Explorer Leaf Spring Mount repair - thoughts?
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Explorer Leaf Spring Mount repair - thoughts?
Hi y'all,
New to the forum, cuz' the Explorers belong to my brother and his fiance. (I've got 2 LSCs and a Maverick myself).
He's got a broken RR leaf spring mount on his '96, and I promised I;d go take a gander this evening. Got a couple questions I thought you folks might be able to help out with.
First, anyone done this job at home before? Will I have any problems with alignment, compressing the spring enough with floorjacks and jackstands, etc?
Second, the local shop wants to charge him $150 for the actual mount, including $50 for the bolt and $24 for the nuts. (expensive nuts!) I'm figuring a parts yard would be best--not many miles left on this '96 anyway, and a grade-8 bolt from Home Depot or someplace oughta suffice. Any knowledge out there?
THANKS!!!
New to the forum, cuz' the Explorers belong to my brother and his fiance. (I've got 2 LSCs and a Maverick myself).
He's got a broken RR leaf spring mount on his '96, and I promised I;d go take a gander this evening. Got a couple questions I thought you folks might be able to help out with.
First, anyone done this job at home before? Will I have any problems with alignment, compressing the spring enough with floorjacks and jackstands, etc?
Second, the local shop wants to charge him $150 for the actual mount, including $50 for the bolt and $24 for the nuts. (expensive nuts!) I'm figuring a parts yard would be best--not many miles left on this '96 anyway, and a grade-8 bolt from Home Depot or someplace oughta suffice. Any knowledge out there?
THANKS!!!
….
Thread Starter
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New User
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 3
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Thanks for the welcome! My brother and his fiance *both* have Explorers--his the '96 Eddie Bauer and hers a '95; quite a coincidence since they've had the trucks since before they met. As the family's sole shade-tree mechanic, I expect I'll find this forum a really useful resource.
I've searched the threads, and found a lot of helpful bits of info, but still have a couple questions. My bro's found the shackle online for like $40, and I'll probably be installing it this weekend. Anybody know if the bushings are gonna be a problem, with only the usual hand tools? Or would it be best (possible?) to just leave the original rubber and replace only the shackles--since we're not doing the other side anyway?
I'd hate to get it apart and find I need a press to get the new rubber in.
I did tinker with it a bit the other night and wasable to loosen the bolts, which was a definite concern. But if anyone knows anything else I should keep in mind as I tackle this job, I'd appreciate it.
Unrelated question--the other Explorer supposedly has developed an inaccurate fuel gauge. She says it was reading 1/4 when it ran empty the other day, and that after she put 20 gallons into it, it only rose to 1/2. From my own Fords, I'm used to the needle swinging wildly while I drive, and reading high in general. But I;ve never heard of one that read high sometimes and low at other times. Anybody experienced this?
Much obliged...
I've searched the threads, and found a lot of helpful bits of info, but still have a couple questions. My bro's found the shackle online for like $40, and I'll probably be installing it this weekend. Anybody know if the bushings are gonna be a problem, with only the usual hand tools? Or would it be best (possible?) to just leave the original rubber and replace only the shackles--since we're not doing the other side anyway?
I'd hate to get it apart and find I need a press to get the new rubber in.
I did tinker with it a bit the other night and wasable to loosen the bolts, which was a definite concern. But if anyone knows anything else I should keep in mind as I tackle this job, I'd appreciate it.
Unrelated question--the other Explorer supposedly has developed an inaccurate fuel gauge. She says it was reading 1/4 when it ran empty the other day, and that after she put 20 gallons into it, it only rose to 1/2. From my own Fords, I'm used to the needle swinging wildly while I drive, and reading high in general. But I;ve never heard of one that read high sometimes and low at other times. Anybody experienced this?
Much obliged...
