Lowering our VX

[On Your Left]

There's been a lot of talk with the off-roaders about lifting the VX, which makes sense for them. But has anyone lowered their VX? I have never gone off-road, and while I might someday realsitically I'll stick to asphalt. I think the VX would look great a little lower and may provide slightly better mileage due to a more aerodynamic profile. Of course this is an asusmption.

If anyone has lowered the VX let me know the following:
1. How did you do it? (parts, time, labor, etc.)
2. Cost of lowering?
3. Any effects, both positive and negative?

JT

[TDAWG]

Hey On Your Left (JT),
If you do a search you'll find that that has been a much debated topic. So of us like the idea and others don't. You might even be able to find a pic or 2 of the Pronton that has been dropped some.

[Cyrk]

I personal would love to lower mine a little...
I photoshoped what it could look like a while ago.

CrzyFool said that he dropped his 2 inches, "I lost a little in my turning Radius but it looks SWEET" :-)
CrzyFool how about some more info and some pics?

Anyway here is the photoshop job:


-Dave

[WormGod]

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/sh...papass=&sort=4

Mwuhahahahahaha............

[MZ-N10]

how would we go about lowering it? r we just cutting springs? or r there lowering springs for us?
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WEB SHOWS

[-x-]

Might have to lighten up ya screen or anyone that wants to photoshop by all means...
...anyway you can see the front tire start to tuck under the fender ...x

[AlaskaVX]

I just wanted to throw in my 2 cents...... It looks horrible! And it would most likely be a rough and horrible ride. (In my opinion) You would lose what you paid for.

[VehiX]

Originally posted by AlaskaVX
I just wanted to throw in my 2 cents...... It looks horrible! And it would most likely be a rough and horrible ride. (In my opinion) You would lose what you paid for.

Now take this lightly as this is just my opinion.

I totally agree with AlaskaVX!

That would be like buying a Civic and slapping a 3 inch lift kit on it.

why buy the total opposite of what you really wanted?

[MZ-N10]

well i was just plannin to drop it 2 inches so then there isnt as big of a gap between teh tire and teh rim....i dont do much off roading anyways....

OR

get bigger rims and tires....my little 16" look funny.....i want some 18s or 19s
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Avandia Death

[kobie]

OR...
How about both? Drop it 2" and get some 20" wider chrome wheels (6-spoke) with low profile tires. There's a guy on the west side of town with a black VX and 20"+ wheels and his looks amazing. Very urban. If you're not 4-wheeling it why not cater it to the road?

[VehiX]

Originally posted by kobie
OR...
How about both? Drop it 2" and get some 20" wider chrome wheels (6-spoke) with low profile tires. There's a guy on the west side of town with a black VX and 20"+ wheels and his looks amazing. Very urban. If you're not 4-wheeling it why not cater it to the road?

l also agree with everything kobie is saying here as well

If ya gonna do it, do it right

[MZ-N10]

tat would kick arse but first we need to know how we lower it correctly...i dont wanna roll arouhnd like a civic with cut springs...

kobie...do the poeple tat want to lower their vx a big favor and track tat man down and ask him how he did it...
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FIND HEADSHOP

[coachreed]

To best way to lower the VX would be to get some custom springs made for the rear from Valley Spring Works and then lower the front by simply adjusting the torsion bars. The last time I checked, Valley Spring works would make a custom set (two rear springs) for around $200 possibly a little cheaper if you get a few people together to buy the same springs at the same time. Anyway, after you lower the front by loosening the torsion bars, you will want to get the front end aligned very soon... it knocks the alignment WAY outta wack. I of course went the other direction... 2-3 inches in the rear via OME lifting springs and then cranked the torsion bars up front. Anyway... good luck and post pictures if you do it.

Later!

[AREA 51]

Don't forget to trim or adapt the lower bumpstops. Esp, in rear.

[-x-]

....but in my mind a simple solution would be to first as mentioned slap on some bigger tires, wheels, both...etc. And to close up some if any of the gap there after adjust the front tortion bars and you could always clamp the rear springs. And if anything comes up its easily reversable.

...only other thing that comes to mind is checkin the bumpstop / clearance thereafter...

And lastly from a Previous Post : (Sorry Quote Thingie Didnt Work)

ATTN.... All who want to lower the VX.......

YOU CAN LOWER THE VX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


2-3" lower is ALOT easier than everyone is making it sound....

The "bounce" that some of you have felt, when lowering, is the A-arms bottoming out on the bumpstops.

In the front, all you have to do is remove the bump-stops and trim them with a saw or grinder (I did this on mine to increase the wheel-travel) and turn DOWN the torsien bars a bit...
Also another slick trick is to do a Ball-joint mount flip ON THE LOWER A-ARM, this will allow more up-travel while still using your stock bumpstops and shocks.
To drop it even further than 2" the torsen-bars will need to be re-indexed.

In the rear, the VX has a rather large bump-stop that can be trimmed also, or removed altogether and replaced with a lower profile one (Ive tried both)
Shorter springs can be had at a reasonable cost.
To drop more than 2" in the rear, there is a square-tube piece right above the rear bump-stop that could easily be notched out (w/o sacrificing frame strength), and on the rear axle the "bump-stop pad" on the top side of the axle could be trimmed off for additional clearance.


I have a lot of experiance with the Vehicross' suspension as I have had several different lift kits and shocks on it and ran at several different ride heights, and am always playing with the suspension to achieve maximum articulation.
Also, I am the guy that drove to Calmini Manufacturing to get them to make/install the prototype lift kit they now offer for the VX. (They also offer lowering springs for some other trucks and may be able to help source a good set for the VX)

No, the shocks don't bottom out...it seems Isuzu had the forthought to allow the shocks to travel farther in each direction than the stock suspension components do.


Anyone seriosly interested in "dropping" the VX is more than welcome to e-mail me with questions.....

Allan
VX on 36"ers 4" lift