2020 Expy • Suspension • Wife gets motion sickness due to body roll in passenger seat

[theblackpearl]

I own a 2020 Expy Limited, which was a former rental car with 60K miles. I love it.
But I feel like the suspension is a bit jumpy. Bigger issue, is wife complains of motion sickness on this car the moment we leave straight highways.
Friend tells me that the suspension will be the issue here. Is that so? Can I replace with a new stock suspension to make it better? Are there any aftermarket shocks that are better?

 

[duneslider]

It seems that the few who have mentioned this issue put stiffer front and rear swaybars on and that did the trick for them.

 

[theblackpearl]

Ah interesting. Let me take a look at the posts.

 

[2020FordRaptor]

Yes sway bats will help a lot. Hellwig is a popular good one.

 

[Bmac1955]

Just recently replaced front and rear swaybars with Hellwig products. Also had Bilstein shocks installed at the same time. This took care of all of the body sway and an improvement in the comfort of the ride. Mine had just turned 40k and it is a 2019 xlt.

 

[theblackpearl]

Did yo

Just recently replaced front and rear swaybars with Hellwig products. Also had Bilstein shocks installed at the same time. This took care of all of the body sway and an improvement in the comfort of the ride. Mine had just turned 40k and it is a 2019 xlt.

did you I change them yourself ? If not, how much did it cost ?

 

[Bmac1955]

I had everything done at a Specialty repair shop. The work on all types of off road vehicles along with suspension modes. He in Southern Cali the shop is always busy. All parts replaced and an Alignment was just about $2800. To me it was worth it. Retired and wasn't looking for projects to do. To be honest with you, I don't even like changing the oil and Filter. Although I get that changed every 5k miles. I use to do all the maintenance on everything I owned which was a lot. Vehicles, Boats, trailers and other equipment that needed repairs. Glad I am over that period and moved on to just kicking back and relaxing. Life is Good.

 

[theblackpearl]

I had everything done at a Specialty repair shop. The work on all types of off road vehicles along with suspension modes. He in Southern Cali the shop is always busy. All parts replaced and an Alignment was just about $2800. To me it was worth it. Retired and wasn't looking for projects to do. To be honest with you, I don't even like changing the oil and Filter. Although I get that changed every 5k miles. I use to do all the maintenance on everything I owned which was a lot. Vehicles, Boats, trailers and other equipment that needed repairs. Glad I am over that period and moved on to just kicking back and relaxing. Life is Good.

Got it - 2800$ is what I expected. Pretty expensive, but guess it was worth it. Do you think the ride quality is much better now?

 

[Bmac1955]

To me it was worth the money spent. I didn't like the booble head effect of the ride on different types of surfaces and unstable lean while cornering. This installation of upgraded parts fit the bill for ride quality. It is a truck platform I get it......but I wanted stability and comfort and that's what I achieved. BTW. FORD shocks really aren't quality parts. Which is shameful for them. I hope that helps.

 

[dlcorbett]

Do you have 20in or 22in wheels. If you have 20in wheels you have the base suspension, which is actually pretty firm and tight. If it's loose feeling, you may need new shocks. Alot ppl change em out with bilsteins and probably best opt for long term ownership.

If you have ccd, it feels looser than the base springs, so to reign in the body roll, you will need to put it in sport mode. The ccd shocks hold up better than the base shocks, but you may also look to make sure they aren't failing.

The body roll compared to the cx9 will always be prominent. We have one as well and the handling difference between it and my nav is stark. The nav is smoother on the straights (albeit more trucky) but on turns its like a boat.

The vibrations is the truck part of the vehicle. The fords have very bad mounts, causing the body to constantly shake. I hate this myself. I cha get my wheels and tires which helped alot, but on any roads not smooth, the body shakes like a moracca. You unfortunately can't fix that.

 

[duneslider]

If you are just doing sway bars that is super easy to do and should NOT cost 2800. When I had my xlt I did the shocks myself in half a day, I would say that is not something for someone that doesn't work on cars but the swaybars are super easy and most people could do them pretty fast. A shop with it on a lift would be able to make really quick work of sway bars. I would seriously guess about an hour each.

The sway bars were hard to get for a while there, not sure how available they are at the moment.

 

[Deadman]

The sway bars fixed all the BS side to side motion sickness garbage in my 2018 Expedition. I put them in when it only had a few thousand miles on it, so the factory shocks were still working well. The sway bars alone wiped out all the motion sickness bobble head movement. It was so annoying before the sway bars, I was seriously ready to sell it, it was a Pathetic vehicle. Now it handles soooooooo much better and all that stupid movement and roll is GONE! I went Hellwig front and rear. The rear helped a lot itself, but honestly get them both, its great!

 

[Lynnii2]

I had everything done at a Specialty repair shop. The work on all types of off road vehicles along with suspension modes. He in Southern Cali the shop is always busy. All parts replaced and an Alignment was just about $2800. To me it was worth it. Retired and wasn't looking for projects to do. To be honest with you, I don't even like changing the oil and Filter. Although I get that changed every 5k miles. I use to do all the maintenance on everything I owned which was a lot. Vehicles, Boats, trailers and other equipment that needed repairs. Glad I am over that period and moved on to just kicking back and relaxing. Life is Good.

If you don't mind sharing the name of the shop you used? I also like in Southern California area.

 

[Bmac1955]

That would be ORW in Murrieta.

 

[Lynnii2]

That would be ORW in Murrieta.

Thanks, I have seen that shop off Jefferson Ave.

 

[Bmac1955]

That's the one. They have to order the parts and generally take a week to get. Special order. Just a heads up. Nice shop to deal with and accommodating.

 

[theblackpearl]

Thanks. I am considering just the sway bar change to start.

But man they are expensive. Run ~800 for both front and rear hellwigs! Did not know a simple rod could be this expensive lol

 

[Bmac1955]

Perhaps look into replacing just the front swaybar plus front shocks. I am sure you'll notice the difference. OEM shocks aren't that good. Not sure if you had replaced front shocks replaced yet. There is a lot of weight in that nose of the vehicle. Just my opinion. Also, the front swaybar is thicker in diameter other than a OEM product.

 

[Deadman]

Perhaps look into replacing just the front swaybar plus front shocks. I am sure you'll notice the difference. OEM shocks aren't that good. Not sure if you had replaced front shocks replaced yet. There is a lot of weight in that nose of the vehicle. Just my opinion. Also, the front swaybar is thicker in diameter other than a OEM product.

The rear sway bar helped MUCH MUCH more than the front sway bar did. Jut a FYI

 

[Lynnii2]

Thanks. I am considering just the sway bar change to start.

But man they are expensive. Run ~800 for both front and rear hellwigs! Did not know a simple rod could be this expensive lol

I just checked prices and the front #7696 $448.05 and rear #7688 $345.37 on https://www.summitracing.com/cart this was the cheapest i could fine. I can install it myself at home and save some more money.