scary handling??

[Birdman1]

I just recently bought a '94 explorer. My problem is, it is squirrly as hell if you turn it fairly quickly. Like even changing lanes on the freeway.
I put james Duff shocks on it, poly radius arm bushings, and poly in both sway bars. I also put 31-10.50s on it on 8" wheels. No lift however.
I did all this right when I bought it, so I don't have any "before" experience with it.

I'm wondering if,

1. I made it react too quick with the poly swaybar stuff.
2. would upping the tire pressures help, or make it worse, I think I have them at 40 now, tires say 50 max.
3. are these shocks allowing it to be mushy?

I've had a few different trucks way taller than this thing, and they never acted this scary.

 

[sn0border88]

check your axle pivot bolts and bushing. Mine was loose and when I tightened it it solved my death wobble problem.

 

[DeRocha]

My death wobble was due to a worn stearing gear... Low speed driving was ok, but the handling became worse with speed. Driving on the highway at 65mph was a constant battle whereby I needed to make contant steering corrections to keep the vehicle in my only lane. Before changing the steering gear I installed new ball joints, tie rods ends, sway bar bushings (front & rear) axle pivot & radius arm bushings and had it aligned. The death wobble improved about 20-30% but was completely cured once the steering gear was replaced.

 

[Jason94sport]

On a non lifted X it should never feel the way you describe. Something is not right in that front end.

 

[BMXunleashed]

my truck has no sway bars at all....i like how it drives around the city....but even on the highway at 70mph its pretty solid, it gets scary if someone cuts you off (los angeles traffic....constant battle) but its scary in any SUV thats out there......


very top heavy...ya know?

sounds like something might be loose....mine handles like a champ

 

[Sterling]

U-joints were my problem, cheap parts but costly repair. Also, re-check the tire balance.

 

[Birdman1]

ok, I'm ordering axle pivot bushings today.

this truck has only 84,000 miles, so it runs like a champ, but it was a wisconsin truck for a lot of it's life, and everything underneath is rusty, rotted, etc.

does anybody have any experience with these jamesduff shocks on the street, thats what I was half wondering, if the 70/30 ratio is letting the truck act weird?

 

[Creager]

if you are ordering axle piviot bushings, you might aswell replace all the pushings... radius arms, sway bar, tie rod boots. I think you need to look into tie-rod ends and balljoints, as they are likley the culprit. You can check by having someone turn the steering wheel back and forth 'within the slop,' if you know what i mean. This way you can see where the slack is comming from.

 

[Birdman1]

I already put polyurethane in the radius arms and sway bars, they were obviously trashed when I bought it.

 

[Birdman1]

and its really not a slop issue, or wandering, or anything like that.

It drives very nice in general, but if you twitch the wheel, or change lanes a tad too quick, it does this weird "react too quick/body roll thing, like it could get away from you easy if you don't watch it" type thing

thats why i keep asking about these 70/30 shocks, but no one is answering that part.

 

[talincolnlsc]

i would say its probally your shocks.90/10 and 70/30 kind of work like a bad shock(70/30 being the better of the 2)but there isnt much resistence on them. on a drag car they are used to transfer weight better so what you describes would make sence. i used 70/30 shocks in a street strip car and it acted just like you described but probally more severe on an suv. are your sway bars hooked up? that could also cause the problem. im just getting into the 4x4 stuff but a shock is a shock.

 

[Birdman1]

i would say its probally your shocks.90/10 and 70/30 kind of work like a bad shock(70/30 being the better of the 2)but there isnt much resistence on them. on a drag car they are used to transfer weight better so what you describes would make sence. i used 70/30 shocks in a street strip car and it acted just like you described but probally more severe on an suv. are your sway bars hooked up? that could also cause the problem. im just getting into the 4x4 stuff but a shock is a shock.

yes, sway bars have new poly bushings. I'm really wondering about the shocks, they are supposed to be excellent offroad shocks, and the vendor swore they would be good on the street also, they claimed that even though they are 70/30, each side would offset the other, to create solid handling.

I'm about ready to go buy a set of Ranchos for it though.

anybody want to buy a close to new set of James Duff shocks?

 

[sn0border88]

Its not the shocks, it would be almost impossible for it to be the shocks. Specially if they are new JD shocks, thats high quality stuff which is designed entirley for explorers/rangers/b2.

Did you check the piviot bolts and bushing yet?