lowering 96 x

[Bauer_Boi]

i have the 96 eddie bauer x with 4wd.... ive read some things sayin that it will stress the cv joints to drop it more than 2"? why is this? and if i dont switch it into 4wd will it be ok to drop it further? how can i get it to go lower? i was lookin at doing about a 3-4 inch drop by flipipng the torsion adjusters.... any answers would be greatly appreciated.
dannY

 

[explorer4x493]

Because your A-arms will be at such an angle.

They normally sit like this.... ()/ ---- \()

After such a drop they would sit like this.... ()\ ---- /()

()-tires

/ \ - A-arms

Like my illustrations? Best i can show you....lol

 

[Yomie]

I flipped my adjusters and removed my bump stops, i have almost 5" drop up front and my 4WD is still fully functional, we had alot of snow last week, and it worked flawlesly no binding. the only problem i see with having 5" drop is that the upper balljoint is at a bad angle, i am working on some new Upper control arms to rid the problem, but untill then everything is fine

i am running a 255/50-16 and my fenders are even with the top of the tire (BTW thats a 25" tire)

 

[Bauer_Boi]

ok, question, if i do go ahead with lowering it, as long as i dont switch into 4 wheel drive will i have a problem? i never use it, never need to, and if i have a problem wut will happen? like which pieces will break or wutever and how much would money would i be risking...
dannY

 

[Yomie]

ok, let me clarify, i have 5" of drop on my 4WD and i used it all last week, it was in 4WD for like 4 days straight, nothign happened and it drove perfect, if you do the tortion flip and go as low as i did, you WILL NOT be able to get it aligned, your negative camber will be soo far off (the outsides of my tires are barely touching the ground, like this / \ ) thats why i am trying to get new custom upper control arms, i will find out if they work by January. i even have camber adjusters, and theres no hope for an alignment right now, i have eaten up my front tires in less than 2 months, i had to unmount the tires and remount them with the outsides in just hoping to get maybe 2 more months out of them. Its your call, good luck on the alignment.

 

[explorer4x493]

That's why in my sig i stated that i have undone my lowering. It was eating up the inside of my tires w/ only a 2" drop. Granted i never got an alignment because they said that my camber was off by about 4 or 5 degrees and the camber adjustors would not help much. So i figured for just a little better i don't want to waste the money.

In the long run i just undid it. I will lower it again sometime but i will do it right (ie: spindle kit, upper and lower control arms.) Not the cheaper way out of it.

 

[X24]

I lowered mine 2" in the front and after I got it aligned correctly, it doesnt eat up the tires. Definately worth it for the handling and looks.

 

[expo5.0]

if you lowered your x two inches in the front and your camber is at 4-5 degrees your upper control arms and ball joints must be shot and you must have had some bad camber to begin with. my explorer was at 1 when i got it and with a 2.5 inch drop in the front it was at 1.5 when the stock square aligment cams were maxed out (and i rn it that way for six months without wreckin my tires) then my right upper ball joint went bad and it went to about 3.5 degrees and started to wreck my tires pretty bad so i got it fixed and installed the adjusters to get all the way back to 1 or so.

 

[Robb]

4-5%?
My LMTD was just flat wore out and the camber was visually negative, and it was only L 1 5/8%, R 1 1/2%. At 4-5%, your tires wouldn't last 2000 miles and your tires would screech around every turn.

You can go down 2" with no real problems. More than that, you need to flop the adjusters. I think the "Going For The Gusto" thread goes into this in detail.

Robb

 

[Hartman]

Yomie, I hope you're not bottoming out on the frame with no bumpstops!

 

[james t]

Originally posted by explorer4x493
I will lower it again sometime but i will do it right (ie: spindle kit, upper and lower control arms.) Not the cheaper way out of it.

there is no way to do it right. there are NO lowering components offered for the 2nd gen. explorer. you either adjust the torsion bars, or have a machine shop custom-make you some control arms. spindles are also a lost cause. think about it. there is a reason why 999 of the 1000 streeters on this board are lowered 2" via the "torsion un-twist" method.

 

[explorer4x493]

Originally posted by expo5.0
if you lowered your x two inches in the front and your camber is at 4-5 degrees your upper control arms and ball joints must be shot and you must have had some bad camber to begin with.

Actually ya my camber was off when it was stock. I remember when my mom used to own it, and i always noticed the tires being so bald on the inside.

How would i know if my ball joints and control arms are shot? I'm getting no noises or anything.

As for the 4-5%, I have been told this by Firestone, Hibdon tires, and i think maybe even Ford. They said the with the adjustors my camber might be corrected by about 2.5%.

I'm lost...

 

[X24]

They all told you that but none of them mentioned anything about ball joints? You can jack up the front and try shaking the wheel back and forth. Grab the top and bottom and wiggle it. When you jack it up, you have to put the jack under the lower control arm in a place you think is safe to jack it up. (kinda iffy in that area). The thing is, it has to be jacked up but the suspension has to remain the way it sits on the ground. Follow me?

 

[explorer4x493]

Ya i gotcha. And as for the control arms?

 

[X24]

Control arms dont go bad. The upper ball joint is part of the control arm so if the ball joint is bad, you have to replace the whole arm.

 

[Yomie]

Originally posted by Hartman
Yomie, I hope you're not bottoming out on the frame with no bumpstops!

well they areen't completely gone, theres about .25-.5" of it left, but its smacking pretty hard on unmaintained roads. if i completely remove them my front crossmember hits the ground on large bumps.