New wheels, question about torsion bar lowering '99 Explorer

[mtm]

Hey guys I bought my wife a minivan so now her stock '99 4 wheel drive explorer is my "daddy ride". So I bought a set of 20s for it and I like the way they look but I hate the fender gap. I know I know it's 4 wheel drive and it's a sin to lower it but I think it would look so much better leveled out with the rear or even dropped about 2" all the way around. My wife bought this new so I have no plans of off roading it or anything I just want a nice clean dependable explorer to drive with my infant son when the need arises. I had an xterra before this that I played around with the torsion bars on. Of course I went up instead of down with it. I'm just curious what you guys think about adjusting the torsion bars to lower the front? Has anyone done this to a 4 wheel drive? I know not to go too far due to alignment issues but what kind of problems can I expect in the future by doing this? Ball joint failure, cv shafts binding, etc... Also I've always adjusted the torsion bars on vehicles without the use of aftermarket keys. Do they help in any way or are they just a waste of money? Thanks for any help guys. Oh by the way the wheels are 20x8.5 and the tires are wore 275/45-20

 

[Turdle]

Welcome to the forum.

Take a look around in here for ideas,

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=46

 

[yavapaires]

Hey guys I bought my wife a minivan so now her stock '99 4 wheel drive explorer is my "daddy ride". So I bought a set of 20s for it and I like the way they look but I hate the fender gap. I know I know it's 4 wheel drive and it's a sin to lower it but I think it would look so much better leveled out with the rear or even dropped about 2" all the way around. My wife bought this new so I have no plans of off roading it or anything I just want a nice clean dependable explorer to drive with my infant son when the need arises. I had an xterra before this that I played around with the torsion bars on. Of course I went up instead of down with it. I'm just curious what you guys think about adjusting the torsion bars to lower the front? Has anyone done this to a 4 wheel drive? I know not to go too far due to alignment issues but what kind of problems can I expect in the future by doing this? Ball joint failure, cv shafts binding, etc... Also I've always adjusted the torsion bars on vehicles without the use of aftermarket keys. Do they help in any way or are they just a waste of money? Thanks for any help guys. Oh by the way the wheels are 20x8.5 and the tires are wore 275/45-20

I dropped my 96 last week by one full turn. That made it pretty close to level front to rear. Looks like it made the camber just a bit more positive and didn't hurt the handling at all. Actually think it drives a bit better. The axle shafts are nearly level now. I didn't measure how much it lowered it, but one turn cannot be all that much, and if necessary, easy to go back to prior setting. Of coures I don't do a lot of off roading with it.