1998 Explorer V8 Project. 33" Mudder KM2's (pictures)

[King$nake]

1998 Explorer V8 Project. 33" Mudder KM2's. Build Thread (updated with pics 5/01)

Update: 5/01. Yesterday we got the Edge 3" Spindles, (4) Bilstein Shocks, Warrior 153 Shackles and 33x12.5x15 wheels installed.

The brakes need to be bled, getting a mush pedal at random, but I did change the rear brake pads yesterday while doing the rear shackles and shocks.

The picture below of the finished product was before we took the jack stands out. It actually ended up settling about 2" after the pic, so it is not quite as big.

However, I am getting some serious rubbing on the front of the running boards if I turn the tire too much. But, it is right at the bottom of the running boards, and I think If I do a 1" torsion twist, it may just clear altogether. So I either need to remove the running boards or do the TT. I never intended on keeping the running boards on there, but I do think they look good. Plus it's nice to have a functional step for the girl(s). Input on this would be appreciated.

- The brakes are burning pretty bad when driving, I'm assuming (and hoping) that it was because of the grease we got on the rotors during the install. Tried to clean them off. I will give this a couple of days and see if it goes away. I just wanted to confirm with you guys that the brakes do not burn from the bigger tires? Not sure on this


One other question. The rims are -19MM Offset, but they are tucked in a little farther than I want. How detrimental would wheel spacers be? Should I stay away from those altogether? Should I try to get some rims with a different offset? I think this may be, in part, to why it is rubbing, not sure.


Here are some pics:

 

[00MTEDDIE]

That is going to look BADASS!!!! Are you going to tt and shackle it?

 

[00MTEDDIE]

Your doing exactly what i wanna do! you should let me know the grand total$$$ and how its working for you. Nice going man! i am excited for you!

 

[King$nake]

That is going to look BADASS!!!! Are you going to tt and shackle it?

Ya I actually have the 3" edge spindles, warrior shackles, and yes I am go to TT it also. Should look pretty good

Your doing exactly what i wanna do! you should let me know the grand total$$$ and how its working for you. Nice going man! i am excited for you!

Grand total? ha! Im afraid to look lol. I think so far I am into it about $2100 (tires, rims, shackles, spindles, shocks). I still need to get new headlights, a front and rear bumper made (fab), the MAC Cold Air Intake, TM Headers and full exhaust so that will be roughly another $1000 or $1500, I don't mind though. I think I am going to prolong the life of this truck and its still much cheaper than making payments on a newer vehicle.

thanks for the comments. In the next hour or so when I finish up work I am going to go outside and start taking the gold trim off. I notice in the rear there is a huge factory hole underneath the rear fender flare in the rear quarter panel on both sides (next to the rear bumper) oh well its a desert truck now

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

nice eddie u got there

 

[King$nake]

nice eddie u got there

Thanks for the comments.
I got the lift installed today, pretty happy with how it turned out. Posted updated pics in the OP

 

[mariozoldos]

NICE LOOKING EDDIE

Heres mine

 

[mariozoldos]

p.s keep the running boards

 

[King$nake]

Ya I would like to, I think they look good, but if I cant solve the rubbing issue with the TT (which I will do later today) then the running boards are coming off! lol. I really want a functional truck. Already working on getting some custom uppers made too

 

[Glen4X4]

Looks good, I like it.

 

[danwaters]

The tires are rubbing because the running boards and fender flares. This is also why the truck doesn't look as wide as you want. I would not run wheel spacers cause that is even worse than running a goofy wide 10" wheel. They will destroy wheel bearings and ball joints. You're not going to get any wider unless you go with a 15x8 with 0 offset but I wouldn't recomend that either. Especially if you ever plan on offroading in it. You just tear **** up.The 15x8 with -19mm add 2 inches to overall track width and the spindles add another inch over all which means you are about 3 inches wider than it came from the factory plus the extra width due to the foot print of the tire. Leave it buddy! It looks good!

 

[mounty71]

Looks good. You're starting out the same way I did. You say it's going to be a desert truck, so I have a few recommendations for you:

-Weld washers for the lower A-arm mounts to prevent the holes from ovaling out
-Upper A-arm mount gussets so they don't rip off of the frame
-Crossbrace to go between the rear lower A-arm mounts because they like to bend inwards after some abuse
-Replace your stock front bumpstops with stock rear ranger bumpstops, and then box in the mounts because they like to collapse upwards after a while.

These are some pretty inexpensive things you can do to prevent some expensive damage later on. Good luck!

 

[NWOff-Roader]

Agreed, it looks great man!

 

[00explorer8]

id say keep the running boards, i dont think my girlfriend could get in without them......

 

[King$nake]

Looks good. You're starting out the same way I did. You say it's going to be a desert truck, so I have a few recommendations for you:

-Weld washers for the lower A-arm mounts to prevent the holes from ovaling out
-Upper A-arm mount gussets so they don't rip off of the frame
-Crossbrace to go between the rear lower A-arm mounts because they like to bend inwards after some abuse
-Replace your stock front bumpstops with stock rear ranger bumpstops, and then box in the mounts because they like to collapse upwards after a while.

These are some pretty inexpensive things you can do to prevent some expensive damage later on. Good luck!

Thanks man, I appreciate the heads up. I need to get my brakes squared away (bad master cylinder I believe) and get this thing aligned, but I will definitely address the issues mentioned. I am trying to put an emphasis on dependability, atleast as much as I can with this setup.

The tires are rubbing because the running boards and fender flares. This is also why the truck doesn't look as wide as you want. I would not run wheel spacers cause that is even worse than running a goofy wide 10" wheel. They will destroy wheel bearings and ball joints. You're not going to get any wider unless you go with a 15x8 with 0 offset but I wouldn't recomend that either. Especially if you ever plan on offroading in it. You just tear **** up.The 15x8 with -19mm add 2 inches to overall track width and the spindles add another inch over all which means you are about 3 inches wider than it came from the factory plus the extra width due to the foot print of the tire. Leave it buddy! It looks good!

Ya man, you are spot on with what you said about the wheels. I actually did end up removing just the running boards. It looks alot better, and it also gave me some turning room but there was still a slight rub, so I did a 1" TT on top of that (1" was 10 turns on each bolt), now they clear completely (although when the wheel is all the way cranked I feel a rub somewhere but it doesnt make any noise, and I cant see where its hitting)

As it sits, it looks perfect IMO, wouldn't change a thing and definitely will not be going with spacers now. I just need to get a few more bugs worked out (brakes, alignment, new bushings, etc).

BTW - its fine to run the brake line unmounted from the spindle?

Here it is now:

 

[mariozoldos]

id say keep the running boards, i dont think my girlfriend could get in without them......

x2

 

[danwaters]

BTW - its fine to run the brake line unmounted from the spindle?

At least fix a couple zip ties to the spindle just below the balljoint on the upper arm. You don't want it getting caught on anything.

As far as the rubbing goes that's expected with 33s. I wouldn't worry about it too much. Be careful turning at full lock too because if the caliper contacts the lower control arm at full lock you will lose brake pressure for a second until you pump the brake pedal a few times to get it pressurized again. This is a normal occurrence with Edges/Explorers with just lift spindles.

 

[King$nake]

At least fix a couple zip ties to the spindle just below the balljoint on the upper arm. You don't want it getting caught on anything.

As far as the rubbing goes that's expected with 33s. I wouldn't worry about it too much. Be careful turning at full lock too because if the caliper contacts the lower control arm at full lock you will lose brake pressure for a second until you pump the brake pedal a few times to get it pressurized again. This is a normal occurrence with Edges/Explorers with just lift spindles.

Daaayuum, I cant believe I didnt see your reply until now.

That is exactly what the problem is.

First, the MC DID have to be replaced. Before I replaced it, I was losing pressure in a straight line at random, but the reason I am still losing pressure now is because the front calipers are actually hitting the lower a-arm when turning hard left or right, as you said - and I temporarily lose pressure when this happens. No wonder this was so difficult to diagnose, I was getting ready to buy a new booster

This explains that strange rubbing sensation I felt at full lock, but I couldn't hear anything. That feeling was the caliper being pressed against the LCA.

So considering that this is the culprit, do I have any options to get this fixed with the stock lower, or do I need to go ahead and get some custom lowers made as well? It looks like the caliper is hitting on a small metal nub on the rear of the LCA, but I dont know if grinding down the nub will fix it or not

 

[danwaters]

There is a little black bump on the back side of the LCA...that is the steering stop. If you can figure a way to extend it or drill it out and run a bolt that hits the spindle before the caliper than that is the solution. I just always ran it and didn't ever turn full lock. The same thing happens on some rangers. You get used to not turning full lock pretty quick. Ive come up on a car in a slow corner with far too much speed and had to apply heavy brakes with no response only to be promptly on two wheels, haha.

 

[King$nake]

Ya thats good to know. I am relieved my brake system is finally good to go, but I notice even going through a drive thru line or something that my calipers will hit the LCA bump stop, so I will have to figure something out. Maybe if I had robert build some uppers AND lowers he could built them in a way where they wouldn't hit, I just dont know though (im still learning all this suspension stuff), or maybe I will just drill out a bolt hole like you mentioned and use that has a stop, put a rubber grommet on the end or something. That reminds me that my ABS/Speed sensor threading is stripped, I need to get that fixed too...so many small things.

As for the alignment, I have a local guy (DJ auto doctor in oside) who will fix my toe, camber everything tomorrow (mentioned in your PM) ... My alignment and everything was good with just the spindle lift, it was only after the TT did everything get out of whack...but there is still rubbing unless I do the TT. Maybe those new uppers will help out with the ride quality (not that its a major concern)

Edit: I was just crawled up under there, it looks like I would have to have the steering stop facing upwards in order to contact the base of the spindle, if I ran a bolt straight out from the bump stop it would still just hit the caliper. Maybe the simplest thing to do would be to just grind that bump stop off altogether

Edit #2: If anyone could please recommend me the best way to get a performance tune, and speedometer calibration for the 33" tires and upcoming 4.30 gears, that would be appreciated.