Towing rear sag ?

[dlb]

I have a 94 4 door Explorer and was looking for some advice on the rear springs. It sags a little now (not much) however when I put a trailer on it sags pretty good. I've tried the checker auto half spring thing (junk). Would air shocks or a different spring be better ? I don't mind if it sits up a little when no trailer attached just don't want to look like a stink bug. Any and all opioions appreciated.

 

[Alec]

There are 3 add-on options that I can think of offhand other than adding totally new springs or just another leaf.

1) Air shocks that you can pump up before you tow
2) Roadmaster Active Suspension ( www.activesuspension.com ? )
3) Hellwig helper springs

All 3 of these are made to help the spring deal with the additional load without affecting ride too much or the static height of the spring.

 

[jnsnwt]

What about taking the OEM springs to a spring shop and have them re-arched back to factory specs ?

Wouldn't that give you the correct height and ride quality

 

[Alec]

The only thing about that is they may re-sag to stock again. If you're gonna do that it's better to get new leaves or an add-a-leaf kit.

 

[dlb]

Appreciate the ideas. In your opioion what would be the best ? Does add a leaf raise the vechicle alot ? Driving around town it's not bad, just when I add the trailer is were it gets it's worse.

Thanks Again,

 

[Alec]

In my opinion your best option is the airride system from Explorer Express, www.explorerexpress.com . These actually add as an additional suspension system and can easily be tuned for your needs.

Other than that the Hellwig helper springs.

The addaleaf probably isn't your best option because it may only be a bandaid, not permanent cure. It also lifts, 1-2.5" depending on the kit; but you may have your springs re-sag over time.

 

[Bill Kemp]

I havent done it on an X but I had an Olds that I put air adjustable shocks on for towing. They worked great.
There when you need them and soft when you dont. Not too bad a price if I rememder.

 

[Aussie_jase]

Rear air bags.

DLB,
Im from australia and over here , we have a company called "POLYAIR". They make a suspension aid which incorporates superstrong urethane air bags which goes between the spring and the chassis rail of the car. They inflate as high as 30psi and support around 1 ton of weight. In a coil spring application they go inside the original springs of the vehichle, in a leaf spring application , as my ex is , they come with a small coil spring to go around the bag and they bolt onto the chassis rail and the leaf itself. you can check them out at www.polyair.com.au. Was letting you know coz maybe you could order some off them and have em shipped to you. I had a similar problem with a saggy rear on my ex and they fixed it without getting anything done to the springs. They actually make the car sit level front to back , instead of the trademark "saggy rear" the explorers seem to have. If you would like photos of them on my ex , just send your e-mail address to me and i can mail the pics to you, that goes for anyone else to my address is jasons@idl.net.au

 

[matey]

mine has an automatic leveler
nice to see another aussie here though

 

[JOHN V.]

The Air Ride system works great. We have sold and installed many of these. It also has an optional controller kit that allows you to adjust the ride height from the cabin.

Air Ride 91-94 AX59506...............$194.95
95-01 AX59514...............$194.95

Air Lift Controller Kit AX25592......$121.95

I have been hearing a lot of interest in this kind of kit lately. Do I hear a group buy coming?

John V @ EE

 

[JOHN V.]

Here is a picture.

 

[expo5.0]

i might be in for a group buy.

 

[JOHN V.]

By the way, we have done this successfully on lowered gen 2 Explorers. Let's see if we can get more interest for a group buy.

John V @ EE

 

[2000EB4x4inGA]

Does it do the same sort of thing as shackles to the back end looking like it is lower than the front? Hows it controlled if not from the cabin?

 

[dlb]

OK. I'm leaning towards the air ride system. A few more questions, do I need to drill all those holes ???? Let's do a group buy, I'm in. Or a forum discount for a single buy.

 

[BigDave]

Another, cheaper, thing to look at is to make sure that the toungue weight of your trailer is not too much...

If you balance the trailer correctly there should only be a couple of hundred pounds on the rear of the truck...and if you can avoid it, don't load up the truck and tow with a heavy tongue weight.

Just my .02...

Dave

 

[expo5.0]

so what your saying John is that my plan of adding this to my lowered explorer would work... i've been thinking about doing it for quite a while, but i'm too busy with my stereo. if your going to do a group buy you'll have to sell it for under 275- i'm pretty sure thats what i priced it out to last month "elsewhere"

btw- i do tons of towing of a 20 foot jet boat.

 

[wpurple]

You could trying going with Monroe Sensa-trak load handler shocks for the rear, I am using them on mine, they have a stiff spring on the outside of the shock housing that limits rear sag. Depending on the weight of your trailer and tongue weight you might want a weight distrubution hitch setup. Takes the weight off the rear wheels and distributes it equally to all 4.

Kurt

 

[dlb]

Originally posted by expo5.0
so what your saying John is that my plan of adding this to my lowered explorer would work... i've been thinking about doing it for quite a while, but i'm too busy with my stereo. if your going to do a group buy you'll have to sell it for under 275- i'm pretty sure thats what i priced it out to last month "elsewhere"

btw- i do tons of towing of a 20 foot jet boat.

Where did you find the setup for 275.00 ?? Was the cabin adjust included ?

 

[Bill H]

Towing and air shocks

Thing is about shocks is that they're designed and mounted to be dampers,not load load bearing.It's very possible to tear off shock mountings when they are used to do the job of springs. Springs do get old and sag,best to replace saggy springs. Hope that helps Bill