Sandbox2.000 Suspension Build

[97Sandbox]

Just talked to the folks at Strange Engineering (super helpful crew there and they're just in Illinois so everything ships to me fast in Wisconsin) and they confirmed 10" springs are a good option to help me get the ride height I'm looking for. They said lighter 12" springs would be another way to do it, but I have 2.5-3" of threads left to crank down the collar on my shock, so the 10" spring should work fine for me. Just ordered a pair of 550 lb springs and another spanner wrench so I can really get the locknuts secured.

In the meantime, I'll go ahead and start tearing apart the passenger's side and get ready to do it all over again!

PS: anyone need some 12" 600lb springs? haha They'd be perfect on a truck with a modest lift.

 

[CDW6212R]

Thanks for the spring height and rate test, finding the best spring is tough without trial and error, or others doing it first.

My front end links I made up were a combination of three end link kits, the Addco junk, one ES kit, and another that I had as spare, I forgot the brand. I didn't worry much about that length, I changed everything and didn't have any idea what the final best adjustments would be.

Here are three of the pictures of my 2007 suspension job, the Addco frame brackets you can see were terrible. My end links look close to stock, but they are slightly shorter, the last picture shows about 1.5" of clearance, tires on the ground. I obviously didn't drive it that way until I replaced those frame brackets. I though I had a picture of those, I guess I don't on my PC.

 

[Turdle]

Just talked to the folks at Strange Engineering (super helpful crew there and they're just in Illinois so everything ships to me fast in Wisconsin) and they confirmed 10" springs are a good option to help me get the ride height I'm looking for. They said lighter 12" springs would be another way to do it, but I have 2.5-3" of threads left to crank down the collar on my shock, so the 10" spring should work fine for me. Just ordered a pair of 550 lb springs and another spanner wrench so I can really get the locknuts secured.

In the meantime, I'll go ahead and start tearing apart the passenger's side and get ready to do it all over again!

PS: anyone need some 12" 600lb springs? haha They'd be perfect on a truck with a modest lift.

I seem to remember suggesting 12" springs to you. I assumed you had 12" shocks. You should not have needed a spring compressor. I should have jumped in to double check .
Sorry about that.

 

[97Sandbox]

I seem to remember suggesting 12" springs to you. I assumed you had 12" shocks. You should not have needed a spring compressor. I should have jumped in to double check .
Sorry about that.

It's no one's fault really. I bought these shocks over a year ago and the 12" springs came with them. I didn't know any better and I just asked the guy I got my conversion kit from if they were right and he said yeah. At stock~ish height I do think they'd be fine.

Knowing what I know now, I'd get the QA1 shocks that others have had success with, but hindsight is 20/20. I'm determined to make these sweet dual adjustable shocks work.

 

[97Sandbox]

As promised, here's my LCA bushing removal "how to:"

1. Use a pick to work lube around sleeves. Work the lube in all the way around on both ends. As you go, the pick will be able to slide in easier and further. You'll hear and feel the rubber separating from the sleeve.

2. With lube worked in, press out the sleeves. I used the shop press for this part.

3. Repeat process around bushings in shells.

This is harder on the outer sides due to the flange. Don't push the pick too hard, just keep it between the bushing and shell (don't stab it into the bushing) and work the lube in methodically.

4. Once you can slide the pick in easily all the way around the bushings, set up your ball joint press like so:

There's a washer against the face of the bushing. The domed ones that go on the top of front shocks work great.

5. Start cranking. It shouldn't take much and the bushing will pop out.

There you have it! Took me about 20 min to do one LCA (two bushings) with this technique -- including stopping to take pictures. No torch necessary

I recommend wire brushing the inside of the shells to remove any residual rubber or corrosion, then you're good-to-go installing new bushings -- those can just press in from the outer sides using a shop press.

 

[97Sandbox]

10" springs came yesterday! 2" front drop achieved:

Only issue is the collar still has to be cranked up a ways and then there's no compression on the spring at full extension -- helper springs to the rescue! Helper springs and spring dividers should be arriving early next week along with more limit strap hardware. Until then, I'll just continue work on the passenger's side.

I also measured where the rear is sitting now that the front is low. It looks like my 3" blocks will have the truck sitting just about level.

 

[410Fortune]

that looks much better!!

So you are adding tender coils to keep tension on the main coils, cool!!
learn by doing

 

[97Sandbox]

So you are adding tender coils to keep tension on the main coils, cool!!
learn by doing

That was the idea, but it isn't going to work in my case. The divider ID is too narrow to clear the threads on the shock when I assemble with the helper spring on the adjustable side. Then the long side of the divider isn't long enough to stay over the unthreaded side of the shock at full extension with the springs oriented the other way.

At this point, I'm out of ideas to make the shocks I have work, so I ordered a new set of shocks with the shorter length I probably needed from the start -- at least I already have the 10" springs. Limit straps will definitely be critical with these shorter shocks because they have less than 4" of travel.

 

[97Sandbox]

It's been a week, I'm still waiting on the new shocks. Mostly I've been working on a bathroom remodel (working-on-the-house time earns me more working-on-the-Explorer time in the long run -- the married men will understand), but I did tear apart a new upper control arm to replace the rubber bushings with the poly ones from the Energy Suspension kit (separate writeup here). If I get bored enough. I may do the other UCA this week, but there's not much else I can do until the shocks come in.

 

[Turdle]

Oh, oh yeah you just do up that bathroom with all you got. Let her pick all the details. She'll let you be you once it's done. Heck, I bet you can get at least a month out of that one. If she has a lot of friends even longer. You hero you. Good call man

 

[97Sandbox]

Hoping to make some big moves this weekend!

I have my new shocks assembled and ready to install. Once they're on, I'll be reassembling everything else, setting the front ride height, and giving the truck a rough alignment so I can make it to my trusted local auto shop for a real alignment next week.

If time allows, I'd like to get the lowering blocks installed and maybe the traction bars (from a V8 Ex) too. I'm curious to see if the traction bars even fit once the lowering blocks are in, or if raising the axle throws off the geometry too much.

 

[97Sandbox]

For the first time in a month, the Sport it sitting on four tires and zero jackstands! Currently both coilovers are at minimum preload and it definitely needs to come up a bit.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll get the front ride height dialed in a bit more, then start on the lowering blocks install to level it out.

 

[CDW6212R]

Very good.

Set the front ride height by measuring from the ground up to the LCA mounting bolts at the front of the frame. When at the alignment shop, tell them to fine tune that equally on their equipment. That will provide equal handling left to right, going by the fenders will **** the suspension(preload one side more than the other). Mine was around 8.5"-9.0" on my Mountaineer when first lowered(29" 255/60/17 tires, the Cobra wheels).

 

[97Sandbox]

Dang, that's a good idea! I was measuring both the fenders to see how much lower each side was sitting and also trying to get both shocks within their recommended ride height spec range. I'll double check where it's all sitting by measuring to the LCA bolts, but I didn't measure them before so I won't use for a reference of how far I lowered it.

I have 3" blocks which I will have milled down to whatever I end up lowering the front by. So far 2 1/4" - 2 3/8" is looking pretty ideal. I seem to recall the old X-spec kit came with 2 3/8" blocks... must've been something to it!

 

[97Sandbox]

Measuring to the bottom of the LCA bolts, it's currently sitting at 7 1/2" - 7 3/4" -- I think I can still even up the two sides better with a little more messing around.

Previously, I was making all my ride height adjustments with the front swaybar disconnected. After reinstalling the links and going for a drive, the front end settled at right about 2" lower than stock. I actually like the 2" drop more than the 3" drop based on overall look (not to mention upper ball joint angles), so I went ahead and bought another lowering block kit for a 2" drop. That way, I don't have to hack up my 3" kit, I might try to resell them.

On my couple brief drives today, I did notice two new issues that have been popped up:
1. There's a new rhythmic thumping that seems to follow along with wheel RPM. It's a pretty muted thumping and I haven't figured out yet if it's coming from front or rear. No sign of the front wheels rubbing on any suspension components. I'll have to keep poking around.

2. ABS kicks in just before the truck comes to a stop. It still slows fine under moderate/hard braking, it's just the last little bit when I start easing off the pedal that ABS comes on. No check ABS light illuminated on dash. I installed new sensors when I assembled the '01 Sport spindles and I checked to make sure the tone rings on the new rotors aren't rubbing on anything -- everything looks okay. Anyone deal with an issue like this before? I'm stumped and not sure where to move forward in diagnosing the issue.

 

[DintDobbs]

@97Sandbox In fact, I have heard of this issue of the ABS kicking in just before full stop before. Give me some time to poke around the forum a bit, I just ran across this issue in a thread I was reading a few weeks ago.

Post #9 in this thread

ABS kicks on right before i stop

my x is a 1993 E.B. 2wd. when i'm driving and hit my brakes the truck slows down fine but right before the truck stops the ABS kicks on. It's like 1 second before the truck stops.....it seems like the truck thinks i'm going 60mph and my brakes are about to lock, when i am really stopping at a...

www.explorerforum.com

And this small thread

96 Ford Explorer Front Wheel Hub Replaced...now ABS hits at soft stops.

Want to start my first thread by saying this forum & community is awesome. I have saved thousands of dollars rummaging through posts & doing the work myself because of this community. So here is my issue: I recently replaced my front wheel hub/bearings & had to reuse my old ABS sensor as...

www.explorerforum.com

Posts #1 and #7 in this thread (model year is not given for Explorer in question, thread is dated 2005)

Wierd ABS/Drivetrain Issue...

Recently, the X has been acting wierd after a lot of stop and go driving. For some reason the ABS keeps kicking in just before i come to a complete stop. Sometimes it happens when i hit a small bump in the road - i'll hear what sounds like a driveline "thump/clunk" and then the pedal will get...

www.explorerforum.com

Post #1 and #19

As I come to a complete stop, feels like ABS kicks in?

Brakes work fine for the most part, still have good amount of material left on the pads, no leaks (at least not that I can see). But every time I come to a stop, as soon as I get down to like 5mph, if feels and sounds like the ABS kicks in. It makes that noise and the pedal pulses. Brakes are...

www.explorerforum.com

I'll grant you, the first thread discusses a 1st-gen, but this issue has been seen in several 2nd-gens. The third thread also discusses a thump, could possibly be related to your thump. There are many threads that turn up on a search, but generally, it comes down to a fault in sensing the wheel speed. Improper sensor positioning, damaged wiring, damaged speed sensor, blown fuse... Gives me a few ideas for solving my disabled ControlTrac TOD, your problem might have helped me fix my problem.

An ABS code doesn't mean a constant ABS light, so ASAP, go to a parts store (such as O'Reilly, they usually have great scanners) and pull your ABS codes. That should give you an idea of where to look for issues.

 

[97Sandbox]

Thanks for digging all that up for me, @DintDobbs!

Lots of info in those threads and in the ones linked in them.

I do have a scan tool that reads ABS codes, so I'll have to check tonight if there are any pending deficiency codes that might point me to one sensor or the other. I'll also clean the connectors just for good measure.

Other interesting things to note; the sensors I bought are listed for a 2000 Sport RWD (the vehicle I have) while my rotors are for a 2001 Sport RWD to match my new spindles. Looking on RockAuto, there is only one part number for '00 front ABS sensors, but two for the '01. The '01 front left is the same part number as the '00 sensors, but the front right is different. I'm guessing the L/R designation just has to do with the direction of the L bracket that bolts to the spindle -- seems silly to think each rotor would have a different tone ring design.

I still have my old sensors, but they're frozen in the old spindles. I should at least be able to take some measurements to see how the sensors differ and check whether there's an air gap issue. Part of me is wondering if maybe I pressed the tone rings too far when I reinstalled them after putting in the extended studs. I see more hub disassembly/reassembly in my future...

 

[97Sandbox]

Did some more thinking/research over my lunch hour.

Both the 2000 and 2001 RWD front rotors have 54 tooth tone rings, so I'm doubting there's a sensor/ring compatibility issue. If anything, I'm betting that I just drove the tone rings too far onto the backs of the hubs and now the air gap is too big. Easy enough to measure my old rotors to compare -- should have done that before I assembled everything!

As for the thumping, I think my next step is going to be getting the rear up on jackstands and running the truck in gear -- hopefully that'll narrow down whether the thumping is coming from the front or rear.

 

[97Sandbox]

Didn't get to turn any wrenches tonight, but plugged in my scan tool:

Seems unlikely that I got two bad sensors or had two connectors that previously worked fine get dirty while sitting indoors. Time to pull those hubs apart again!

 

[CDW6212R]

ABS issues are usually from a speed sensor or wiring connection, but fluid quality is also big for ABS function. You seem to have that solved to the sensors, those generally don't fail but do get dirty(they are magnetic). But if the brake fluid isn't fresh, any symptom like that is a good hint to flush some new fluid through it.