Working with the Rear Suspension on a 2006 Ford Explorer
The 2006 Explorer uses a multi-link rear suspension with upper and lower control arms, a trailing link, coil springs, and an integrated shock absorber on each side. If you're looking at a 2006 Ford Explorer Rear Suspension Diagram, you need to understand that this isn't a solid axle setup. It's independent rear suspension, which changes the way parts fail and how you approach repairs. The rear subframe bolts to the unibody structure with six main mount points, and those bolts are notorious for seizing in the cast aluminum tower. I spent three hours last winter working on a customer's 2006 with a cracked right lower control arm. The suspension diagram shows a clean geometry, but in practice, the lower control arm on these vehicles is a stamped steel and welded assembly that cracks near the ball joint mounting flange. You can see stress fractures developing around the ball joint boss if you clean off road grime and shine a light on it. The factory part is sold only as a complete assembly with the ball joint pressed in. Trying to press out the old ball joint and install a replacement is possible with the right tools, but it takes a hydraulic press and a proper ball joint tool kit, and even then the pressed fit rarely holds as well as factory torque specs. Most people just replace the whole lower control arm assembly.
Understanding the 2006 Ford Explorer Rear Suspension Diagram Layout
The diagram breaks down into several major assemblies. On each side you have the upper control arm, the lower control arm, and the trailing arm that locates the wheel hub assembly fore and aft. The coil spring wraps around the shock absorber body, and the whole spring-strut assembly compresses between the lower control arm and the subframe crossmember. The Panhard rod runs laterally across the vehicle to prevent side-to-side movement of the hub assembly under cornering loads. It connects to a bracket on the trailing arm and bolts to the frame rail. One thing that trips people up when reading the diagram is the caster adjustment. The lower control arm has slotted bolt holes at the subframe mounting points, and sliding the arm forward or backward changes caster. But the trailing arm also has adjustment capability through eccentric bushings at the rear subframe end. If you're doing a wheel alignment, both of those need to be checked. I've seen shops dial in toe perfectly and then ignore the caster because the alignment software didn't flag it. The result was the vehicle tracking slightly to the right on the highway, and the driver blaming the alignment tech for a week after the fix. Here's a practical tip that might save you some time. When you remove the rear wheels for any suspension work, mark the wheel position relative to the hub with a paint pen before taking them off. These Explorers have lug patterns that can accept the wheel slightly offset from true center if you're not careful, and while the centering ring usually handles it, I found a case where a replacement wheel sat two millimeters off center and caused a vibration at 70 mph that I couldn't track down for an afternoon. Marking the wheels eliminated that variable.
The rear shock absorbers on the 2006 model are gas-pressurized units that mount with a single lower bolt through the shock body and an upper mount that bolts into the subframe. The upper mounting nuts are accessible from above if you remove the interior trim panel on the wheel well, but most mechanics just drop the rear seat cushion and work down through the wheel well. The lower bolt is typically an M12 and seizes inside the shock body every single time. I use a penetrating oil soak overnight followed by an impact wrench for removal. If the bolt breaks, you're removing the entire trailing arm to access the shock from below, which adds about two hours of labor. The upper control arm ball joints on the 2006 Explorer are a known wear item. Ford issued a service bulletin for premature wear on the upper ball joint on certain production dates between August 2005 and March 2006. If your vehicle falls in that range, the ball joint may have a revised design with a different seal material. Check the part number on the existing ball joint before ordering a replacement. The aftermarket parts catalogs sometimes list the wrong version, and installing an updated ball joint into an older control arm housing can cause binding in the steering axis. When it comes to sourcing diagrams and exploded views, the factory Ford service manual is the most accurate source, but it's expensive unless you have access through a dealership portal or a subscription like AllData or Mitchell1. Those systems will show you the exploded view with part numbers and torque specifications for every fastener in the rear suspension. Free diagrams on forums are often low resolution and sometimes sourced from incorrect model years. The 2005 and 2006 Explorers share the same platform, but there are minor differences in the trailing arm bushing design that can confuse people who aren't paying attention to the part numbers.
Get the Full Details
One limitation of this suspension design is that the trailing arm bushing is a sealed unit that cannot be serviced separately from the arm itself. When the rubber deteriorates and the bushing starts to separate, you have to replace the entire trailing arm assembly. The OEM part runs around two hundred dollars for the left side and slightly more for the right due to the Panhard rod attachment point. Aftermarket options exist but the rubber compound tends to degrade faster than the factory unit, so I tend to recommend the OEM part for this specific component. The lower and upper control arms have replaceable bushings and ball joints available separately if you have the tools and patience to press them out. If you're attempting a full rear suspension rebuild, plan for about eight to ten hours of labor on a driveway setup with basic tools. A professional shop with a lift and air tools will do it in roughly four hours. The most time-consuming step is removing the seized bolts on the subframe mounts, which can add an hour or two if you haven't pre-treated them with penetrating oil ahead of time. The good news is that the suspension geometry is straightforward to realign once everything is back together, and a proper alignment after any control arm replacement will return the handling to factory specifications.
