1st Gen Ride Floats after lowering

[Tjhoward84]

Hello all,

I have a 1st gen Expy (1999, 4x4 with the factory 4-wheel air ride suspension) with a full Lightning drive train swap (yes, its a lot of fun to drive). I am the original owner (bought it in Aug. 1999) and will never get rid of this machine.

I lowered it a few years ago using the Ground Force kit (new torsion bars keys in the front and new relocating bracket in the rear). I also have 22" wheels that have 12" wide tires. The tires are so wide and have so little side wall height they catch all of the ruts and groves in the road and throw the truck all over the place. Also, the truck seems to "float" even on good, non-groved roads. I am thinking that since I lowered it the torsion bars are not "twisted" enough causing the truck to float. I have heard that changing the torsion bars out with F250LD (Light Duty) torsion bars should fix the "floating" issue.

Has anyone done this swap?

 

[Tjhoward84]

I've read where the torsion bars from 1997 - 1999 F250LD (Light Duty) will fix this problem. They are referred to as the 7700 Torsion Bars with a spring code of 7. The Expeditions that came with the 4 corner load leveling air suspension have softer torsion bars so then you unload them to get the truck to sit lower, it tends to make the front end "float".

The problem is the 7700 torsion bars are no longer available. I would have to get them from a junk yard. I really don't want to go thru the trouble of getting them, pulling the old ones out and installing the used ones only to find out this won't fix my problem.

Anyone have experience with this?

 

[Bain64]

You might have better luck with responses posting in the more general '1st gen forum' instead of 'suspension'. Good luck!

 

[SnuffThePunkz]

Okay, first of all jealous of the lightning swap.

Second are you still running the air setup or did you switch it for conventional shocks and coils?

 

[Tjhoward84]

Okay, first of all jealous of the lightning swap.

Second are you still running the air setup or did you switch it for conventional shocks and coils?

Still have the air bags in the rear and the air shocks in the front.

 

[SnuffThePunkz]

Alright, I'm trying to locate the lowering kit you used to see how it was done. But the website doesn't list "ground force".

 

[Tjhoward84]

Alright, I'm trying to locate the lowering kit you used to see how it was done. But the website doesn't list "ground force".

The lowering kits from Ground Force is no longer offered. It was fairly basic - new torsion bar keys for the front and a bracket relocating the rear bracket.

 

[SnuffThePunkz]

Got any photos of the rear end?

How it was relocated, sway bar angles etc?

I suspect the kit did nothing to correct the factory angles and has removed the preload on the suspension, and cranked up the preload on the sway bars, and they are giving you issues.

 

[Tjhoward84]

Got any photos of the rear end?

How it was relocated, sway bar angles etc?

I suspect the kit did nothing to correct the factory angles and has removed the preload on the suspension, and cranked up the preload on the sway bars, and they are giving you issues.

The bracket that came with the kit simply relocated the "on/off" switch for the rear air bags and allows them to deflate more when the truck is off. When the truck turns on, the bag inflate to normal height. That is the only change in the rear.

 

[SnuffThePunkz]

Are you sure?

Most systems would simply set a new normal ride height by lowering the trigger so it thinks it is normal with less air in the system. Which would result in softer bags and more body roll.

How much of a lowering kit did you get?