2011 Lifted XLT Project

[Bowne24]

Welcome!

Been following the forums for quite some time now and decided to pull the trigger on a 2011 EX last November. Since then, I've been looking around on the market on what you can do to it - not much, no surprise. However, I did come across the TRAXDA Leveling kit and had to put it on. Currently on deployment, so I had my brother do it.

Looks like it skipped leg day!

Anyways, I'm a big time "I need to lift this" kind of guy. So I went ahead and bought some Method Mesh 17" and wrapped them with some 265/70r17's. Here's the outcome:

 

[Bowne24]

Ordered the rims and getting 4 265/70r17 tires pickup up probably tomorrow. And I ordered the Setina pushbar and a 30" lightbar for it. Hopefully all will be done in 3 weeks, but rims and tires should be on next week.

 

[Turdle]

Personally I think it looks pretty good!

 

[LukerDooker]

Check out the white lifted Ex post here - with tires like you want - with great pics in action towing truck cabs, & detailed tire size notes, & he mentioned his tires rub the K bar depending on the sharpness of turns.

 

[Bowne24]

Hey, thanks for the reply! and yes I have! that's what really got my wheels turning and motivated me. I did happen to read that little bit and I'm prepared to buy some very small spacers to help try to get the tires out a bit more, we'll see.

 

[FLOffroad]

Looking forward to final photos. I might have gone for 245-75r17 (skinnier 32-ish) just to avoid rubbing, but if 265s work with your offset it'll be great.

 

[Bowne24]

Well I'm hoping I don't but if I do I'll trim just a tad or get spacers and see off that fixes it. I saw one. Guy that got an equivelent size but with 18" rims. So we'll see. I'll be sure to post pictures.

 

[HamHands]

Well I'm hoping I don't but if I do I'll trim just a tad or get spacers and see off that fixes it. I saw one. Guy that got an equivelent size but with 18" rims. So we'll see. I'll be sure to post pictures.

It's going to rub just a tad but nothing detrimental. I've put more than one suspension lift on in my life. You will be fine. And that Explorer is going to look fantastic. It looks like you're going with mud terrains which in my opinion, is a must if it's going to be taken off-road. I find that MT's do better in snow, ice, rain, dry pavement, and gravel far better than an all terrain tire. The only thing AT's do better is sand. I drove a highly modded Jeep TJ for 10+ years and had both AT & MT's. The MT's took me places in 2wd than AT's did in 4wd with the rear locker engaged... I can honestly say I never got stuck with the 35" Dunlop Mud Terrains, ever!

Good luck OP and we're looking forward to your pics/progress. And thank you for your service!!!

 

[PIUtility]

Nice! After my little skirmish in the PI I'm considering a "lift" to actually conquer anything slightly higher than a curb. Would be nice to actually get some clearance even if it means some fuel mileage tradeoffs



Also, what rack is that?

 

[Sgt1411]

Nice! After my little skirmish in the PI I'm considering a "lift" to actually conquer anything slightly higher than a curb. Would be nice to actually get some clearance even if it means some fuel mileage tradeoffs



Also, what rack is that?

But you have a PI Utility because its Pursuit Rated which means the suspension and handling characteristics are specifically designed & engineered for emergency driving.

Isnt a LIFT counter productive and perhaps a little dangerous?

 

[Bowne24]

It's going to rub just a tad but nothing detrimental. I've put more than one suspension lift on in my life. You will be fine. And that Explorer is going to look fantastic. It looks like you're going with mud terrains which in my opinion, is a must if it's going to be taken off-road. I find that MT's do better in snow, ice, rain, dry pavement, and gravel far better than an all terrain tire. The only thing AT's do better is sand. I drove a highly modded Jeep TJ for 10+ years and had both AT & MT's. The MT's took me places in 2wd than AT's did in 4wd with the rear locker engaged... I can honestly say I never got stuck with the 35" Dunlop Mud Terrains, ever!

Good luck OP and we're looking forward to your pics/progress. And thank you for your service!!!

Ah, yes! I had a '00 Grand Cherokee w/ 8.5" lift on 35's. We did everything possible to that puppy haha. Figured I'd give my hand at the Ex's because I love the body style.

Also, what rack is that?

ROLA... Vortex I think if I remember correctly with an extension.

 

[Bowne24]

Everything is done!

Also wondering if a mod could change the title to "2011 Lifted XLT Project"

 

[FLOffroad]

Very nice. I don't know if it's just camera angles, but it looks enormous!

Just remove that little plastic valence below the bumper (I dunno if that's easier said than done, on my ST offroading basically removed it), and you'll have the coolest 5th Gen by far.

 

[Bowne24]

Very nice. I don't know if it's just camera angles, but it looks enormous!

Just remove that little plastic valence below the bumper (I dunno if that's easier said than done, on my ST offroading basically removed it), and you'll have the coolest 5th Gen by far.

Thank you, and yes I do plan on taking it off. So much to do to it! Haha

 

[PIUtility]

But you have a PI Utility because its Pursuit Rated which means the suspension and handling characteristics are specifically designed & engineered for emergency driving.

Isnt a LIFT counter productive and perhaps a little dangerous?

I'm no longer with my department or in public safety anymore, no need to drive the truck in a response manner. Would be nice to have an SUV that doesnt make me worry about dragging something just popping a curb, let alone going off road where my Ridgeline would have left this one waiting for a flatbed

 

[HamHands]

Everything is done!

Also wondering if a mod could change the title to "2011 Lifted XLT Project"

Wow, just a nice Explorer in every way! Did you get new control arms too for the rear axle? It looks like you did because your wheel base is now back to stock geometry/placement compared to the pics of when you lifted it but didn't have the MT's yet... Camera shots can be a little deceiving though. If you did do the rear control arms please PM me or feel free to post here what brand and product code you did.

For my Wrangler I went with JKS branded adjustable control arms that put my wheel base back to stock after lifting the Jeep 3 inches (suspension)... It was the best vehicle I've ever owned! (I'm hoping my 2 month old Sport wins that prize.) Only time will tell. And I love the 5th gen Ex body style/package too. It's the best of all the generations so far IMO.

 

[HamHands]

I'm no longer with my department or in public safety anymore, no need to drive the truck in a response manner. Would be nice to have an SUV that doesnt make me worry about dragging something just popping a curb, let alone going off road where my Ridgeline would have left this one waiting for a flatbed

Lift away! The unwritten rule to lifting is: for every inch you lift up you equally go out (tire stance width) an inch as well. The problem remedies itself as the bigger the offroad tire is in height or overall diameter (OD), it also equally increases in overall width as well. When I lifted my Jeep off of 31" tall and 9.5" width street tires to go with 35" tall Mud Terrains: those MT's were now about 13 inches wide each. My suspension lift was only 3 inches. The new tire overall diameter (OD) size added another 2 inches of total lift for a total of a hair over 5 inches of lift. However, the tire stance going from 9.5" each to 13"'s each came out to; (13-9.5)x 2='s (7) total inches of wheel stance increase or gain to offset the (5) total inches of suspension lift; (3 inch spring + 2 inch tire OD size). The real world end results were: The Wrangler now handled better with the suspension and tire lift and wheel stance upgrade than when it did at the stock height...

 

[OKExplorerSport]

Looks great...glad to see another brother in the lifted category... I was the 2nd to lift a Sport.

 

[SHAD0W]

Everything is done!

Also wondering if a mod could change the title to "2011 Lifted XLT Project"

That is looking mean! I will have to do this to my other Ex.

 

[Turdle]

Also wondering if a mod could change the title to "2011 Lifted XLT Project"