i wanna go prerunner

[clarkkent]

i have a 00 mercury mountaineer 2wd v8 and have a 3 inch procomp spindle lift and add-a-leafs on the back with 32 inch bfgoodrich mud terrains... i was checkin out a bunch of long-travel suspension kits for alotta prerunner trucks out there and was wondering.. is there anything i can add to my mounty's suspension to make it more of a long travel suspension? are there coil-overs for 2000 2wd explorers? and can i still keep my spindle lift? or would i have to change up my whole suspension?

 

[rokke17]

You cant really use a coil over set up because of how the torsion bar system is. I am sure you can make it a long travel, but I think it will be pretty hard and probably cost you a lot of money. I am no expert in 2wd lifting though, perhaps someone else with more knowledge will enlighten us both.

Chris

 

[Alec]

Rick just attended a desert racing event. It looked like the later model Explorers weren't modified much in the front. The were TT'ed and may have been using dual or remote reservoir shocks. Rick said the torsion bars don't last very long on those rigs, but I'm sure just with a moderate or no twist and the spindles and good shocks your front end can stand up to a lot. You obviously don't have much travel with the IFS, but with good shocks and maybe progressive bumpstops you should be ok for moderate prerunning.

 

[clarkkent]

how do you think my procomp spindles would hold up to a three or even five foot jump? i heard the procomp spindles are wack compared to fabtech, but then i heard they're the same..

 

[Alec]

A few members have bent their spindles from hard use, but then again you can bend your stock ones easily too.

I've taken a few really hard jumps with no problems on my stock front suspension. I'd think that the aftermarket spindles will be equal to if not stronger than stock.

 

[clarkkent]

how easy is it to bend a spindle?? hehe wut are my limits on my spindles?

 

[jimbo74]

well, i dont think anyone has actually bent theirs.....the ifs isnt that strong of a platform to begin with..... however, i am sure that it probably isnt too bad... just wheel with it, and if it bends, you know it is week and should look to a coil over type swap.... my dads 98 4x2 ranger has coils up front and not torsion bars....

 

[Ray Lobato]

Jim,
Alot of prerunners use IFS. It's very good for prerunning, especially 2wd because they can mount the lower A-arm as close to the middle of the truck which gives them a very long travel. There is a picture of the IFS from a 2wd prerunner somewhere on the site, I think it is in the RCD thread, somewhere towards the first posts.

Clarkkent,
If you want to be a prerunner, be prepared to spend some cash, because you will be breaking things. Are you going to be running the Pizmo dunes?

 

[clarkkent]

yeh.. or watever i can go fast and hit bumps in.. maybe the vons speedbumps at 65? haha jp... i can afford the stuff, im a licensed Psychiatric Technician.. I used to be a Ricer and was building a 94 supra tt for awhile and thinking about selling it.. or maybe juss kee the engine from the supra and throwing it in a prerunner T*y*ta.. haha or yeh... but i wanna go prerunner on my mounty! i juss installed another LCD screen flushed into my dash...

 

[SCEXPLORER]

I just wanna say i'm one of those that probably bent my procomp spindle. I jumped my trcuk 3 years ago and had my tires camber in. I've figuring out what the problem was and even replaced all my balljoints. I think i'm finally going to buy another procomp set spindle to replace my old spindle to see if I bent it. I dind't do it ealier because others said that spindles don't bend.

 

[410Fortune]

Go here:

There is alot to lears about setting up the IFS or ripping it out and starting fresh...

offroadrangers.com

some Rangers are similar to your Merc.

 

[Agent_51]

I just had my explorer up on a frame lift today and i got about one inch of down travel, maybe less. Makes me hate my suspension even more.

If you want to do anything serious, youre going to need a completely custom suspension designed with lengthed arms. Youve got to ditch the torsion bars as well. Have it done by a shop would probably cost around 6 to 8 grand depending on how crazy you get with the rear end.

If i had the time and space I would be learning how to weld so I could design my own arms then fabricate them but its not practical for me to do right now being a broke student.

 

[clarkkent]

FOUR MONTHS!!! After months and months of going from shop to shop i finally found someone to do mine.. I was initially gonna get hooked up by a company called "Titan motorsports" but then thought of their reputation for long travel trucks.. ZERO REpuatation!.. So finally i talked to guys at McNeil Offroad and they specialize in Rangers and Old school Ex's.. so they told me that they'd be pulling a 00 kit in a couple months.. I started my "prerunner fund" a month ago and am at 1,250 bucks.. four thosand more!!! haha lateZ!