Long-Travel Suspension

[tiessen]

There used to be an article at offroad.com that outlined putting 33's on a STOCK Ranger with fiberglass flares.

Maybe check it out.

Cheers
Dale

 

[leebo]

Do a search on "project Pre-Rocker" on the off-road.com site. They've got several good ideas, but SEVERAL bad ones. They say the tranny in the Ranger(and the explorer) is a good one...and can take the abuse. You do the math. It's a good resource, but not a bible.

 

[BislamJoe]

I'm aware of the off-road.com "Project Pre-Rocker". As for clearing 33's with only 2" of lift and 3" wider per side, I don't see any trouble after some judicious trimming and relocating. Of course, I've been planning on some major hammer-and-saw work on the fenders/fenderwells since the beginning. If Fenderguy can run 35's on a stock width axle and only 4" of lift, then I really don't see what you guys are concerned so much about. CMartin - 2" lift all 'round. I was asking if I should order a spring pack to give 3" to a stock Explorer or just have them custom made to balance out. I'm adding integral toolboxes in the cargo area, and I'm not sure if the added weight will need extra compensation from the springs.

 

[sirhk100]

This might be another place worth checking into. Shop

Go to project vehicles and look at the Explorer.

 

[BislamJoe]

That's wild man. Is that actually a '95? In some pics it looks like a 1st generation with fiberglass all 'round. Very cool. I think I'll send them an e-mail.

 

[sirhk100]

Yeah, I don't think it's a '95. There's a couple pics of the front end and it's definately the older style plus it's running TTB and Radius arms. I doubt they cut off the A Arms and put all that on. It also looks to be 2WD but it's kinda hard to tell.

 

[BislamJoe]

I sent them an e-mail to see if they can fab up what I want for my front end. I think McNeil Racing is going to be my best bet for that though.

 

[FROADER]

Bislam-
Get all the stuff you are going to then get it weighed. Then you can call National and tell them what it wieghs and how high you want to go. A few weeks later you have exactly what you want at your front door. It will not be right if you get the springs first and try and guess how high to go. Anyway my opinion. Good luck.

 

[BislamJoe]

That's kind of what I thought I'd need to do. Thanks bud. (both for the advice and the wishes of good luck - i'm gonna need a lot of both) Where are you located Fenderguy? I'd like to get together with you maybe for a run and to look at your truck and drool. Hopefully I'll be able to go to a future explorer4x4.com run.

 

[FROADER]

I'm in Huntington Beach, CA. Quite the drive if you want to meet up sometime. No problem with the info and wishes of good luck. I went through the same thing with my ranger I had, setting it up pre-runner. Anyway I will be going through it with my X also since I'm making it pre-runner style but will also be able to climb anything I want.

 

[BislamJoe]

heh - Yeah, California's a little out of the way for me. lol. Hopefully I'll make it to one of the events or something. I'd like to go to Truckhaven, but I don't think I'll go on any real runs until I've done some mods.

 

[sirhk100]

Fenderguy,

I still want to check out your ride sometime when our schedules match up. Maybe sometime next week or something.

 

[FROADER]

I can go any day of the week for lunch. You just let me know. e-mailing me is the easiest way for me to check instead of on here. Word.

 

[leebo]

Colin....Brian gave me the link for the S2 setup. After I looked at it i like it better than the 4link. This helps control the axle wrap better than I think a 4link would. Take a look

Dead Link Removed

Dead Link Removed

 

[BislamJoe]

Thanks to all of you for responding and giving your input. I think I've found my setup. 2" lift, 3" wider each side, 33x12.5x15 (or maybe the 33" equivalent on 16" rims) Goodyear MT/R's or BFG MT KM's. I'll be swapping the outer parts on my TTB for the D44 outers (there was a thread about it... search for "my brilliant idea" or something like that) and the 9" rear to get a 5x5.5 bolt pattern. Seriously sawed fenders. BTW, Khris - I got a reply from that link you gave me. He can widen the I-beams for like 900-1000. But no radius arms, shocks, coils, etc.... He asked about doing a coilover setup on it too. I think McNeil's gonna be my best choice, but I'll pursue this one a bit and see where it leads.

 

[leebo]

Joe....check your PM...I just saw that I sent you one awhile ago and you never got it. I hope you like it.

 

[sirhk100]

Okay, here's what I've decided on. After talking withRod Fantelli for an hour or so at his shop last night I know what I'm saving up for!! Click on the link and look at fantelli racing. There's some pics of a bronco that would be built similar to mine. Here's what I want now. Stock TTBs just trussed and strengthened. Exteneded radius arms. Dual rate Sway-a-Way coil overs with external Air Bump Stops. The entire front end fabbed to race quality support will be $4500. In the rear I'm going to go with Long Beach leaf springs and resevoir Sway-a-Way shocks with all custom mounting in the rear. I'm going to look at a 4wd Explorer he built on Sat that he claims is driven VERY HARD. The cool thing about this guy is that he stands behind his work and he builds it to be driven HARD. He says that if I go out and trash it all I need to do is pay for materials to replace anything broken and he'll do the labor free or even let me do it and show/teach me what to do.

 

[BislamJoe]

That's no Bronco, that's a TANK! lol. Seriously though, that looks really sweet, Khris. I'd love to see the result. I'd like to meet up with you after we both finish our buildups, see how it all turns out. Best of luck to ya, man. Hope it comes out good. BTW, how much lift will you be getting with that setup?

 

[sirhk100]

I'm not sure if you've seen the one picture of my ride in profile but it's already to high in my opinion. I'm currently on the lamest 6" lift you've ever seen and 32" tires. I want to go to 33's and minimal lift. I'm going to get the fiberglass front fenders to make some room for the tires. My rear is a spring over right now but I might switch back to a spring under. One nice thing about the coilover shocks is you can just spin the nuts on top and it will raise and lower your front end. Basically at first I'll just have it sitting level with how the rear is now. Later on once I get the rear done which should be a little lower I'll drop the front end to match. I would like to end up with 4"-5" of lift with about 14"s of functional travel to beat up. He was telling me about the ranger that I'm going to look at and he says they have pictures of the truck 4 feet in the air and it still drove straight on the way home. He cuts and turns the TTBs so there's no drop down brackets and you use his mounting brackets which are HUGE along with his radius arm brackets which are also HUGE. I think that's quite a bit of money but after looking at the brackets he had for it and a TTB the he had there and was currently trussing I was sold. I'd rather do it right and all the way the first time then regretting it later. I'm sure after I chack out this 4wd ranger tomorrow I'll really be in for it. Time to start saving and maybe after the 1st of the year I'll be able to do it!!! Damn, you don't know how bad I need ot win the Lotto!!! If I won, I'd by you your setup just so that we could meet and compare them and then drive home laughing cuase we would know we've got the sickest long travel explorers made!!!

 

[BislamJoe]

I'll keep buying lotto tickets, you keep buying lotto tickets. Whoever wins first buys the setups! lol Actually, about the leaves, I got to thinking and reasoned that if I got a set of springs made that had "no" arch, I could put 'em over the axle tubes for more ground clearance, but not get 5-6" of lift from them. I don't know how much travel you could get out of a flat leaf spring. Hell, I don't even know if that would work out or not, I'll probably just stay spring-under. Or you could convert to coils in the back (but I've heard that's a major PITA). If you're willing to cut up your cargo area floor, I imagine you could do a coilover setup with the shock mounted over the spring (if it's spring-under, you'd mount to the tube lined up with the spring pad) and the top end to a cage in the back. Good luck, both with your truck and the lotto.