I read the sticky first, but there is some confusing advice about springs.

97 Aerostar E4WD 4.0 OHV

I don't think raybestos stock these springs anymore. We're looking for the best heavy duty springs avalible. Best I could come up with is moog's cc845. We want a good beefy rear end for loading, and handling.

Any takes on this? Thanks!
Tim

 

aftermarket manuf.s are required to match OEM spring specs.

think add on in spring air bags or rear shocks with spring overloads, add a swaybar. what many of have done to firm up the soft EXT rear end.
i like the air bags for hauling company with a soft ride and pump them up to tow the trailers.

 

I have the bags just hav'nt installed them yet..

 

Its likely we'll go with Moogs.

Where are sway bars avalible? Did they come with one originally? I could check the yards here.

Thanks.

 

I used a veriable rated rear springs on my 90 Aero 2wd. They ride good when the van is unloaded and holds well when loaded.

 

All Aerostars came with a front anti-roll bar, some were hollow (appeared to be very thick). None had rear bars, but I installed a Hellwig model on mine when I replaced my rear springs. Addco also makes sets for the front and rear. They should still be available from many sources; check Summit: Hellwig 7529 - Hellwig Anti-Sway Bars - Overview - SummitRacing.com.

When I was looking for rear springs, I noticed something interesting; many sources had their versions of the springs, but they all had the digits "845" in their part numbers. This lead me to think that they were all made by the same company, Moog. I got something that they labeled as "cargo springs". So far, I think the only problem I have is that my Monroe Sensatrac dampers are insufficient to control the springs on bumpy roads. The rear end always feels floaty, and while the rear sway bar has reduced roll somewhat, the return after initial set always bounces back and forth a couple times before settling down. I think the Sensatracs were made more for comfort than control, or they just wore out real fast.

 

The AWD models and all later models (not sure when the change over happens) had a 3 point sway bar, which was better than nothing, but not terribly effective. JC Whitney has the Helwig sway bars.

On the shocks, I had the same experience with the Sensatracks. They are garbage, too weak out of the box to handle a heavy vehicle. The best shock I have used is the KYB Gas-A-Just. I have them all around.

The Moogs were about equivalent to my old worn out stock springs. I have them on my own ride. Unloaded the vehicle rides maybe a half inch higher than it did, not much improvement. I use the air rides, they help a lot, they also control body lean fairly well. Another improvement to the handling is still the tires. Some will swear by the 15" rims, the problem is that when you do that, you don't really gain much load capacity because you are still limited to light duty passenger tires, but now you have more unsprung weight, less clearance between the wheels and wheel wells, higher center of gravity, and the drivetrain has to work harder to turn the larger wheels. The brakes also have to work harder.

My favorite tire is an unpopular tire. It is unpopular because it is an odd size and it does not come stock on anything in the US. It is only made by Cooper, though it is labeled under several different brands. This tire is six ply rated and while the weight limitations are listed as the same that is because you cannot handle more than a certain weight on a 14" rim. Within that limitation, it handles all conditions better than a 4 ply tire. It gets better grip, better control, less body roll, excellent snow traction. It distorts less under load, and can handle a greater pressure range. I run mine at 40 psi which still handles weight very well but gives a smooth ride. You can increase the pressure all the way to 55 psi.

I know some of you guys are happy with your other tires. I have used a few different tires. If you are happy with your tires it is because you haven't tried these. The size to ask for is 27x8.5 R14 LT. These tires are almost exactly the same size as a P215/70R14. They are slightly wider. They have excellent wear life. The standard tires I was offered had 30,000 -40,000 mile estimated treadlives, which I was told due to the weight of the vehicle and the loads I was hauling, that I would not get that. I found this to be true because I bought the van with new tires (Goodyears) and got about 18,000 out of them. The Coopers had a 60,000 mile rated treadlife, and I have exceeded that. Two of my tires are not pushing 80,000 miles and they look like they can take another 30,000 plus.

On that point maybe its just me because I haul a lot of weight a lot of the time, but the van rides great empty. We put the same tires on my moms van, and it really helped the ride.

 

There's a low mileage Aerostar cargo van that I've been getting my mechanic to pick apart piece by piece! A year ago I had him put the springs on the back - he maintains that the cargo vans had different springs, rated for more weight.

I just put on Firestone Firehawk Indy 500's - P225/70 14" tires...slightly bigger than stock and with my GPS I notice that the speedometer isn't that far off. It's not a truck tire, but has greater cargo capacity of the truck tires I replaced - Firestone Destination LE's. Handled like a dream when I put the Destinations on 7 years ago when I first bought the van, and now the Indy 500's make it even better, so I got about 60,000kms out of the Destinations.

Problem is, the tires probably double the value of the van!!!

I tow a 1500 lb trailer - so I'll keep you posted during the summer when I get it out as to how it handles the load. With the cargo van's springs, and with a full load of camping gear, I'm sure I'm adding over 2000lbs...and the rear end hardly went down at all this year.

The rear shocks were replaced with Monroe Sensa-Tracs about 2 years ago (part # 58616 ) , and they've served me well, even when I load the van down. I didn't bother to put a rear stabilizer in...was told by my mechanic that it might make things worse if oversteer happens.

 

I had a 1991 Aerostar I ordered form the dealer. Had everything on it but the four wheel drive and center console. If I remember right I paid over 20K for it. I wish they were still building them, I'd buy another. That 91 was a better van than the Astro I have now.