Clearing 35"s with no body lift

[King$nake]

Thank you for pointing that out bcburlette. Your black explorer looks really good man, I wish mine was black! haha

Ya, in the last day or so, Im really leaning towards add-a-leaf instead of SOA. Sounds like its only $60 more or so.

So the plan right now is to do 3" Spindles, 3" TT (maybe I can get 4" out of a TT?), and Add-a-leaf in the rear. So I guess if I do AAL, I need to go with new shackles as well? (4) new shocks and then 33"s (295/65/16 BFG all-terrains on my stock 16" teardrop rims).

This brings up a few more questions:

- You mentioned that you are waiting to re-gear for 33"s? Is this necessary? One of the reasons I opted out of 35"s for 33"s is so I wouldn't have to regear it.

- I guess replacing the shocks for the type of lift I want to do isn't really necessary, but since I am planning on new shocks anyways, could you guys please recommend me a good set? Should I get a specific type of shock since I am lifting it, or does it not matter?

So, with everything (with tires, shocks as well), Im shooting to stay under $1500. Hopefully that's realistic

 

[bcburlette]

You can use stock shackles with an AAL, but you might as well go with aftermarket, they aren't to pricey and they get you an extra inch or two.
as for re-gearing for 33's, its not absolutely needed depending on your stock gear ratio, but I only have 3.73(6? something like that) and my mileage is pitiful, im getting like 12 atm.(I also have spark plugs with 125k on them)

for your TT I wouldnt expect to get 4 inches out of 12 year old Torsion bars, maybe 2, if you get the longer bolts maybe 3. But you could go to a junkyard and try to find some stiffer bars, or do torsion keys:
http://www.suspensionconnection.com/cgi-bin/suscon/22907R.html

Info on longer bolts:

how about ordering right from them? fastenol has a website...

to help

M12-1.75 x 110mm
M12-1.75 x 120mm
M12-1.75 x 130mm
M12-1.75 x 140mm
M12-1.75 x 150mm

thinking about ordering the 120mm myself..


oh and a link to the 100 mm bolts

and if you do spindles and TT up front AAl and shackles in the back, you will probably be driving down the road looking like this:

(bad pic, but all i had)


And just while im at it, this is the difference that spindles make:

 

[King$nake]

Damn, so if I can only get 2" out of the TT, that would only give me 5" of lift up front (with the spindles).

I think the 33"s BFG All Terrains should clear just fine with just the 2" TT and 3" Spindles, correct?

Or do you guys recommend I just get longer bolts? If I did get the bolts, would I have any issues if I went to say..4 inches? That way Id have 3" spindle + 4" TT = 7" in the front

Also, how hard is it to change the spindles out? I've been looking at 3" Ranger Spindle lifts online. I have seen the Fab-tech kit that comes with shocks:

http://performancelifts.com/cgi-bin/cart/FTS98200-7.html

But it says "not for torsion bar equipped vehicles"

Since I need to get shocks anyways, is there a kit out there that will work? Or am I going to have to buy the Spindles & shocks separately?

 

[King$nake]

Also, is there a specific add-a-leaf and shackles that I should purchase? I just want to make sure i order the right product the first time.

So after I get the spindles, AAL and shackles, I should be able to install everything and do the torsion twist within a day, no? The front seems easy enough, but Im not sure how long the AAL/Shackles install will take.

After I do that, I will have the 33"s installed on my rims, and probably have the shocks installed at a local shop, along with the alignment. Hopefully I can have it all done in a day! so stoked on this, cant wait

 

[carlover]

Realize the more TT lift you do the less suspension down travel you will have and it will ride/perform horribly.

And for the spindles you need a set from the Ranger Edge models, not the XLT models.

 

[FROADER]

I would regear, and you don't need more than 5" for the 33s to fit.

Those who say you don't need to regear are the ones that haven't done it yet. They have no idea what they are missing. I went from 3.73s with stock tires to 33s. Then regeared to 4.56 with 33s and then stepped up to 35s. 4.56s are perfect for 33s IMO.

 

[backfrmcolorado]

whats the point of big tires with no 4x4. kinda defeats the purpose... all yur guna do is get stuck easier. get a 4x4 then put the big tires on it

 

[FROADER]

whats the point of big tires with no 4x4. kinda defeats the purpose... all yur guna do is get stuck easier. get a 4x4 then put the big tires on it

People have been putting big tires on 2wd and 4wd since the beginning of time. Welcome to life... A 2wd with a locker will go more places than a 4wd without one.

 

[yellowford]

Froader beat me to it.

whats the point of big tires with no 4x4. kinda defeats the purpose... all yur guna do is get stuck easier. get a 4x4 then put the big tires on it

Looks is what I'm guessing unless you have a long travel for the desert but other than that not really beneficial. :scratch:

 

[backfrmcolorado]

still seems like a waste of time and money. just save and get a 4x4. im not hateing on it just kinda dumbfounded on the idea. i seen a lifed 2wd x with big tires and it kinda looks silly in the front. unless hes doing it for show.

 

[carlover]

im kinda partial to my 2wd i guess lol. While a 4wd might go a few places i cant, i will put any amount of money that 99.99999% of the lifted 4wd's cannot even come close to keeping up with me in my arena.

It all depends on what the vehicle is being used for as to what is better then what...

 

[Slowlyvverot]

the shift motor is broken in my 93 xlt and ive been wheeling like that for about a half a year! mild stuff, mind you, but wheeling off road nonetheless.

who says you cant wheel in 2wd?

 

[King$nake]

haha here is the last 4x4 I owned, stuck in the desert:

 

[King$nake]

I would regear, and you don't need more than 5" for the 33s to fit.

Those who say you don't need to regear are the ones that haven't done it yet. They have no idea what they are missing. I went from 3.73s with stock tires to 33s. Then regeared to 4.56 with 33s and then stepped up to 35s. 4.56s are perfect for 33s IMO.

Did you install the 4.56's yourself? Is it something that can be done by somebody with average mechanical skills? Or would you recommend I have a mechanic do it?

I think my plan is to start with the Spindles, TT, AAL, Shackles & 33"s. Then somewhere along the line I will install 4.56's. When the tires are worn, I might just go to 35"s and then worry about what changes I need to make to the suspension at that time. This way I can kinda get used to having a lifted truck without going all out on 35"s right off the bat

 

[carlover]

What gears do you have right now??? The cheapest route would be a 4.10 LS junkyard axle, Since you have the 5.0 4.10's would be great with 33's.

 

[XLT]

Did you install the 4.56's yourself? Is it something that can be done by somebody with average mechanical skills? Or would you recommend I have a mechanic do it?

I would have a mechanic do it unless you know what your doing. You could possibly do it if you have average skills, but you are going to have to read up on it. Not as easy as you may think.

 

[King$nake]

What gears do you have right now??? The cheapest route would be a 4.10 LS junkyard axle, Since you have the 5.0 4.10's would be great with 33's.

I really don't know - whatever gears come from the factory on 98 eddie bauer 5.0's 2wd

 

[carlover]

check the tag on the door jam of the drivers door. it should give a code under AXLE on the tag. Post it up here and we can figure out what you have...

 

[FROADER]

41 - 3.27 non-limited slip (Explorer/Mountaineer)
45 - 3.55 non-limited slip (Explorer/Mountaineer)
46 - 3.73 non-limited slip (Explorer/Mountaineer)
42 - 4.10 non-limited slip (Explorer/Mountaineer)
D1 - 3.27 limited slip (Explorer/Mountaineer)
D4 - 3.73 limited slip (Explorer/Mountaineer)
D2 - 4.10 limited slip (Explorer/Mountaineer)

 

[Elessar65]

People have been putting big tires on 2wd and 4wd since the beginning of time. Welcome to life... A 2wd with a locker will go more places than a 4wd without one.

True story. A 4x4 with open diffs is really a 2wd anyways. I have seen a locked 2wd get through some pretty wicked stuff. Twisting the torsion bars too much will give you a REALLY crappy ride though. An X has like 6-8 inches of suspension travel I think. So if you crank them 3 inches you are losing 1/2 to 3/8 of your down travel.