Ford Explorer shocks

'99 4L SOHC Explorer, 45k miles

I had some brake hoses replaced for MOT recently, and since then I've
noticed the rear suspension has been very hard. I crawled underneath it
today and the rear left shock seems to be siezed.
I presume it may have been caused when the garage had it jacked up. ( I had
switched off the air suspension)

My question(s)

1 Is there anything I can do to free it up, whack it with a large hammer,
squirt some oil in it, etc?
2 If it's a garage job, can I entrust it to my local non-ford garage, or
should I take it to a main dealer?

I think it is the original shock, it has an "EXPORT" sticker on it.

Thanks in advance for any advice

Trefor

On Tue, 16 May 2006 19:15:31 +0100, Trefor wrote:

> '99 4L SOHC Explorer, 45k miles
>
> I had some brake hoses replaced for MOT recently, and since then I've
> noticed the rear suspension has been very hard. I crawled underneath it
> today and the rear left shock seems to be siezed.
> I presume it may have been caused when the garage had it jacked up. ( I had
> switched off the air suspension)

Umm they don't have air suspension, it's leaf springs on the rear of the
'99 Explorer. What you should have switched off is the self-levelling
suspension using the switch in the NSR compartment, presumably this is what
you did.

> My question(s)
>
> 1 Is there anything I can do to free it up, whack it with a large hammer,
> squirt some oil in it, etc?

No. Why aren't you going back to whoever replaced the brake hose and
raising merry hell with them?

> 2 If it's a garage job, can I entrust it to my local non-ford garage, or
> should I take it to a main dealer?

I don't know, how good is your local non-Ford garage? Are they the ****wits
who damaged it in the first place? How good is the main dealer? The
Explorer is sufficiently unusual for most MDs to be useless at servicing
it.

> I think it is the original shock, it has an "EXPORT" sticker on it.

Definitely is the original then.

> Thanks in advance for any advice

Can you see any signs of physical damage to the shock? What makes you think
it has seized? The spring/damper settings on the rear of the Explorer are
relatively stiff so you'll not see much movement unless you have 200Kg
being added to the load bed and then removed.

And you are aware that the rear shocks are part of the self levelling
system? The gas pressure inside the shocks is adjusted to keep the rear
level (that's the pump noise you hear when you load the vehicle).

Thanks for reply
>
> Umm they don't have air suspension, it's leaf springs on the rear of the
> '99 Explorer. What you should have switched off is the self-levelling
> suspension using the switch in the NSR compartment, presumably this is
> what
> you did.

Yes, I meant that, thanks

>> 1 Is there anything I can do to free it up, whack it with a large
>> hammer,
>> squirt some oil in it, etc?
>
> No. Why aren't you going back to whoever replaced the brake hose and
> raising merry hell with them?

No, I don't believe it was their fault, I suspect it was probably on the way
out and hanging down for a few hours probably finished it. It always was a
bit hard at the rear, but now it is extremely hard.
>
>> 2 If it's a garage job, can I entrust it to my local non-ford garage,
>> or
>> should I take it to a main dealer?
>
> I don't know, how good is your local non-Ford garage? Are they the
> ****wits
> who damaged it in the first place? How good is the main dealer? The
> Explorer is sufficiently unusual for most MDs to be useless at servicing
> it.

They are just a local garage not specialising in any particular make, I
found them to be reliable when working on my previous Mondeo; what I was
meaning is, would they need specialised equipment, like an Explorer OBD2
computer reader or suchlike, or is it just a matter of disconnecting the
shock and hoses and putting a new one in?
>
>> I think it is the original shock, it has an "EXPORT" sticker on it.
>
> Definitely is the original then.
>
>> Thanks in advance for any advice
>
> Can you see any signs of physical damage to the shock? What makes you
> think
> it has seized? The spring/damper settings on the rear of the Explorer are
> relatively stiff so you'll not see much movement unless you have 200Kg
> being added to the load bed and then removed.

I got a helper to bounce the right side, then the left side. On the right
side the shock moved about an inch, on the left side it was solid

>
> And you are aware that the rear shocks are part of the self levelling
> system? The gas pressure inside the shocks is adjusted to keep the rear
> level (that's the pump noise you hear when you load the vehicle).

Yes, thanks, I have read up on it in the Explorer Haynes manual

cheers

Trefor

BTW, I switched off the supension yesterday, and drove the truck about 50
miles before I did the shock check.

Trefor

"Trefor" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Thanks for reply
>>
>> Umm they don't have air suspension, it's leaf springs on the rear of the
>> '99 Explorer. What you should have switched off is the self-levelling
>> suspension using the switch in the NSR compartment, presumably this is
>> what
>> you did.
>
> Yes, I meant that, thanks
>
>>> 1 Is there anything I can do to free it up, whack it with a large
>>> hammer,
>>> squirt some oil in it, etc?
>>
>> No. Why aren't you going back to whoever replaced the brake hose and
>> raising merry hell with them?
>
> No, I don't believe it was their fault, I suspect it was probably on the
> way out and hanging down for a few hours probably finished it. It always
> was a bit hard at the rear, but now it is extremely hard.
>>
>>> 2 If it's a garage job, can I entrust it to my local non-ford garage,
>>> or
>>> should I take it to a main dealer?
>>
>> I don't know, how good is your local non-Ford garage? Are they the
>> ****wits
>> who damaged it in the first place? How good is the main dealer? The
>> Explorer is sufficiently unusual for most MDs to be useless at servicing
>> it.
>
> They are just a local garage not specialising in any particular make, I
> found them to be reliable when working on my previous Mondeo; what I was
> meaning is, would they need specialised equipment, like an Explorer OBD2
> computer reader or suchlike, or is it just a matter of disconnecting the
> shock and hoses and putting a new one in?
>>
>>> I think it is the original shock, it has an "EXPORT" sticker on it.
>>
>> Definitely is the original then.
>>
>>> Thanks in advance for any advice
>>
>> Can you see any signs of physical damage to the shock? What makes you
>> think
>> it has seized? The spring/damper settings on the rear of the Explorer are
>> relatively stiff so you'll not see much movement unless you have 200Kg
>> being added to the load bed and then removed.
>
> I got a helper to bounce the right side, then the left side. On the right
> side the shock moved about an inch, on the left side it was solid
>
>>
>> And you are aware that the rear shocks are part of the self levelling
>> system? The gas pressure inside the shocks is adjusted to keep the rear
>> level (that's the pump noise you hear when you load the vehicle).
>
> Yes, thanks, I have read up on it in the Explorer Haynes manual
>
> cheers
>
> Trefor
>

"Trefor" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> BTW, I switched off the supension yesterday, and drove the truck about 50
> miles before I did the shock check.
>
> Trefor
>

Trefor, before you do anything drastic, try disconnecting the air line to
the offending shocker. This should let any air escape and hopefully 're-set'
the shocker (Can't make it any worse by the sounds of it...). The air line
is a simple push fit job. To remove it you need to push in on the locking
collar and simultaneously pull the line out of the fitting. Simply push it
back into the fitting to put it back.
And I 'may' have a 2nd hand pair of '98 Explorer rear shocks for sale in the
near future...

Simon H

Thanks for suggestion Simon, as you say, worth a try.

I'll let you know the result in a few days

thanks

Trefor


"Simon H" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Trefor" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> BTW, I switched off the supension yesterday, and drove the truck about 50
>> miles before I did the shock check.
>>
>> Trefor
>>
>
> Trefor, before you do anything drastic, try disconnecting the air line to
> the offending shocker. This should let any air escape and hopefully
> 're-set' the shocker (Can't make it any worse by the sounds of it...). The
> air line is a simple push fit job. To remove it you need to push in on the
> locking collar and simultaneously pull the line out of the fitting. Simply
> push it back into the fitting to put it back.
> And I 'may' have a 2nd hand pair of '98 Explorer rear shocks for sale in
> the near future...
>
> Simon H
>

Thanks Simon

I did as you suggested, but I did it with the truck jacked up by the
chassis, made no difference.
So I removed the shock, and it seemed OK, I noticed the first time I
compressed it there was a lot of air expelled, and realised I should have
removed the air hose while the shock was compressed. All OK now.

I have another problem with the air lines you may be able to help me with,
but I'll do a new post


Trefor


>
> Trefor, before you do anything drastic, try disconnecting the air line to
> the offending shocker. This should let any air escape and hopefully
> 're-set' the shocker (Can't make it any worse by the sounds of it...). The
> air line is a simple push fit job. To remove it you need to push in on the
> locking collar and simultaneously pull the line out of the fitting. Simply
> push it back into the fitting to put it back.
> And I 'may' have a 2nd hand pair of '98 Explorer rear shocks for sale in
> the near future...
>
> Simon H
>