Lowering Springs and Rim/Tire Questions

[oneloud]

We just bought the wife a 2020 Exlorer Limited and I just can't leave anything alone! Give me a Jeep or a truck and tell me what size tire you want to clear and I can point you in the right direction for how much lift and what brands are best to look at...but lowering is out of my realm of knowledge. I see Steeda has a kit that claims 1-1/8 lower front and rear and then H&R has a kit that claims 1.6 front and 1.75 rear. When I called Steeda they said better than factory ride with the Steeda kit and very limited suspension travel left with the H&R. Can you guys give me some real world experience with these kits? I am thinking 22's or 24's and have seen some awesome looking examples of both looking through the pages here but I can't find much on offsets or clearance issues. Not sure if I want to go black or something else yet, wish there was less chrome on this thing to start with and I don't know if I want to go through with replacing it all or getting wheels that will blend nicely. We got the pearl white color. Please enlighten me! Thank you very much in advance for your responses.

Dan

 

[themishmosh]

I have used H&R springs on two of my past vehicles and they kind of behaved similarly. More comfortable than stock around the city, but somewhat lofty and uncintrolled at high speed using stock springs. In both cases, either Koni sport shocks or Bilstein B8 were needed and they performed great after that. But you don't lower more than others, yet offer a softer ride without problems on stock shocks. That's why i went with Steeda. They have proven great on stock shocks although i feel they would be better served with upgraded shocks (which may never come). Together with the Steeda rear sway bar, the road handling is greatly improved. I've had six adults in my car and the ride is still composed. I highly recommend them unless your prime concern is looks.

 

[peterk9]

Welcome to the Forum Dan.
My vehicles remain stock mainly because I always lease.

Peter

 

[El_Steveo]

I've been shopping between the two springs myself and have come to the conclusion that the Steeda spring set may be the better option. while I would love to go a bit lower, suspension travel is important to me as the roads around me aren't great. I would be less inclined to install something that rides closer to the bump stops. I really hoping is to catch wind of somebody developing coil-overs, that would change the game entirely.

 

[themishmosh]

It may matter for some, but there have been a few reports that after H&R springs, an alignment could not get into factory specs.

 

[El_Steveo]

It may matter for some, but there have been a few reports that after H&R springs, an alignment could not get into factory specs.

I'm assuming that was just the camber? I know I would actually be ok with a slight bit of negative camber