going for the gusto...

[Explorer4u2c]

Holly S#!+ thanks expensive. I REALLY hope i dont have to replace all that crap.... $1,100.00. Is most of that for the MOOG replacement joints ? ?

 

[X24]

Well the upper joints are part of the A-arm. You have to replace the entire thing. He said the upper ones are $198 ea. Dont know about the lower ones but probably no more than $50 ea. 3.5 hours per side for labor.

 

[Explorer4u2c]

GEEEESH.. now i am seriously going to get it looked at tomorrow.....

 

[X24]

Well from what he was saying, they were probably bad before I lowered it and mine has never been abused - strictly on road driving. So, if I were you, I wouldnt be suprised if yours are bad too since its got 40K miles more than mine... (sorry).

 

[Explorer4u2c]

if it is... burn baby burn..... lol. But, I plan on bagging it within a month or two... so it really wont matter the camber anyways.

 

[NaplesBill]

Your truck looks really good Godfather! I like the wheels and I definately like the color of your truck!

 

[X24]

I jacked up my truck to put the bolts back in and while the wheels were off the ground I gave them a shake and felt nothing. I was pushing and pulling so hard I thought it was gonna fall off the jack stands. Now I'm starting to wonder. Second opinon on the ball joints tomorrow.

 

[Johnny V]

...the last time I had ball joints go out on a car was a few years ago on my 67 Pro Street Nova.
You could tell because it clunked , sqeeeked, and the passenger side tire looked like this /---|.

How did you discover they were bad (or not)?

Johnny V.

 

[X24]

Well I took it to ford to have them confirm that my blend door was broken so I would have a case when I call ford customer service and they came out with: Broken blend door, worn upper and lower ball joints, cracked fan belt, and radiator and tranny fluid need to be flushed. The dealership is under new ownership (thats a good thing) and they have excellent customer service. One of their new things is to check over the whole car when it comes in for any service and give you a free coffee and danish while they tell you the list of everything they found wrong. I'm going to my friends shop tomorrow and I'll see if he has time to throw it on the lift to check the joints. If they are bad will shaking the wheel tell you for sure because I was rocking that truck on the jack stands and I didnt feel any knocking or anything.

 

[Godfather 1138]

What the hell? All my pics were working earlier, but now they are not...what's up with that??????

EDIT: Ok, it seems that Yahoo does not like for you to link the pics to more than one place at a time. I (think) have fixed the new X pics, and will go back and do the same for the tech ones tomorrow (if needed).

WHat a pain posting pics can be. Thank you all for your paticence with me and my crazyness

 

[Johnny V]

...hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm "dealership"?

I worked the parts counter for a Pontiac, Buick, GMC dealer several years ago for about 3 yrs.

After that experience I wouldn't trust any dealer.

****Please no hate mail that's just my opnion based on my own personal experiences****

All I'm saying is get a second opnion, and when you do don't tell them that you think anything might be wrong.

Good luck man!!!
Keep us posted,

Johnny V.

 

[X24]

Alright, I stopped at my buddys shop this afternoon and he says that the upper joint on the drivers side is worn but could go another 6 months. The passengers side had no movement. When I do eventually get them replaced I will use the MOOG joints because they are greaseable and stronger. I have never seen a ford 4X4 that has had no problems with the front end after a year so ford ball joints are out of the question. I put my torsion bolts back in and gave them each 2 full turns. I'll leave it like this for a while and watch my tires. I'll save my pennies in the mean time.

 

[benj75]

98FordX24: I'm glad to hear your ball joint situation isn't as bad as you originally thought. i'm still looking forward to seeing pics of your EX after the air dam install and paint work.

How does not having the torsion bar adjuster bolts in hurt anything? How is the ride on your monroe reflex shocks? Do they eliminate/improve the bounce you get when running stock shocks on a lowered EX? I was going to get doestch tech(sp?) shocks and do the torison flip for a 4 inch drop. but after finding out how much replacing the ball joints cost, i'm not sure i want to put the extra stress on them. I'm going to have my joints inspected before i decide on lowering any further.

Godfather 1138: your ride is looking sweet, can't wait to see what's next.

what brand of wheels are those and are they 18's? they look really good on your EX.

are you planning on shaving the roof rack? I'd like to, but would rather spend the money on other mods, first. i took both of the crossbars off, but then the side rails looked out of place. so, i put just the rear crossbar back on and i think this looks better than having both or none at all. you may want to try it (only takes a minute) and see what you think.

about posting pics: sites that offer free website or image hosting will not allow any of your images to be displayed on other servers. because it eats up their bandwidth and eliminates the banner advertising that allows them to offer you the service for free.

the cheapest way to be able to post pictures on this board would be to become an elite member.

or, you could just build a website and insert a link to photos in your posts. if you'd like, i could build you a sweet looking site with custom graphics. i'd do it for you for free, as i appreciate all of the help you've given me. plus, it's been awhile and I've been wanting to build another site, anyway. I haven't went "for the gusto" yet, but your thread did inspire me to get off my arse and do a 2 1/4" drop.

 

[X24]

ben... I like how my truck handles. Its not as bouncy as stock height. I would say it rides more like a car now. I dont know how the monroes are compared to the stock shocks because I did everything at once. Beats me as to why the bolts have anything to do with ball joints wearing out. I think the guy misunderstood me when I said I took them out. I think he thought the t-bar was just sorta floating around. However, I did put them back in a little. Eventually I will get my joints replaced but at least now I can get my rims

 

[Godfather 1138]

Ben,

Thank you for the compliments. The wheels are 18x8.5 Akuza Sublimes. I am DEFINATELY planning on shaving the rack as soon as I get my new place (praying for a garage ). That rack just looks like crap on there with the drop. I am also going to shave the door handles, and remove the molding. As I said, I am waiting until I get a place with a garage as I plan to do all this myself...the best way to mod your ride is with your own hands.

If you are serious about the site, I would love for you to do it. I have been needing a reilable place to put some pics of my projects, and possibly a few tec-pages as well. Just let me know what you need from me and I'll do everything I can to help make this happen. Thank you for offering to do this for me. I might have done it one of these days, but it's hard for me to find much free time now days to do that sort of thing (that and I've only done one site and it sucked )

To everyone else...
EDIT: I just noticed that I had not thanked everyone for all of your kind words. Thank you, it is for people like you that I do things like these. And Bill, I still like the color of yours better I am forever cursed with red cars

again, I am sorry that every free host site on the net sucks so bad. I will get the pics back up asap.

"Know fear so that you may confront it. Only then will you conquer it and move foward in life."
Keep on modding!

 

[RvExplorerRV]

Sup guys.
I've been following this message board for a while now, and last night i took out one of the bolts to lower my front end a little, here is what actually happend:
I lowered it in the front about an inch and a half, now this is only with one bolt and it doesn't look lopsided. Is this normal? Should i go ahead and take out the other one? How would i go about lowering it even more? And how would i go about lowering the back? Another question that i have to ask is: Will the lack of these bolts cause any kind of damage to my X. Thanks guys for helpin out, and sorry if these questions have been answered. Just point me in the right direction. Thanks

G.

 

[RvExplorerRV]

Godfather i would love to see some pics of your truck. Thats stuff sounds like it looks good. We got a shaved explorer and ranger driving around here in good old SC. We got a white ranger shaved everything off i mean it doesn't have door handles that stuff in the front like windshield wiper or any of the good stuff in the front. He has his talegate molded to the rest of the truck. Stuff looks BAD. The explorer only has his doorhandles shaved but it still looks good.

G.

 

[Johnny V]

RvExplorerRV
If you read this thread(going for the gusto) from 1st post to this post , it will answer all the questions you have.

Also, I have not done anything to mine yet and one side sits lower than the other. Came from factory that way???

Get to readin', and good luck!

Late,
Johnny V.

 

[93BLUEXLT]

Hey RV explorer. what part of SC are you from?

 

[RvExplorerRV]

Columbia