Nose dive

[Ranger850]

I noticed that my truck seems to be squatting in the front. I took measurements from center of wheel to apex of wheel arch in the fender. The front is 3" lower by these measurements. I also noticed that the rear has 2" blocks between axl and leaf springs. The front suspension has bounce in it but I don't know if its good or bad. My question is should I get new front shocks to raise it back up, or adjust the torsion keys to raise the front bumper. Third option is remove the blocks from the rear and lower the whole stance of the truck. It's a 2wd Edge single cab with a 3.0 V6 - hoping to do a v8 swap in the future.

 

[JOLENE_THE_RANGER]

I noticed that my truck seems to be squatting in the front. I took measurements from center of wheel to apex of wheel arch in the fender. The front is 3" lower by these measurements. I also noticed that the rear has 2" blocks between axl and leaf springs. The front suspension has bounce in it but I don't know if its good or bad. My question is should I get new front shocks to raise it back up, or adjust the torsion keys to raise the front bumper. Third option is remove the blocks from the rear and lower the whole stance of the truck. It's a 2wd Edge single cab with a 3.0 V6 - hoping to do a v8 swap in the future.

new shocks will not raise the front any significant amount. if your shocks are completely blown out and you put new ones on the most youd see is maybe a quarter inch of ride increase. ride height comes from the torsion bars

 

[Ranger850]

So did my torsion bars adjust over time to lower the nose 2"?

 

[JOLENE_THE_RANGER]

So did my torsion bars adjust over time to lower the nose 2"?

trucks usually come factory with slightly lower front ends than rear ends. also the 2" blocks under the rear leafs are not stock.

 

[adsm08]

Trucks are designed with 2 to 3" or rake to allow for steering angles and longitudinal balance to stay correct when the bed is fully loaded, or towing a trailer, and the rear squats.

For maintaining proper ride height shocks do pretty much nothing. They have zero ability to hold weight in any meaningful sense, once you get up into weights like that of a vehicle. Think about it, you can compress a shock with your bare hands and it isn't even that hard. Do you really think that will hold up the 800lb corner of your truck?

 

[RonD]

As said shocks are not there to change ride height, they are there to slow down the "springs" from compressing too fast and then continuing to bounce after you hit a bump

The Torsion bars are your front "springs" and are set for the weight of your vehicle, assuming they haven't been adjusted.
If you change them, crank them tighter, it will raise front end, but will also make for a stiffer ride, since you increased spring tension but not the weight it is hold up, which is why it raises the front, lol

So when you hit a bump the weight of the vehicle is not enough to defect the "spring" tension like it did before, so stiffer ride

I would remove the rear blocks and keep the better ride

 

[adsm08]

I would remove the rear blocks and keep the better ride

Just remember that factory U-bolts are not threaded the whole way. Removing the factory lift blocks will likely cause you to run out of threads before your bolts are tight.

 

[Ranger850]

My 2" blocks are stock. The Stance of my truck can't be stock. I've seen other 2wd edge Rangers and they do not squat in the front like mine does. do I need longer torsion keys to raise it back up. Nobody ever said if they could adjust over time to a lower ride height, like it sits now.

 

[DRanger024]

My 2" blocks are stock. The Stance of my truck can't be stock. I've seen other 2wd edge Rangers and they do not squat in the front like mine does. do I need longer torsion keys to raise it back up. Nobody ever said if they could adjust over time to a lower ride height, like it sits now.

You can adjust the torsion bars without changing the keys. You need to turn the adjusters the same amount on both sides though. One turn on the drivers side means one turn on the passenger side. I wouldn’t go more than three turns. An alignment is recommended afterward.


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[Ranger850]

10 four. thanks

 

[adsm08]

My 2" blocks are stock. The Stance of my truck can't be stock. I've seen other 2wd edge Rangers and they do not squat in the front like mine does. do I need longer torsion keys to raise it back up. Nobody ever said if they could adjust over time to a lower ride height, like it sits now.

Torsion bars are springs, and just like any other spring they can weaken with time and not hold the load up. Or someone may have lowered the front on purpose.

That is the advantage of torsion bars over coil or leaf springs. They are adjustable.

 

[pjtoledo]

there is a factory ride height spec. it is measured by the vertical distance between pivot points on the lower control arm. I can't find the exact specs right now, maybe someone with a service manual can look it up.

on a side note,,, since you mentioned a future 302 upgrade it's possible to increase your front rotors from 11.25" to 12" by using 2001 Explorer SPORT TRACK steering spindles. it never hurts to increase "whoa" when "go" goes faster.
this only works on torsion bar systems, coils need not apply.

 

[Ranger850]

Good to know about the sport trac parts swap. i'll check into that

 

[pjtoledo]

Good to know about the sport trac parts swap. i'll check into that

if you weren't on the wrong end of Interstate 75 I would loan you a set to check out.

 

[Ranger850]

if you weren't on the wrong end of Interstate 75 I would loan you a set to check out.

yeah, I'm on the hot end of 75, probably still cold where you're at.
that's ok, I have bigger problems now, broken valve and bent rod in my 3.0v6