It drives so well, like the 2013, that after 50 miles towing the trailer back to the house, it was like it's not even there AGAIN!

So for anyone else that is pulling ANYTHING over about 1000 lbs, this is a no brainer fix for what Ford screwed up.

Hope that helps others.