From stock to 31" or 32" tires, please advise

[protomind]

I have a 94 explorer all stock with 3.23 rear end and I want to put 31's or 32's on it but I am not sure what all is involved to do what I want. I do not want to spend alot of money (who does)?

From what I understand, Warrior Shackles and F-150 spacers will give the lift needed, but I am not sure if there is anything else that I would need to install.

What else do I need to do after spacers and shackles?

What size shocks should I put on after the lift? Recommend me a shock please. (I need new shocks as it is)

Should I beef up my sagging rear springs? If so what is the best way?

What size shackles?

Are F-150 spacers universally sized or do I need a certain sized spacers?

How will going from stock sized tires to 31's or 32's affect my driving with the 3.23 rear end? Will I get better or worse gas mileage? Better or worse acceleration?

What do I do to get my speedometer right after the lift?

Got some tires/rims that you wanna sell me? I'm in New Jersey =)

 

[EMG7895]

31's will fit stock no problem on yours. with the 3.23s gas mileage and acceleration will both go down.

 

[protomind]

Well I want to lift as high as I can without getting into alot of extra costs.

 

[Four0Sport]

i have 4 inches of lift with 3.27s and im running 31x10.50s. honestly, i cannot wait till i have the money for lower gears, highway driving is good but accellerating from a stop or climbing a hill is a challenge.

everything depends though on how/where you are going to drive your explorer. what are your reasons for wanting a lift and bigger tires? if its just for show then maybe a gear swap isnt for you, but to make the truck capable with these add ons you will want to do the job right and re-gear.

there are LOTS of threads dedicated to lifting your explorer that i found most helpful when deciding on what to do with my truck. there are even some threads where im asking questions and gaining the knowledge i needed to do the job right.

big tires + high gears = more wear on your transmission and driveline components

- Jack

 

[Maniak]

What size shackles?

Are F-150 spacers universally sized or do I need a certain sized spacers?

How will going from stock sized tires to 31's or 32's affect my driving with the 3.23 rear end? Will I get better or worse gas mileage? Better or worse acceleration?

What do I do to get my speedometer right after the lift?

Warrior shackles (model WAR-153) are 8.5" long (3" longer than stock)

f-150 spacers are actually f-150 lower spring seats.. the p/n is availble on this site (I can't remember it).. You'll problably see it when you start searching on other threads about doing a small lift and f-150 spring seats/spacers..

Stock tire size is roughly 29" tall (depending on what "stock" is for your truck)..
Going from a 29" tire to a 31" tires (31's are actually 30.5" tall) will make your speed read 10% off.. You just change the driven speed gear with one slightly bigger.. The gear is on the end of your speedo cable as it goes into the transfer case. I just take mine off, count the teeth and figure out how many teeth it will be when 10% higher

going up in tire size when you currently have 3.27 gears means you will loose acceleration and it will lower your rpms for a given speed by roughly 10% (same amount your speed will be off before you fix the speedo gear).

One other thing.. you "might" fit the 31's without a lift. If your front springs are really soft or sagging the 31x10.50 may not fit.. They have a better chance on stock sized rims (15"x7") than a 15"x8".

~Mark

 

[protomind]

Well I wouldn't do the mod just for looks, that would be stupid in my opinion. I will be going off road a bit here and there so it will be functional. I could actually wait on putting the tire on, but I need new shocks ASAP and I want to do a lift also. I figured that there would be no point in putting on new shocks only to do a lift which would require new ones. I should probally do shackles and spacers along with the shocks. Unless of course putting on shackles and spacers would have no effect on my shocks at all.

 

[Maniak]

With < 2" of lift you can use the stock shocks.. Over 2.5" of lift you start to "need" new shocks.. Up front espeically, but to get enough lift to need longer shocks your going to need a lift kit (drop brackets etc).

~Mark

 

[protomind]

How much of a lift will shackles and spacers give me? 3" in the rear? What in the front? And since I will be doing the lift and replacing shocks anyways, shouldn't I get some slightly longer shocks?
When I mentioned sagging springs I was refering to my rear ends springs.

 

[Maniak]

How much of a lift will shackles and spacers give me? 3" in the rear? What in the front? And since I will be doing the lift and replacing shocks anyways, shouldn't I get some slightly longer shocks?
When I mentioned sagging springs I was refering to my rear ends springs.

1.5" of lift is what you would get.. Check the existing threads on the f-150 spacer/spring seats.. If your rear has sagged a bunch you may need an AAL (add a leaf) to help lift the rear some.

I believe Tbars4 has a sticky thread on it (spacer lift).. (I think its a sticky thread)

EDIT: I found it.. this is all you need to know about the spacers/shackle lift... http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187201&highlight=lift
~Mark

 

[protomind]

What would the best add a leaf kit be for me to get? Any suggestions?

 

[Four0Sport]

i think the ones i got from RoughCountry were $30, they were short AALs vs. long AALs

 

[protomind]

i think the ones i got from RoughCountry were $30, they were short AALs vs. long AALs

How did the kit affect your ride? Rougher? Did it handle the same? How much of a lift?

I am thinking of going with the long leaf kit, can't find em anywhere though so far.

 

[Four0Sport]

with shackles, AALs and 4door leaf packs (sports have a 3 leaf pack while 4drs have 4 leaf packs) the rear of the vehicle is around 3 inches higher. honestly.. the back end bounches when you hit bumps or drive on washed out gravel roads.

 

[Lee Iaccoca]

Your mileage is going to get hammered man. Good news is that 31s kick @ss. Too bad hiring a pro to regear is so pricey.

 

[Four0Sport]

i still get 14-15 mpg with the lift, 31s, and 3.27s. took a trip to the mountains and with a fully loaded cargo area driving up and down hills with frequent stops (everyone on the trip except me had to stop and get gas and no one could do it at the same time so we stopped at every other gas station) i ended up with 16.5 mpg. i dont have a light foot either, i had to attempt to keep up with a del sol, supra, 2 street bikes, a S2000, and a z-28.

 

[Tbars4]

...Check out the "How to" in my signature...You should find some good info there..

 

[Lee Iaccoca]

i still get 14-15 mpg with the lift, 31s, and 3.27s. took a trip to the mountains and with a fully loaded cargo area driving up and down hills with frequent stops (everyone on the trip except me had to stop and get gas and no one could do it at the same time so we stopped at every other gas station) i ended up with 16.5 mpg. i dont have a light foot either, i had to attempt to keep up with a del sol, supra, 2 street bikes, a S2000, and a z-28.

That's pretty good. But if you were on 29s, you'd probably be getting over 20mpg highway.

Still trails don't care if you get 20mpg. If trails were people, they'd be like like: "Hey lets see if your 20mpg can keep you from getting high-centered." :bsnicker:

My moderately modified ex -- manual hubs, bunch of engine mods -- gets 25mpg on the highway on 29" ATs. I went to 31ATs or especially 31 MTs I'd probably be under 20mpg highway.

I guess it all depends on what you -- or your wife, gf mod -- can tolerate.

 

[Four0Sport]

ive never gotten anywhere close to 20 mpg.. even with stock sized tires.

 

[Lee Iaccoca]

Member AlDive gets over 30+mpg highway on his modded 2wd SOHC ex. You make a few mods, ran stock tires, were easy on the pedal, you could probably get 20-25mpg highway on your OHV. You'd also pick up more horsepower/torque too. Get a KKM intake intake setup or make your own with a cone -- either should give you roughly an added 2mpg.

 

[Four0Sport]

my 93 isnt my dialy driver, i just goof around in it. my dd is a 97 5.0 AWD, its a better ride on the 50+ mile round trip to work, gotta love leather. and it gets better mpg, its for sale BTW.