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going for the gusto...

Godfather 1138

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Joined
December 4, 2001
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City, State
Fayetteville, AR
Year, Model & Trim Level
'98 4.0
k, I'd just like to start by saying...hell yeah, first post in the new section :D :bounce:

Ok, now to the real part. I wanted to let you guys know that I'm going to try and bring the X down a few more inches this weekend. Planning the T-bar adjuster flip (along with some fab work for clearence up front), and notching the frame to alow clearence in the rear. Not sure where I'm going to let it sit after all this but I should be able to "comfortably get that 5" drop if I want it. I'll take pictures and post them sometime next week if all goes well. Wish me luck.
 



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Let us know how it goes, and don't forget the pictures.:)
 






Sounds good, pics are a MUST!! Good luck.

BTW I like the new Sport Truck format.
 






hey godfather do you go to U of A Im origionally from
Fort Smith. All of my friends when there, and some of them still do

I live in Minneapolis Now

Ryan
 






Yeah, actually I do go to UA...small world. Who are some of your friends that are still here (doubtful that I know them though), and what are you doing in Minneapolis? You ever come back this way, or are you pretty much gone for good...if you do make it down here some you'll have to let me know when you are comming.

As for the suspension...had a slight setback and I'm not 100% sure if I'm still going to be able to do it this weekend. Either way, it's going to happen soon and when it does I will take lot's of pics for you guys, and try to do a "how to" post if enough people are interested.
 






ya man im down there all the time, I come home for christmas ever year. I come home at least 4 times a year. This christmas I actually flew into Fyv and spent 3 days there.

Ryan
 






Ryan, you should give me a shout next time you come down. My email is Godfather_Li@hotmail.com


Ok guys, I didn't have time to do everything that I was wanting to do, but I did play with the front and all is well. I'm about 85% finished now, I just need to do some :hammer: on the front and rear to give it a comfortable ride once I go ahead and set it down (it's at a perfect 3" now, and rides wonderfully). I took some pics of what I did to the front, but I'm saving them so that I can do one very detailed write up on it. I feel this will be more useful/helpful than several short, choppy ones. Be looking for it by the end of the month.
 






Can't wait that long for pics. Must see them now...
 






:bounce: :D :bounce:

:nono: sorry, you'll have to wait just a bit longer. Hopefully I can get to it either next weekend or sometime during next week. I'll get it done asap though
:cool:

I guess I can take some emails in the mean time though if any of you have specific questions, or you can just post them here. Godfather_Li@hotmail.com
 






i have heard that the "dream beams" for the ranger can be made to fit the explorer. anyone know of a way to lower an X? i swapped the blocks on mine in the rear and screwed out the bolts on my torsion bars. only paid $4.50 total, and lowered the front about 3" and the rear about 3.5". not bad for the price, but i want it LOWER!!!!
 






the beams you are reffering to will not work on your X. those are for i-beam equipped rangers, and your X has torsion bars.
 






you could always switch out the front suspension with a wrecked ranger if you could find one, and then use the lowering kits made for the ranger. thats what i was originally wanting to do...
 






dam the man

well is there any way to lower my X ???? any body know of any kits for them??? lower a-arms? something??? i don't feel like shelling out the $776.00 that explorer express has to offer for the complete lowering/suspension kit they got. :-(
 






the only method to lower a 96- X is either torsoin bolt adjustment or bag it. and not to hate on explorer express, but $700 seems REALLY high for blocks and shocks. oh, and i think they come with sway bars, maybe?
 












hey james, i totally agree with you on the whole $700.00 thing. granted they may be custom made. just because they are the only company, it kinda blows that they go ahead and charge an arm and a leg.
 






Ok, sorry guys but I have been driving on the 3" drop for a little over a week and don't think I want to change things. After taking into concideration my future plans for the X I decided that the suspension was too close to perfect to want to mess with going any lower. I will still post the pics on what I did to the front end, and if anyone has any questins about what I was going to do to the rear they can email me. Look for the pics of the front to be up sometime this week.

Again, sorry that I'm not going through with the origioal plan, I just like it too much were it sits now. Just a side not on the handeling...I was taking corners on the interstate last night at 100+ with no problems at all. If it wasn't governed at 105 (hit it several times this weekend, I gotta get a chip) I would/could have pushed it even harder.
 












You got a 3 inch drop without any custom mods like you'd been planning? A 2 1/2 - 3 inch drop would be ideal for me. I'd like to know just what you did to drop it 3 inches.

Soon as I convince my dad and save up for rims, I'm taking the plunge.
 



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Here is what you have all been waiting for.

PLEASE DO NOT LINK ANY OF THESE PICS. If you need them email me, but my current host will not allow more that one link at a time...or something like that.

The front X-plained with pictures (though they aren't the best pics)

The first thing you need to do is get the truck up on some jackstands. We will be doing this the safe way so that I won't be getting sued for any of you guys having an X fall on them ;)

Once on the stands you will find a crossmember located just below the front doors. This is where you will spend the remainder of your time while under the X. Locate the T_bar cover shown below, and remove it.
1cover.jpg


With the cover removed you will be able to see the full workings of the T-bar, and the adjuster. At this point you need to remove the adjuster bolt (if you haven't already). As you can see, mine was already removed.
2tbarset.jpg


Here is the tool that you will need to do this safely. I borrowed mine from the Zone (Auto Zone) for a refundable deposit. Just ask for a 2-3 arm puller (it's a gear puller that can be adapted for 2 or 3 pulling "arms")
3tool.jpg


Here is how it looks (and should be set up) in use. You will bassically just "turn the crank" until the T-bar adjuster is far enough off the adjuster plate so that it can slide out the side.
4usetool.jpg


Here is the adjuster plate out to give you an idea of what it looks like. You can also see where I notched my crossmember to allow for a little more drop before. (crappy pic, the plate is to the left...you can see the T-bar adjuster "floating" in the hole)
5adjout.jpg


T-bar hanging, the adjuster is what we are dealing with here. the next step is to slide it off and flip it.
6tbarhang.jpg


Here it is flipped.
7adjflip.jpg


Now all you need to do is put it back together. The hardest part here is getting the T-bar to stay in place while you put tension back on it. I have found that a ratcheting tiedown strap works very well for this. Put the strap around the T-bar and the frame. Bassically just put enough tension on the strap to keep the T-bar from moving. The last step to get a 3" drop (assuming that you have already put 3" lowering blocks in the rear) is to put the adjuster bolts back in and tighten them up until everything is level. (sorry I don't have pics for these last few things, but they are easy to figure out anyway.

Here is what the front looked like before I put the bolts back in (just wanted to see where it would sit):
8down.jpg


Here is how my X sat after this was completed, and the bolts were put back in (for some reason that slope has it sitting funny and it looks like the front is alot lower than the back...it's not, it sits level. You can find current pics, as of 5/9/2002, later in this thread.)
9after.jpg


Well I guess that is about it. Some day I may decide to go lower, but for now I'm focused on getting some swaybars, and struts (and another "small" project for my X that will be revealed when the time is right). I hope this has been helpful for you guys (and girls). If anyone has any questions feel free to email me.

*Sorry for taking up so much space here. :bounce: <--I just like that litte guy :D
 






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