Rear LOWERING Coils?

[tobyw]

Follow me here... I'm cheap, and I took the inexpensive path toward achieving my rear lift by drilling new holes in the LCA brackets on the axle, about 1-3/4" higher than the factory hole. In retrospect, it now sits too high in the rear for my liking and I'd like to lower it back down about an inch or so. Has anyone played with a different OEM spring that maybe has a different overall length and/or rate that might help in my situation here? For reference, I've got a 4-door Wildtrak which has Sasquatch, 2.7L, and tow packages so I'm guessing these are just about the heaviest rate springs the FoMoCo spec'd out for the Bilsteins? Maybe something from a 4-door Badlands with the 2.3L and no towing package???

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[BleednBlue]

It's my understanding the 2 door spring weight is less than the 4 door but I don't know by how much.

 

[adamruiz2001]

If you are taking the cheap route to achieve your height goal, why not just stay on the cheap and either cut your coil to the height you want, or just heat the coil and compress?

Maybe an aftermarket company has softer springs?

Side note, and I hate to admit this, when I was in HS, this is how I lowered my truck, we heated the spirngs up with a torch in shop and had some buddies jumping up and down on the bumper to get the coil to compress, worked like a charm until I was able to do it the right way

 

[Fordified1]

I would bet money the 2.3 base 2 door springs would do close to what you want. But why not just raise the front instead?

 

[tobyw]

If you are taking the cheap route to achieve your height goal, why not just stay on the cheap and either cut your coil to the height you want, or just heat the coil and compress?

Certainly appreciate the input, but as you eluded to there is a fine line between being cheap and just flat doing it wrong Sounds like we are both old enough to draw that line

I would bet money the 2.3 base 2 door springs would do close to what you want. But why not just raise the front instead?

I've already got a 2" perch collar up front and I don't want to increase my operating angles any more than I have to. I'd rather keep the front where it's at and bring the rear down for a more level stance. My little camp trailer doesn't have much tongue weight and I don't haul all that much cargo around on a regular basis, so even the factory rake is just too much for my tastes...

In hindsight I really should have done the front first and driven it for a couple days/weeks before addressing the rear, but I just dove in with both feet since it was already up on the rack.

Wait... wasn't I just babbling something about being old enough to know better

 

[dgorsett]

You have a 2" perch lift in front a 1.75 redrill in the rear and it's an inch high, doesn't seem right. And I suppose you cut off the lower mount already?

 

[tobyw]

You have a 2" perch lift in front a 1.75 redrill in the rear and it's an inch high, doesn't seem right. And I suppose you cut off the lower mount already?

It's funny... When I first put it all together, I used the perch collar along with a 3/8" thick tophat spacer, anticipating somewhere around 3" of total front lift. As such, I figured a 1-3/4" rear hole relocation, with the rear being very close to 1:1 ratio, should level me out pretty good. However, what I saw was closer to 4" up front and a touch over 2" out back... I have since removed the 3/8" tophat spacer and the front has finally settled down to about 2-1/4" with just the perch collar, and the rear has remained just over 2" actual lift so I'm essentially right back at a factory rake... I kind of like where the front sits, so I'm considering my options for lowering the rear to match. The right answer will probably be to just make new lower mounts that are a happy medium between stock and where I've got them at now...

 

[dgorsett]

It's funny... When I first put it all together, I used the perch collar along with a 3/8" thick tophat spacer, anticipating somewhere around 3" of total front lift. As such, I figured a 1-3/4" rear hole relocation, with the rear being very close to 1:1 ratio, should level me out pretty good. However, what I saw was closer to 4" up front and a touch over 2" out back... I have since removed the 3/8" tophat spacer and the front has finally settled down to about 2-1/4" with just the perch collar, and the rear has remained just over 2" actual lift so I'm essentially right back at a factory rake... I kind of like where the front sits, so I'm considering my options for lowering the rear to match. The right answer will probably be to just make new lower mounts that are a happy medium between stock and where I've got them at now...

The day I brought my Bronco home I crawled around underneath and thought I should redrill the rears, but worried about unintended consequences. I guess they are real. Yeah, rebuilding and redrilling are probably your best bet. Weaker or shorter springs might be their own can of worms. FWIW, I like some rake.

 

[noliveaxle]

If you are taking the cheap route to achieve your height goal, why not just stay on the cheap and either cut your coil to the height you want, or just heat the coil and compress?

Maybe an aftermarket company has softer springs?

Side note, and I hate to admit this, when I was in HS, this is how I lowered my truck, we heated the spirngs up with a torch in shop and had some buddies jumping up and down on the bumper to get the coil to compress, worked like a charm until I was able to do it the right way

Haha.
I did the same. We put blocks under the frame of our LTD and heated the springs until it sat on the blocks. While we were at it we cut off the top also.

 

[adamruiz2001]

Haha.
I did the same. We put blocks under the frame of our LTD and heated the springs until it sat on the blocks. While we were at it we cut off the top also.

Those were the days, being young kids, doing whatever it took to achieve the look we wanted. Good times!

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