How can I improve the rough ride on my '95 Ford Explorer?

Question

I recently bought a '95 explorer in very good condition. I've had thorough maintenance done already including replacing the shock absorbers. The car runs great and has no mechanical problems. However, I have noticed the ride is VERY rough. I feel every little bump in the road and rough roads make me feel like I'm in some kind of mad scientist massage chair. Is it just the design of the suspension? What can I do to soften the ride? If it makes a difference, it has the towing 'package', but towing/cargo capacity is not a great concern to me.

Answer 1

Hey Brandon,,,Take an AX and a Sledgehammer to it.

That's a Good,Average Yahoo Answer,,aint it?
LOL.

But I'm serious.No kidding.

There's not a lot you can do to soften the Front.

Spray all the Suspension Bushings and pivots with WD-40.
Especially the Front Sway Bar mounts.

That'll take a BIT of the harshness out,,,Maybe.

And as one fellow said,,,You can reset Torsion Bar tension.
But that Will drop ride height in all likelihood,,,which gooches-up alignment ..

On the REAR is where you can make a noticeable improvement.

Get that AX and SLEDGE Ready!!

On the rear leaf springs there is a metal Band actually around the Leaf Spring stack,,,about midway between Axle and BodyMount.

Take that band Off ,,,,,you can just slide it towards end of spring.

Then put the AX between each individual Leaf,,,at the End,,,and tap it in with the sledge hammer.

Like splitting a log with a wedge.

Ok,,,thats Quickest Easiest way I know of to SPREAD the LEAFS apart.

Once ya have them spread,,,GREASE The area Between the Leafs LIBERALLY.

Slick 50 Wheel Bearing Grease is Ideal,,,but hard to find.
Pep Boys is only place I know of who stocks it,,in the whole big city of Houston.

Next Best is Valvoline Hi-Temp Disc Brake Wheel Bearing Grease.
Mostly cuz it STAYS put.

Messy Job,,,,but a Grease Gun with a "Needle Tip" adapter is Cheap and available at Walmart,,any AutoParts,etc.

Ya want to get each "Gap" as fully covered as possible.

It REALLY smooths and Softens the Springs action,,,and makes it much more Responsive and Compliant to "Every Little Bump".

It Usually also makes for a Quieter Ride.

It WILL "soften" the Spring Rate,,,similar to putting Softer Springs.
Most Likely You'll get some degree of "Sag"//Ride Height Reduction.
Not Much,,,but a Bit.

Simply Pack the rear springs with good grease between each leaf.

The AX is most common/convenient WEDGE large &Thin enough to make the job Easy.
The BIG hammer drives the Wedge Quick and Easy.
The Long Handle on the AX makes it VERY easy to remove the Wedge,,,,Pull the Handle Sideways---And OUT she comes,,,,,it's a 2 Finger Job.

...................
Heres How/Why that helps.

The Springs are DRY,,,Metal -to-Metal.
They bear directly against each other.

There's a LOT of FRICTION between them as the slide against each other,,,the little that they DO slide.

The CONTACT Points from Leaf-2-Leaf are SMALL,,,
while the LOAD on those points is VERY HIGH.

They try to GRIP each Other from the pressures involved.
Like Brake Shoes,,,or Clutch Plates form a "solid Bond" from nothing but being PRESSED together.

On Springs,,,,that FRICTION forms STICK-Tion.

Small Bumps,,road ripples,tar strips,etc Do Not generate enough Up Force QUICK enough to Overcome that STICKINESS.

The Results of that Feels like driving a BuckBoard,,something WITHOUT Wheel Suspension.

The Leaf Spring ACTS like a Solid Slab of Metal.

Worse is when you encounter a MARGINAL Bump.

Initially the jolt IS large enough to Overcome the Friction.
But when VEHICLE gets the Impulse thru the Spring,,,
It's receiving a COMPOUND load.
a)The amount of Force that Overcame the Stiction
PLUS
b)The amount of Force from the actual Bump

When the BODY RISES from Reaction to the Bump,,,it Gains Inertia.
Which makes Body wanna KEEP Going UPWARD.

That Spring Stored FRICTION-Overcoming Force begins to Unload,,,Following the Body's Upward Momentum.
FEEDING it more that Straight,Smooth,Pure Spring Tension alone would.

It Acts like an Extra Preload on the spring,,,in a sorta "Cocked" or "Loaded Mouse Trap" manner

Unleashing the STICKTION is very similar to hitting a LARGER BUMP than you actually Did.

When Compressing,,,Coming DOWN after a bump,,
Again Ya have that Inter-Leaf Friction in Play as the Load is placed up the spring again.

The Body's Inertia Falls upon a Sticky Spring,,,making the String Feel much stiffer than it really is.

All the Up and Down Friction in the spring also makes for a JERKY resistance during suspension travel.
Catchy,Grabby,Gritty.

Imagine pulling a Brick over a rough surface with a rubber band.
The Rubber Band gets Stretched,,,from both Pure Load,,,AND FRICTION

The LOAD is Constant.
The FRICTION Varies.
As You Pull,,the Brick LAGS,then Breaks Away and MOVES,,,then OVER Travels due to the Excess Tension.

Brick's Motion is quite Jerky,,Disproportional,,and NON-Compliant/

Put SAME BRICK...pull with SAME Rubber Band.
But put it on Some GREASY ICE.

The Brick WONT Oscillate when Ya pull
The Band will Stretch to the amout of Load needed to pull the Brick.

But the Brick DONT RESIST from Friction.
So it follows along with Very Little Change in that Band's Length.

Imagine LIFTING the Brick.
Band would Stretch to a Certain Length,,,and just STAY There as you continued to lift.

Ya can Picture how Smooth and Steady the Rubber Band would be.

But back on the HI-Friction/STICTION surface....
The Brick aint following precisely,,,it's Lagging and Lurching,,,and Band is Shortening and Lengthening.
Which AS a SPRING,,,is Altering it's tension/Compression
OUT OF Proportion to the actual LOAD applied.

......................
If Your Vehicle's Body Motion was represented by a simple Line...Ideally it would be Straight Line

_________________________

And the Road would be a Wave
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The Interface between YOU and Road is the Suspension.
It abosrbs,,limits,,SPREADS the Road Iregularities.

A NON-Suspension vehicle would DUPLICATE the Road(In principle anyway)

Car ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Road^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


A STICKY suspension ADDS a 3rd Wave Non-Conformity.

It Itself does something BESIDES Road OR Vehicle

Car________________________________
Suspension ~~~^^^vvvv___-----UUU^^~~~vvU---
Road^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Of Course that Art Master Piece is WAY Outa Proportion,,,and NOT any accurate Depiction whatsoever.

But what You should Note is that it shows 3 Different Patterns.

While in a Perfect World the CAR should be Isolated from Road "100%",,in terms of shock,noise,vibrations,etc

The Suspension Itself CREATES some of the exact same stuff it's designed to "eliminate"

All the above is an Exageration to try to Illustrate/explain a little of what's happening,,,
And why simply Greasing the Springs helps smooth out a lot of the Sticky,Non-Compliant Characteristics of LEAF SPRINGS.

Coil Spring Suspension does not experience same things.
Their design and nature Eliminates that sort of Friction and Stickyness..

You can drive a NEW car with Coils,,,and as stiff & firm as it might be,,,,it STILL has a Distinct Smoothness.
100,000 Miles Later it may be as soggy as a wet sponge,,,
But that same certain Smoothness is Still there.

NEW LEAF SPRINGS are very harsh and sharp,,,they have an almost "UN Sprung Feel" to them.
For a While,,,many almost seem to get WORSE.
Then at 100,000 Miles,,,,though they have become SOFTER overall,,,,
They've actually become SMOOTHER to a noticeable degree.

On the FLIP SIDE of that leafspring "phenomenon" of Stiction.

The Interleaf Friction remains Sooo High,,,
That you can Wrap the Spring with a few wraps of ELECTRICAL TAPE and Stiffen the Spring.

The Same tape that Electricians pop apart with their Fingers to "cut".

The Tiny bit of Support the tape gives the spring is SO STRONG,,,
That if you Wrap the Springs while vehicle is Jacked Up,,,
It will Maintain some extra Ride Height when taken off the Jack.

It's Not "The Tape",,,it's the Friction.
It's SO High that the PUNY amount of tension and Pressure the Tape applies towards Holding the Leaves Together,,,
Makes the Spring ACT like a Stiffer Spring.

Crazy Sounding,,i know.
Anyone who's never done that would have to see it to beleive it.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I Hope EVERYBODY is Skeptical of ANYTHING they read on the darn Internet.

If You are interested in a Spring Greasin',,,but not quite sure it works,,or if you'll like the effect.....

A Cheap/Easy/Quick Experiment is to get a can of WD -40 and just HOSE the rear springs "between the cracks"
Then go Drive it.
That Helps,,,but not AS effective as Grease.
You Will at least get a good idea of the effect of Slippery vs Dry springs

WD40 Dont Last very long either.
If ya "Ruin Your Ride" with it,,,in a few days it'll be back to Normal,,,and a week or 2 you'll never know it ever happened.
WORST Case>>a trip to the Do-It-Yourself Carwash will get the WD40 Outa There any time ya want

..................
One other thing about TIRES.
It seems Instinctual to Under-inflate Tires a bit to Soften Ride.

DON'T

The small amount of Harshness it MIGHT,,,MIGHT reduce,,,,
Is WAY MORE than Lost by the increase in BOUNCINESS.
A Small sharp shock dont have anywhere NEAR the affect on Discomfort that an Increase in Body Travel,,,BOING!,BOING! Bounce does.

Not to mention soft tires being Dangerous to vehicle control.
Tire is an "AIR SPRING"

It's also an UN-DAMPENED Spring.
Best example I know of is a POGO STICK.

Properly Inflated Tire maintains a level of Rigidity BEYOND the Pogo Threshhold.

Even a Small bit of Under-Inflation QUICKLY approaches/Crosses that dangerous threshold.

Tire Bounce itself becomes Effectively "a Pot Hole/or Bump" in the road.
Except that it's Renegade,,,under the Control of NOTHING.
Even a soggy,wore out,or BROKEN suspension has SOME degree of control.

A Pneumatic Spring the size of a Tire with 25~30 Lbs of air in it is EXTREMELY Powerful

Look at what 30~35 Psi does to Your Explorer.
It LIFTS IT ,,OFF the GROUND
10 PSI in a Tire>>> OFF the GROUND

Any Tire Pressure Low enough to get At/Beyond Pogo Threshold has the exact same potential to do Guess What??
Yep,,,Bounce it OFF the GROUND

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
You can Lube the Anti-Sway Mounting bushings by sticking an Icepick or Thin Screwdriver between Bar & Bushing,,and spray WD40 or Silicone Spray in the gap.
Do it on Front and Rear.
It's Not a HUGE improvement,,,but does give a noticeable reduction in harshness.

That will PROBALY increase Initial Body Roll a Small amount.
Because it releases the Rubber's GRAB on the bar.
The Bar's actual rating and the Mountings density/firmness will still be maintained 100% same.
So ya Dont lose any anti-roll effectiveness except at initialization.
the Vehicle will do what's called "fall onto the Bar" versus Roll Over onto it.
Cuz the Rubber's Friction Grip doesnt dampen the actual physics coming into play.

In Reality,,,I beleive it's BETTER on wet ,soft,icy roads to allow an inch or so of Attitude Set before hitting sway bar.
It improves traction at the instant of directional change.
Routine for many types of Race Cars to NOT run Solid End Links on their sway bars,,but SPRINGS,,,,so they can Adjust how far Chassis Tilts before activating their sway bar.

They can run extreme Stiff anti-Roll once turn attitude & body inertia is set in,,,
And keep the soft,loose Initial move to avoid shocking the tire with sudden load and skipping it across surface.
Like kicking wheel of a skatebord sideways.

So the LUBE Loss of Roll Stiffness is limited to 1st Inch or so,,,and generally makes for BETTER driving in nearly all road conditions.

.............................
One Other thing I'll mention.
Probably NOT REALLY worth doing.
Shock absorber Bushings---the lil' round rubbers on the end of the Shocks where they mount to the Body.

They dont SEEM like much.
But it makes a VERY Noticeable difference.
All the 80's and most 90's era Jaguars used the CHEESIEST Dense FOAM bushings.

The difference in ride quality between those and "normal" hard rubber is definitely noticeable.
And they dont reduce control any at all.
Suspension works the same,,at least on passenger vehicles.
They're expensive,,and dont last long.

It'd be Pure $40~50 Gamble,,,I cannot say they'd Definitely be any worthwhile improvement on your Explorer.

SOME cars,,,BIG difference.
I guess it at least serves as an example that small simple things CAN make a difference

NONE of the Above is Absolute/Gauranteed CURE or Solution.
But it Will make an improvement,,,and may be satisfactory for you.

Good Luck with it

Answer 2

You may have to buy some adjustable shocks or different springs to soften the ride---trucks set up with a tow package usually have stiffer springs and shocks to accomodate towing a trailer. Also try to play around with the tire pressure's---a lower tire pressure--2-4 pounds may improve the ride but will sacrifice some fuel economy and tire wear...tire size may help also if you go with one than is a little taller and has more give in the sidewall as long as there are no clearance issues or alter the speedo reading much---computer might take speedo or transimssion transducer input(if it's electrical) to calibrate engine parameters...not sure if you're year truck has that feature. A tire store can help show you what size tires would fit and have specs on dimensions. I would start with tires and shocks as a first step or try to find out from Ford or a dealer what different equipment was offered on a non-towing package vehicle versus one with the package to help determine which effort would result in a better ride quality.

Answer 3

Explorer Leaf Springs

Answer 4

First, be-sure the tires are set to tire manufacture spec's. Explorers have torsion bars for the front suspension, which are adjustable for ride heigth. If they are overtightened, they will cause a rough/hard ride. Ride heigth needs to be adjusted prior to a front wheel alignment. This adjustment can or will change camber and toe. Does your vehicle have the factory air ride suspension? If so, the system needs inspected for proper operation.

Answer 5

Easiest thing to upgrade the handling would be to do one of three things:

1) lower ride height, it'll put more weight down, and allow you to travel less
2) add stablizer bars, torque bars and check the rest of the suspension
3) trade it in for a Honda Pilot... they're 100x better and ride like a car

Answer 6

Tires.

Answer 7

check the wheel bearings in the back and front wheels.

Answer 8

tire pressure are critical on these cars