Uneven Stance - Stumped!!!???

[ExplorerBus I]

Purchased my '96 XLT last month with the infamous Explorer lean. So, I replaced the rear leafs, U-bolts, bolts, nuts, etc, and added WAR153 shackles. The thing still sits lopsided. Measurements from ground to top of wheelwell are the following:

LF 32 3/16" RF 33 3/8" 1 3/16" difference in the front!
LR 32 1/4" RR 33 15/16" 1 11/16" difference in the back!

One thing worth mentioning... the previous owner recently replaced the right rear shock absorber (I believe with a Monroe #59332) because it was leaking, but the left rear shock appears to be the original. I looked at the old original one yesterday, it's very rusty, even with a hole rusted through the upper cylinder. I'm thinking these shocks are somehow my culprit. My thoughts are that the new Monroe shock is possibly the wrong part (too long?) and/or the old shock is just kind of collapsing under itself.

Does anyone agree that the next thing I should do is swap out these shocks with a new pair? Or any other ideas/suggestions? Feel free to chime in Joe, if you find this...

Thanks all,

 

[nssj2]

make sure all your sway bars are connected. if so, crank your torsion bolts accordingly so your front evens out. rock the truck a little to let it settle, and that should get you fairly close. shock won't have much to do with a lean, as they are just dampeners.

 

[Doubt Incarnate]

swap the shocks out at as a pair, i dont understand why people woudnt swap parts out in pairs in the first place. at least you'll have 2 safe shocks that dont opereate at different rates.

 

[ExplorerBus I]

make sure all your sway bars are connected. if so, crank your torsion bolts accordingly so your front evens out. rock the truck a little to let it settle, and that should get you fairly close. shock won't have much to do with a lean, as they are just dampeners.

Thanks for the reply. I understand how shocks are just dampeners, but if one shock is longer than it's supposed to be though, couldn't that throw things off? I checked the torsion bolts up front and they're both even. I hate to crank one up and crank one down, wouldn't that throw other things out of whack?

 

[ExplorerBus I]

swap the shocks out at as a pair, i dont understand why people woudnt swap parts out in pairs in the first place. at least you'll have 2 safe shocks that dont opereate at different rates.

Do you guys recommend any particular shocks? I'm about to order a pair...

 

[gijoecam]

Length has nothing to do with it. It's highly unlikely that they installed oversized one anyways. They may be under a bit more pressure since they are gas-charged, but it shouldn't be enough to cause the lean in and of itself. For confirmation, remove the lower bolt and see if it goes away. If so, then we know the culprit.

I, too, can't understand why they would replace just one and not all four. Almost every bump the front hits, the back hits, and nearly every bump one side hits, the other does too...

As for the lean, you can't measure from the wheel wells. Measure chassis/suspension components. The body's just bolted to it.

 

[Turdle]

Do you guys recommend any particular shocks? I'm about to order a pair...

Have you checked here?

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=213238

 

[ExplorerBus I]

Have you checked here?

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=213238

Thanks for the link, just ordered a pair of KYBs from them with the 10% disc!

 

[ExplorerBus I]

Length has nothing to do with it. It's highly unlikely that they installed oversized one anyways. They may be under a bit more pressure since they are gas-charged, but it shouldn't be enough to cause the lean in and of itself. For confirmation, remove the lower bolt and see if it goes away. If so, then we know the culprit.

I, too, can't understand why they would replace just one and not all four. Almost every bump the front hits, the back hits, and nearly every bump one side hits, the other does too...

As for the lean, you can't measure from the wheel wells. Measure chassis/suspension components. The body's just bolted to it.

Actually I did take a measurement from the bottom of the lower shock mounts on the rear, and the right side was nearly 1/2" higher. Something odd is going on...

 

[Doubt Incarnate]

shocks do offer marginal support, otherwise they wouldnt expand after being compressed. im not 100% on the operation of shocks, but of they merely compress a gas and use its progressive pressure to damp the motion, it is possible for a longer one to offer what looks like a little lift.

have you any way to check if the frame is twisted at all? all the doors are opening and closing normaly?

 

[Willard]

I just can't see the shock being the issue. They are not there to support the truck, and don't offer any lift. It's worth removing to check, but I doubt its the problem.
The distance being different on the two shock mounts means nothing, as they are going to be different with the rest of the truck.

I would still replace those first, then cranks the torsion bars to match. You won't mess anything up by adjusting them differently. That's part of the reason they are adjustable, for fixing any leans if one weakens before the other.

 

[corkey]

i had this problem with mine, it leaned to the driver side , but after i did the shackles on the back i just adjusted the torsion bars as required to set the front back to level as one side it was about 2 inches higher than the other,,
did you replace the springs with new ones or used ones ?? maybe if they were used, the donor vehicle had the same lean too, and if the springs were swapped side to side the lean would go away , ,or switc h from one side to the other, ,

 

[Doubt Incarnate]

there is always the posibilty the torsion bars were already twisted. maybe try swaping the left and right leaf springs and see how it sits.

wow that was an uncanny almost simultaneous post

 

[corkey]

hmmmm, suspicions abound,,, ,

 

[ExplorerBus I]

I just can't see the shock being the issue. They are not there to support the truck, and don't offer any lift. It's worth removing to check, but I doubt its the problem.
The distance being different on the two shock mounts means nothing, as they are going to be different with the rest of the truck.

I would still replace those first, then cranks the torsion bars to match. You won't mess anything up by adjusting them differently. That's part of the reason they are adjustable, for fixing any leans if one weakens before the other.

Thanks for the advice, that's exactly what I've decided to do at this point, for lack of any other option I suppose.

 

[ExplorerBus I]

i had this problem with mine, it leaned to the driver side , but after i did the shackles on the back i just adjusted the torsion bars as required to set the front back to level as one side it was about 2 inches higher than the other,,
did you replace the springs with new ones or used ones ?? maybe if they were used, the donor vehicle had the same lean too, and if the springs were swapped side to side the lean would go away , ,or switc h from one side to the other, ,

Cool, sounds like I might be in decent shape then, since mine's out < 2".

I used all brand new parts from LMC when replacing the rear leafs... and used brand new WAR153 shackles from Desertrat.

 

[ExplorerBus I]

there is always the posibilty the torsion bars were already twisted. maybe try swaping the left and right leaf springs and see how it sits.

wow that was an uncanny almost simultaneous post

I checked that out too. There appears to be the same amount of exposed thread on both torsion bar bolts, so I don't believe it's ever been fooled with before. Which is a good thing...

 

[gmanpaint]

I have the same problem as well. Over an 1" diff from dr to pass side. I am going to raise the drivers side and lower the pass side doing the TT to even the front end. It was suggested to me to swap the leaf packs to help even out the rear. They call this the "Gangsta lean". I wont have a chance to get to mine until the wkend, but I will share with you what happens when I do it.

 

[ExplorerBus I]

I have the same problem as well. Over an 1" diff from dr to pass side. I am going to raise the drivers side and lower the pass side doing the TT to even the front end. It was suggested to me to swap the leaf packs to help even out the rear. They call this the "Gangsta lean". I wont have a chance to get to mine until the wkend, but I will share with you what happens when I do it.

Welcome to the club. I'm hoping my new KYB's come in soon so I can pop them on this weekend and also do some TT to level it out. Once leveled out, she's going directly to the alignment shop...

 

[Cobraguy]

Just confirming a couple of things that were mentioned here...

Too long a shock COULD cause this. If it was completely compressed at rest. But man...you should feel that in a heartbeat. It would jar your teeth out.

Shocks do NOT support the weight of the vehicle in any way. (with the exception of air shocks and coilovers) As was mentioned, all they do is dampen the oscillations. Gas charged shocks are still hydraulic shocks. They use gas to keep the hydraulics under pressure to perform better. But no vehicle weight is supported.