Alright I can't decide on shocks...

[Slick]

Well i'm in the process of looking to lower my X maybe 3" up front 2" in back or somewhere like that. I've got 20s with the goodyear 275/45 tires. On the freeway and at high speeds I get a lot of vibration in the car. So I want a shock that handles better regularly, and also will cut down that vibration, especially since i'll be lowering it. What do you guys think? I've heard good stuff about the edelbrock IAS but i've heard that they wont work if your X is lowered more than 1.5"? Let me know all your help! thanks

 

[Jason_25]

Slick, I think you need to fix that vibration before you lower it or it could be made worse. A shock is only going to cover up vibration a little.

 

[james t]

your vibration could be a tire out of balance, bad ball joints, or a number of other things. for a lowered X, i have the Edelbrocks and love them. i have had Bilstein's and Koni's in the past on other vehicles, and loved them too. the lowered versions for the explorer are valved with more compression damping to compensate for the "torsion bar un-twist". as far as them "not working", i dont see that happening. i am down 2", and am going lower in the near future. they have plenty enough travel left to not bottom out no matter how low you go.

 

[Mikes95XLT]

I'm trying to decide between Explorer Pro Comp ES3000 or the Edlebrock IAS.... maybe this thread can help me out too.

 

[Slick]

I didnt have the vibration before the 20s, so do u think maybe they werent balanced correctly? I figured the vibration was just because of having the lower profile tires and that sorta thing?

 

[Hartman]

Lower profile tires shouldn't have an effect on vibrations. Only thing I can think of is a faulty balancing or maybe a tire out of round.

 

[james t]

if you got the vibration the same day as the wheel/tire swap, its a balance issue (or an out-of-round tire). have them re-balanced before you do anything else. the shop should do it for free, since they didnt get it right the first time. and BTW, Hartman is right. tire height/profile has nothing to do with vibration.

EDIT- because of the way 20" tires are made, and because they are relativly low profile with very stiff/heavy components, it is highly unlikely you got an out-of-round tire. its possible, but only about 0.05% possible. proly just a bad balance job, or one of the weights got knocked off.

 

[Slick]

I bought them online so they came in the mail mounted and balanced. I'll email him and see if he will reimburse me to get them rebalanced. Do you guys know roughly how much it will cost to get rebalanced? they only vibrate at high speeds 70+

 

[Hartman]

Even if they don't agree to reimburse you, I don't think rebalancing costs a whole lot, although I'm not sure. After you do get them rebalanced, put a piece of duct tape on all the weights to make sure they don't fall off.

 

[nnnick]

slick you already kno my Doetsch Techs are coming in soon, so i will get to you about that.... as far as im concerned edelbrocks are a bit pricey for me....

 

[Bill Kemp]

I'm useing Monroe Reflex and like them. Since I lowered I have had stock, Monroe Sensetrac and now Reflex. Reflex are best yet. Knowing that I really dont want to feel every bump and dont do much high speed cornering.

 

[tbomb]

a rebalancing should cost about $40 ($10 per wheel.)

though, that might not be the problem. there are a number of threads where people talk about the vibration they get around 70 mph, even after having the tires rebalanced, getting new tires, new ball joints, basically they tried everything and it wont go away. i have a vibration at 70 that used to go away when i got my tires rebalanced, but this last time, it didnt go away, and ive been using the same shop for a few years now. who knows?

 

[nnnick]

do a really good undercarriage wash, maybe you have mud that is clogging things up causing vibration....just a thought....my friend has this problem occasionally after he goes offroading in his jeep, he says the mud gets stuck in the skid plate and stuff liek that, so u just wash it out and it runs fine.

 

[BBQMAN]

I just got Michelin's a few months ago and now I have a vibration between 70 and 80 MPH. I've just been too lazy to bother going bat to NTB to have them try rebalancing it. I didn't have the vibration until then though, so hopefully for you its just and unbalanced tire. Make sure you tell them what speed its vibrating at and don't let them give you crap about it being above the posted speed limit and that they're not going to do it because the tire should be balanced for any speed up to its speed limit.

 

[NITELIFE]

I'm using Bilsteins. I think they improved my handling dramaticallly. They cut down on my body lean and roll. I do believe they take potholes and speedbumps much better than the stock shocks. Combine this whith my saleen swaybars and my EX handles very well. I still need to lower it.