going for the gusto...

[JOHN V.]

That set up is normal for a 2-Door Sport with a single leaf spring. What we normaly do is swap these spacer plates to the other side of the leaf spring. This will get you an inch plus. Since the rear normaly sags a bit anyway, this will go well with a torsion bar adjustment on the front. It is only possible to get 1.5"-2.0" ot of a normal torsion twist. The close you go to 2" the harsher the ride is. If you want to go more than that in the front you have to do the modifications as described above.

It is possible to remove the spacer plates and install lowering blocks at the rear just like a 4 Door.

We carry a bushing kit that includes special front bump stops and
rear bumpers that were designed for lowered Explorers. We also carry the special tuned Edelbrock Shocks for lowered Explorers.

John V @ EE

 

[Coke734]

John; I see on your EE site that the lowering kit includes front camber adjusters, what are these, are they necessary, and can I get them separate?

 

[JOHN V.]

On a 99 Sport, the main part of the lowering kit is the camber adjusters. When you lower the front end by way of adjusting the torion bars, the front camber(alignment) will go out of spec. These camber adjusters make it possible to correct the front end alignment. The other part of our kit is the instructions. The suspension bumper kit, shocks and sway bar can all be purchased seperately. The camber adjusters can be purchased from other sources such as some alignment shops. The instructions that I mentioned were written up by Explorer Express based on our experience at our shop here in Richmond Ca.

 

[rcogs]

Originally posted by JOHN V.
On a 99 Sport, the main part of the lowering kit is the camber adjusters. When you lower the front end by way of adjusting the torion bars, the front camber(alignment) will go out of spec. [snip]

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.

 

[Black Magic]

Originally posted by rcogs
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.

I don't know how you did that. How much did you lower it? Because any lowering of the front will throw it out of allingment. If you were still in spec you did not lower it. Well I would guess that you did not lower it. I was way out! They used the camber adjusters and was able to get it true. I am not calling you a lyer, just can't beleve that is true. Just the sheer geometry of the thing.

 

[Hartman]

Unless he had some serious positive camber before lowering.

 

[rcogs]

Originally posted by Black Magic
I don't know how you did that. How much did you lower it? Because any lowering of the front will throw it out of allingment. If you were still in spec you did not lower it. Well I would guess that you did not lower it. I was way out! They used the camber adjusters and was able to get it true. I am not calling you a lyer, just can't beleve that is true. Just the sheer geometry of the thing.

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" (how much gas you have in the tank determines how low/high the right front will be).
-Left front after backing torsion bolt out 10 turns- lowered it to almost 31-9/16" exactly(!)
-Right front after backing the bolt out 13 turns- lowered it to 32-1/8"
That comes out to almost 2" lower after backing the bolts out. It came down a teeny bit more a few days later after settling. As I said before, I drove the truck about 50-60 miles and took it in to a Ford dealer and had the front end checked. I told the guy that I lowered it and he said the camber was still within factory specs(I was with him the whole time and saw the readings). This was during the summer of '00. I had it checked again last Fall and it's still ok(the tire wear is fine and the truck steers fine). There's no reason for me to make this stuff up. Now if I flip my torsion adjusters over like some guys did, to try and get a total of about 3" or more lower, then yes, I'm quite positive I'll have to get the camber adjusted.

 

[rcogs]

Originally posted by Hartman
Unless he had some serious positive camber before lowering.

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.

 

[X24]

Originally posted by rcogs
The more miles the front suspension has on it, the more likely the camber will need to be adjusted if the truck is lowered.

How do you figure? Lowering is lowering. Doesnt matter how many miles you have on it.

 

[JOHN V.]

It's A Mystery!

I tend to agree. I have not experienced any sag from a torsion bar suspension like you may get from a coil spring suspension. He said that it only had 1200 miles on it when he lowered it. As far as the camber situation goes, I have not seen this before. We have lowered many, many, of these and it always puts the camber out of spec. Not saying it is impossible. These Fords will be inconsistant 95-01. I am wondering about the align specs. Did you ever get a print out after any of these alignments? Have you ever had it checked "old school" style with hand held gauges? I guess no tire wear means no tire wear. Nontheless, I would say this is an exception, not the rule.

John V @ EE

 

[JOHN V.]

Hey Hartman

How much is yours lowered in the front? What kind of wheels are you replacing the Mondera's with? Just wondering.

John V @ EE

 

[JOHN V.]

Hey Hartman

How much is yours lowered in the front? Just wondering.

John V @ EE

 

[rcogs]

Re: It's A Mystery!

Originally posted by JOHN V.
I tend to agree. I have not experienced any sag from a torsion bar suspension like you may get from a coil spring suspension. He said that it only had 1200 miles on it when he lowered it. As far as the camber situation goes, I have not seen this before. We have lowered many, many, of these and it always puts the camber out of spec. Not saying it is impossible. These Fords will be inconsistant 95-01. I am wondering about the align specs. Did you ever get a print out after any of these alignments? Have you ever had it checked "old school" style with hand held gauges? I guess no tire wear means no tire wear. Nontheless, I would say this is an exception, not the rule.

John V @ EE

>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?
>>No need to. I trust that the mechanics checked my
front end properly. I always keep an eye on tire
wear on all my vehicles, regardless of whether the
suspension has been altered.
>I guess no tire wear means no tire wear.
>>That's the case, so far. At this point I don't expect
I'll have any problems.
>Nontheless, I would say this is an exception, not the rule.
>>No argument here. Doesn't matter to me either
way. If mine required(s) camber adjustment, I'd
have it done.

 

[Black Magic]

Originally posted by rcogs
Once more. I still have my notes...

Like I said, I was not calling you a lyer, just do not see how that was possiable. Glad to hear that you were the luckey one!

 

[rcogs]

>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.

 

[Hartman]

Originally posted by JOHN V.
Hey Hartman

How much is yours lowered in the front? What kind of wheels are you replacing the Mondera's with? Just wondering.

John V @ EE

It's lowered 2 inches in the front. I'm replacing the Monderas with 20s, but I have not decided on which kind yet. After I get the 20s I may go lower, but I'm not sure.

 

[wolfsport]

beware of the rubbing monster.. lol.. I just did the tortion, i'm sitting on 20's and the driver side tire rubs a little on the fender well lining (inside part) heh time to cut!

 

[95_expo_22s]

Okay, so I have a 1995 XL sitting on 22" rims. The back sits a couple of inches lower than the front. I want to even it out and I know how thanks to all of your posts. I was just wondering if anybody could tell me about how much it will cost to get the alignment fixed after i drop the front about 2.5-3"?

 

[AdamSportin]

I have a 98 Explorer Sport that I would like to lower 3".

Can someone please tell me what I need to ask a mechanic to do so he/she understands what I am looking for?

Do I just say "I want to flip the Torsion Bar, and install 3" blocks to the rear"?

Also I live in SoCal and if anyone of you lives there, and knows how to do this, I would much rather kick you down the money to hook it up for me.


Thanks

Adam

 

[lowlife]

Adam~ any mechanic that does suspension work should know that the explorers have torsion bars and that simply losening them will bring the front end of your truck down. As stated in this forum some people can get up to 3 inches from just losening those bolts, as for me i only got about 2inches and then flipped the torsion bar and got another 2 inches, as for the back..yea the lowering/lifting blocks are some what universal and they should be familiar with this as well. Its not really difficult just takes a garage some time and energy. I'd love to come out and help ya but im a little far away.....Good Luck