Torsion bolts

[Hartman]

I was under my truck today tinkering around with the torsion bars, and I found that the bolt on one side is screwed in more than the other side. Pics will explain it better.

Left side:

 

[Hartman]

Notice how the right side is turned in more than the left side:

Should I be worried about this?

 

[coolchris]

no i believe that is normal, if you try to even out the bolts it will just make your explorer lopsided

 

[231Saleen]

Mine where the same way. Now i dont have tortion screws because i lost them going over speed bumps.
I got one low explo.

 

[X24]

Those are really uneven. Mine were pretty close. Are you gonna lower your explorer Hartman?

 

[Hartman]

Yeah I'm gonna lower using the basic method. But I'm not gonna do it until I get new shocks and possibly ball joints. Also, I have to find a shop that is willing to align it (because it's lowered and 18 inch rims).

 

[FrankRizzo]

Mine were and still are way off.
If I look at the a$$ end from a distance, it looks like it's leaning to the driver's side.

 

[benj75]

hartman:
i think i have the answer to your question, check out this quote from a post by GJarrett :

A side issue I had to deal with while doing the torsion/Warrior lift was the fact that I couldn't crank my left torsion bar up very much: I couldn't even get an inch of lift. Upon cleaning up the front of my torsion bars I noticed that they are stamped with their identity; ie, the right one was stamped "BR" for "B" rated right hand torsion bar. I noticed by the stamping that the left one was one-sixth turn off as installed from the factory! I had to remove it, turn it one-sixth turn to its proper alignment, and reinstall it before twisting it up further for the lift. The bar is removed by completely removing the adjusting bolt that is used to do the twist, and then using a special Ford tool designed specifically for the sole purpose of releasing the static pressure on the bar's arm to enable removing the torsion bar. I used a gear puller instead and avoided having to buy the tool. If you must remove your bar you will realize by sight what you need to do once you begin the job. It was an extremely difficult job using the gear puller I had, but I believe a different gear puller or the special Ford tool would have made it a fairly easy job to do.

here's a link to the full post, GJarrett has a sweet EX.
Full Post

my adjuster bolts were in nearly identical positions as yours. with my bolts completely removed it sits 2 1/2" lower on the driver's side and @2 1/4" on the pass. side.

i haven't checked it out yet, but i'm pretty sure my bars are installed differently, too. if so, i'm going to fix it, but i just can't decide if i just want to level my EX or do the flip and get a 3" drop. if i'm already pulling one t-bar, that's half the work it would take to flip both of the adjusters.

the rear of my EX sits @1" higher than the front. with the difference in the front and rear fenderwells, this makes it appear to be more level, even though it's not. but, it would look lower if i leveled it. i played around with photoshop, and it makes a very noticable difference with it sitting level. it definitely makes my EX look lower, i just don't like the illusion of rear end sag.

for more info on pulling the t-bars click here and go to the "Xtech" section.

 

[benj75]

by the way,

i like the new wheels on your EX. It will definitely look sweet after you lower it.

i wouldn't worry about replacing the ball joints before you lower your EX. unless, you check them out and know you've got a problem.

you should think about doing the flip and going down 3". godfather1138's "Project:X" has the same size wheel/tire combo as your EX, and looks niiice dropped 3". the extra inch (you said u were going for 2") makes quite a difference as far as looks are concerned.

here's a link to some recent pics: click here

 

[Hartman]

Well I'm leary about going any further than 2 inches because it's a 4WD.

 

[benj75]

sorry, i forgot. i was drinking, not thinking last night.

i hope the other info was helpful, anyway.

 

[X24]

can someone please tell me again why it is bad to lower a 4X4 more than 2"? I'm lowered just over 2" and my 4X4 still works great.

 

[Hartman]

Really never thought about exactly why you're not supposed to go any lower than that with a 4x4. Ball joints maybe, I dunno. I never use 4WD except a few times in the winter anyway.

 

[X24]

Well 2WD's have ball joints too. The only thing they are missing is the drive shafts going to the wheels. Must have something to do with them having a certain angle on them. I dont use my 4X4 that often, cause most of the time when its snowing, people in my area dont drive. I pretty much just use it to get up my driveway. I do, however, put it in high and low about once a month and drive around my yard just to keep everything working. I figure it couldn't hurt.

 

[benj75]

i think you're not supposed to lower a 4x4 more than 2" b/c of the cv joints.

if dropped further than 2", your front cv joints will be at an angle that will make them wear faster and possibly bind up.

 

[james t]

benj75, you hit the nail on the head.

 

[Hartman]

Originally posted by benj75
i think you're not supposed to lower a 4x4 more than 2" b/c of the cv joints.

if dropped further than 2", your front cv joints will be at an angle that will make them wear faster and possibly bind up.

Does the CV joint rotate in normal 2WD driving or only when 4WD is engaged?

 

[X24]

im pretty sure everything is always moving and the transfer case just locks it all together when put in 4x4.

 

[Hartman]

Ok. Suppose my torsion bars were put together different at the factory as GJarrett, what can I do about this? It's worrying me, because I was to get at least an inch and a half out of the front.

 

[X24]

Well if I remember correctly, he took one of his apart and rotated that arm piece around.