Lowered Mountaineer...Opinions??

[Mtn8er]

Well I just got done lowering my Mountaineer. I bought the EE lowering kit and as of now it has the EE lowering blocks in the back which lowered it 1 3/8" in the rear and in the front I did a torsion key flip and right now it has no adjuster bolts. In the front from fender to ground on both sides it sits about 30 1/2" and the rear sits 32 1/4".

I can't decide if I should get rid of the 1 3/8" EE lowering blocks in the rear and get 2" blocks to bring the rear down lower and then match the front with that OR leave the rear and bring the front up to match the rear?

What do you guys think?

 

[MountaineerGreen]

I'd put the adjuster bolts back in and raise the front a tad. You need a little bit of tension on those torsion bars for it to ride and handle like it should.

 

[Mtn8er]

I'd put the adjuster bolts back in and raise the front a tad. You need a little bit of tension on those torsion bars for it to ride and handle like it should.

Alright....my dilema though is, if I got 2" blocks for the rear it would make it about 31 1/4" (somewhere in there) from fender to ground then I would still have to raise the front a little less than an 1" to match the 2" blocks in the back. Should I leave the rear how it is and bring the front up to match or get 2" blocks for the rear (which would bring it down a little less than an 1" and then match the front with that?

 

[MountaineerGreen]

I'd just raise the front to match the rear now- I like the sport truck look better than the slammed look. But if your going for the slammed look, put the bigger block in the back.

 

[Mtn8er]

I'd just raise the front to match the rear now- I like the sport truck look better than the slammed look. But if your going for the slammed look, put the bigger block in the back.

No I'm going for the sport truck look....Well I think I'm going to raise the front then to match the rear for now and see how I like it. I have an alignment appointment tomorrow at 1:00 so I better start raising the front. I'll get more pics on here later....

 

[Mtn8er]

Question...in the rear the drivers side measures around 32" and the passengers side measures around 33" from fender to ground. I understand that because of the gas tank there's going to be a difference because of the added weight.

Well jtsmith told me to swap the rear leaf springs....will doing this help even things out in the rear? If I put the put the passengers side leaf spring on the drivers side and drivers side on passengers side. Is this because the drivers side could be more worn out and flatened because of the added weight?

Should I try swapping them or no?

 

[MountaineerGreen]

I swapped my springs around the first time I had them out from under the Mounty. It does work.

A pain in the arse, but effective.

 

[Mtn8er]

I swapped my springs around the first time I had them out from under the Mounty. It does work.

A pain in the arse, but effective.

Damn, I just did the rear yesterday to...wish I would have known. Oh Well, Looks like I'm going to start tearing the rear back apart to swap the springs...lets see how fast I can do this

 

[Mtn8er]

Well I'm done messing around with this for the night. Here are all my pics:

Stock sway bar compared to the EE sway bar:

EE rear bump stops compared to stock:

Putting in EE drop blocks and swapping the leaf springs from side to side:

All put back together and complete:

Now the front...torsion key removed:

Torsion key notched:

Torsion keys now flipped:

I got the springs swapped in the rear and I've been messing with the front all night trying to get in level/even with the rear. As of right now here's how it sits from fenders to ground: The drivers side front is at 32 1/4" the passengers side front is at 32 3/8" the drivers side rear is at 32 7/16" and the passengers side rear is at 32 7/8". It's all somewhat close but even after swapping the springs in the rear you can see it's still off by 7/16"...pretty much 1/2". As of now I do not have the front bump stops in, I'll worry about those later but it's fine for now and for the rear I have the EE bump stops which seem to work great so far from driving around. I hit some pretty harsh bumps and I couldn't get it to bottom out. Anyways my alignment appointment is tomorrow at 1:00 so I'll have a little time to tweak the torsion keys a little and play with it. Let me know what you guys think or have any pointers for getting the front leveled with the rear.

 

[Turdle]

Well I'm done messing around with this for the night. Here are all my pics:

Click on them to enlarge...

Stock sway bar compared to the EE sway bar




EE sway bar and bump stops




Putting in EE drop blocks and swapping the leaf springs from side to side






All put back together and complete




Now the front...torsion key removed




Torsion key notched


Torsion keys now flipped


I got the springs swapped in the rear and I've been messing with the front all night trying to get in level/even with the rear. As of right now here's how it sits from fenders to ground: The drivers side front is at 32 1/4" the passengers side front is at 32 3/8" the drivers side rear is at 32 7/16" and the passengers side rear is at 32 7/8". It's all somewhat close but even after swapping the springs in the rear you can see it's still off by 7/16"...pretty much 1/2". As of now I do not have the front bump stops in, I'll worry about those later but it's fine for now and for the rear I have the EE bump stops which seem to work great so far from driving around. I hit some pretty harsh bumps and I couldn't get it to bottom out. Anyways my alignment appointment is tomorrow at 1:00 so I'll have a little time to tweak the torsion keys a little and play with it. Let me know what you guys think or have any pointers for getting the front leveled with the rear.

If you let the passenger front down a tad-the driver rear will come up a bit--

 

[SkanlaxJMO]

hmmm none of the pics work for me

 

[Mtn8er]

If you let the passenger front down a tad-the driver rear will come up a bit--

Well I could lower the front passenger side down a tad to try and get that rear drivers side up a bit to even out the rear more but then I'll have to lower the drivers side front to match the passengers side front. The front will be lower than the rear plus...if I lower the front drivers side that could throw off the rear again maybe? lol wow that sounds complicated.

 

[MountaineerGreen]

Go back in a few days, re torque your rear end U bolts. They will loosen off and need to be re torqued. Looks good.

 

[Mtn8er]

Well here's the height I have now...from fenders to ground it measures 32 1/4" and the drivers side rear is 32 1/2" and the passengers side rear is 32 7/8".

I'm undecided if I should go get 2" drop blocks for the rear which would bring the rear down 5/8" and then I would bring the front down another 1/4" or so. What do you guys think? I'm going for a sport look not slammed...

 

[Turdle]

I think you are correct-it must be the shocks bottoming out. Mine sits at 30.75" front, 31.25" rear with 29" tall 275-60-17 tires.
Other than the shocks, you have done everything I did.

 

[Mtn8er]

I think you are correct-it must be the shocks bottoming out. Mine sits at 30.75" front, 31.25" rear with 29" tall 275-60-17 tires.
Other than the shocks, you have done everything I did.

Well the shocks arent bottoming out...I can still lower it alot. I think my shocks being stiffer and not the lowered edelbrocks it's causing a height difference. I think my tires are 30" overall diameter also, 275/60/17.

Should I go a little lower? I could go a little lower, I just need to know within the next 15 min. lol

 

[Turdle]

Try driving it and see if you rub on the front swaybar at full turn--

 

[Mtn8er]

Try driving it and see if you rub on the front swaybar at full turn--

Yeah it does, when I put on my wheels and tires they rub at full lock...being that the tires are so wide.

 

[Mtn8er]

I think you are correct-it must be the shocks bottoming out. Mine sits at 30.75" front, 31.25" rear with 29" tall 275-60-17 tires.
Other than the shocks, you have done everything I did.

Hey Jon, if you have 275/60/17 tires, your overall diameter should be 30" not 29".

 

[Turdle]

Hey Jon, if you have 275/60/17 tires, your overall diameter should be 30" not 29".

Cooper cobra's are 29.3" new-without weight on them. The actual height of the tire is 29" on the truck.