4" Superlift on 2001-03 Sport

[ZakyJ]

I've been on this forum long enough and have spent a good deal of time eye molesting everyone's lifted 2nd gens, to understand that the suspension system of a 2001-2003 sport is practically identical to the 2nd gen 4 doors.

Now my question is will the 4" superlift kit still be a bolt on for the sports? i also found that they sell kits for both the 4 door and the sport trac. Would it be best to use a kit for the sport trac or the 4 door? I know that the trac's front suspension is identical to my 2002 sport, but is the rear end the same as well? (i.e shock size/placement and leaf spring)

Any help and insight will be awesome. I've read almost all the stickies around here and cant find many people doing an IFS lift on these years of sports. mainly just the "second gen" sports.

thanks again everyone.

 

[boominXplorer]

The main difference is the front brakes between the sport/sport trac and 4dr ex. The newer superlift spindles are double drilled so you can run either size brake rotors. I think when you break the kit down there are different part numbers for the front, rear, driveshaft, skid plate ect.

 

[ZakyJ]

So not many people seem to have much input on this maybe it just got pushed down before anybody got a chance to see it. So here's my attempt to bring it back into the spot light.

As boominXplorer stated that the sport/ST front breaks differ from the 4doors. which would lead me to believe that a superlift for the ST would most likely work on my sport with out too many hiccups.

Any more insight on the subject?

or should i just join the SAS Guild. lol

 

[J_Train]

The lift kit for an 4dr should be fine. Hell mine is from a 07 ranger they have extra holes drilled in the spindles like stated above. There's a lot of people putting 4dr leaf packs on their sports so i dont see why you can't use a 4dr kit.

 

[J_Train]

Here's two different year sports with the superlift kit.

 

[ZakyJ]

J Train, you have a superlift kit from a 07 ranger on your 96 X?

 

[ZakyJ]

looking at the kit online they are offering the drive shaft for it to but its almost 600 by its self. any idea on a drive shaft that would work just as well?

 

[J_Train]

Yeah I'm slowly converting my 2wd to 4wd when I have spare money. The lifts are just about identical difference is the ranger uses blocks the explorer uses leaf springs. As far as the drive shaft goes I'm having one made for half the price. All you would need to do is go somewhere that make drive shafts and have one made with a double cardan joint as for the slip part of the shaft I'm not sure you need that since the front end doesn't move. Plus you may be able to see if a 97 and older ranger front shaft would work since they already have the double cardan joint at the transfer case end of the shaft.


Here's what they look like
97 ranger shaft

Superlift shaft

 

[ZakyJ]

having the drive shaft made for half the price definitely sounds better. I'm really starting to look at lift options now, and figure out if it is in my technical abilities to SAS without having too much trial and error. or getting the superlift kit. money is not so much an issue but i want to keep this my daily driver but be plenty capable off road as well. i'm thinking that 4" of suspension and maybe a body lift will be plenty more than what i need but thats not the point. lol

and the fact that this kit is pretty much just bolt on makes it much more worth it in my opinion.

 

[ZakyJ]

another thing i probably want to consider is what else it would take to add more lift to it. i know with a SAS the sky is pretty much the limit. but after i rebuild my front end and install the superlift, what are any further options to keep going?

 

[ZakyJ]

i could buy a first gen and just make that my heavier SAS off road toy though to. then i would have the best of both worlds. lol

now if only i could get that by my wife.

 

[J_Train]

LOL that would be the ticket to do what you want. I wouldn't go over 35 with IFS. The ranger shaft I posted (the grey shaft) is half the cost and it a new shaft so if that's the right length it would be golden. I'd like to get a 1st gen and do the SAS with it like your talking for rock crawling or just so it can flex since there not much rock climbing here in Florida.

 

[ZakyJ]

yeah, i dont think i would go more than 35s anyways. i'm thinking that if i ever decide to go more than 35 it would be because it is for the trail only. and if i'm going to be making a dedicated trail rig, i def grab a first gen.