Arrives before Christmas To see if this custom-fit item will work for you please tell us what vehicle you'll use it with.
2,000-lb Capacity. Convert your Ford Explorer's leaf springs into a mechanically active suspension system. RAS adjusts to your load to level your ride. The system also increases stability, handling, and control by improving traction and reducing sway.
Features:
Specs:
All-In-One Suspension System
When towing or hauling a heavy load, you may encounter a number of problems that can make your driving experience difficult or dangerous, such as sway, body roll, or bottoming out. When your vehicle is weighted down, your factory leaf springs can't counteract these problems to the extent that they are supposed to. The weight will overpower the leaf springs and cause them to twist or flatten out. When that happens, they cannot support, level, or stabilize your vehicle effectively. Additionally, because your factory leaf springs are passive, they won't begin to tackle problems such as sway until those problems have already started.
RoadActive Suspension (RAS) kits enhance those passive leaf springs by converting them into a mechanically active, all-in-one suspension system. RAS kits have variable-rated coil tension springs that automatically adjust to your heavy load. Other suspension systems only solve a few problems and usually at the expense of other improvements your factory leaf springs may need. RAS, on the other hand, is a unique kit that provides everything you want in a suspension system without any trade-offs. It eliminates bottoming out like air springs, reduces sway and body roll like sway bars, keeps your ride level like helper springs, and improves traction and braking control like traction bars. This improves your vehicle's stability, handling, and control while you are towing or hauling, as well as when your vehicle is unloaded. RAS also makes your overall driving and towing experience safer and more comfortable, which greatly lessens driver fatigue.
Each RAS unit has a powerful variable-rated coil tension spring that converts your passive leaf spring into a mechanically-active system. Once your vehicle is loaded, the tension springs immediately activate to absorb and support the weight. This allows your leaf springs to maintain their bowed position and keeps them from flattening out or flipping over, which greatly hinders their ability to bear a heavy load. The tension springs are variable-rated, which means that the heavier your load is, the more assistance they provide to your leaf springs. Because of this design, RAS reacts instantaneously, whereas hydraulics, air springs, and other suspension systems take time to react. And unlike your factory leaf springs, RAS stops sway and sag before they even start to happen. Additionally, when your vehicle is unloaded, the tension springs disengage, allowing your leaf springs to perform as intended without hardening your ride. RAS won't hinder your leaf springs' movement, nor will it cause any friction between any of the brackets.
When under a heavy load, leaf springs are especially susceptible to axle wrap, which can cause wheel hop. Wheel hop is when the tires lose their grip on the road, causing a jarring, up-and-down movement. Axle wrap occurs when the circular motion of the tires cause the leaf springs to twist or rotate. If the leaf springs twist far enough, wheel hop can occur. RAS stabilizes your leaf springs by absorbing the force of the load they're trying to support. This eliminates axle wrap and wheel hop, as well as prevents your vehicle from bottoming out. Because of this, less strain is put on your vehicle. And by reducing some of this wear and tear, RAS helps extend the life of your leaf springs, shock absorbers, shackles, and even tires.
When driving along a curve while towing or hauling a heavy load, the back end of your vehicle or trailer can start to shift with that weight. If your factory leaf springs have flattened or twisted under this load, they won't be able to prevent it from shifting. Because of this, your trailer will sway away from your vehicle. This makes driving challenging and dangerous, as it increases the risk of body roll, which is when your vehicle drastically leans to one side. This can often cause you to completely lose control of your vehicle. Body roll is especially prevalent with multi-passenger vans and vehicles towing long campers, trailers, or boats. RAS provides a much safer ride by reinforcing your factory leaf springs and stabilizing your load. This helps prevent sway from occurring and reduces the chance of body roll while cornering, turning, and swerving. RAS also lessens the rocking motion that happens during windy conditions or when a semi passes by on the road.
When your vehicle is overloaded, the bulk of the weight transfers to the rear axle. Your factory leaf springs then become overwhelmed by this weight, as they are not strong enough to support it. This causes the back end of your vehicle to sag and the front end to rise, which means that the front tires have lost some of the grip they need with the road. In addition to loss of traction, it can also cause poor headlight aim, unintentional swerving, and an extremely bumpy and uncomfortable ride. RAS bolsters your factory leaf springs and enables them to provide support for your load without compromising ride quality or comfort. This keeps your ride level from front to back whether you are hauling a load in the bed or towing a boat, trailer, or camper. RAS also ensures that your tires have the traction they require while braking and accelerating, which improves the overall driving experience.
RAS is also customizable. During installation, the coil tension springs can be adjusted to 2 different tension settings or anywhere in between for improved road handling and support. To do this, rotate the springs while keeping the threaded rod still. As you turn the spring, use one of the 2 included spacers as a gauge to measure the widening gaps between the coils. In order for the RAS units to work as intended, you must tension the coils to a minimum of 25 percent with the 1mm white spacer and no more than 40 percent with the 2mm spacer. The springs can also be independently adjusted to compensate for off-center loads such as a handicap lift.
This custom-fit kit comes fully assembled and is easy to install. Each RAS unit simply bolts onto your factory leaf spring with the included hardware, and drilling, welding, and cutting aren't required. First, position the eye hook bracket so that it wraps around the top of the factory leaf spring eye. Then the axle bracket secures under the leaf spring and around the factory U-bolts on the other side of the leaf spring pack. Once the maintenance-free RAS units are fully installed, you won't need to monitor them as you would with air springs.
RAS is extremely durable and corrosion-resistant. The units are constructed of high-grade alloy steel, and they have an epoxy e-coat on the coil springs to provide extreme corrosion resistance. The brackets on the ends of each unit resist the effects of water and other elements, and they have a salt spray rating of more than 800 hours.
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Hi, everybody, Andy here with etrailer.com. Let's take a real quick look at this RoadActive Suspension custom leaf spring enhancement kit. Now this kit is designed to fit your 1991 to 2003 Ford Explorer, then your 2001 to 2005 Explorer Sport Trac, and then your 1997 to 2001 Mercury Mountaineer. On custom-fit parts such as this kit, I do recommend taking advantage of our Vehicle Fit Guide here at etrailer.com. Just input the year, make, and model of your vehicle, and our Fit Guide will confirm if this will work for you or if we have something comparable that will work for you. So as you probably know, when towing or hauling a heavy load, you may encounter a number of problems that can make your driving experience a little bit difficult and even dangerous, such as sway, body roll, or bottoming out.
When your vehicle is weighted down, your factory leaf springs can't counteract these problems to the extent that they are supposed to. The weight will overpower those factory leaf springs and cause them to twist and even flatten out. When that happens, they're not gonna be able to support, level, or stabilize your vehicle effectively. Additionally, because your leaf springs are passive, they won't begin to tackle the problems such as sway until those problems have already started. This kit will convert your vehicle's factory leaf springs into a mechanically active suspension system.
It will actively strengthen the leaf springs for improved ride quality with or without a load, and this all-in-one suspension system will improve stability, handling, and control. It will eliminate axle wrap, wheel hop, and bottoming out. Will also help reduce dangerous sway and body roll when you're cornering, and it will even keep your ride level when you're towing or hauling a heavy load, improving your traction while braking and accelerating. It does use the variable-rated coil tension springs, which will automatically adjust to your vehicle's load. They activate immediately to support the extra weight and they'll disengage when unloaded, allowing your leaf springs to perform as intended.
These can be adjusted during installation to accommodate your towing or hauling needs, and they are independently adjustable for side-to-side leveling of any off-center loads. So these are gonna help extend the life of your leaf springs, your shock absorbers, your shackles, and even your tires. These are made here in the USA and they're constructed of a durable epoxy e-coated steel. The corrosion-resistant brackets on the ends of each unit have a salt spray rating of more than 800 hours, and this is gonna be a pretty easy bolt-on installation. What's nice about this kit is there's no drilling, there's no cutting, there's no welding needed.
This is going to secure under the leaf springs and around your factory U-bolts. On your screen, I've got a picture, and kind of like a diagram there, just giving you an idea of what the installation is going to look like and how these are going to work with your springs. These do arrive fully assembled. The hardware is included, so as you see it here on my table, this is what you're gonna take out of the box. So they're gonna be very easy to assemble, ready to go. These are maintenance-free. Adjustments and monitoring aren't gonna be needed once they are installed. The capacity is 2,000 pounds, but I do want to make sure that you understand the fact that this kit does not actually increase your vehicle's weight carrying capacity. Just so you're aware of that. Instructions are included to guide you through the operation and installation, and I think that's gonna wrap up our real quick look today. I do hope that it was helpful for you. Again, my name is Andy, thank you for joining me.
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