Hey all,

Looking for answers to the following questions to those who lowered 4x4s, as I'm thining of a modest 1/3, 0/2, 2/3 lowering witha kit or removing the blocks.

1) What kit did you use?

2) Was overall handling during more aggessive cornering, higher speed sweeping curves substantially improved?

3) How is the bump steer when stopping or traveling at speed over waives or bumps in the road, which now sometimes cause my tires to hop around?

4) Was the smoothness of the ride changed (harsher over bumps, more vibration type feel through the wheel/chasis, tends to be too harsh/tiring)? Thanks

 

Marc Carpenter is probably your best bet to answer this question, but I can tell you that on my 2wd with a 2/5 drop I noticed more harshness in ride from changing to the lower profile tires on my 22s than my drop (I did them seperately).

I did have issues with it bottoming out in the rear like crazy, but I have since added rear air shocks and made it an effective 2/4 drop and that has gone away.

As for handling, it is unbelievable. Literally, People don't believe me until they experience it first hand. Despite the massive size and wieght my truck handles better than most sub $30k sports cars out of the box I would bet.

It puts a smile from ear to ear everytime I push it hard on the corners

Hope that helps some.

 

Thanks. Nice to hear about the handling

 

I have to echo lumadar's thoughts on the handling of these trucks. I only have the rear blocks removed on my FX4, but it really helpe to settle down the rear and made the truck feel more balanced in the turns. My biggest improvement came when I added the 305/40/22's, which really added grip and stability in turns. My buddy yells at me when I slam a turn without braking and says that a 4x4 truck isn't supposed to handle that good. I actually plowed a long sweeping on-ramp with a Mustang on my tail one day and pulled on him all the way through the turn!

One thing that I would suggest for your truck is to consider upgrading the shocks if you haven't already. I drove an XLT truck before purchasing my FX4, and I really noticed a difference in the handling of the trucks. The XLT truck dipped and wallowed in turns and bumps while my FX4 stays firm and planted. It is much more confident in turns IMHO.

 

Thanks
I have Rancho 9000s. I like them, and they help alot, but I still want to "settle down the rear" and have it feel more balanced in turns than the improvement I obtained already. Seems like I'm just too high in the back.

 

handling defintaly improved, especially with 22x9.5 rims and tires... and except for the bottoming out, i've been able to keep up with more than a handful of BMW's on the backroads. (very windy) i would have to say though, if you're going to drop the front, and don't want to sacrifice the smoothness of the ride all that much, go with the DJM lower control arms, and if you want more, then go with -1" springs or something similar. I've got -3" coils in the front and have to dodge certain potholes because it hits so hard.

i thought i just saw an add in the new truckin mag, i want to say for stylinconcpets that was runnin a 04+, drop kit with the lower control arms, and flip kit for about 500 bucks.

 

interesting comments

i'm also considering dropping the back end of my 4X4 to level it out

 

I like that front Bumper/valance. Where did you get that, and who makes it? Does it allow the tow hooks to come through, it looks like it but I can't see your pick very well.

 

I've got the Roush 2/3 drop kit on my '05 FX4. I installed the 305/40/22 Pirelli's at the same time, so I don't have much comparison with stock tires and rims. The ride improved 10 fold. I do not bottom out, even when trailering 7000 pounds over deep frost heaves. Handling is much better, and cornering is a blast now that it sticks so well and doesn't sway. I had a bunch of fun with the on and off ramps back in Vegas.

The Roush kit is a bit more expensive, but it replaces the front sway bar with a larger diameter bar, new coil springs up front for a 2" drop and new leaf springs in the rear for a 3" drop. You can remove the rear blocks if you wanted to go another couple inches in the rear, but you will probably have some bottoming out problems going that low. Nothing a change of the bump stops wouldn't fix though. The kit also comes with new shocks for all four corners. You can see pictures of the ride height in my album.

 

LOL, thousands of Subaru WRX owners are laughing at this statement.

Grim

 

. . and Mini Cooper S owners.

 

a couple of other things that will improve your handling in the curves would be a rear sway bar and some traction bars. I have a 2wd with a 2/4 kit and 20's and she handled great then I added a rear sway bar from Hellwig I notice a good improvment. Then I made some custom traction bars for my truck with heim joints on both ends and preloaded it a little and that made another noticable improvment. I hit some s-curves following a corvette and hung with him and at the next light he gave me a . Also I do have bilsteins on there also way better over stock shocks. The ride quality I would compare it to like the mustang GT very firm but not overly harsh.

 

Probably only the ones dumb enough to misinterpret the implication of the word, "most."

 

Thanks for the specific, responsive posts. I may start with the rear block removal.

 

Truck: 2004 Supercrew 4x4 5.4 3:73LS (49,500 miles)
Front: DJM lower control arms (2")
Rear: removed blocks, installed Ground Force 2" shackles,de-arched springs 1"
Tires: Kumho 285/70/17
Rims: Mickey Thompson Classic 2's (don't really like the look of them)
Shocks: stock front and rear
Had Hellwig rear sway bar on truck before lowering so I just modified it to fit the new stance by shortening the end links.
Final results are 2/5 drop .
The truck handles and rides much smoother than it did stock, and better than my '01 Supercrew 4x2 that it replaced.
I drive the West Virginia Turnpike between Beckley and Charleston and normally run between 85-90 mph on it. Those of you that know that stretch of road know its terrain. Those of you that don't, it is 54 miles of 7% grade with a LOT of sharp curves on it. The truck sticks to this road like glue..
One other benefit I have gained is a 2 mpg increase in my gas mileage ( truck is modded with all bolt on and e-fans plus Mikes XCal2) after getting it down out of the wind...I had 2"AS's in the front and 295 Nittos on it before the lowering.
Truck will be getting a Roush Supercharger right after the upcoming Troyer Dyno-Day next week.....