Seven problems related to suspension torsion bar have been reported for the 1996 Ford Explorer. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Driver side front torsion bar broke/split, approximately at its half length position, while sitting in the driveway during the summer. Fix was to donate vehicle.
Left front sway bar link snapped off at the top bolt. Vehicle started swaying back and forth heavily. At 60 mph.
I am associated with the u. S. Airforce, stationed at raf lakenheath, england. Within the past three weeks both left and right rods connecting the foward anti-sway brace to the frame have sheared off while driving. The effect of this was excessive bouncing and loss of smooth control of the stearing. Both incidents occurred at aproximately fifty miles an hour. My speed had to be reduced to aprox. Thirty miles an hour to maintain a reasonable control and stability. Part of the rods remained in the sway bar, until I removed them for replacement. The only damage that I observed to the rod was where the shear occurred.
The sway bar linkage was entirely missing. At approximately 70 mph, the car started swaying back and forth progressively harder, until the brakes were apprlied. I installed the new parts to replace those missing and the car now drive prefectly normally. It felt like the car would roll over if allowed to continue the side-to-side oscillation.
I noticed bouncing of the vehicle when traveling over dips in the road. I would imagine this problem is very wide spread but is not noticeable to many people because the of the "firmness" of the other parts of the suspension. Such as the torsion bars. I had front shocks replaced after pressuring the ditschman Ford(flemington, NJ) dealership pretty hard. I noticed the difference immediately. The problem seemed to reappear again after only 4,000 additional miles. The same problem seems to be true of the rear shocks also. This problem results in bouncing and diving of the nose of the vehicle during hard braking. I would imagine in emergency(severe)handling the vehicle would not perform as expected. I am now considering an aftermarket set of shocks.
Consumer received recall letter concerning the front swaybar links, but had problems with dealership concerning the actual implementation of service, consumer was informed that the parts were not available as of yet and to return a later time.
Front torsion bar separated, causing vehicle to sway from side to side . Dealer has repaired vehicle.