stock suspension help

[BauerMods]

It's funny that I have never seen the Roadmaster active suspension mentioned anywhere in this forum, especially since it's probably the best suspension upgrade you can buy for an Explorer.

While searching for a suspension upgrade on the internet I stumbled upon the Roadmaster Active Suspension, and after some research and many questions posed to Roadmaster I decided to buy and install the product myself. I just recently finished the installation of the Active Suspension on my 2001 Eddie Bauer, and the difference in the suspension is like night and day. The body roll in almost completely gone, and it now handles great around corners and curves. It really does handle like a car now, and I've always hated how my Explorer handles.

The other benefit, which is the main reason I installed it, is that it will increase your load capacity handling by 50%. I just bought a camper and needed a suspension upgrade that would help to better handle the heavy tongue weight I would have with my camper and four bikes on a bike rack, which is about 430 lbs.

Check out the website at www.activesuspension.com and you'll see that this upgrade will do everything that an Add-A-Leaf will do, and a whole lot more.

 

[Lt.Jim]

Is it possible that my leaf springs are shot, or what? I would also like to know what "TT" is that I keep seeing on some of the suspension forums. Also, just wondering if there is a place to measure and get the proper ride height of an explorer or just to "eyeball" it?

It is possible that your leafs are sagging. An aal or shackles will help. A TT is short for Torsion Twist. If you put torsion twist into the search feature you can find a write up on it.

 

[BauerMods]

The Roadmaster Active Suspension will also return and maintain the leaf springs back to their proper position.

 

['97 V8]

ummm its great your advertising this product but we are taking about add a leafs....off road capabilities and reducing sag...it aint exactly the same as an aal for the roadmaster.

 

[Larry2010]

A local suspention shop added a leaf to both sides. It fixed the read end sag that is common with the Sports. It cost me about $300 to have it done. Well worth it in my book. My X rides much better and looks better too.

I can't find the article right now, but basically it says that, because the mono leafs are tappered in both dimensions ( they're wide in the middle and the ends are narrower plus they're thicker in the middle and thinner at the ends ) the AALs tend to put a major stress out near the end of the spring where it's the narrowest and thinnest instead of distributed across the whole spring. The aal works and cures the butt sag ... until the spring breaks for extra stress.

 

[wee]

I ordered a set of the carrier springs, stock height plus 2". 371$ shipped. I think it is well worth the money, anything else will just be a temporary fix. Start fresh.

 

[badgett]

TT is torsion twist. It's a free way to raise the front of your 2nd gen X. Search for (TT). There is a thread that explains it with pictures to make the adjusting bolts easy to locate. Look under useful threads. It may be there.

 

[BauerMods]

[QUOTE='97 V8]ummm its great your advertising this product but we are taking about add a leafs....off road capabilities and reducing sag...it aint exactly the same as an aal for the roadmaster.[/QUOTE]

You should really do your homework before you make a feeble attempt to critique a product that you obviously know nothing about. Everything you mentioned above is fixed by the Roadmaster Active Suspension. You may want to refer back to the original posting, which asked how to to address leaf spring sagging issues on stock suspension.
Active Suspension will most certainly resolve that issue.

I have the activesuspension installed on my 2001 Explorer right now, so I am speaking from personal experience. The body roll issue is gone, load handling capabilities are increased by 50% (including tongue weight), leaf spring sag is cured (leaf springs are returned to the proper arch), axle wrap and wheel hop issues are fixed, stability and handling is better, better towing performance, etc. My Explorer handles so much better now, it's just unbelievable what the difference is. The other good thing about this product is the you do not get a harsher ride once it is installed.

My point is that the activesuspension by Roadmaster will do everything that the aal will do plus a lot more. I bought a pair of the activesuspension on Summit.com for $189.

By the way I have no problem, as you say, "advertising" for this company, or any company that has a great product that I support. They have great customer service as well, so call them up and ask all the quesions you want to. I certainly will not gain anything from supporting them other than the satisfaction that I passed the word on to other Explorer owners that I know can benefit from this product.

Check it out here.
http://www.activesuspension.com

 

[jp450]

I can't find the article right now, but basically it says that, because the mono leafs are tappered in both dimensions ( they're wide in the middle and the ends are narrower plus they're thicker in the middle and thinner at the ends ) the AALs tend to put a major stress out near the end of the spring where it's the narrowest and thinnest instead of distributed across the whole spring. The aal works and cures the butt sag ... until the spring breaks for extra stress.

I have put well over 100K miles on the truck since i have added the springs and have not had a problem yet.

 

[Doubt Incarnate]

load handling capabilities are increased by 50% (including tongue weight),

so this did something to your frame to allow it to be stronger for a 50% increased tounge weight? and be able to pull 50% more? im sorry, those are pretty much an add a leaf, but in coil form, and really it looks more like a tractionbar to keep the wrap from happening, but i dont see how it supports.
an add a leaf does the same stuff, its all the fact that your adding stiffness.

ive always associated the word "active" with some kind of electronic brain box to detect/sense/ changes and such and respond with the apropriate braking or something. the way they use "active" makes all suspensions "active".

im sure its a good product, and for the mono leaf design it looks like the way to go. but "active" is best left to be used to describe things cooler, like "active" stability system...

 

[BauerMods]

When I said "load handling capabilities" I meant the amount of weight the vehicle is rated to carry as cargo. I believe that would be called the payload of the vehicle. If a truck is rated at 1/4 ton then the active suspension would increase that number to 750 lbs. The active suspension would definitely not increase how much weight it can pull, like pulling a camper. The maximum trailer weight rating would always be determined by the specs given by Ford.

Also, just to clarify on the tongue weight rating that I mentioned of 50% increase. This is true, but it would be limited by the rating of the vehicle and the hitch being used. My explorer is rated at 500 lbs. max tongue weight and my Class III hitch is as well. So if the active suspension increases the tongue weight capacity to 750 lbs. then it's a moot point since I cannot exceed the limitations of the vehicle and/or the hitch.

The advantage of the increased tongue weight capacity for me is that I now have a much less drop in the back end when I connect my camper with four bikes on a hitch bike rack, which equals 435 lbs. of tongue weight. By having the activesuspension I have no need to add a weight distributing system now because my back end drop is minimal. A weight distributing system would have cost me $300.

To give you an idea of the before and after. Before activesuspension with camper and bikes hitched, measuring at the axle from the ground to the fender, my back end dropped 3.25 inches. With activesuspension installed the back end raises 3/4" from stock with nothing hitched on the back. Once I hooked up the camper and bikes the fender measurement dropped only 1 inch, which in essence is a 1/4" drop from where it sat at stock height.

The "active" part of active suspension, I believe comes from the way it assists in absorbing load. Basically the active suspension coil will absorb 50% of the load, and 25% will go the leaf springs, and the other 25% goes to the shocks.

The first thing that was immediately most noticable for me after installing activesuspension was how drastically the body roll was reduced. My Explorer had horrible body roll that rocked back and forth like a boat when hitting uneven surfaces, like backing out of my driveway and turning into the street. This roll is almost completely gone. The next advantage for me was the better handling around corners, and reduced harshness when hitting bumps. Lastly, it stiffened up the back considerably, increased payload capability, thus reducing the sag when hooking up my camper with bikes on a hitch bike rack.

I think we've beat this one pretty much into the ground now. I'm recommending this product for people who may be trying to accomplish similiar things that I was trying to accomplish with my Explorer. As I mentioned before I have not run across any feedback in this forum about Roadmaster Active Suspension, so I wanted to add my personal experience with it in order to give people other possible alternatives to solve typical Explorer suspension issues.

 

[Doubt Incarnate]

i'm suprized an '01 eddie would have such a roll problem, is yours a v8? my 99 is just the 6banger and i think its pretty sporty with the stock suspension. i'm not knocking anything since ive not tried anything yet, but when things are "revolutionary" it seems like a gimmic.