Soon to be Lifted via RCD!!!

[adarkang]

Lifted via RCD!!!

Well, I just bought the complete 5" RCD Ranger kit off of David "Off Road Lab". He is going to be shipping this one out mid next week. Once I recieve the kit I am planning on cleaning it up and giving it a nice coat of truck bed liner spray. I plan on doing the SOA in the rear. I'll try and keep everyone updated as far as the fitment and pictures go. I know R37ribution was supposed to install this kit on his explorer, but he was not able to due to his health. If anybody has this kit on an explorer and there are certain modifications I should be aware of please let me know. Thanks in advance for all the help.... Oh yeah, currently I have 32x11.50x15's on my truck and I realize these are gonna look tiny with the 5" suspension lift and the 2" bodylift. So please dont make fun of the tires, my intentions are to upgrade to 33's possibly 34's. This is my daily driver and I am currently getting around 18mpg. By upping to 33's I am not sure how much gas mileage is going to drop.

 

[CodePoet]

Truck bed liner is pretty thick. May want to consider pluggin up the holes before you coat it and maybe even masking out the area for the bolts to seat directly against the metal. I don't know...never done it, just seems like it could possibly cause problem??? Hell i dont' know!

Sounds like a good plan though and the RCD lift would be pretty sweet

 

[adarkang]

Yeah I probably will tape off the critical points just to be sure. But I figure that truck bed liner spray is probably the most durable stuff out there that is reasonably cheap.

 

[CodePoet]

yeah...if i had an unlimited budget i'd be getting everything powdered coated. I'm just using spray paint on my stuff, wish i had an unlimited budget LOL

 

[96limitedX]

awsome..cant wait to see it!

 

[adarkang]

There was a post in the for sale thread saying that the rotors and calipers won't fit with the RCD lift. Aren't the rotors and calipers the same size for a 2000 4wd ranger as they are for a 2000 4wd explorer?

 

[adarkang]

Anybody?

 

[boominXplorer]

I parked next to a RCDed Ranger today at work and compared. They look the same but the only differance looked to be the caliper bracket. You have to cut off the front jack points and cut the whole front bump stop bracket off. There also are some supports that weld to the factory shock tower for the coilover. Other than that its pretty normal.

 

[adarkang]

Hmmmm....I knew about everything but the caliper brackets. I guess i'll have to find out. Hopefully I do not have to replace the caliper brackets.

 

[adarkang]

Well my kit is being shipped from Oregon today and I should be receiving it on Tuesday of next week. My plans are to install it on Friday (2/10) next week, unless I find out that I am going to have an exam in one of my classes. Hopefully I can do a writeup on the install once I am complete. I'll try and keep everyone posted as much as possible.

 

[r37ribution]

Good luck dude, hope you don't go through as much trouble as I am.

...and I just noticed your from Michigan! When all is said and done lets go wheeling!

 

[adarkang]

r37,
Did you install your kit yet? I am definately up for some wheeling once I get it installed!

 

[r37ribution]

Nope, I'm still sick as hell. Goin to a lung specialist tomorrow at 12:30...hopefully I will get some answers then.

 

[adarkang]

I wish you the best of luck with your health! I am still kinda nervous about this kit fitting, have you heard anything about the brake calipers and rotors?

 

[r37ribution]

I have heard something about break lines possibly being an issue (too short), but I believe that was just in the rear because of SOA. I don't think there will be any problems in the front.

The RedRanger sold me basically his entire front end because he is doing SAS including calipers and ABS sensors. I didn't notice any differences in the control arm setup or anything. I believe most of the front shares part numbers with that of a Ranger, as I have read that on here somewhere.

Tomorrow I'll check if I have the caliper brackets and try to compair them for you.

 

[adarkang]

If you could compare, that would be appreciated. I just took off my rear sway bar yesterday to see how the truck handles without it. I think I am gonna be welding some new lower shock mounts directly to the rear axle, since I am planning on using the shocks that come with the kit. By welding the shock mounts, the sway bar will no longer fit, which is kind of a bummer, but oh well.

 

[r37ribution]

Hows the lift comming? Let me know if you have questions I can give you my cell if you want.

For everyone elses infomation there are no fitment issues with any part of the brake system and the RCD lift.

 

[adarkang]

Well the lift is on!!! I must say it is awesome. It took me and my friend 25 hours to put it on with only 1 hour break! My front driveshaft angle was too large so I am going to have one custom made. Currently I am running no front driveshaft. The rear U-joints were squeeking so I had to replace both on the rear driveshaft (not included in the 25 hours). Other than that, there were no problems, just little issues that needed to be worked around was what took so long. I will try to post pics this weekend since I have 3 exams this week. I got no studying done last weekend because of the truck, but it was well worth it. R37ribution, you are correct, it does ride like a dream! As soon as we test drove it on the road an F-250 passed me up and I proudly could say "I am sitting higher than that truck!"

 

[adarkang]

Oh yeah this weekend I am planning on going under the truck to make sure everything is nice and snug.

 

[r37ribution]

Congrats man I'm happy I now have someone to share this with. It's really cool that your in the same state!

I'm kinda surprised you had an issue with the front driveshaft though? Do you have a pic of what it looked like when you tried to install it?