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Lowering springs installers

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Cleveland, Ohio
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2022 Explorer ST
#1
Any Cleveland Ohio lowering springs installers you’d recommend?
 

Cdubya

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#2
Probably your Ford dealer...maybe ones that sell Roush or maintenance souped up Mustangs and Raptors? Or if you have the tools, do it yourself. My coworker in Wooster says his dealer does all his upgrades to his Mustang and Raptor. I know Montrose has a lot of Roush modified cars.
 

OP
Doug
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Thread Starter #3
Probably your Ford dealer...maybe ones that sell Roush or maintenance souped up Mustangs and Raptors? Or if you have the tools, do it yourself. My coworker in Wooster says his dealer does all his upgrades to his Mustang and Raptor. I know Montrose has a lot of Roush modified cars.
thanks dubs. was reluctant to even mention it to the dealer but this opened my mind.
 

I Bleed Ford Blue

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#4
If you have the room and the tools, just do it yourself. I did mine on a Saturday afternoon myself.
 

OP
Doug
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Thread Starter #5
thanks blue. did you follow the Steeda instructions, Ford service manual instructions, or just wing it from experience? Steeda had basically two steps, removing the shock and dropping the cross member. Ford instructions don’t touch the subframe but has a ton of bolts coming off to do the same job. And Ford has you throwing away all nuts and bolts because they’re one time use torque-to-yield. That alone adds about $150 to the rear alone. I watched fatguy’s vid and he seems to follow something close to Ford instructions but still different. I have zero experience with this part of a car and don’t understand how the parts really work together. it’s been a tedious process learning how to diy.
 

Cdubya

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#6
Dont follow the Steeda instructions for the rear. remove the outer bolt from the upper control arm so the knuckle can drop down and use a pry bar to compress and remove the spring. The rears take about an hour, the fronts about 2 hours. if you want stock camber settings, you may have to adjust at the inside bolt to that upper control arm yourself because even the dealer probably wont. that said a little neg camber is not bad...dont see much abnormal wear. I reused all nuts and bolts.

This is what i wrote in another thread:
Did the fronts the way I normally do. I guessed that the preload wasn't too bad so did not use spring compressors to disassemble the struts and just loosen the top nut with the impact wrench after wrapping in a blanket. It jumped only about 6" or so. Obviously don't do it this way if you aren't comfortable with it or how to avoid injury. I was hoping the lowering springs were short enough that I could assemble to strut without the compressors, but the Steeda's definitely are not.

The rears, I did it as Unbroken suggested. I've never done a car with the rear suspension like this Ford's so I appreciate Unbroken sharing his way--the Steeda instructions talk about dropping the rear subframe but are not very detailed in how to do it. I think it is best to do the rears in this order after backend is on jackstands: Detach swar bar end link on both sides and rotate sway bar out of the way. Remove shock entirely (upper bolts then lower). Jack up the knuckle from the lower shock attachment (mainly because the UCA want so sit up higher). Remove the long bolt that joins the knuckle to the upper control bolt. The knuckle should drop low quite readily after the jack is released. I then used a cheapie but stout Harbor Freight 30" pry bar to work the bottom of the OEM spring out. Once the spring is almost out, a pair of large angled pliers finished the job. The Steeda springs went in quite easily with just some light leverage on the lower spring perch. Then just reinstall everything in reverse. If you do not not jack the knuckle (so the hole approximates the UCA hole) and insert the knuckle-UCA bolt next, it will be extremely difficult to insert it. Then lower the knuckle and reinsert and tighten the shock. When both sides are done, secure both sway bar endlinks..
 

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I Bleed Ford Blue

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#7
I had previous experience with lowering and lifting vehicles, plus I watched the steeda vids and the fatguy vid too.

Do yourself a favor and after you pull the front shock-spring assembly, take it, along with the new springs to a local shop that has a floor mounted spring compressor. Trying to compress the springs on the bench is a pain. Also, on the rear you don't need to drop or lower the subframe, just pull one of the lower control arm bolts to gain enough clearance to pull the stock springs out.

BTW, Cdubya and myself are both local. I'm out west in North Olmsted, and he's out east somewhere.
 

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OP
Doug
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Thread Starter #8
Probably your Ford dealer...maybe ones that sell Roush or maintenance souped up Mustangs and Raptors? Or if you have the tools, do it yourself. My coworker in Wooster says his dealer does all his upgrades to his Mustang and Raptor. I know Montrose has a lot of Roush modified cars.
Thanks so much for the lead on Montrose Ford. They will absolutely do it. And they answer the phone first ring! My local dealer on the east side doesn’t even answer the phone lol. And I’ve called a few times now over the past month.
 

Cdubya

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#9
Thanks so much for the lead on Montrose Ford. They will absolutely do it. And they answer the phone first ring! My local dealer on the east side doesn’t even answer the phone lol. And I’ve called a few times now over the past month.
Nice! And if you've got any of your Ford Pass points, you can use that also. I bought my Explorer at Montrose and have used them for warranty work and they also did my alignment after I installed the Steeda's. They are a huge operation, despite what it looks like from the front.
 

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Location
Indiana
Vehicle
2019 Ford Flex
#10
3 local places by me in Northwest Indiana are a No go
2 said hard "NO" 3rd wanted $900 for installation. WOW !

So far I may not go with them if no one in my area is going to be reasonable.
 

octoroach

New Member
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Location
Cleveland, OH, USA
#11
Thanks so much for the lead on Montrose Ford. They will absolutely do it. And they answer the phone first ring! My local dealer on the east side doesn’t even answer the phone lol. And I’ve called a few times now over the past month.
may I ask what they charged for installing the springs + alignment? about to hit the order button from Steeda and also in Cleveland area
 

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Chicago, IL, USA
#12
3 local places by me in Northwest Indiana are a No go
2 said hard "NO" 3rd wanted $900 for installation. WOW !

So far I may not go with them if no one in my area is going to be reasonable.
Might be out of your way a bit but I believe P&L Motorsports will install them, with alignment the cost was like $700. Located in IL.
 

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Location
Indiana
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2019 Ford Flex
#13
Might be out of your way a bit but I believe P&L Motorsports will install them, with alignment the cost was like $700. Located in IL.
^ Thanks. actually not crazy far, about an hour drive. that's not too bad w/Alignment. Might still be hope for me to get this lowered still.
 

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Location
Chicago, IL, USA
#14
^ Thanks. actually not crazy far, about an hour drive. that's not too bad w/Alignment. Might still be hope for me to get this lowered still.
Yeah they quoted me $1050 or so with H&R springs installed and aligned. Very fair and they do very nice work. Their exhaust is beautiful and sounds amazing. Maybe if we both order at the same time we can get a discount lol.
 

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Location
Chicago, IL, USA
#15
^ Thanks. actually not crazy far, about an hour drive. that's not too bad w/Alignment. Might still be hope for me to get this lowered still.
Hey, I ordered my springs and exhaust Monday since they were doing some great black Friday sales, I would reach out Friday if you are still looking.
 

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43
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Location
Indiana
Vehicle
2019 Ford Flex
#16
Hey, I ordered my springs and exhaust Monday since they were doing some great black Friday sales, I would reach out Friday if you are still looking.
Where did you get them from ? Steeda wasn't much of a discount on the Springs. I need to make sure the place will install before I grab them.
 

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Location
Chicago, IL, USA
#17
Where did you get them from ? Steeda wasn't much of a discount on the Springs. I need to make sure the place will install before I grab them.
P&L Motorsports. They are doing the H&R springs and install for me as well as their 3” exhaust. You can PM Paul Szuba on messenger. 1669401095851.png
 

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