Possible susspension woes (shock recommendations)!

[toobsluver]

Again I haven't been on here in a while and I know everyone reccommends Billstein shocks. Now mind you I have a 2WD PSD Excursion. As of right now I have Rancho 9000 10 Way adjustables on the rear and Pro Comp shocks on the front. MY TRUCK RIDES LIKE ****! Every crack and bump in the road feels like I am going off road. I took my truck to get aligned this pass Friday. The same place that aligned it last year. This time I was told that there was no adjustment needed and everything was fine. So I got talking to the guy regarding how it rides, I told him that the rims are stock 16 inch but the tires are load rated E because I do tow occasionally. He said what can hurt your suspension and can cause a rough ride is because of the wide foot print of my tire and the weight of the tire and rim together can cause alot of suspension movement and make for a rougher ride. Can anyone comment on this and any reccommendation on new shocks? I am also thinking of getting new tires and rims maybe moving up to a 17 inch rim. Trying to find a lighter package but still beable to tow my 3,000 lb drag car.

 

[bushpilot]

id agree w/ the alignment guy...

E rated tires have a stiffer sideway...so they can carry the load...you
could reduce the air pressure in the tires and see if the ride improves
but again youd be reducing the load capacity at the same time.

you dont mention the mileage....have you ever had the balljoints
replaced ?

 

[toobsluver]

Yeah I just hit 90,000. The alignment guy said that the left upper is a little loose and I am hearing popping in the front end with a hard quick right turn. I might get them done soon.

 

[bushpilot]

that could be a LARGE part of your issue...dont know the mileage
on the shocks but they could be toast too...

on my factory JUNK i actually had SLOP on the rebound/extension,
shocks, poly sway bar bushings and ball joints resolved my ride issues....
and i was barely ticking over 50k miles on mine.

 

[toobsluver]

You still in Iraq? Yeah The shocks are over 3 years old. I even think the pro comps are actually rated for an explorer. They didnt even give me the right mounting equipment. That could be part of the problem. I am going to get urethane/poly bushings with the sway bar in the front as well as billstein all around. I also have a sway bar in the rear. Something that always bothered me, why the hell is the sway bar so close to the differential casing?