Ride quality after drop (sorry, long) | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Ride quality after drop (sorry, long)

the_tool_man

Well-Known Member
Joined
June 6, 2002
Messages
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City, State
Spartanburg, SC
Year, Model & Trim Level
'01 Sport 4x4
Hi all:

Last night, we got the camber adjusters put on, and did a 2" TT drop on the front. I'm getting new tires next week, and wanted to get this done before the alignment. We did attempt to get the camber close, but couldn't really check caster or toe. I did not trim the bump stops.

The reason I'm posting this is that many have complained that their ride quality was bad after the drop. I've already driven about 50 miles on it, and I would have to say that for 99% of any bumps I've encountered, I could feel no difference in ride quality. I managed to bottom it out going over a railroad track, but that was a rough one before the drop, too. I do notice more bump-steer, but an alignment may help that some. I guess every Explorer is different, but I'm really glad I dropped mine. BTW, I didn't touch the rear, because it was already sagging, even on the stock non-monoleaf springs. Now, it looks level.

I may get the EE bumpstops, just to eliminate that 1%. But I don't see how to replace them without taking apart the ball joints and dropping the lower A-arm. Or, I guess I could just cut the factory bumpstops. Any recommendations on how much to cut, or how to get the stops off without taking everything apart again?

Several have also said that the suspension will settle some after the drop. I'll keep an eye on that, but I don't think mine will. We loosened the lower A-arm bushings and jounced the suspension after every adjustment. My mechanic/buddy said if you don't, they can tear because changing the static ride height twists them. We'll see.

As an aside, I needed new front brake pads, so we pulled everything apart, cleaned, lubed, cross-drilled the rotors, and put it all back. I have to say that the braking performance improved very noticably. I was a bit skeptical, but the proof is in the performance. Oh, and the annoying brake squeal I've been living with for the past year is gone! I'll do the rears soon.

Installing camber adjusters - 1 hour.
Disassembly of brakes - 1/2 hour.
Cross-drilling brakes - 3 hours.
Cleaning, lube & reassembly of brakes - 1 hour.
Lowering via TT - 1 hour.
Realignment - 1/2 hour.

I'm liking it! :D

Regards,
John.
 



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2" in TT isn't any hardly at all to make a difference, this is why you really don't notice one. Once you put blocks in the rear (if you do) or do a torsion adjuster flip, the joyride ends, ride gets rough, period.
 






draft said:
2" in TT isn't any hardly at all to make a difference, this is why you really don't notice one. Once you put blocks in the rear (if you do) or do a torsion adjuster flip, the joyride ends, ride gets rough, period.

Thanks for your input.

I don't plan on blocks in the back. I stared at it in the driveway this morning, and it does look a little lower in the front, but I kinda like the look. The difference front-to-back can't be more than 1/2", so it's hardly worth the trouble. This is my daily driver, so I don't plan on going lower in front. Also, it's 4x4, so I don't want to go lower or the CV joints won't like it.

Regards,
John.
 






Come back and update this post in 2 years. You're all excited now because it looks good. Just wait until you've lived with it for a while and the "new" has worn off of it. :p
 






james t said:
Come back and update this post in 2 years. You're all excited now because it looks good. Just wait until you've lived with it for a while and the "new" has worn off of it. :p

Sage advise; been there done that ....
 






james t said:
Come back and update this post in 2 years. You're all excited now because it looks good. Just wait until you've lived with it for a while and the "new" has worn off of it. :p

I'm on month 6 of the torsion adjuster flip. :( :banghead:
 












james t said:
Come back and update this post in 2 years. You're all excited now because it looks good. Just wait until you've lived with it for a while and the "new" has worn off of it. :p

Deal.

If within 2 years I lose the drop, I'll let you know. At 2 years, barring death, selling the Ex, or apocolypse, if it's still lowered, I'll gloat.

Regards,
John.
 






You don't have to dissamble anything for the bumpstops. The stops have a bolt holding them in place. Just jack up the truck and let the suspension drop. Remove the bolt from the top and the bumpstop will come out no problem.
 






Update:

I assert, again, that after the TT there was no discernable change in ride quality under most situations with the old wheels and tires, but my new wheel/tire combo (18x9 '03 Cobras w/ 255/55-18 Kumho Ecsta STX's) has changed that. With 18" wheels, the ride quality over rough roads is noticably worse. I attribute this to several things:

1: Weight - the new wheels & tires didn't feel much heavier than the originals, but I'm sure they were a little heavier. The additional unsprug weight has rendered my shocks ineffective, so I'll be shopping for shocks pretty soon. I'm looking for suggestions from those with heavier wheel/tire combos - anybody?

2: Tire width - the wider tires tend to tramline a bit more than the old ones, especially on roads where they've ground off the topmost layer of asphalt in preparation for repaving. It wants to follow the resulting grooves like a slot car. This got much better once I had a front end alignment done, but it didn't go away completely. I'll just have to live with this.

3: Tire stiffness - the shorter sidewalls, and "Sport Truck" nature of the tires has stiffened up the ride significantly over the crappy Goodyears that were on there before. I like the extra firmness and steering response, but it translates to harshness on broken pavement. Again, I'm hoping new shocks will help this some.

4: Wheel offset - the centerline of each tire is about 3/8" farther inboard than before, so at highway speeds, the on-center steering feel is a bit more vague. The lower-profile tires have better turn-in feel, so this somewhat offsets the center vagueness. This is a matter of being different - not necessarily worse, so I'll probably get used to it. This may also be contributing to the tramlining, but I can't do much about it. I don't want to run 3/8" spacers.

5: Lowering - the one thing that did noticably change due to lowering is bump steer. If I hit a pot-hole on an otherwise smooth road, the truck changes direction with no steering input. This is an unavoidable consequence of lowering the ride height, because the steering geometry has changed. I'm looking into relocating the steering rack to partially compansate for this. It looks like the rack could be spaced up about 1/2" or so, which would probably do it. Anybody done this?

Overall, I would rate the ride acceptable, but I would like better. I definately need to replace the factory original shocks (58,000 miles). Let me know what kind of shocks to get. With new shocks, and some bump steer correction, it'll be better.
 






etc said:
You don't have to dissamble anything for the bumpstops. The stops have a bolt holding them in place. Just jack up the truck and let the suspension drop. Remove the bolt from the top and the bumpstop will come out no problem.

Thanks etc:

On my '01, it looks like the front bumpstops are bolted from below. Next time I have it off the ground, I'll try to get them out and trim of a little. I'm just not sure I'll be ablt to get that bolt out.

Regards,
John.
 






Hehe, Now that I think about it, It might be bolted from underneath.... =\

I got a socket in there easily though, so It shouldn't be a problem.
 






Shocks?

Koni
KYB
Bilstein (although, they are a bit harsh)
Koni
and uh, Koni.

Dont waste your time with Edelbrocks, i can tell you this personally. They are decent, but not $80 decent.
 






james t said:
Come back and update this post in 2 years. You're all excited now because it looks good. Just wait until you've lived with it for a while and the "new" has worn off of it. :p
I don't know. I've been lowered for 22 months now. As my daily driver, I enjoy the handling part of it still. I don't think I would give that up.

But then again, I see what you mean. Well, sorta... :)
 






Mine was lowered and I loved the handling, yet when I raised it back to normal, I didn't notice one bit of difference in handling.

I installed the Spec EE sway bar at the same time as I lowered. I think that is the major player in the improve handling.
 






my truck was lowered when i got it... the ride sucked... the rides a lot better now that im lifted except i have a noticeable amount of bodyroll i didnt have before, but i removed the swaybar as well, so that was expected.. in general, its a lot smoother and can handle bumps well... i also now have insane vibration, but thats unrelated as that is from the mud tires i have and hte engine idling rougher than it should, my valves are a litttle out of adjustment....the only time my ride hurts me now is when i launch my truck over railroad tracks and catch air and land... landings suck ;)...
 






I have tried about 5 diff pairs of shocks between my past 2 lowered trucks. I have fell in love with my recent ones. They are monroes and they are black. I forget the name of they but they are about 40$ each from advance auto parts. The cool factor is that i went from the softest shocks i could find (gabriel vst's) to these and these helped me corner better, almost stopped me from bottoming out and even got rid of the roughness. I know it still does not ride as soft as stock but it is a VAST improvent over anything else I have tried. Let me know if you have any more questions
 






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