1" Torsion Twist Drop???...Please HELP!!!

[02XSport]

I have a 2002 Sport and I want to do a 1" drop up front to make it look level with the back. Will there be any negative affects from doing this? Will I have to get an allignment for only 1"? Will I see a difference in ride quality? I just don't want to regret doing this.

Thanks guys for all your help, this site has been a lifesaver so far. And I should be ordering my 20's in a week or two, I will post pics.

Thanks again,

Derek

 

[psychotic]

with just a 1" drop the ride quality shouldn't suffer. You won't regret doing this... mine is lowered 3 inches, and besides the fact that i've put off getting new shocks... i love it. It would probably be good to get an allignment, and ask them to adjust the camber if its needed. But with only an inch drop, it probably wouldn't hurt to not have an allignment unless you noticed uneven wear on your front tires. good luck! Post pics if you can when you're done

 

[aldive]

I recommend an alignment any time a tortion twist drop is done. You might have to get camber adjusters too; check with the alignment shop.

Furtherm with the TT, if you don't like the drop, simply crank it back up.

Good luck.....

 

[james t]

yes, you will need an alignment. anytime you adjust the torsion bar pre-load you need an alignment. the first time i lowered mine, i only went down 1". after a couple of months, i had worn down the inside tread. at 1", you are right on the border of maybe/maybe not needing camber adjusters. the shop will know what to do. ride quality is almost the same with 1" as it is with no drop.

 

[02XSport]

Okay, I will definitely get an allignment and a camber adjustment before I get the new wheels. How much am I looking at paying for this, and what places do you recommend to get this done?

I will do the 1" drop tomorrow, then get the allignment next weekend.

Thanks again for the help

Derek

 

[nnnick]

i took my torsion bolts all the way out getting about 2" of drop and needed the camber adjusters. It cost about 75 bucks for the alignment and camber adjusters. However one of my wheel bearings were bad and they chargd an arm and a leg for a new one, so it ended up being like 400 bucks total. Go somewhere that has a good reputation. The first time i got an alignment they weren't very punctual, took longer than they said, and charged a lot. I found a place that takes better care of me for the same if not less money (Great Lakes Tire). My big question is that why dont you wait for the new wheels then drop it and get it aligned? Unless the wheels you are ordering are going to be darn near exact to the stock size wheel you are running, it will throw off your alignment a little or maybe more depending on how much bigger/smaller the new wheels are. Just get it all done at once and have it aligned perfect and save some cash flow.

 

[02XSport]

nnnick,

Thanks for the tip. I would be better off waiting till I got the new wheels and tires, didn't even think of that. That way everything would be perfect in the end.

Thanks,

Derek

 

[psychotic]

yes, i would get the alligment RIGHT AFTER you get on the new wheels. That way, the allignment will be good for those wheels, but you won't have any extra wear from driving around on them. I had my allignment/ camber adjustment done at the ford dealer. They were the only ones who would touch my lowered explorer. The others threatened to charge an arm and a leg saying that i lowered it "wrong". Anyways, it ended up being like between 200 - 250 for allignment and camber adjustment.

 

[02XSport]

damn, mine shouldn't be near that much, its only an inch in the front, whereas you did 4 inches, damn yours is low

bet it looks good though

 

[tbomb]

ok, i did to my truck exactly what you want to do to yours. about a month ago i fixed my rear end sag issue by dropping the front of the truck about an inch. i had my truck aligned the next day. alignment was about $75 and i did not need camber adjusters, but every truck is different, so you might need them. if you go to a good alignement shop, they should be able to get the camber adjusters for you and install them, which means you wont have to really do anything, and the camber adjusters are cheap, so dont sweat it.

and, yes, after you get new wheels, you need an alignment also (well, youll only need an alignment for this if you get rims with a different offset, or different size tires, or both.) i got my new rims and tires about a year ago and got an alignment to go with it, but i just fixed the rear end sag about a month ago and got another alignment. so you need to figure out how long you want to wait, if youre going to get new rims and tires. i mean, its just one extra alignment youll have to do, which you should have done about once a year or once every other year anyway, or something like that.

good luck.

 

[jssong]

tbomb.. what woudl i have to do if i wanted to switch rims for seasons... if i get lowdpypes rims, i want to put them on for spring/summer/fall driving and keep my stock rims for winter. the tire sizes would be very close... from my stock 235/75/15 whcih are 28.87inchs and 255/55/18 which are 29.04. i think the offset for ur enkei rims are 0. would i need an alignment every time i switch rims? thats gonna get expensive

 

[psychotic]

Originally posted by 02XSport
damn, mine shouldn't be near that much, its only an inch in the front, whereas you did 4 inches, damn yours is low

bet it looks good though

actually yours will probably look as low as mine does now. it was really high in the front. there is like a 2 inch gap between the tire and the wheel well all around now.

 

[tbomb]

Originally posted by jssong
tbomb.. what woudl i have to do if i wanted to switch rims for seasons... if i get lowdpypes rims, i want to put them on for spring/summer/fall driving and keep my stock rims for winter. the tire sizes would be very close... from my stock 235/75/15 whcih are 28.87inchs and 255/55/18 which are 29.04. i think the offset for ur enkei rims are 0. would i need an alignment every time i switch rims? thats gonna get expensive

no, dont bother getting an alignment just for switching your rims for the winter. yes, the offset on the enkei rt6's is 0mm.

when i had 2 sets of rims and tires on my first X, i never got an alinement when i switched em - they were really close in size.

i think its recommended that you get an alignment every 15k (which is about every year), so i would just get my yearly alignment in the spring, if i were you - right after you put the cool rims back on the truck.

 

[jssong]

thanks.. but thats still alot of money.. if i decide to get bigger tires, is there any way besides getting my speedo and odometer correct by using the hypertech programmer? i know that with the programmer, u can change the tire size in order to correctly calibrate ur speedo and odo. i know my 00 using the computer rather than mechanical componenets to judge speed and distance. i want to go with a bigger setup so it fills the wheel well more. any ideas?

 

[02XSport]

Okay, I cranked the bolts exactly 3.5 turns a piece. That should do it. Now how long does it take for the suspension to "settle"???

Derek

 

[aldive]

A drive around the block should do it; hit the bumps.

 

[tbomb]

Originally posted by aldive
A drive around the block should do it; hit the bumps.

yup, thats exactly what i did. we cranked the bolts a few times, then went for a drive to let it settle. we did it a couple of times until we got what we liked. easy to do