BTF Lift Project

[SUL73NAZ]

I am going to be doing a btf lift on my explorer as soon as i receive the upper control arms from Brandon. I a going to be using a 2.25" spacer coupled with rancho quick lift shocks on all four corners. So far I have received the shocks and the spacers. Here is a pic:

I had the coil spring spacers powdercoated raw/clearcoat but did not like the result so I am going to have them sandblasted and either go gloss black or silver as stated above.

 

[Ronin8002]

Looks good. It will be interesting to see how this turns out

 

[Cozmik]

QuikLifts PLUS spacers? I am interested to see how this works out. Please post pics when you/as you go along.

 

[Limited02]

Looking forward to pics myself!

I have a feeling the upper ball joints are going to be parting ways before long...

 

[SUL73NAZ]

Will do... Waiting on the arms still from Brandon over at BTF Fab. As soon as I get them I in I will post pics of them. Then they will be sent to the powdercoaters to get powder coated. I will post pics of the install and progress as well.

 

[Limited02]

Will do... Waiting on the arms still from Brandon over at BTF Fab. As soon as I get them I in I will post pics of them. Then they will be sent to the powdercoaters to get powder coated. I will post pics of the install and progress as well.

I take back the upper ball joint comment! New upper CA's will do wonders!!!

 

[SUL73NAZ]

I take back the upper ball joint comment! New upper CA's will do wonders!!!

It's on the first post too.... Just sayin'...

 

[SUL73NAZ]

BTF Uniball Upper A-Arms Just Came in the mail today... Going straight to the powder coaters:

It's a crappy cell phone pic because my girlfriend has my camera...

 

[shooterdude199]

those ucas are badass. i wanna get a pair for the sport trac maybe theyll combine well with the coilovers! How much did he say yours was?

 

[SUL73NAZ]

$570 shipped to my door.

 

[shooterdude199]

yeah thats the same price he quoted me. how is the quality? like welds and what not?

 

[SUL73NAZ]

yeah thats the same price he quoted me. how is the quality? like welds and what not?

Quality is superb. He uses 1.25" .120 wall DOM tubing and his welds are rolls of dimes. When you compare Brandon @ BTF's stuff to top brands like Camburg and Total Chaos Fabrication you would expect to pay $700+ MSRP or more since our applications are custom it's hard to compare since Brandon has had to do all the R&D.

 

[fofopirata]

Subscribing for pics...

 

[SUL73NAZ]

Here's some progress.
Got the upper arms back from powder coat:

Breaking down the stock suspension:

Comparison of the stock uppers and the BTF:

I've come to realize that I really hate how the suspension is set up overall on these vehicles. I don't like how the upper arms mount to a cross shaft that bolts to the frame and I really hate how the axles run through the frame in the back...Just doin the best with what I got.
Here's some pics of the stock coilovers vs. the BTF and Quicklift Loaded Combo:

I measured the stock coilovers compared to the quicklifts and the quicklifts are maybe just a half inch taller. This makes me feel better about combining the two because I was about to scrap the idea and just run the quicklifts with no spacer. I'm still hoping to not run into any issues with the cv's being a too extreme of an angle. If they are I will just have to order a smaller BTF spacer.

 

[bmeadow1]

when you took the control arms to be powder coated how did you protect the uniball? and did you take out the red sides too?and did you leave the 2 peices separated or together?

im thinking about doing the same thing before i put mine on

 

[SUL73NAZ]

when you took the control arms to be powder coated how did you protect the uniball? and did you take out the red sides too?and did you leave the 2 peices separated or together?

im thinking about doing the same thing before i put mine on

I pressed out the bushings before doing the powder coat. I taped off the uniball cups. I took the arms apart but wish I had left them together cause it was a tight fit and took some work to get them together after the powder coat.

 

[bmeadow1]

well them being a little tight is better than rust in that area when its on your truck. but im liking the way your whole prodject is turning out.

 

[SUL73NAZ]

well them being a little tight is better than rust in that area when its on your truck. but im liking the way your whole prodject is turning out.

Thanks pal. It's been really hard finding the time to actually work on it since I am in school full time and work full time. I have like two more weeks of school left so hopefully I can find the time to finish it soon.

 

[Cozmik]

Looking good. Can't wait to see the finished product. The silver powdercoat looks really nice btw.

 

[Kazer]

lift projects lookin good so far. i may have misread, but are you just using a 2.25" spacer + quicklift for the front and just quicklifts for the rear (no spacers)?