Lowering? Hmm.......

[SeanM]

Ok...Has anybody ever lowered an Explorer? Did you think it looked good afterwards? Were you happy with the new handling characteristics? Do you know of any places/manufaturers that sell lowering kits for a '95 OHV V6 4.0L XLT 4dr? Pros, cons, suggestions, warnings? I am loooking for all the info ya got here ladies and gents. Thanks for your replies in advance....

Sean
_____________________________
'95 XLT 4dr 4.0L V6 OHV Auto
Flowmaster 40 series Cat-back
K&N FIPK
Bosch 4+ Platinum plugs
Splitfire ignition wires

 

[Trckmagik]

Hey Sean. My 92 Explorer used to be lowered quite a bit. I had a three inch drop in the rear and 2 and a half up front. I loved the way the Explorer looked but hated the way it rode. I ended up taking the drop off of the truck and put a 6 inch suspension lift on it. I like it much better now but the drop did look good.

I am installing a 1 inch drop on my 2001 Sport Trac next weekend with a couple guys from this site so I will have pictures posted as soon as this happens. Hope this helps a little bit.

 

[Jornum1]

I have my '99 explorer lower the maximum 1 3/4 inches. The only way anyone knows to do it with the newer explorers is to unscrew the front torsion bars all the way, and to put lowering blocks in the back. The reason you cant lower it anymore is because a.) the torsion bar will only unscrew that far, and B.) if you were to go any farther your front tires would look like this / \ and we all know that isnt a good thing. I have seen some show explorers lowered like that, but I would assume it isnt driven that much. BUt anyway. Here is a pic of my truck lowered. It isnt a good quality pic, but you will get the idea. Keep in mind these are 16 inch wheels on my truck, as opposed to the 15's you would have.

 

[Xplor]

I can tell you that I agree trckmagik on early models..The front ends was rough! I went just with a 3/4 drop spring for the front and used 2" blocks for the rear. It's was definatey better on cornering, but its looks awesome overall. Now I have a '00 Explorer and would like to lower that like Jornum1. I was planning on the same 1 3/4 drop like his, but am going to keep the stock shocks on them, since lowering any truck the ride will be stiffer. I think most aftermarket shocks are mode that way. I know that Edelbrock make shocks for lowered Explorers. I've called Explorer Express and they said that the shock just have a different valving system. Also the rear are the same size as regular shocks and the front ones are slightly shorter. Jornum1, you don't have that / \ negative camber effect right?..since I heard the lowering kit has the new camber adjusters. What type of shocks are you using and how much stiffer is the ride now along with your new wheels and tires??

 

[Jornum1]

Because I have the camber adjusters there is no / \ effect. What I was saying was that a topic was brought up a while back about turning the torsion bar a little in its bracket and then you would be able to get a bigger drop. But it was decided that the camber would be too great to adjust. I have the eldebrocks for lowered explorers. To be honest, I saw a little difference, but the ride was still bouncy as hell. Now that I have New rims and Michilen Pilot LTX's its like night and day. In my opinion the single best Street handling mod you can make is to get a nice set of tires. By they way I took my pics yesterday, and will pick them up today, and scan them. I hope to have it up tonight