Wheely Wheeeely Happy!

[Chris Kulbaba]

I am SO fricken excited and I just cant hide it!



Got my new Falken Xiex S/TZ-04's installed, and mounted on my new 20" Gitano wheels...



I never would have thought that it would make that big of a difference in the ride quality. It's night and day from what it was like before... Amazing.



Tomorrow I install the 2" lowering kit, monday the EE swaybar gets here... I just CANT WAIT to feel the difference then...



ITS LIKE IM HAVING 10 CHRISTMAS'S IN A ROW!



Pics, I know, but I havent stopped driving it since I had them installed, lol... tomorrow for sure.



One question: If I find the 2" blocks are TOO low, could I always just have someone cut them down a bit??



Thanks!

 

[James FreemanJr]

Sure but I'm not sure how secure they would be after being cut. I would'nt chance it myself its easiest just to buy 1" lowering blocks and sell the others. But 2" isnt much.

 

[Chris Kulbaba]

Anyone have a 01 ST w/ 20's on 275/45-R20's lowered 2" -- post some pics please.



it just seems that since I got the new tires and wheels that it looks lower already, prolly cause my old tires were getting down on treads...



EE says that 1 3/8" is ideal for lowering the suspensions on 01 ST's and keep ride quality...

 

[Jerry Pollen]

A word on the Gitano rims, you have to maintain them well otherwise the chrome will start pitting and peeling. You'll want to do this anyhow for looks.



And hurry up with the pictures!

 

[Joe Magliocca]

EE reccomends only lowering 1 3/8 to ensure ride quality...ride quality is a VERY subjective thing. You ALREADY shot your ride quality to hell by putting big low profile tires on your ST. If your gonna go low, go as much as you can.



I have a 2" front, 3" rear drop, ee rear sway, Edelbrock IAS shocks, and 295/45/20's. The on road handling capability vastly improved, and it looks sweet also. Yea, I hit the bump stops some. But, for almost 4 years I have run this setup, and I highly reccomend it if your interested in on road performance improvements

 

[Larry Phillips]

I'm lowered 3in too. Who needs ride quality?

 

[Jerry Pollen]

If you lower your trac 2" and are hitting your bump stops, trim them! You can trim about 1&1/2 to 2" off of your rear bump stops and alleviate the bottoming out nearly completely. All it takes is a kitchen knife, drop a towel on the ground, crawl under there and trim them. You can also remove the rear tire and access them a lot easier. Trimming them almost completely got rid of bottoming out when my trac was lowered 2", but when I went to 3", it came back in full force. I used to have a picture of the trimmed bump stop, but can't find it. I will however post an image of what my 2" autozone lowering blocks looked like when I removed them. Quality does matter!



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[Chris Kulbaba]

Yeah I got the summit racing 2" lowering block kit...



The handling is awesome... I dont even beleive its the same car...



I cant wait to get the sway bar, should arrive here monday.



The passenger side of my ST did not lower much more than an inch when I took the torsion bolt out 100%... the other side can go lower.... but it is sitting perfectly level for the time being, I MIGHT try to find some 1 .5" blocks so that the back can sit a little higher...



I dont have any pics of it lowered just yet, but I do have it with the wheels/tires on...



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[Chris Kulbaba]

Woops.

 

[Chris Kulbaba]

If I have the torsion bolts out, and on one side it will go 1" lower than the other side almost, what can I do to the side that wont drop any further to get it down lower?



Drives me nuts, the drivers side will go down to where I want it to be, but the passenger side only gave me 3/4 - 1" of drop.



Ive driven it around for hours since, and it hasnt settled down any further than it was...



Hizelp!

 

[EddieS'04]

Chris..Your Trac looks great with those wheels..even at stock height..should look fantastic lowered..

 

[Chris Kulbaba]

Heres the truck lowered...



I just cant stand how the front SEEMS higher than the back slightly, it isnt tho, just looks like it to me! I wish I could get another 1/2" on the passenger side : \



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[Rhonda Lewis]

Lookin' good!!!!

 

[tony brizag]

bags up front

adjustable ride height, easy stuff.

 

[tony brizag]

just remove the bumpstops all together. i torched mine off , bracket and all. works better that way.

 

[Chris Kulbaba]

If I take them off, it'll drop down more?



I seen them there, and I thought about that, but I didnt check after I had dropped it to see if they were touching..



Even if I get some that are 1/2" lower... that'd work too eh?!



I hope this works...

 

[Chris Kulbaba]

I just checked... they are not resting on the bump stop yet, its about 1/2" away on both sides...



I see where the problem is, I dont know the technical terms, but I will try to explain...



The 'lever' that the torsion bolts lower when you take them out is touching on the passenger side, it is 1" away still on the drivers side.



The 'lever' is on a hexagon shaped torsion rod? is there a way to take that apart, and move it over 1 notch to have it sit a little higher so I can lower it more?!!?



Im sure this is possible some how... but how hard is this to do??

 

[tony brizag]

just take the bumpstops off and cut about half the rubber off and that should work.



quote:----

*(The 'lever' that the torsion bolts lower when you take them out is touching on the passenger side, it is 1" away still on the drivers side.)*

The 'lever' is on a hexagon shaped torsion rod? is there a way to take that apart, and move it over 1 notch to have it sit a little higher so I can lower it more?!!?



The torsion key is what you are talking about, and my truck was the same way. One side came down a alot more than the other. Its just the way it is. What is the key or lever touching? should just be the pin that holds it in?

Only other recourse is to flip the keys or look into some drop "reclocked" keys.

 

[Chris Kulbaba]

If you take a look at the hexagon end, where you lower it... the lever is resting on the threaded peice for the bolt.... if I could 'reclock' it over one 1/8th turn or whatever id get another inch of space...





Cutting the bump stops wont do a thing, becuase the suspension isnt even touching it now...



I cant get it to go that low because of the 'lever' touching the part that the bolt is threaded into...



Hope this makes sense

 

[Chris Kulbaba]

So I drew what I am talking about...



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Should be clearer now...



Is it possible to turn that lever up a bit, so I can put the bolt back in and lower it to the same height at the other side??