Looking for suspension ideas up front on a lowered X | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Looking for suspension ideas up front on a lowered X

diesel_s

Well-Known Member
Joined
October 7, 2008
Messages
468
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2
Location
always between North Ga and East Texas.
City, State
Buford, Ga
Year, Model & Trim Level
2008 ST Limited
My 01 Sport is lowered 3 inches all around and sits on a lower profile tire with these heavy ass wheels I must get rid of soon as seen below

IMG_0039.jpg


Now what I want to do is change that completely but keep around the same height....I know I have to go IRS in the back and I have been slowly working on getting the Lincoln Mark VIII or Thunderbird rear end.... what should i do for the front though?
 



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Questions on IFS and IRS

ok so I got a lowered X and the torsion bars and leaf springs arent cutting it, I want to go IFS and IRS and i've heard about the Mustang II set up but how do I find one? especially for a good price? I want to keep my ex low and i surely need as much help as possible......

IMG_0038.jpg


The torsion bars are incredibly annoying and I want to improve the ride a lot...
 






Unless ur road racing, an IRS conversion won't do much - just notch the frame and link the axe. As for the Mustang-2 IFS, search Google, you'll find lots of stuff about it since its so common. And I guess while you're at it, and if you don't already have one, search for a good welder since none of this is a bolt-on.
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i actually do race my truck alot and I love taking corners and the work I have done so far has greatly improved the handling...I got a great welder between my uncle and I lol....so when you say notch the frame, you mean remove a small section to run a 4link? I'd prefer an IFS and IRS since i ran into a guy out of state with a lowered 07 that handled and road extremely well.....
 






Unless ur road racing, an IRS conversion won't do much - just notch the frame and link the axe. As for the Mustang-2 IFS, search Google, you'll find lots of stuff about it since its so common. And I guess while you're at it, and if you don't already have one, search for a good welder since none of this is a bolt-on.
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One of the main reasons I want the IRS is because of the simple fact its independent...I hate the fact that with a solid rear axle, watever happens to one side happens to the other
 






If you backed out the bolt on the torsion bar in order to lower, that will cause the torsion bar's spring rate to decrease (which of course lowers the vehicle). One of the negative effects of this is a "boat" like feel to the vehicle. If this is what you are trying to eliminate, then there are aftermarket kits to eliminate the torsion bar and switch to a coil-over shock. Maybe you should look into this before gutting the front since it is already IFS.
 






i know its IFS up front, I was looking for a better setup though so I can get rid of those torsion bars, I never got the boat like feeling though out of my ex......
 






Look at the coil-over shock conversions - that'll get rid of the torsion bar.
 






I found one for the mustang II, might work, gonna look into it more
 












thanx bro, I was actually looking at some of those earlier... my only issue was... i know I have to weld in some kind of setup and I say a thread where someone did on their sport but he didnt explain it to well and his pics sucked
 












the thing is bro, even with those shocks, i still need some kind of spring set up so i can ditch these torsions bars for good
 






Those shocks are coil-overs - there's a coil spring that goes on the outside that supports the weight of the vehicle, which means there's no more need for a torsion bar.

Example:
passsidemockup2.jpg
 






now that is nice... i need to get a set that will allow me to keep my truck low lol.......time to figure out the lengths i need, thanks bro
 






Damn your Explorer looks badass, did you buy a kit for the drop?
 






naw bro, i backed out the torsion bars and did 3 inch blocks in the back, now i'm going to do a coil over conversion up front from QA1 and an IRS setup in the back and keep it that height or slight lower...when I do the IRS, i'll have a drive shaft that wont move because of suspension anymore and I'm gonna run a pretty sick dual exhaust out the back
 






Threads merged - same topic.
 






Ohhh, gotcha. I would like to drop mine to but idk, I don't think I will ever get around to it haha, good luck with your project.
 



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How did you get a 3 inch front drop with just loosening the torsion bolts?

i got about .5". when i installed the drop keyways i could tuck stock tire in the fender with the bolts all the way out. I tightened the bolts 3ish turns and got a decent spring rate and am sitting about .5" off the bump stops.


Stock if i went on a 30mph on ramp (had a nice bump in it too) when i would hit the bump doing around 40mph the rear would brake loose, so in that case IRS would have helped to solve that problem.

With the adjustable rancho shocks and 285's all the way around, there is no more understeer and i can take the same on ramp at about 75 with no screech from the tires.



I think coil over front and independent rear are going a little overkill when theres HUGE improvements with just the right shocks, and tires.
 






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