I took my explorer into the local Ford dealer to get an unrelated recall accomplished. The dealer offered a free 17 point inspection while I was there. At the end of the inspection they told me the right rear spring was broken at the top of the spring. I didn't believe them, so I asked to see the break. Sure enough, it was broken clean through. It being broken with only 67K on the vehicle really ticked me off. But what really made me mad, was there was no indication that it was broken while driving the vehicle. The family and I are about to hit the road for the holidays and now I have to get if fixed or fix it myself in the next three days. I called the dealer back after finding out on-line that these springs seem to fail at about 70K and asked if there was an improved spring part number to replace this spring. They had nothing to report and blamed salt on the roads and corrosion for the failures. All I know is I won't be buying any Ford parts to replace my springs.

This should not have happened at 7yrs old and only 70,000 miles. We were on our way back home from a 300 mile round-trip visit and crossed a low spot in a state route that was an area where a new culvert had been put in a few months ago. It's not like we hit a crater! After we crossed the dip in the road the SUV felt like the strut had given out. It swayed and rode stiff. When my husband jacked the vehicle up and started to remove the visibly broken coil spring it fell off in 3 pieces. It took a while to figure out how to put it back together since he didn't have to take it apart. There are definite signs that this one has been broken for a long time. There was very little area that showed new breakage - maybe about one third of the diameter of the spring in one place. Not only did this spring break side to side but also had a 2" area that was split in the middle longways. When he took the second one off it was in 2 pieces. This one had also been broken for quite some time and had little new breakage area. It probably finished breaking when the other one broke and separared from itself. It only cost us $125 for a set of springs at Advanced Auto and we were able to borrow a set of coil spring compressors. I feel bad for people who have to have it done at a garage. You can't find a set of springs around here at a junkyard. We were told that they are sold faster than they can get them off the vehicle. Makes me wonder just how bad this problem is.

I was quoted $150 per side for labor and $106 for each spring, plus tax. When I called for the quote the Ford garage had another 2002 Explorer in there for the same problem. I feel very lucky that there was not any other damage to my Explorer and very very lucky we didn't have a wreck. Ford really nneeds to do something about this. These vehicles are already top heavy and this could cause a real problem. I hate to think what might have happened if we had been off-road on a slight grade.

Took my explorer in for NYS Inspection and they found the right rear coil spring had rusted and broken completely. Cost 192.49 to replace both rear coil springs. Ford should not use such cheap parts. Coil springs should not be shearing and breaking with under 100k miles, or with any mileage for that matter.

Update from Aug 22, 2009: I took my explorer in for NYS Inspection and they found the right rear coil spring had rusted and broken completely. I bought the parts from Advance for $101.10 and took them to a small local shop to have them installed, this cost me $192.49 for labor to replace both rear coil springs. Total cost $293.59. Ford should not use such cheap parts. Coil springs should not be shearing and breaking at any mileage, let alone under 100k.

While my wife was driving down the road she heard a loud clunk noise and then it sounded like something was rubbing. Had to have the truck towed to the dealership to find the rear spring broke. Had to replace both rear springs and struts. I now know of 3 other people in my area that have had the same problem. I called FMC to complain and was told "you live in northern Indiana and snow and salt are what caused the problem." seems funny no other car companies have had this problem. I guess you are not supposed to drive 4 WD in snow!!!!!

Well, let's see: Have had the transmission rebuilt twice. Have had the shocks replaced prematurely, gone through three sets of tires, replaced the rear hatch window twice, brake rotors on all four corners twice. Driver's door window controls fail to operate about 40% of the time. Driver's seat back needs constant tightening. Undiagnosed hard starting problem whenever the weather is damp. All this, and I am by no means rough on the truck (I put about 18K miles on per year), and I have it maintained exclusively by my dealership! Rarely go off road, and then only on soft sand, no rough stuff. BUT: I love this damned truck! When it's right, it runs like a champ, is as comfortable as a Lincoln, and gets respectable mileage (I average 17 mpg combined, on regular). And my service adviser has been EXTREMELY helpful: She had the trans rebuilt the first time on Ford's dime, even after the extended warranty ran out, and covered the brake job the first time as well, also out of warranty. Would I buy another one? After 20+ years of Fords (from Mustangs to F-150's to this Explorer), I guess I'm used to the lack of quality.

And from the horror stories I've heard from GM & Dodge/Jeep owners - no thanks!

Another F.O.R.D. failure. The rear coil spring cracked at the top of the spring. They are sold in pairs, so I replaced both. This is an endless and continuing failure rate for the parts on this particular vehicle.

Please do your research before buying one of these used. Many other parts have failed and now tops $20,000 in repairs (with documentation) to this vehicle since purchased new in September of 2002. We made the dealership throw in the extended warranty when the purchase was made. Now we are paying for all the repairs since the time limit on the warranty has run out.

Now that the my left rear coil spring has broken, I have spent over $6,000k in repair costs with this vehicle. I had to replace the engine, four wheel bearings, the front drivers side window control, rear passengers window motor and left rear control arm. I'll have rebuilt the truck here shortly. I just can not understand why there is no coil spring recall? Even my Ford Focus' springs were replaced for free. They know there's a problem with them and it should be dealt with because its clearly a safety issue.