94 xlt lift | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

94 xlt lift

Dkeen

Member
Joined
April 28, 2011
Messages
17
Reaction score
0
City, State
Gardnerville, Nevada/Los Angeles, Ca
Year, Model & Trim Level
94 XLT
Hey guys I've been looking around here for a bit and decided i wanted to lift my XLT... Im a high school student and don't have a lot of money so i wanna do it for a reasonable price... What are the best ways to do this? I've heard people talk about shackles and leafs but don't really know what to do.

Thanks!
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





Hey guys I've been looking around here for a bit and decided i wanted to lift my XLT... Im a high school student and don't have a lot of money so i wanna do it for a reasonable price... What are the best ways to do this? I've heard people talk about shackles and leafs but don't really know what to do.

Thanks!

considering your post.....????

and

answering your question...???

shackles and leafs

good luck with it

:salute:
 






Shackles and/or add a leafs will only lift the rear however. How much lift are you aiming for? The best suggestion is to wait until you're out of school and have a steady income but that never stopped anyone from trying :D 2" lift coils can be had for pritty cheap (150-200ish) to lift the front but you will likely need an alignment after. Shackles can add lift to the rear but i've heard of instances where worn out leaf packs didnt allow maximum benefit from shackles as they simply sag further, add a leafs can help in that respect and are cheaper than a new leaf pack. You won't get maximum Benefit of the lift if you don't replace your shocks with longer ones and they may hit max extension while wheeling or driving spiritedly but you might be alright. If you're looking for more lift I installed a four inch rough country lift on my explorer very recently for around 800 bucks Canadian but that only included lift and shocks and I installed it myself. It's can be a bit difficult of a lift depending on your experience and tools as you must cut or drill out rivets holding some factory parts onto the frame to add drop brackets. Once you add extended brake lines, bigger tires, replacement parts for whatever breaks during the installation process it can add up quick and having a reliable vehicle is usually a bigger priority when you're strapped for cash. The bigger the tires the more you'll notice the power loss as well and rehearing your axles becomes necessary which is expensive though not really a big deal when not going to a much bigger tire size. Have you considered body lifts at all? They can be had for fairly cheap and will provide clearance for bigger tires, though the don't increase ground clearance beyond the body on it's own. I suggest searching the forum, checking on what others have done and creating a budget. You need to know how much you can afford to spend before you can decide what your options are.
 






Nothing special im just looking for ground clearance...
 






For about $85 I lifted my Explorer 2". Used Warrior shackles in the rear and F-150 coil spacers in the front. Shackles were about $80 and coil spacers were $5. Of course you WILL have to re-align the front if you lift it, cost me $45 to get an alignment. The stock camber/caster eccentric bushings worked fine in my case but some Explorers may need to change bushings, which is pretty cheap and most good alignment shops will have them as they're common to Ford truck suspensions. Stock length shocks and swaybar links worked fine, same for all brake hoses. 2" will fit some meaty tires. I am running 31.6" tires (265/75/R16LT) and only had to trim the front rocker molding extensions slightly.

Any lift beyond 2" and you will start needing to upgrade other things like longer shocks, longer sway links, drop steering arm, and so on.

Lifting the truck is a good time to renew worn out parts too; when I installed my lift I changed out for new front springs, front brake lines, front bearings, swapped a junkyard leaf spring to eliminate sag on the left side, swaybar bushings and four new shocks. As a result everything works great and it doesn't handle like a "lifted truck". If you rely on old worn out parts, the more lift you add will only magnify the problems.
 

Attachments

  • Copy of CIMG1844.JPG
    Copy of CIMG1844.JPG
    71.9 KB · Views: 375






Thanks for the help guys
 






Back
Top