Snow mode rear end "sway" | Page 5 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Snow mode rear end "sway"

This is a great description of what is happening.
This is a great description of what is happening.
has anybody out there ever figured out what is causing this problem, very scared driving when roads are not totally bare, workers great when roads are fully covered with snow and ice, new a good snow tires on the vehicle, going to try when road conditions are bad to get another mechanic to take it for a ride as someone suggested,
 



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Over two weeks ago we took our explorer back to the dealer to look into this sway Issue and a random clunk when braking. Needless to say the service department didn’t find anything wrong. Their work included visual inspection of components and torquing potential hardware. Nothing was found to be loose or worn. To make a long story short. We traded it in for a new 2020 explorer.

I suspect the issue may be created by the trailer sway control or vehicle stability control features. I may be wrong, but it’s my understanding the trailer sway control applies light brake applications when it notices sway. These light applications when on ice could have been causing the rear end to loose traction. My suggestion is if you notice the rear end sway try disabling the trailer sway control.
tried that. no change, does it in all modes
 






I’ve never heard of a cause yet, but I see potential in any part of the car the controls the brakes,... sway control, curve control, stability control.
“Electronic Stability Control incorporates a range of technologies designed to give you greater control of your vehicle and help keep you safe. It constantly monitors your vehicle's progress. It senses when a vehicle is losing grip and automatically applies a braking pulse to individual wheels, stabilising it.”
This is only my suspicion. Either way I sold ours as there was no way I would expect my wife to drive it nor would I want to on slick roads.
 






I’ve never heard of a cause yet, but I see potential in any part of the car the controls the brakes,... sway control, curve control, stability control.
“Electronic Stability Control incorporates a range of technologies designed to give you greater control of your vehicle and help keep you safe. It constantly monitors your vehicle's progress. It senses when a vehicle is losing grip and automatically applies a braking pulse to individual wheels, stabilising it.”
This is only my suspension. Either way I sold ours as there was no way I would expect my wife to drive it nor would I want to on slick roads.
Thanks for the update. Got a hold of the dealer today. Since I’m not driving as much right now I going to drop it off when the road conditions are right to make it happen and leave it with them for as long as it takes. I hope if they take for enough rides it will show up. I agree with your thoughts. Some how the computer or anti sway is getting wrong information. If I can’t drive it in the winter might have to change vehicles. Love my explorer tho. My wife and her escape are awesome in Canadian winter. Cheers
 






Thanks for the update. Got a hold of the dealer today. Since I’m not driving as much right now I going to drop it off when the road conditions are right to make it happen and leave it with them for as long as it takes. I hope if they take for enough rides it will show up. I agree with your thoughts. Some how the computer or anti sway is getting wrong information. If I can’t drive it in the winter might have to change vehicles. Love my explorer tho. My wife and her escape are awesome in Canadian winter. Cheers
Good luck, let us know how it goes.
 






Hello people, Updating on repairs on my explorer, The problem I had which I put on earlier threads was when the right wheels would hit ice or snow and the left wheels where on dry payment the vehicle would want to shoot to the left, lots of body sway and had to over correct it, I live up in Canada and the weather here in the west was perfect for leaving the vehicle at the Ford dealer, was there, for 10 days, FIXED, The service manager had this problem with his focus a few years ago, he found a good alignment fellow at a local tire store that knew what to do, Ford did an alignment on my Explorer and toed in the right rear a little, left side toe is now 0.05 and the right side is 0.10 , since we're in a deep freeze I was able to to take on a very good ride to check it out, The conversation with the service manager basically was the computer was getting wrong information and was trying to correct the problem, I hope this thread would help people out there as I have seen a few with this problem,, CHEERS
 






Hello people, Updating on repairs on my explorer, The problem I had which I put on earlier threads was when the right wheels would hit ice or snow and the left wheels where on dry payment the vehicle would want to shoot to the left, lots of body sway and had to over correct it, I live up in Canada and the weather here in the west was perfect for leaving the vehicle at the Ford dealer, was there, for 10 days, FIXED, The service manager had this problem with his focus a few years ago, he found a good alignment fellow at a local tire store that knew what to do, Ford did an alignment on my Explorer and toed in the right rear a little, left side toe is now 0.05 and the right side is 0.10 , since we're in a deep freeze I was able to to take on a very good ride to check it out, The conversation with the service manager basically was the computer was getting wrong information and was trying to correct the problem, I hope this thread would help people out there as I have seen a few with this problem,, CHEERS

Good that it's fixed, but I'd like to hear the reason why the computer is getting the wrong information due to toe.
What was the toe before?

I just checked my last alignment and mine has 0.11 deg toe in left and 0.03 deg toe in right, so essentially the opposite as yours.
I've never noticed any rear end sway with my 14 Sport.
 






I'm shocked no absolute cure has been discovered for this yet! :eek:

Just throwing this out there that I also started experiencing this for the first time this winter. I've got ~54k miles on my 2015 Sport (purchased new) and I'm on my 2nd winter with tires that only have around 10k miles on them - tread is great, tire pressure always kept at around 33-35 psi cold. I've only noticed this issue when going 40 MPH+ on snowy surfaces, but I cannot recall if I was using snow mode or normal. In winter, with snowy roads, I do tend to use snow mode, so I wouldn't be surprised.

I have never noticed this on dry pavement nor wet pavement, just snowy pavement.

I've had the toe link replacement done some time back and just had the new sway bar recall checked out (which checked out fine). I've got brand new brakes with maybe 3k miles on them.

Per my recent thread, I do have it noted from the dealer that my rear upper control arm bushings need to be replaced, but I'm not giving them $660 to do that... so I'm trying to figure out if I can replace just the bushing or if I need a new control arm. I'm not 100% certain that this will cure my issue, but this is the only thing on the rear end that is noted as having troubles.

I don't expect much more snow this season, so I probably won't know if it is cured until next season. I'm honestly only planning on keeping this vehicle for 1 more year.

I usually have no problem driving in the snow, but this winter has been white-knuckle city thanks to this whacky problem! :laugh:
 






Are the tires you mentioned dedicated winter tires? If not, that could be part of the problem since the rubber on so-called all-seasons gets very stiff in colder temps. I've run winter tires on all my vehicles and have never experienced the issue described here. BTW, I rarely use 'Snow' mode.

Peter
 






Are the tires you mentioned dedicated winter tires? If not, that could be part of the problem since the rubber on so-called all-seasons gets very stiff in colder temps. I've run winter tires on all my vehicles and have never experienced the issue described here. BTW, I rarely use 'Snow' mode.

Peter
Hey Peter! Been driving for 22 years and this is the first winter season and first time with all-season tires that I've felt this. I've had 3 different brands of all-season tires on this vehicle in the 6+ years I've been driving it, and never felt this behavior before. That said, I'm 100% confident that it is not the tires.
 






Hello people, Updating on repairs on my explorer, The problem I had which I put on earlier threads was when the right wheels would hit ice or snow and the left wheels where on dry payment the vehicle would want to shoot to the left, lots of body sway and had to over correct it, I live up in Canada and the weather here in the west was perfect for leaving the vehicle at the Ford dealer, was there, for 10 days, FIXED, The service manager had this problem with his focus a few years ago, he found a good alignment fellow at a local tire store that knew what to do, Ford did an alignment on my Explorer and toed in the right rear a little, left side toe is now 0.05 and the right side is 0.10 , since we're in a deep freeze I was able to to take on a very good ride to check it out, The conversation with the service manager basically was the computer was getting wrong information and was trying to correct the problem, I hope this thread would help people out there as I have seen a few with this problem,, CHEERS
Thank you for this information, I have a used 2017 Ford Explorer that is doing this. I am not even sure how to explain it to my mechanic except that the vehicle feels like it's floating back and forth, not stable at all and feels extremely unsafe. My tires are good also, it's definitely not the tires. I am going to ask them to check the alignment and give them this info that you stated here. Is there anything else that you would suggest that I say to them? I drive in Canada also and need this fixed asap.
 






Thank you for this information, I have a used 2017 Ford Explorer that is doing this. I am not even sure how to explain it to my mechanic except that the vehicle feels like it's floating back and forth, not stable at all and feels extremely unsafe. My tires are good also, it's definitely not the tires. I am going to ask them to check the alignment and give them this info that you stated here. Is there anything else that you would suggest that I say to them? I drive in Canada also and need this fixed asap.
Welcome to the Forum Lisa. :wave:
Are you noticing this one dry pavement? Being where you are, I'm guessing that the temperatures are fairly cold these days. I'm also guessing that you are using so-called All-Season tires. If so, they begin to lose grip at 7 C. While that may not be the issue, a good set of dedicated winter tires is a must IMO. An alignment check is a good place to start. Good luck.

Peter
 






Welcome to the Forum Lisa. :wave:
Are you noticing this one dry pavement? Being where you are, I'm guessing that the temperatures are fairly cold these days. I'm also guessing that you are using so-called All-Season tires. If so, they begin to lose grip at 7 C. While that may not be the issue, a good set of dedicated winter tires is a must IMO. An alignment check is a good place to start. Good luck.

Peter
We had traded the explorer right back to the dealer we had that was doing this because it just wasn’t safe to drive.

I have forgotten most of the details, but,. Maybe six months ago we received a letter about a class action lawsuit related to a seized up sway bar(Or something in the rear end) linkage causing a similar issue.

We don’t have the letter anymore since we don’t own the vehicle.
 






Thank you for this information, I have a used 2017 Ford Explorer that is doing this. I am not even sure how to explain it to my mechanic except that the vehicle feels like it's floating back and forth, not stable at all and feels extremely unsafe. My tires are good also, it's definitely not the tires. I am going to ask them to check the alignment and give them this info that you stated here. Is there anything else that you would suggest that I say to them? I drive in Canada also and need this fixed asap.
I haven't figured out a fix to mine yet, either. Let me know what you figure out! We had 2-3 inches of snow last weekend and it was still a bit squirrely for me, too. Absolutely not the tires, as well.
 






Welcome to the Forum Lisa. :wave:
Are you noticing this one dry pavement? Being where you are, I'm guessing that the temperatures are fairly cold these days. I'm also guessing that you are using so-called All-Season tires. If so, they begin to lose grip at 7 C. While that may not be the issue, a good set of dedicated winter tires is a must IMO. An alignment check is a good place to start. Good luck.

Peter
Thank you for your quick reply. My first thought was automatically tires like you and several others on here. Yes I do live in Canada and yes I am driving with all season tires, which I have done all my driving life in all kinds of seasons... giving away my age here, but that would be for the last 28 years. Yes, winter tires are better, but this isn't a tire feel to it. I can turn a slippery corner with these same tires with no sliding or issues, I can also stop very well and quick on the icy and snow covered roads with these same tires... this leads me to believe it's not the tires, I would be sliding all the time if it was. This wavering only seems to occur when on a snowy road so it is slippery, while I am going faster than 50 km/h and gets worse the faster I go. It feels almost like the truck is floating and wavering back and forth. I did have this in for an inspection for the 20S62 - Safety Recall - Toe Link Ball Joint recently. I'm not a mechanic... would this recall cause something like this? It did seem to happen since it's been in. However, the weather also turned after it was in at the dealership. I have an appointment with my mechanic on Tuesday. Will go over all the info and hopefully get it solved. It's the strangest thing. I also have another 2011 Ford Explorer... and this doesn't happen with it. The one I'm having issues (2017) with is my work vehicle, the other is my personal vehicle (2011).
 






I hope this helps. I’ve done a couple of posts about the same thing Finally found a service manager that seen this before on a Focus. Did the alignment with the right rear toed in a little. I’m thinking that the new recall might fix it. When I find my specs for the alignment I’ll post it. Driving good in the snow now
 






I hope this helps. I’ve done a couple of posts about the same thing Finally found a service manager that seen this before on a Focus. Did the alignment with the right rear toed in a little. I’m thinking that the new recall might fix it. When I find my specs for the alignment I’ll post it. Driving good in the snow now
Thanks John!

I am sure I had an alignment a 2nd time since getting my current set of tires. I always do one the day I get new tires, then a recall that was performed also called for an alignment... so maybe they botched something that was actually set right. Never had this issue the first winter I had this set of tires, nor any set of tires.

I'm not sure how much I want to stick into my 2015 Explorer, as I'm hoping to get into a 2023 ST (provided it has the new infotainment system), but I do know I will eventually need new bushings on the rear upper control arms... which means an alignment is needed. Problem with that is, Ford and a small shop have quoted me about $500 (alignment inclusive), and I don't think I want to bother with that. Was told they're a 4/5 out of 10, so not something I need to rush and do.
 






Thanks John!

I am sure I had an alignment a 2nd time since getting my current set of tires. I always do one the day I get new tires, then a recall that was performed also called for an alignment... so maybe they botched something that was actually set right. Never had this issue the first winter I had this set of tires, nor any set of tires.

I'm not sure how much I want to stick into my 2015 Explorer, as I'm hoping to get into a 2023 ST (provided it has the new infotainment system), but I do know I will eventually need new bushings on the rear upper control arms... which means an alignment is needed. Problem with that is, Ford and a small shop have quoted me about $500 (alignment inclusive), and I don't think I want to bother with that. Was told they're a 4/5 out of 10, so not something I need to rush and do.
I posted my alignment specs in an earlier post
 






Mine feels the opposite. If the roads are covered in snow and you leave it in normal mode idk how to describe it other than it feeling like a big fwd. Snow mode it drives fine. Was told everything was operating as it should.

I will say even with snow mode my '15 XLT definitely doesn't feel as stable as my '07 Limited did in the ice and snow. Maybe I was just alot more used to the old explorer in the bad weather
 



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I've driven my 2011 LImited, 2014 MKT, 2017 Platinum and currently my 2020 Aviator in winter conditions without any of the above described issues. Have used dedicated winter tires on all of them. Probably I've used Normal mode 90-95% of the time.

Peter
 






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