A Few quick 3rd Gen lift quesions

[Explorer3]

I have a 2003 Eddie Bauer 4.6l awd/4wd, and ive seen that the only options for lifting it are PA 883 body lift, and a spacer lift. My questions are 1) how does that effect ball joints/wear 2) how does that effect wheel bearings/wear? I know they tend to go through wheel bearings and ball joints quickly even stock so I imagine with a lift and tires it will only be worse. Any help is greatly appreciated and i welcome any other warnings/issues with liftign a 3rd gen.

 

[n.gardner]

I have a 2.25/1.75 btf strut spacer lift. i also run 33"s (285s)
my ball joints are stressed slightly and mu upper controll arm is angled down slightly. when i put on the spacer i also did new ball joints, ive put about 10K miles on the new ball joints and they still look perfect, and i dont drive easy.

i know nothing about body lift, not a fan.

but in the end i would deff recoment brandon's spacers

-Nick

 

[armysoldier30263]

just get some moog ball joints and you should be good to go ... as long as you arent getting too crazy you should be fine ... im about to install btf spacers, kyb struts, and moog ball joints with 255-75/17 bfg mud terrains and after reading alot of reviews and such about people with lifts i feel competent that mine will be ok .. as far as wheel bearings ... they are gonna wear out regardless ... it is what it is :scratch:

 

[Explorer3]

ball joints wear out regardless too but im not trying to accelerate the wear on either, im a college kid so im not exactly finanicaly able to be replacing ball joints and wheel bearings every couple months. that wouldnt be worth a lifted explorer in my book. im just trying to weigh risk and reward

 

[HiImBrian]

Dude you sound exactly like me.....

 

[Explorer3]

haha well its not a terrible position, but if you have a medium wedgewood blue eb that itd be kinda wierd lol. but i want to hear from people who have had the lift for some time and drive them alot. i really want an f150, so i dont wanna throw a ton of money at my explorer and miss out on a truck

 

[Ronin8002]

Well a body lift won't accelerate wear. I've been running it for a while (1.5 inch...I cut the lift blocks in half and bought shorter bolts). 1.5 is a good height because you don't need a steering shaft extension, bumper brackets, and you really don't need to move up or flip the rear bumper either.

AND it gives you plenty of clearance for 265s.

 

[HiImBrian]

Ok, so I just bought the PA 883 body lift for my 03 EB. I guess a bunch of people ordered 3" rear bumper brackets from (Roadbully) to do their body lift with, and he ripped them off? I need a pair of those brackets so that when I install my lift I can raise my bumper/hitch and still keep the strength to tow my car trailer... Does ANYONE know where I can get them?

 

[HiImBrian]

Also a place to find a set of good 265s (cheap) that will fit on my stock 17 rims?

 

[Ronin8002]

Ok, so I just bought the PA 883 body lift for my 03 EB. I guess a bunch of people ordered 3" rear bumper brackets from (Roadbully) to do their body lift with, and he ripped them off? I need a pair of those brackets so that when I install my lift I can raise my bumper/hitch and still keep the strength to tow my car trailer... Does ANYONE know where I can get them?

I don't know anything about RB's bumper brackets.

If you have the 2" receiver hitch you can just flip your bumper over and that will raise it up.

If you have the 3" hitch or you don't want to flip your bumper you need to:

- get some 6x6 steel plates (1/4" thick)
-Cut the horizontal lip off the bottom parts of the bumper where it slides around the frame.
-Drill holes in the steel plates to match the pattern of the bumper bolts, then measure 3" down from those and drill again.
-Get 6 new bolts, nuts, and washers.
-Bolt each side of the bumper to the plates, using the first, higher set of holes.... then bolt the plates to the frame with the second, lower set of holes. Should be plenty strong and very easy to make.

 

[HiImBrian]

I don't know anything about RB's bumper brackets.

If you have the 2" receiver hitch you can just flip your bumper over and that will raise it up.

If you have the 3" hitch or you don't want to flip your bumper you need to:

- get some 6x6 steel plates (1/4" thick)
-Cut the horizontal lip off the bottom parts of the bumper where it slides around the frame.
-Drill holes in the steel plates to match the pattern of the bumper bolts, then measure 3" down from those and drill again.
-Get 6 new bolts, nuts, and washers.
-Bolt each side of the bumper to the plates, using the first, higher set of holes.... then bolt the plates to the frame with the second, lower set of holes. Should be plenty strong and very easy to make.

I have the 2" receiver hitch but I also have tow chain loops and a 7-pin connector. It is my understanding that if I just flip my bumper over I will have to cut away at the plastic in order to get it back on...

And would 6x6 steel plates be like a Home Depot thing?

 

[Ronin8002]

Yes flipping the bumper does require some amount of trimming of the foam from the inside of the bumper cover.

Sadly home depot is lacking in that kind of metal plating....at least where I live. I had to do a little google-fu and find a metal supplier which thankfully ended up being close to my house.

 

[MillerTimeX17]

I don't know anything about RB's bumper brackets.

If you have the 2" receiver hitch you can just flip your bumper over and that will raise it up.

If you have the 3" hitch or you don't want to flip your bumper you need to:

- get some 6x6 steel plates (1/4" thick)
-Cut the horizontal lip off the bottom parts of the bumper where it slides around the frame.
-Drill holes in the steel plates to match the pattern of the bumper bolts, then measure 3" down from those and drill again.
-Get 6 new bolts, nuts, and washers.
-Bolt each side of the bumper to the plates, using the first, higher set of holes.... then bolt the plates to the frame with the second, lower set of holes. Should be plenty strong and very easy to make.

You can only flip the 1 1/4" hitch. The 2" hitch is the one that takes extra modification to relocate.

 

[Ronin8002]

Whoops haha I was watching TV when I posted earlier on the hitch sizes:

2" = 1 1/4"
3" = 2"

 

[MillerTimeX17]

Whoops haha I was watching TV when I posted earlier on the hitch sizes:

2" = 1 1/4"
3" = 2"

Hahaha I get ADD too. Damn Seinfeld!!!

 

[lynchy wa]

Sound's like a 1 1/2" body lift and 2 1/4"/1 3/4" lift spacer's require no extra trimming or body work? I'm looking at going down this track abit later and just want to get it right in my head before proceeding.

Looking at putting on these with 295/70/17 nitto mt's

 

[Ronin8002]

You still have to trim the fan shroud and a bit of the rear bumper cover with the 1.5" body lift. I was going to do bumper brackets for the rear so I wouldn't have to trim it but it really wasn't a big deal and didn't leave a major gap or anything. I plan on finding some of that hard black styrofoam that's in the bumper cover and filling in the space just so the rear bumper cover can bear as much weight as it could stock.

 

[Ronin8002]

PS I like those rims Lynchy, though I am kind of biased since those are the chrome version of what I have lol

 

[lynchy wa]

Cool Ronin. Thank's mate, I can live with that.

 

[Ronin8002]

Also a place to find a set of good 265s (cheap) that will fit on my stock 17 rims?

I don't know about places but a number of people seem to like General Grabber AT2's. Good AT tire and a good price, from what I hear.