Cab To frame bushings

[EddieS'04]

Been alot of talk about this lately. I was under my trac today. I noticed only the front and middle frame bushing are deteriating.

The rear cab bushing are of some other type of rubber. They almost look and feel like black poly. On both sides they are perfect.



Why didnt ford use the same on the others???:banghead:

 

[Gary Spann]

All I can say is at least I am only going to have to change 4!

 

[swshawaii]

Eddie- Micro Cellular Urethane (MCU) links. (Scroll down)



http://www.autoworld.com/news/ford/2001Explorer_Sport.asp

http://www.sae.org/automag/techbriefs/01-2002/page2.htm

 

[EddieS'04]

Steve,



Now we know who makes them. I fired off a contact letter on Vibracoustics Group website.

I hope others will do the same. Im also going to modify my NHSTA report. Here is my letter.

So I find your the company selling this MCU junk to ford.

I have a 2004 Explorer Sport Trac.

27,000 miles in south east texas. No chemicals on the road like snow and ice areas.That doesnt matter anyway.

The cab mount bushings are almost gone. you touch them, another piece falls off.

Im a member of a mesage board of mysporttrac.com. This issue is rampant with everyone from 2001 to 2005 model. To early to tell about 2007 to 2010 models.

Never seen the likes of this kind of cab to frame mount deteriation. It is unsafe. Ford wont help. This issue of deteriation started 3 years ago on mine. Very little of the MCU bushings left.

I myself have turned this over to NHSTA. Now I can go back and modify my report as to the manufactor. I hope to get others to do the same.

Sad day IMO when a auto frame bushing doenst last the life of a vehicle. Especialy in this economy. I myself live on disability with a hardly driven truck that is unsafe. There is no recall. One member priced the work. Ford wants over $1000. Depending where you live parts alone average $600.

I dont know what you intend to do about it. Now that we know who there is going to be much more reporting of this faulty product.

 

[Rodger Tellefson]

How do you feel poly body mount bushings will effect the ride?

 

[Kevin Lang]

Shoot, I still haven't gotten around to checking on mine, besides the ones I saw when I changed my oil, which looked fine. I really don't want to have to deal with this, though if I have to, and I get better handling out of it, I could deal with it. To save over a grand I'll play with jacking up the body, but again I'm hoping it won't come to that.



On another note, you really only have 27,000 miles on your 2004 trac? As your quoted email points out, that makes the dead bushings even more ridiculous.

 

[EddieS'04]

How do you feel poly body mount bushings will effect the ride?

Rodger, I would be willing to have a stiffer mount, than an unsafe truck...

 

[swshawaii]

Eddie- I reposted today for those that missed this. Good Luck.



P.S.- Sorry to hear about your tires. Remember KARMA! :angry:

 

[Rodney Leary]

I chime in each time on these threads because i just replaced the centers this summer. I am NO mechanic but I used common sense and elbow grease.



By the time I was done I had wasted an entire weekend and wished I had paid someone to do the work (the aggravation talking)... but I had a good learning experience and feel it made me a better person.



I used a set of SOFT poly bushings and the ride is normal.

 

[POJ Irving]

RodneyL where did you get your Soft poly bushings? I would like to get my trac mounts replaced, a mechanic near me, quoted $600 to replace them.

 

[Rodney Leary]

I purchased mine from the Energy Suspension website. They have a soft and hard set of universal poly bushings. $25 per box and each box has two sets. More pics in library.



[Broken External Image]:



Because I did not replace the front sets or rear sets, I had to add a few thick washers to match the height of the factory bushings I was leaving in.



As I have stated in others posts about this, my biggest challenges were breaking the bolt free from the mounts. I used a heat gun and vice grips on the bottom to stop it from spinning and the break the hold. Also, since I couldn't get the front bolt out, I couldn't jack the body off the frame enough to slide the old bushing mounts out... I used a sawzall and cut through the old bracket and let it fall out. New bushings slid right in to place.

No more popping and creaking under my feet and the ride is just as good as before.

 

[Scott Simmons]

Here's mine..."My 2001 Sport Trac bushings are completely deteriated...Ive been living with the noise for awhile now because of the cost of the repair. Whats left of them just crumble in your hand. This is not safe and when this causes a accident your company will be another firestone paying out tons of money for faulty product. Please help..."