I wish I had known this some months ago when I put my rear sway bar on my 96 XLT Aerostar.

I had 2 guys spend an hour each unable to figure out how it went on.

It was quite puzzling until I looked in the bottom of the box and there were the directions with pictures, after that it was easy, no lube in my box either.

The change in how my vehicle handles is night and day. I thought it was just fine for being a truck, now if feels like a sports car. Very little body roll, much better control in the wind, we get 60 mph cross winds. Now it tracks real nice and the the turn in is great.

I did the front sway bar polyurethane bushings and put Gabriel Shocks (front and rear) and that was nice then a few weeks later I put in the rear Hellwig sway bar. HUGE improvement. The rear sway bar is definitely a great choice. I was able to score my new Hellwig for a very good price if you shop the net you should find one delivered for about $200 + tax.

I am running 94 Mustang Alloy 15" wheels with 205/75/15's, Michelin's and the change is profound. 2 biggest changes with the new tires are it cut the road noise by 70-80%. And the handling and rolling resistance are greatly improved. Had to relearn how to drive as the car would roll so much further when coasting. Hard to believe such a positive change in just a few years. I had been running private label 215/75/14 tires. The Michelin's have a higher load rating as well are about 1/2" taller.

One of the reasons I went the Mustang Wheels aside from the good looks was I had 2 Aerostar mags develop a crack across the web of the wheel and it was difficult to find a good 14" tire that was both affordable and had the right size.

Re Wheel replacements, I had a set of 16" Mustang Alloys, nice wheels, yet the same model Michelin's were another $200 for a set of 4 (215/65/15's) which is close to the same size tire as from the factory. Also the ride is better with more sidewall, over the bumps at least. Yes the 16's do handle better. You choose better handling or better comfort. I actually got both with the 15's over the 14" Factory Alloys.

When people ask me about my van I tell them it is a very Limited Edition Pony Edition Aerostar. The caps on the wheels have the Mustang Pony embossed in them. I also did some custom paint on the grill, blacked out chrome, bought a black antenna, took off the roof rack, etc. Small changes that make a big difference.

I have posted some pictures of Red The Aerostar in my garage.

 

Welcome to the Aerostang club. My mom's red '95 has 15" rims from a '00ish Mustang.

 

Recently I got caught up in a couple cross-wind situations, like in the Nevada desert outside of Elko. While the suspension has come a long way I decided that the the front end needed still more development beyond the bushing overhaul.

In the background over the past six months I tried to get a hold of Bilsteins but I canceled out of a couple of non-responsive orders, then heard that the AK1088 & AK1089 are made-to-order from the factory with a lead time of 6-8 weeks.

I wanted something more available, easier on the wallet and knowing many times what KhanT thinks of KYB, I decided to attack the crosswind problem with the Monomax 565051, the stiffer version of the Gas-Adjust. The KYB Monomax is getting tested for corner tracking this coming week in the Oregon Cascade twisties.

For those in cross-wind territory, the Addco 526 1-1/4 solid front bar should also be a worthwhile next step beyond the Hellwig rear.

 

Hello

I ran KYB Monomax's on my 91 Suburban 4x4, 4 in the front and 2 in the back. I was amazed at how well they worked. Really great shocks.

I will be interested to see how they work for you. I recall getting mine from the ShockWarehouse.com for about 1/2 of what other websites charged. It has been about 5 years I think I paid about $200 for all 6 shipped.

Keep us posted.

Thank you,

Kris

 

One of the features of the Aerostar that makes it more susceptible to cross winds is its height. A couple of things to combat that would be either to lower the suspension, and/or lower profile tires. The tall tires that give greater load capacity will unfortunately also allow too much side-to-side wobble, and there is no damping of that motion except for the internal resistance of the tires themselves.

Another thing that can exacerbate the side wobble is worn out bushings in the upper control arm, since one of its primary functions is to maintain lateral position.

 

used to tow hvy with my AWD, 4000lb GVH TT with Easylift sway control EQ hitch.
with air bags in back, poly bushings up front, rear sway and the KYBs was rock solid in the off the ocean storm winds on Hwy 101 in Ca, Or and Wa.
she can blow here on the coast, going over the high hump at 200ft + on the Columbia River bridge at Astoria near mouth of river couple winters ago, hit a 100 mph blast side wind going 60 mph.
ripped the front cowling right off below the windshield, stripped it over the WW wipers and out to sea she blew.
had all of the plastic push pins in but not enough for 160mph combined air pressure. she's got SS screws now.
van hardly wiggled.
thought the big motorhome in front of me was going to be blown sideways out thru the bridge girders.

little rough riding empty but far better ride control than the old stock rock and roll squishy sea sick ride of factory OEM. the factory shocks are short lived garbage, only high pressure nitrogens for me.

 

I guess you can also load it to the gills to help stability.

 

I have tall tires with more load capacity and have no side to side wobble issues. I get no more cross wind wobble than I get in my 2000 Focus.

 

it's the California climate that preserves cars, you are describing an identical experience with a 1965 Jaguar S type 3.8 litre I found in San Francisco, stored in a basement at the docks-of-the-bay.... Pristine is an understatement.

congratulations on your find. like they say, "Seek and ye shall find". I spent 9 years looking for one of those Jags until I found one worth buying.

 

This van must have been garaged most of its life. I can tell you that the California sun can be pretty damaging to most exposed materials like plastic, rubber, paint, and fabrics. If it's near the ocean, it can also get attacked by salt water that somehow magically float out of the ocean and get into all the nooks and crannies to start rusting.

 

Yes, it is a serious issue with rust and corrosion if you live near the coast in California, similar conditions exist in other coastal areas. If you have a modern car that has good factory rustproofing and does not live outdoors, no exposure to the sun. They hold up pretty well, unless you live near the coast.

If you live where the salt spray comes up you can count on corrosion rather then rust. The radiatiors rot from the outside in and the alternators and other aluminium parts corrode / oxidize from the outside in.

Sunlight destroys the interior fabrics and paint. If you keep the car washed and waxed and sheild the interior from the sunlight they hold up pretty well.

If you live in Northern California then it is a matter of keeping the underside of the car clean or you will trap mud / salt and it will rust out.
Yes, in snow country they do sometimes use salt as well as cinders.

I have a former 1996 Aerostar Garage Queen that looks very much like new inside and out. Former California Car now residing in Oregon.

Which I searched for years to find, mileage was less then 106,000. Pretty good for it's age and conition. Plus there were records for much of servicing, oil changes, etc. to support the odometer reading.

 

Just received my Hellwig kit and still the short ubolts in kit.

Would these be the ticket for proper installation? 1994 4.0 AWD.


TIA, BRGDS,

patrick

 

No.
According to the chit-chat with the Amazon seller, the inside diameter is 2-3/8.
Too small to get around the Aero axle.

Iirc, Hellwig fixes their continuing blunder "for free".
It must be that they add the cost of the fix to the original product price rather than fix the production problem.
Strange yes, but I've seen it before.

 

how much weight can my 4.0 pull?

I've never pulled anything, no hitch, nada. I'm told the Aerostar will not pull a trailer with my Jaguar on top, will burn the transmission.

 

High wind resistance is the worst. High wide travel trailers.

Turns the dual lockup discs torque converter into dust and metal pieces towing into the wind, on hills. Have to lock OD off to reduce stress on the TQ.
Towing a light car, no problemo. Just tie into the car brakes with a controller or have trailer brakes.
You'll be a 50 mph speed demon in the right lane all the way and it sucks gas like a 4000 lb hog.

Largest auto tranny cooler you can fit in and large PS cooler