OMG Lowered and Lightened 2001 Edge Extended Cab

Blown, Lowered, Lightened, Aeroed, 2001 Edge Extended Cab

My goal was to increase handling and ride. I put on 255/70R15's

I cranked the front down. Out back, I cut down the overload leaves, removed the 2 1/2" blocks, and cut down the bottom leaf to lower the spring rate. I felt the need to reduced the spring rate as I removed weight. I was bouncing all over hell. I'll add that removing the heavy blocks and leaves lowered the unsprung weight which helps handling.

Weight reduction:
I removed the jump seats, spare tire holder/crank and section of frame cross member it was mounted too, removed the 2" towing hitch, tailgate and cut down the rear bumper.
I moved the spare tire up in the bed behind the cab to redistribute the weight to a better place. Note that everything I took off, accept the seats, was behind the rear wheels. Taking the weight off there helped handling considerably. There has got to be at least 100lbs removed back there which had leverage and was adding to the force trying to swing the rear end out when cornering.

Anything I miss or others have done?

I'd like to convert the front to coil overs eventually but think I will try a lower spring rate torsion bar first.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Shot's of the bumper, frame cross member cut-out where spare tire carrier was removed and a closer shot of rear. I got too much time on my hands today.

Next things that will happen or have happened to help aerodynamically:

I covered the lower air intake on the front, where the tow hooks poke used to be, in with a tight aluminum mesh. I think it should allow air in but also cause some to flow around and thus create less drag. After doing it, I believe the material lets enough air flow through to do the grill and will do that next.





I will fabricate and install a 4" front air dam. To balance that, I will either put a spoiler on the tailgate or a Wing. JSP America makes one: http://www.sears.com/jsp-america-59inch-truck-tail-spoiler-jsp-95202/p-SPM2234009021
I spoke with the engineer at JSP America about the truck tail wing. I decided against it for the price, style and because I can make a Spoiler with more down force like NASCAR trucks uses, right at the top of the tailgate, and be able to tune it. The spoiler style will not get in the way as the larger wing would.

Yesterday, I put 120lbs of sand over the rear axle to make it stick to the road better. That after working hard to remove weight! Oh well, they come out when the snow goes!

We have the same truck, except mine is 4x4. Did you just remove the 2" blocks on the rear? And, why didn't you simply remove the overload leaf from the spring pack instead of cutting it down?

I did similar things to my 88 when trying to get better mpg. Tossed the jump seats and a bunch of other stuff and reduced my tool cartage...which was considerable...also swapped out a soggy 88 carpet for a dry one and that made a big difference...until the new one got wet...

Also ended up putting weight in the back but I used a few tool boxes...but then resorted to letting the snow be my extra weight...and I could shovel it out on clear days as needed...shovel it back in if the roads became slick again...

Are you sure you've actually improved the handling by removing all of the weight behind the axle? By doing so, you've made the front-to-rear weight balance of the truck even worse than it already was, which would cause a loss of traction, and could cause the rear of the truck to hop even more over bumps. It may also increase understeer. By putting the spare in the bed, you also raised the CoG a bit, which is again not good for handling.

I've found that because the Ranger is still a truck, and has all of the handling characteristics of a truck (poor weight balance, aero, and leaf springs on a solid axle) the best bet to improve handling is to lower it, and add as much grip/braking as you can. Get wide, sticky tires, and strong brakes so that you can brake later going into a corner, maintain as much speed as possible through the corner, and the have traction exiting the corner.

For aero stuff, I'd forget the rear wing. Adding that 100lbs back behind the axle would probably provide more grip in the rear than a spoiler would, and it doesn't look like a ricer truck. Also, if you're thinking of covering things to improve aerodynamics, I'd use coroplast. It's super cheap, lightweight, rigid, and it doesn't take any special tools or skills to work with. The underside of our trucks is especially "messy" aerodynamically speaking, so I'd strongly consider at least a partial belly pan made of coroplast.

Are you sure you've actually improved the handling by removing all of the weight behind the axle? By doing so, you've made the front-to-rear weight balance of the truck even worse than it already was, which would cause a loss of traction, and could cause the rear of the truck to hop even more over bumps. It may also increase understeer. By putting the spare in the bed, you also raised the CoG a bit, which is again not good for handling.

I've found that because the Ranger is still a truck, and has all of the handling characteristics of a truck (poor weight balance, aero, and leaf springs on a solid axle) the best bet to improve handling is to lower it, and add as much grip/braking as you can. Get big, sticky tires, and strong brakes so that you can brake later going into a corner, maintain as much speed as possible through the corner, and the have traction exiting the corner.

For aero stuff, I'd forget the rear wing. Adding that 100lbs back behind the axle would probably provide more grip in the rear than a spoiler would, and it doesn't look like a ricer truck. Also, if you're thinking of covering things to improve aerodynamics, I'd use coroplast. It's super cheap, lightweight, rigid, and it doesn't take any special tools or skills to work with. The underside of our trucks is especially "messy" aerodynamically speaking, so I'd strongly consider at least a partial belly pan made of coroplast.

Bronco638 said:

We have the same truck, except mine is 4x4. Did you just remove the 2" blocks on the rear? And, why didn't you simply remove the overload leaf from the spring pack instead of cutting it down?

Click to expand...

Those rear blocks are 2.5" and were removed. I took out weight in the rear and found the rear was too stiff, too highly sprung. I cut down the bottom leaf and the overload leaf to reduce spring rate and soften the ride a bit.

In doing so I dropped the load carrying capacity for sure, but I don't use it for hauling or towing.

stmitch said:

Are you sure you've actually improved the handling by removing all of the weight behind the axle? By doing so, you've made the front-to-rear weight balance of the truck even worse than it already was, which would cause a loss of traction, and could cause the rear of the truck to hop even more over bumps. It may also increase understeer. By putting the spare in the bed, you also raised the CoG a bit, which is again not good for handling.

I've found that because the Ranger is still a truck, and has all of the handling characteristics of a truck (poor weight balance, aero, and leaf springs on a solid axle) the best bet to improve handling is to lower it, and add as much grip/braking as you can. Get big, sticky tires, and strong brakes so that you can brake later going into a corner, maintain as much speed as possible through the corner, and the have traction exiting the corner.

For aero stuff, I'd forget the rear wing. Adding that 100lbs back behind the axle would probably provide more grip in the rear than a spoiler would, and it doesn't look like a ricer truck. Also, if you're thinking of covering things to improve aerodynamics, I'd use coroplast. It's super cheap, lightweight, rigid, and it doesn't take any special tools or skills to work with. The underside of our trucks is especially "messy" aerodynamically speaking, so I'd strongly consider at least a partial belly pan made of coroplast.

Click to expand...

I do feel that it corners better now. I lowered the spring rate to account for the weight loss. I also lowered the rear of the truck 2 1/2 to 3" so moving the spare up a few inches would increase COG slightly but I believe I got the better of a trade-off. Moving that weight in front of the rear axle is better than having it aft of the axle trying to pull the rear out and around in a corner. I also removed a 2" receiver tow hitch, most of the bumper, and the tailgate. That's quite a bit of weight. I know getting that weight out from behind the axle helped cornering but I should have noted. Note Here: After taking everything off and out of the bed, I did find that putting back in the spare tire and tools in front of the bed and one 60lb sandbag over the rear axle helped handling, ride, and cornering.

The addition of some Aero stuff really only helps handling and/or mileage at highway speeds. I think the air damn will help clean-up the air underneath considerably and help down force. The belly pan is a good idea, but I ain't going there. I may do a pan aft of the rear axle. A rear spoiler should replace the weight I took out by providing some down force on the back. The air damn should have a slight positive effect on drag, think better mileage here , but I am thinking it will be more than offset by the drag of a rear spoiler.

Weight reduction is better for mileage around town. But, I will continue to run 60lbs over the rear axle, spare tire behind the cab and about 25lbs in tools. I tried it without anything and it was too light, wanted to slide out and tire spin was easy...........................Again, I got another 60lbs in back now and the tailgate on to get traction in the snow we are getting.

Mark_88 said:

I did similar things to my 88 when trying to get better mpg. Tossed the jump seats and a bunch of other stuff and reduced my tool cartage...which was considerable...also swapped out a soggy 88 carpet for a dry one and that made a big difference...until the new one got wet...

Also ended up putting weight in the back but I used a few tool boxes...but then resorted to letting the snow be my extra weight...and I could shovel it out on clear days as needed...shovel it back in if the roads became slick again...

Click to expand...

I lived in the Mtn's for 20 years and we had enough snow to use for ballast as well!


I know these are small changes, I got, had some time on my hands to screw around a bit.

If you did all of this at basically the same time, then it would definitely feel better now than it was originally. That I can believe. The lowering and tire upgrade alone would be a noticeable difference. But really, the physics don't change. You took weight out behind the axle, which further increased the front heavy bias, so you had to add it back. If you were going to haul the tools and extra weight around anyway, then losing the weight you did is basically just returning the truck to something closer to it's stock weight. If you don't have to haul the heavy stuff, then why even bother with the weight loss stuff in the first place?

How did you decrease the spring rate? Did you remove a leaf from the leaf pack or something?

You are correct about the air dam, but really, I don't get the rear spoiler idea. It's going to increase drag, which will hurt your mpgs, and won't do anything to improve handling that having all of the stock pieces in place wouldn't do. Like you said, you have to be going substantial speeds to notice any kind of difference from a rear spoiler. If it's just a cosmetic thing, then that's your call, but I wouldn't expect much from it at all in the way of performance gains and it may actually decrease your mpgs (which you seem concerned about).
Also, the area behind the rear axle might be the hardest area to install a belly pan on the whole truck. It would have to be strong enough to withstand all of the forces of air rushing into it, without becoming a parachute, and getting ripped out from under the truck. That strength is going to add some of that weight back that you worked so hard to lose. It's probably much easier to start a belly pan in the front, and go as far back as you can. Things would be tricky trying to work around the axle, leafs, and exhaust that all need to be accounted for. The idea with aero stuff is generally to clean up the front first, and work your way back. The leading edge of the vehicle is often the most important. The Ecomodder guys are great inspiration for aero modding. You should check out what they do.

stmitch said:

How did you decrease the spring rate? Did you remove a leaf from the leaf pack or something?

Click to expand...

I believe he's said that he cut the bottom leaf as well as the overload leaf (which are, basically, the two lower leaves in the pack). I figure that if you're going to remove the u-bolts, to remove the 2.5" spacer block, you might as well remove the leaves at the same time (instead of cutting them).

Bronco638 said:

I believe he's said that he cut the bottom leaf as well as the overload leaf (which are, basically, the two lower leaves in the pack). I figure that if you're going to remove the u-bolts, to remove the 2.5" spacer block, you might as well remove the leaves at the same time (instead of cutting them).

Click to expand...

I didn't want the front lower than the rear which is not good aerodynamically. It increases drag under the rig. That half inch made a difference and removing the two bottom leaves felt too soft and dropped it too much.

stmitch said:

You took weight out behind the axle, which further increased the front heavy bias, so you had to add it back. If you were going to haul the tools and extra weight around anyway, then losing the weight you did is basically just returning the truck to something closer to it's stock weight. If you don't have to haul the heavy stuff, then why even bother with the weight loss stuff in the first place?

Why take an ounce or two off a racing road bike? small gains man. I think you are stuck on the front/rear bias. Even if I only netted 75lb decrease, one hundred pounds lost behind the axle helps cornering.

You are correct about the air dam, but really, I don't get the rear spoiler idea. It's going to increase drag, which will hurt your mpgs, and won't do anything to improve handling that having all of the stock pieces in place wouldn't do.
Again I will trade the weight behind the rear axle vs in front of it. It has a bit less weight to get rolling and the spoiler will add that back when I need it at speed.

Like you said, you have to be going substantial speeds to notice any kind of difference from a rear spoiler. If it's just a cosmetic thing, then that's your call, but I wouldn't expect much from it at all in the way of performance gains and it may actually decrease your mpgs (which you seem concerned about).
It's a trade-off, gain some drag for down force when flying at speed. I hoep th efornt air dam offsets it a bit.

Also, the area behind the rear axle might be the hardest area to install a belly pan on the whole truck. It would have to be strong enough to withstand all of the forces of air rushing into it, without becoming a parachute, and getting ripped out from under the truck. That strength is going to add some of that weight back that you worked so hard to lose. It's probably much easier to start a belly pan in the front, and go as far back as you can. Things would be tricky trying to work around the axle, leafs, and exhaust that all need to be accounted for. The idea with aero stuff is generally to clean up the front first, and work your way back. The leading edge of the vehicle is often the most important. The Ecomodder guys are great inspiration for aero modding. You should check out what they do.

Click to expand...

I am talking something from the bottom of the rear bumper up forward to the bottom of the bed. That should keep the bumper from catching air. I looked at the ecomodder stuff and am utilizing a couple of those gains in addition to performance and handling gains read elsewhere. I may do a spoiler off of the back of the cab, 11 degree angle down and about 19" long............................

Thanks for your input.

Really, tho, you're doing all this for fun, right? The better mileage is waaaaaay secondary. Just as a note that has likely been hashed over plenty, but I put Blizzaks on a 99 2wd in Milwaukee one winter. Dang! It was like a 4wd in the snow. A startling difference in traction.