94 XLT Lift Kit

[DOGMAN]

AK94Ford,

You've definitely come to the right place. On this site there are many knowledgeable people that can help you, mainly because they've been there themselves.

First of all, why did you arrive at a 4" lift? What size tire are you planning to run? Are you just going for the look of a lifted Explorer or are you going to use it seriously off-road? It helps to know what's in your mind to be able to steer you correctly.

Lifting any vehicle does raise the center of gravity. Does that make it undrivable? Hardly, it's just different, as most on this site can attest to. The vehicle will tend to lean more when cornering but not so bad as to be unsafe, unless you drive recklessly. I put on many highway and city miles with my 91 Explorer XLT and have no problem. The ride will definitely be rougher than stock, but not objectionable.

I have a 5.5" Superlift with extended radius arms and Superunner steering, Rancho RS9000 shocks, and soon to be 33x12.50-15 Mud-Terrain tires. This is a fairly popular set-up that is used by many on this site. Superlift does a pretty good job and 5.5" of lift allows you to run 33x12.50's without any additional lift.

As far as Skyjacker goes, I was steered away from that company by a number of knowledgeable and experienced off-road people. They all claimed that if anything went wrong with your kit or installation, Skyjacker was very hard to deal with and wouldn't stand behind their product. A few months back I remember someone on this site speak of the MAJOR problems that he had in dealing with Skyjacker when many of the parts in his 4" kit didn't fit right. I really felt sorry for the guy.

You should go with extended brake lines with a lift of 4" or more. Most lift manufacturers will sell you those as an option.

Since you are interested in lifting your vehicle, I would imagine you're thinking about using larger tires. If you are, you need to consider the proper gearing for the particular size of tire that you plan to run. If you don't change the gears when you go with a larger tire, your performance will suffer. Changing gears is not something for the novice to do, it requires experience and talent to be done right. My gear swap cost me $400 for parts and $450 for labor.

Do you plan on doing the installation yourself or have a 4x4 shop do it?

Also, after my 5.5" install, I found that my rear driveshaft was too short and had one custom made. That cost $250. Not everyone has that problem but it is something everyone should look into.

Hope this helps you some. I'm sure others will post their ideas to help you. One more word of advice. Don't rush your decision on height and brand. Research it as much as you can. This will save you the headache of having to redo something-for example, going with a 4" kit when 2 months down the line you really want a 5.5" kit to run 33x12.50's. Remember, patience is a virtue.

Good luck!

DOGMAN

 

[kvo]

I'll cost you about $5k to get you started in the right direction.

Mild: 2.5" (Rancho or James Duff), 31" for sure, 32" with some trimmings of the body and radius arms (Rancho kit).
Medium: 4" (Trailmaster, SkyJacker, Superlift).
Wild: 5.5" (Superlift).
Extreme: Custom Job, the sky's the limit (or may be it's your pocket book).

Anyway, I'm sure you'll enjoy the vehicle. If you know or have seen a lifted explorer, stop by and talk to the owner to get some first hand experience. If he/she is real nice, may be they can even give a ride to see for yourself.

 

[AK94Ford]

I have a 94 XLT and want to put a 4" suspension lift on it but don't know too much about it. Will this lift make my explorer extremely top heavy? I use it for 70 miles of highway driving daily, does anyone have any potential problems I should consider before getting this done. I have looked at the skyjacker kit but haven't heard many reviews about them. What other brands would you recommend. Also are there any additional modifications that I will need to make in addition to the kit like extending brake line or anything. I know I have many questions and thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

 

[AK94Ford]

Hey Thanks DOGMAN, kvo for your help already. I am mainly going for just the look of the lifted explorer with maybe a little sand driving but nothing too tuff on the truck. I was thinking about going with the 4" lifts and running probably 31's. I thought that this would give me what I was looking for. With this rig how much do you think my performance will suffer without regearing?

After a little more research I think I am leaning more toward the superlift lift. Do you have any idea around how much this should cost to do, there is only 1 superlift dealer in MA where I live so it is hard to price around.

Did you run your truck for a while before you got the superrunner steering, is there a necesity for it right away?

Thanks for your help again

 

[rpenner54]

"I ran a Duff lift for 30,000 miles before changing to the Superlift 5.5. Now I question my reasoning for switching."

Peer presure mabey? Dead Link Removed This summer we will put that kit to good use, and make sure you hit your undercarage a few times on some rocks!



------------------
Ryan Penner
1992 Explorer Sport

 

[Trace]

The Superlift 5.5" lift with extended radius arms will run about $900 to $1200 depending on the shocks you select. If you are going to be doing the installation yourself, be sure to check for the right parts before starting. Superlift is notorious for shipping the wrong parts.

The Superlift 4" lift will be significantly higer.

The Duff 2.5" kit will provide plenty of clearance for 31" tires, and 32" tires will fit without trimming the fenders. This is an excellent kit for running in the sand, since it has variable rate springs. One draw back the rear uses add-a-leafs.

I ran a Duff lift for 30,000 miles before changing to the Superlift 5.5. Now I question my reasoning for switching. Guess that means it time to go back out to the rocks.

 

[DOGMAN]

AK94Ford,

There is a post by Spikeman that is currently on this topic board about troubles with Skyjacker. Again, this tells me that I would be wary about purchasing their product. Spikeman's comments about poor fitment and Skyjacker's hard to deal with mentality are in line with past experiences I have seen.

As far as gears go, you probably have either a 3.55 or 3.73 ratio now. If you look on the driver's door sticker you can find out your ratio by crossreferenceing in your owner's manual. You can also read it on a tag directly on the differential. If you have 3.73 gears, stepping up in tire size won't be as drastic as with 3.55 gears. But still, you will lose performance, most noticeably driving up long grades on the interstate. I speak from experience. I was running 30x9.50's with the stock 3.55 gears and could notice reduced performance. I am currently running 31x10.50's with 4.10 gears and that is not a bad match, so running 31's with a higher gear (3.55 or 3.73) would be quite a noticeable decrease in performance. It's all personal preference.

I have also had the Superlift 4" kit on my truck before I switched to the 5.5" kit. The reason for the switch was that the new rear springs supplied with the 4" kit only provided about 2" of lift in the rear. I had them replace the springs once but the problem remained. On this site I saw three other people have the same problem, so I talked Superlift into swapping out the 4" kit for the 5.5" kit.

I prefer the 5.5" kit, not only for it's height, but using the stock rear springs in a spring over arrangement give you a much softer and more comfortable ride, as well as providing more articulation. MUCH better than the rear 4" springs.

So, right now I have the 5.5" lift with 31" tires. Honestly, if looks are important to you, the 5.5" lift needs at least 32" or 33" tires to make it look right. I have seen a rig with the 5.5" and 32's and it looked good, but if I was going that far, I would opt for the 33's, which I am going to do soon. The optimum gearing for 33's is a 4.56 ratio. This combo is used by many on this site. It puts your power band a little lower than stock, which is good because 33" tires weigh a lot more than stock tires, and most other mods have increased the weight of the vehicle even more.

Remember, do as much research as you can to find out what suits YOU the best. At first glance it seems simple to just lift the vehicle a little and slap some bigger tires on it. Experience tells us that to do it right, it's just not that easy. It usually costs more than you first thought. Not trying to steer you away from a lift, I'm just trying to eliminate the possibilities of mistake and disappointment as much as possible.

In reference to the Superunner steering, I HIGHLY recommend it. I had mine installed when I did the lift so I did not run the lift with the stock steering. The Superunner steering does work as advertised though, you will notice it's positive effects just driving on streets and highways. It works great off-road too.

You could try having the lift installed and running the stock steering, with the exception of a dropped pitman arm, which is a must for any lift to be able to zero in the camber angle. Not trying to spend your money, but the Superunner steering was a very good investment for me, and one I'm sure you wouldn't regret. It does cost about $400 including the stabilizer, which is highly recommended also.

Rancho and James Duff make 2.5" kits I believe, but they usually use add-a-leafs for the rear springs which will stiffen the ride somewhat.

I would recommend staying away from the Superlift 4" kit, since I and others have had problems with the rear spring height.

The paradox of the Explorer is that since it uses a stock spring under set-up in the rear, the only way to get lift in the rear is to used higher arched springs or add-a-leafs, which will make the ride harsher, or do a spring over conversion, which reuses your stock springs. The only problem with the spring over is that it nets about 6" of lift if used with the Superlift supplied perches, you could go custom and reduce that a little, maybe an inch.

I guess what I'm trying to say, and being rather long winded about it, is that there's usually a trade off associated with any direction that you go.

Keep asking questions.

DOGMAN

 

[kvo]

AK94Ford -

Regarding gearing, if you have 3.73 you should not see much difference in terms of performance loss after going up to 31". If you upgrade your exhaust system, air cleaner/filter charger, etc. you should be able to gain most of what was loss.

Consider the James Duff 2.5" lift kit. I think a number of people here have installed it themselves. From what I hear, it's a lot cheaper than the Rancho kit. It will also allow you to run 31", no re-gearing is needed if you have 3.73. You could probably get everything installed and new tires & wheels for $3k.

I have the Rancho and so far I have not had any problems with it. I also have 32" BFG AT KO and had to trim the fenders and radius arms to fit.

 

[forbyfiev]

Hi Ak94ford, and everyone else,
I have 32's and a 4" superlift front kit with 5.5" rear (because I'm one of those who had trouble with the superlift rear springs) My original intention was to put the Duff 2.5" kit with 31's, but I decided to go all out. It was VERY expensive, when the gearing and labor was added in. I'm running 4.10's and a bone stock engine, but I'm very happy with it overall.
The Duff kit looks like a great bargain not only from it's cost, but simplicity of installation, no steering issues, no need to change gearing, no need for larger wheels. Otherwise KVO is right with the 5000$ estimate.

J.B. Earl