Lowering a SHO

[justforsho]

I've had my 1993 Ford Taurus SHO for around a year now, and have been seeing more and more SHO's around town. But I have yet to see a SHO lowered. Does anybody know how to lower a 1993 SHO? Pease Reply thanks...justforsho

 

[sdpatt]

You will find a great deal of information by trying out the "search" feature at the top right of the Forum pages. This topic has been covered many times under many topics. Be aware that extreme lowering will create alignment difficulties and is only for appearances sake rather than a handling improvement.

The Eibach springs lower the SHO about 1 to 1-1/2" in the front and about 1/2" at the rear. Even this front end lowering has caused challenges for my car to maintain the front end camber within the low end of the specified range (-1 degrees).

I have had to enlarge the three adjustment slots (per side) in the front strut towers to allow the struts to be moved as far outboard as possible before the upper strut mount and its included rubber spring pad really start to interfere with the inside of the strut tower. It is that spring pad rubbing against the inside of the strut tower on some SHOs that causes the loud scrunching noises when turning the wheel when the weather gets cold.

<small>[ January 17, 2003, 05:56 PM: Message edited by: sdpatt ]</small>

 

[Sammage]

Hey Scott, do you use any sort of camber correction kit on your car? BTW, what happened to your avatar? It's showing a box with the red X.

 

[RStalveyARFF]

I tell people to cut the spring manufacturer's claim in half if the car has higher mileage. Sometimes you'll even find that the springs raise the car, since the stock springs on the car can settle.

 

[sdpatt]

What happened to my last response? Into the vapor of the ethernet....

As you can tell, the avatar glitch was temporary and most likely due to linking to the PhotoIsland site.

For modifying the front end to allow greater adjustment for the Eibach spring's effects, I removed the strut and spring assemblies and ground out the adjustment slots as far as possible to the outboard direction. There is a limit to how far you can slide the strut to the outside since the upper strut mount will at one point interfere with the inside of the strut tower. That includes the rubber spring pad and causes a scrunching noise as it rubs the inside of the tower when the wheels are turned side-to-side. A must apply a bit of silicone grease to keep this area quiet.

<small>[ January 18, 2003, 05:42 PM: Message edited by: sdpatt ]</small>

 

[RI-SHO]

I've always thought about doing what you did Scott but didnt how to go about doing it.

About how much more did you go outboard, 1/2"? And how much postive camber did you gain out of it?

 

[sdpatt]

RI-SHO, the physical limit is due to the inboard slot that will end up getting very close to the large center hole. I left a thin link of sheetmetal (1/16") at this point. The other restriction is due to the interference between the strut mount and the strut tower. I have the spacers between the top of the strut mount and the underside of the strut tower, but still have rubbing inside the strut tower to get the camber up to about -.8 degrees. That is why I couldn't believe that your camber was in spec with the more severe lowering on your car.

 

[RI-SHO]

The best I have had before was -1.30 which technically is in spec in the rear but I believe in spec for the front is about -1.00 or -0.75.

Now its just ridiculious at -2.0, but also the best of -1.30 was done after tightening the **** out of my front strut tower bar but now its just semi-tight because i was too lazy to put it up on jacks and get it just "right, the 5degree weather right now isnt tempting also.

So i'm only limited to the inner hole getting into the center i'll defitnaly try that, also by adding those spacers your talking about, will it raise my front height at all? and what rubbing do you mean, like the tire rubbing or the strut itself?

 

[billh]

Boy, getting old is a real bitch. When I weigh the advantages,,, looks, against the disadvantages, ride quality, ground clearance, problems with front end alignment, I have to come to the conclusion that it just isn't worth it to lower the car. A few years ago, I wouldn't have thought twice about it, but now, well, call me a "fold ucker", but I think I'll leave the ride height where it is. wink

 

[SHOZ123]

You can lower the struts in the knuckles for an easy and quick 1/2" or so lowering.