New to me Sport Trac

[Hoz Marr]

Hello, I just bout a 2005 sport trac and am curious about its handeling. 1. when making a turn, if I hit a bump the trac seems to bounce off almost feels like it will tip over is this normal for these trucks or could it be the shocks or something is bad. They feel fine when I hit a bump head on.

2. MY heated seats dont seem to heated, the passanger side seems a lot warmer than the drivers side can it be a fuse?

 

[Hoz Marr]

Also my fog lights are not working, has anyone had issues with their fog lights not working?

 

[Rodger Tellefson]

Take a look on the Projects to the left under "Ride & Handling". Upgrade your shocks & rear anti-sway bar to start. I also recommend doing the upper & lower front control arm ball joints. Changing out the cab to frame bushings which you can do a site search for more info. on that.

 

[Hoz Marr]

Rodger, thank you. Two things though 1. I am broke :banana: and I dont know anything about mechanics :banghead:

 

[swshawaii]

Rodger nailed it with upgrading shocks and the rear sway bar. Scariest moment driving the ST

was when it "side stepped" after hitting a bump at 60, in a sweeping curve with a car next to me. :cry:

 

[Hoz Marr]

Any idea how much this would cost if I took it to a mechanic????

 

[Todd Thorne]

Check your front sway bar end links, you will get that roll feeling if they are broken. Mine broke off at the bottom, the link was still there. Just no bolt on the bottom to hold it together.

And like the others said, new shocks do wonders for the ride and handling.

 

[Vic Sorlie]

Hoz, easier items first. Do you have the Owner's Manual? If so in it you'll find fuse locations for fog lights and seat heaters. I'd check those first. More serious are the suspension issues; if you want a safe car you'll need to have it inspected by a competent mechanic. How many miles on your Trac? I see you're in the Northeast - chassis corrosion is a challenge.

 

[Gavin Allan]

Your stock shocks were junk the day they drove out of the assembly plant. I was skeptical, but became a HUGE BELIEVER when I replaced the shocks on my '03 Adrenalin. The OEM shocks are that weak. My truck rode and handled so much more stable and safer with just the new shocks.



If funds are limited, I would replace all four shocks, especially if they are the originals. I would inspect all the swaybar links and bushings front and rear, and fix anything broke or missing. I am sure the aftermarket sway bar is a benefit, but I found my trac to be quite improved after just replacing the factory shocks.



Good luck.

 

[Bryan Tobey]

RE: seat heaters.



I too find the driver side to be a bit cooler than passenger. My theory is that the driver side is used more often and therefore runs cooler. As I don't keep the heaters on for more than 10 minutes, I haven't dug any further.



I wouldn't suspect a fuse. It it's heating, the fuse is intact. A fuse is pretty much all or nothing.

 

[Johnny O]

I got my old '05 Trac brand new and replaced the shocks at 12,000 miles and less than a year old after I hit a ripple on the NY Thruway and got sideways at 75 mph. Big improvement THEN, I can't imagine how bad an '05 would be eight years later with probably 100k on the originals. I just took it to Sears and got Sensa Tracs, cost about $200 installed at the time.

 

[Patrick Wallach]

I used to drive the crap out of my truck when it was stock (I was also 16/17 and a dumb teenager). I just replaced shocks with sensa tracs up front and max-airs in the rear and like everyone says, it's a night and day difference. Also the Max-airs are air adjustable meaning you can pump them up so they are stiffer and there is a lot less body roll. Nowadays I don't even have the rear swaybar in the truck and it does alright as far as body roll but then again its a lifted truck not a sports car.

 

[H D]

I'm betting your sway bar links are broken. If so, this will be the most bang for your buck.

 

[Hoz Marr]

Thank you all. for those who wanted to know its a 2005 xlt with less than 73K miles on it. On top of the trouble I already have with the sway bar and shocks, fog lights and heated seats. I know have this reving or rubbing noise coming from my right front wheel, checked it did not see anything so assumed it has to be my wheel barrings. Took it to a local mechanic and turns I was correct, he told me it will run me up about $300 to fix it.

I need to get more mechanicly savy as I cannot afford those prices.

Has anyone here ever done the work for the sway bars, shocks and wheel berings? How hard is it, what tools do I need, will my old car jack and rabbits be able to pick the sport trac up????

I need some help, some walk through and advise.



Hoz

 

[Gavin Allan]

I changed all four shocks on my 2003 Adrenalin 4WD. It took me less than an hour and wasn't too difficult. It helped to lower the spare tire to get to the rear upper mounts. I just had a floor jack and a jack stand and it worked fine to just go lift each corner a bit while doing that shock.



Mine were not too bad, but the age of yours- you will probably hope the bolts just snap off instead of trying to screw the nuts from them. Either way, the new hardware comes with the schocks.



Good luck.