Sloped body lift + SOA successful

[Nick26]

Not sure who remembers this thread: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/...d.php?t=105207

But I did it and have put nearly 5000 trouble free miles on it so far...

Some notes for people who might want to do this or any SOA for that matter:

• The perches I got were from M.O.R.E. offroad but the holes drilled in them are only 1/2" and the peg on the bottom of my leaf spring needed at least a 5/8" hole. So I had to drill those out.
• Also to move the axle about an inch closer and aim the pinion up slightly, I used the furthest back hole. This ending up being a key move because at first I had tons of vibes from my driveshaft slip joint almost seperating (which it did during the install when drooped) and the angle. I tried using the center hole first for a day and immediately changed it the next day. Now its smoother than it was even before the install (my stock tires which were on before were badly balanced)
• The brake lines reached perfectly fine (with a good amount of slack even) after carefully bending the bracket on the frame straight down.
• I rerouted the parking brake cables over the springs and flipped the bracket on the driverside frame. It still works perfectly and reaches fine.
• I trashed the thrid shock/dampener weight that I had and there is no noticiable difference.
• Originally I mounted the shocks on the spring plates flipped and switched sides, which would have worked except for my exhaust. I have dual exhaust pipes that go out both sides and the shocks were really rubbing and pushing on them. So instead I used the bolt and made a stud on the sway bar mount and bolted them to that. This has worked great.

The body lift part was pretty straight forward. I just jacked the truck up from the rear body and replaced each block at a time. The only thing that isn't perfect about this is now my 3in adapter for my 5spd shifter is hitting the plastic shift boot in first. Also I had to slightly modify my tcase shifter which was custom anyway.

Overall with a 2 inch TT and a 3 inch body lift up front and the 6" SOA in the rear, the truck sits fairly even with a nice little rake. Then theres an idea I had for getting another inch up front: putting 1" drop spacers in the mounts for the front axle, so I can TT another inch without stressing the CV's. Seems like it could work, but the front crossmember could be in the way of diff cover, nothing a BFH can't fix... Also, i realize the geometry would be a little off from this making the cv shaft no longer parallel ot the A arms, thats why I'm still thinking about it.

anyway now for the pics:

if your interested here is some more pics I took during the process email me for a folder of them.

Since a lot of people have private messaged me and asked me for the dimensions of the blocks and i forgot the measurements when I installed them... i redid the math to post here. First off these are measurements for a 2nd gen 4 door, if someone wants to measure a sport and let me know I'll post that here too.

Body mount #1: 3"
Body mount #2 (46" from the first mount ~28%): 2 3/16"
Body mount #3 (77" from the first mount ~47%: 1 9/16"
Body mount #4 (120" from the first mount ~78%): 3/4"
Body mount #5 (163" from the first mount): 0"

So if you are careful you can use the left over piece cut off body mount 2 for body mount 4 and it should only take 1 3" block to make the 2 sides for mount 3. So in all you should only need 5 blocks to do this. Disclaimer: These are rough measurements i did in 5 mins with a tape measure and pendulum so it wouldn't hurt to double check my math.

[Nick26]

...

[Con Seann3ry]

do you have a picture from the side?

[Nick26]

Originally Posted by Con Seann3ry

do you have a picture from the side?

this is as close to the side as I have for now, but i can take a few more tonight...
these pics are right after I pulled out of the garage (barely fit), so the springs have settled quite a bit too since then...

[AspenX]

Glad it worked for you. Looks great.

[410Fortune]

lets see a side shot nice work

[explrig91]

did you keep your orginal rear and weld perches for the spring over or use a ranger rear??

[Nick26]

I just welded new perches to my rear... and left original perches incase I ever needed to switch back

[explrig91]

o just wondering, that's wat i am doin with mine tho. i got the ranger rear from a junk yard just need to install it. i figure doin a SOA and using the ranger 3inch blocks and combined with my homemade lift up front i am lookin at around 7.5 to 8inches of lift.

[Nick26]

Originally Posted by explrig91

o just wondering, that's wat i am doin with mine tho. i got the ranger rear from a junk yard just need to install it. i figure doin a SOA and using the ranger 3inch blocks and combined with my homemade lift up front i am lookin at around 7.5 to 8inches of lift.

cool, not sure about the earlier years and the rangers but starting 98 the VSS (electric) was in the rear axle, so relocating that might have been a pain if I had used a ranger axle.

[ohe_boy]

That set up looks just like a 1st gen X. Are you planing on replacing your rear shocks and mount?

[Hokie]

Originally Posted by Nick26

Then theres an idea I had for getting another inch up front: putting 1" drop spacers in the mounts for the front axle, so I can TT another inch without stressing the CV's. Seems like it could work

In doing so, you will be removing another 1" of droop from your front suspension (which stinks when going down a rutted hill b/c it causes your front end to drop when the tire can't droop any more, therefore lifting the rear wheels in the air)

I wonder how hard it would be to fab new A Arms that will increase the front suspension travel

[explrig91]

does neone kno wher i can just buy dropped center hinges for a 91 i have everything else for a 8inch lift just need them.

[Nick26]

Originally Posted by ohe_boy

That set up looks just like a 1st gen X. Are you planing on replacing your rear shocks and mount?

not at this point, its working pretty well for me... The way they are mounted now is actually different from what you see in the pics though. They were hitting my exhaust when bolted to the flipped spring plates, so instead I used the same bolt and bolted them right to the sway bar mount bracket which has been vacant for a while. I would think someone with stock exhaust might be able to get away with bolting them to the spring plates, it's just that my duals are taking up a lot more space. I'll get another pic of that tonight too.

[Nick26]

Originally Posted by Hokie

In doing so, you will be removing another 1" of droop from your front suspension (which stinks when going down a rutted hill b/c it causes your front end to drop when the tire can't droop any more, therefore lifting the rear wheels in the air)

I wonder how hard it would be to fab new A Arms that will increase the front suspension travel

I see what your saying but I'd have to say I don't entirely agree, cause instead of it having to droop another inch it already started out an inch lower. Its still going to still droop to the same maximum the ball joints will allow (which will be an inch less delta from before). This would really only be apparent when I only have 1 front wheel on the ground since that 1 on the ground is not going to be an inch higher. The limitation isn't really in the A-Arms, its in the ball joints, sure you could rotate the socket on the A-arms to compensate but that would just do the opposite to the up travel. I believe I read McNeil or or one of those desert racing guys had some super ball joints for this, but I'm not looking to spend much on the IFS. The only thing I'm worried about with doing the drop spacers is that it could potentionally expose the bottom of the diff if it hangs below the cross members.

[XPLORIN]

Where did you get your perches from, and did you just eye it up when you welded them in place? The only thing that sort of scares me is that this is my evryday driver and I don't want the drive shaft to fall out on me!! would you reccomend having the d/s extended??? Either than that.....you truck looks awesome!!!

[Nick26]

Originally Posted by XPLORIN

Where did you get your perches from,

bought them here: http://www.mountainoffroad.com/more.htm -but remember these have to be drilled, maybe they'll do that for you if you ask when you order them, I didn't know this in advance.

Originally Posted by XPLORIN

and did you just eye it up when you welded them in place?

I definitely didn't "just eye it" I used a magnetic angle finder and made them parallel to the bottom ones, tacked them and rechecked it, then welded them on.

Originally Posted by XPLORIN

The only thing that sort of scares me is that this is my evryday driver and I don't want the drive shaft to fall out on me!! would you reccomend having the d/s extended???

This is my daily driver too, infact I do 120 miles a day on this setup at 70mph+. Its tough to say if you'll need a longer driveshaft, everyone is different and I see you have a sport too. Like I said above I moved the axle forward an inch after a day of driving and that fixed all my vibration problems, so I am not planning on getting a new driveshaft.

Originally Posted by XPLORIN

Either than that.....you truck looks awesome!!!

thanks!

[XPLORIN]

Cool.....thank's man.....when you say you moves the axle up an inch.......what do you mean? You moved the pin in the spring to the hole most toward the back?

[RangerX]

Right on, Nick, you did it! Looks great!

[bmxking5]

Congrats Nick, nice job