I have a 93 Eddie Bauer that is all stock. I mostly travel on paved roads and would like to improve the ride comfort without spending thousands of dollars. The pavement seams are very noticable with the interior poping and squeaking, and a lot rocking from side to side when traveling over bumps. Any suggestions appreciated.
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Ride Improvement
- Thread starter Kypo
- Start date
Hank
Elite Explorer
- Joined
- October 19, 1999
- Messages
- 996
- Reaction score
- 2
- City, State
- Cape Coral, FL
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '91 EB
Sounds like it is time for shocks. It seems like the winners (in order and probably price) are the Eddlebrocks, Rancho's, Bilstiens and Monroes. Search the board for shocks for the vairous posts/opinions.
The Eddlebrocks sound like they get the highest praise but they are a bit pricy. I'm going for the Monroe's due to the feedback I've read and the cost. I also mainly stick to the street.
Best regards.
hg
The Eddlebrocks sound like they get the highest praise but they are a bit pricy. I'm going for the Monroe's due to the feedback I've read and the cost. I also mainly stick to the street.
Best regards.
hg
- Joined
- February 13, 1999
- Messages
- 7,100
- Reaction score
- 36
- Location
- Tampa, FL
- City, State
- Chief GPS'um and Still Lost Native Texan
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '99 EB 4x4 "Herc" RIP
Oh well, here goes.....
I will charge ahead here and dive right in to help you, knowing full well that I am going to get absolutely flamed by the safety police in our membership.
First a short background. When I bought my '99 4x4 a year ago it took me a lot of getting used to the very truck-like ride: almost punishing at times especially when going over speed bumps, potholes, road irregularities, etc. I also remember Stephen Withrow when he first joined this board having a very hard time dealing with the ride of his Explorer (and wanting to know how to get its ride closer to his Lexus!)
Dead Link Removed sorry Stephen couldn't resist....
I have looked into exchanging torsion bars (I have the stiffest "B" bars), shocks, etc; all the suggestions offered by our fellowship here.
I fixed it once and for all two weeks ago and am as happy as a person can be concerning my ride now. I love it.
First, the good news. It was free, and the effect was instantaneous.
Now, the bad news. I disconnected my anti-sway bars (front AND back) PERMANENTLY.
The difference cannot be put into words. We late model owners are supposed to have IFS suspension. I now realize that all "independent" -- the "I" in IFS -- is negated by the sway bar. I can now go over any road irregularity, speed bump, pothole, etc and my vehicle soaks it all up independently (doesn't matter; either side or both sides at once) with absolutely NONE of the stiff transfer of the jolt of the bump to the rest of the vehicle.
I will refrain from the temptation to spend another four pages trying to describe the difference. Just do it and try it. This is not even the same SUV anymore. It is COMFORTABLE now and rides GREAT on the highway while still maintaining a controlling truck ride.
What have I tested and noticed?
Firstly, that there is much static tension held by the sway bars. I immediately got another 1/2"+ lift when I loosed them, both front and back.
Secondly, the handling tradeoff was much less than I anticipated. I can make it "wallow" but it is much less squirrely than that experienced in the 70/80s GM Cadillac - Buick road hogs, or RVs (which don't seem to be under attack right now for rollover tendencies), or the school buses that we put the angels God has loaned us in, or the public transportation buses in big cities that we are all supposed to be riding in to save the planet.
I ran some "S" curves and hit the passing gear whilst in mid-stream of a cloverleaf turn to try to get a feel for what I lost in trade for all this comfort. My new Explorer feels very similar to autos of not long ago. Yeah, it leans over a few degrees around the turns now, but to me that is a very aceptable tradeoff to anti-sway leveling the vehicle in corners while jarring my teeth filings out (the teeth I have left).
On a scale from a road-hugging Lamborghini to a double-decker English bus, we all chose closer to the latter. For me, removing the sway bars just put me one little step further away from the handling safety of the Lambo, something I can live with in exchange for the astronomical improvement in the ride.
Future plans: the Edelbrock IAS shocks are designed to control in two stages: controlling sway at immediate input while allowing full shock absorbsion. I believe after adding these to my vehicle it will provide me the best of all worlds and allow me to forego the antisway bars and still keep all the control I need.
For those of us who think I just traded off a few year's life expectancy on my insurance agent's actuarial tables, I'll just drive the speed limit instead of speeding like all you other guys, wear my seatbelt, and even out the odds in the end while enjoying my Explorer in comfort. Dead Link Removed
------------------
Gerald
----------
'99 EB 4x4
K&N / Drilled Airbox
Torsion Twist / Shackle Lift
AntiSway Bar... What's That?
Zaino, Wood Dash, CB, and Millenium Jack Antenna Ball Dead Link Removed
[This message has been edited by GJarrett (edited 02-02-2000).]
I will charge ahead here and dive right in to help you, knowing full well that I am going to get absolutely flamed by the safety police in our membership.
First a short background. When I bought my '99 4x4 a year ago it took me a lot of getting used to the very truck-like ride: almost punishing at times especially when going over speed bumps, potholes, road irregularities, etc. I also remember Stephen Withrow when he first joined this board having a very hard time dealing with the ride of his Explorer (and wanting to know how to get its ride closer to his Lexus!)
Dead Link Removed sorry Stephen couldn't resist....
I have looked into exchanging torsion bars (I have the stiffest "B" bars), shocks, etc; all the suggestions offered by our fellowship here.
I fixed it once and for all two weeks ago and am as happy as a person can be concerning my ride now. I love it.
First, the good news. It was free, and the effect was instantaneous.
Now, the bad news. I disconnected my anti-sway bars (front AND back) PERMANENTLY.
The difference cannot be put into words. We late model owners are supposed to have IFS suspension. I now realize that all "independent" -- the "I" in IFS -- is negated by the sway bar. I can now go over any road irregularity, speed bump, pothole, etc and my vehicle soaks it all up independently (doesn't matter; either side or both sides at once) with absolutely NONE of the stiff transfer of the jolt of the bump to the rest of the vehicle.
I will refrain from the temptation to spend another four pages trying to describe the difference. Just do it and try it. This is not even the same SUV anymore. It is COMFORTABLE now and rides GREAT on the highway while still maintaining a controlling truck ride.
What have I tested and noticed?
Firstly, that there is much static tension held by the sway bars. I immediately got another 1/2"+ lift when I loosed them, both front and back.
Secondly, the handling tradeoff was much less than I anticipated. I can make it "wallow" but it is much less squirrely than that experienced in the 70/80s GM Cadillac - Buick road hogs, or RVs (which don't seem to be under attack right now for rollover tendencies), or the school buses that we put the angels God has loaned us in, or the public transportation buses in big cities that we are all supposed to be riding in to save the planet.
I ran some "S" curves and hit the passing gear whilst in mid-stream of a cloverleaf turn to try to get a feel for what I lost in trade for all this comfort. My new Explorer feels very similar to autos of not long ago. Yeah, it leans over a few degrees around the turns now, but to me that is a very aceptable tradeoff to anti-sway leveling the vehicle in corners while jarring my teeth filings out (the teeth I have left).
On a scale from a road-hugging Lamborghini to a double-decker English bus, we all chose closer to the latter. For me, removing the sway bars just put me one little step further away from the handling safety of the Lambo, something I can live with in exchange for the astronomical improvement in the ride.
Future plans: the Edelbrock IAS shocks are designed to control in two stages: controlling sway at immediate input while allowing full shock absorbsion. I believe after adding these to my vehicle it will provide me the best of all worlds and allow me to forego the antisway bars and still keep all the control I need.
For those of us who think I just traded off a few year's life expectancy on my insurance agent's actuarial tables, I'll just drive the speed limit instead of speeding like all you other guys, wear my seatbelt, and even out the odds in the end while enjoying my Explorer in comfort. Dead Link Removed
------------------
Gerald
----------
'99 EB 4x4
K&N / Drilled Airbox
Torsion Twist / Shackle Lift
AntiSway Bar... What's That?
Zaino, Wood Dash, CB, and Millenium Jack Antenna Ball Dead Link Removed
[This message has been edited by GJarrett (edited 02-02-2000).]
- Joined
- February 13, 1999
- Messages
- 7,100
- Reaction score
- 36
- Location
- Tampa, FL
- City, State
- Chief GPS'um and Still Lost Native Texan
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '99 EB 4x4 "Herc" RIP
OOPSIE.......
I see you do NOT have a late model....
Ignore everything I just said. Dead Link Removed
Oh well.
Or, try it anyway just for grins. I believe earlier models have mushier suspensions to start with so they may have much more excessive sway (if the bars are removed)than mine has.
[This message has been edited by GJarrett (edited 02-01-2000).]
I see you do NOT have a late model....
Ignore everything I just said. Dead Link Removed
Oh well.
Or, try it anyway just for grins. I believe earlier models have mushier suspensions to start with so they may have much more excessive sway (if the bars are removed)than mine has.
[This message has been edited by GJarrett (edited 02-01-2000).]
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