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Ford Explorer Community - Maintenance - Modifications - Performance Upgrades - Problem Solving - Off-Road - Street
Explorer Forum Covers the Explorer ST, Explorer Sport, Explorer Sport Trac, Lincoln Aviator, Mercury Mountaineer, Mazda Navajo, Ford Ranger, Mazda Pickups, and the Ford Aerostar
>I have not experienced any sag from a torsion bar suspension like you may get from a coil spring suspension.
>>I've heard of it happening. Torsion bar fatigue and
bushing wear. Affects the front end settings.
Re: It's A Mystery!
>Did you ever get a print out after any of these alignments?
>>I saw the the readouts on the screens and saw
the results on the printouts(I wrote down the
camber settings).
>Have you ever had it checked "old school" style with hand held gauges...
That's possible! Though it would have come that way from the factory. I only had about 1200 mi. on the truck when I lowered it. The more miles the front suspension has on it, the more likely the camber will need to be adjusted if the truck is lowered.
Once more. I still have my notes from '00 that I took so I could keep track of the height(in case I decide to put it back to stock height)-
Measuring from the bottom of the wheel opening molding to the level ground:
-Left front before lowering- 33 9/16"
-Right front before lowering- 34 1/4"...
Not necessarily. I lowered my '99 Sport(2wd) back in '01 and had my camber checked about 50-60 miles after lowering it and it was well within spec. I had it checked again last Fall and it's still ok.
Guys, need some expert advice/opinions. If anyone is familiar with them, I'd like you to tell me what you think of the '00 Limited with the 5.0, 4 spd auto trans, AWD(reliability, any known problems with AWD, etc.).
Thanks
Rick
rcogswell@titan.com
>>I had to level the drivers front side yesterday. There was about an 1/2" difference from the passenger side.<<
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Bill, fine looking truck. Not sure where your gas tank is located on your model, but if it's on the left passenger side like my '99...
>>What are shims<<
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They're just spacers. If you lower your truck a certain amount, and it knocks your camber out of it's acceptable range(in degrees), you'll need to have it adjusted(or you'll screw up your tires). Shims are used to make these adjustments, they come...
>>well i can only guess i went about 3-4" in the front and about 2/3" in the rear<<
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fastazz, what is the total thickness of the factory spacers in the rear of your '98? If it's the same as my '99 2wd Sport, my four spacers add up to 1-9/16", so that's...
>>Unfortunately the '01 Sports come with a multi-leaf rear so I had to use blocks<<
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That's what I like about my 2wd, it didn't cost me a cent to lower it(it's actually probably close to a 2in. drop once it settled).
Beautiful truck you have. Love those...
>>I haven't removed them and I haven't bottomed out(YET). I don't know if it's because the '01 Sports come with progressive rate spring from the factory, but the ride so fars is excellent. It does seem a little too soft but nowhere near as bouncy as it was before. I am hoping the new shocks will...
>>you are right, a torsion bar is not like a coil spring<<
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Not true. A torsion bar IS like a coil spring(research it). When a coil spring is compressed, the force required to compress the spring is a result of twisting the wire/bar in the coil. If...
>>when you flip the locator (or whatever you wanna call it) you are mounting the bar in a way that it will have much less preload on it. and less preload=softer spring rate<<
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Yes. It's like putting softer coil springs on a vehicle. The load may be the...
>>Also, I ordered the Edelbrock shocks and they should be in next week<<
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If you've already ordered new shocks(assume because you're doing a lowering job), and you plan to do the "torsion thingy" to lower it even more, how do you know the new shocks...
It's not bad. Not too far off from the original back in the 60's, believe it was called one of the most beautiful factory built sports cars ever(of course strictly for racing, less stylish). I love the look in general. Get rid of the yellow paint, the white letter tires and the neon silver...
Exhaust
Here's what I chose-
A single stainless steel Dynomax UltraFlo(straight through) 2-in, 1-out, 2 1/4" stainless tailpipe, on my '99 OHV 4.0. It's a little louder than stock(nice rumble) and they have much better performance numbers than Flowmaster or even Borla. I've heard Flows on...
I propose they dump the name. It's an insult to the legendary '64 Fairlane Thunderbolt. That my friends, was a factory hotrod (I had it's plain brother, a 289ci Sport Coupe).
True, altering the height on any vehicle affects the steering geometry. And I read something similar to what you did about the Sport too, but I don't recall whether they were referring to both 4wd and 2wd(mines 2wd). I backed the bolts out of my adjusters all the way. Drove the truck about...
I wasn't paying full attention when giving some info above. You guys have XLT's and/or 4wd. On a 2wd Sport, you don't have to reset the camber after the front is lowered and the leaf spring spacer blocks which come on it from the factory can be used as lowering blocks.
You need to jack the front up to take pressure off of the torsion bars. It's not a good idea to back out the bolts with the weight of the truck twisting on the bars. Make sure you mark a starting point on each of the two bolts where they are right now so when you back them out you know exactly...
lowering instructs
Geez, now I really wish I came across this X forum a long time ago. I wouldn't have beaten brains trying to find a shop that works on X's. I also just put out a new thread called 4.0 Sport Mods. I figured out about loosening up the torsion bars(all the way, to get about 2in.)...
Hey all, I just found this forum(wished I had come across it a couple of years ago). Hadn't been able to find anyone who's played around with Sports(specifically 2wd). No offense to you 4dr guys out there, but I'm sure there's others who like me think that the mid-late '90's 2dr's are about the...