My First Explorer, 2000 EB

[traveler]

Thank you! Now I've got to get around to painting the tan trim parts (plus the bumpers and rock sliders) single stage harvest gold. The actual color is prairie tan but the harvest gold is easier to find, and I think it looks better anyway.

 

[traveler]

An entire week at Moab, wheeling every day, taking on what Utah threw at me... and not a scratch on the truck (OK, a flattened exhaust pipe).
I take ONE trip out on a day run to the forests around 4 peaks and...

Oh well, I've been wanting to paint the trim gold anyway....

 

[DintDobbs]

It's never epic tales of glory, it's always the little side trips that go in for the kill. It's really not that bad though, just on the plastic - I'd rock it like that, but that might not be your style. Gouged up just a bit, might want to find a replacement trim piece if you want it to be perfect again. Thank God it's only on the truck, forests are hazardous to more than just vehicles!

 

[traveler]

LoL, I agree. In fact I told the folks I was with pretty much the same thing. Its just the tupperware, nothing that can't be replaced. I'll leave it like that til I come across some decent replacements in a pick a part, then paint all the trim harvest gold.

 

[Turdle]

Or, you could just wear the scars of battle.

Could be worse. Imagine if a Walmart cart did that.

 

[traveler]

Not a big deal, but found the nearest easiest and brightest underwood light on Amazon.

 

[traveler]

New project. I'm doin the F150 spring swap. Found a nice set at the pick a part on a 93 F150 extended cab. Someone had already detached the rear axle so all I had to do was remove the springs.

 

[Turdle]

Looking forward to your results.

Iirc I used the second longest f150 leaf and built it into an explorer leaf pack on the 93 years ago

 

[traveler]

Right now the center bolts are driving me nuts. I have accepted I'm going to have to cut them all off, I just want to make sure I have the right size center bolts to replace them. I can't find a definitive source to tell me what size to get. I also need to get replacement pads for the leaf ends, and clamps to keep them aligned. Considering I've already got the OEM springs off of the Explorer, I'd say I kinda got ahead of myself!
I've also realized that the coil spring assist shocks I've had on there for quite some time have seen their better days. Oh well, it'll all come together soon enough.

 

[Turdle]

Burn rubber, then use a c clamp press maybe?

 

[DintDobbs]

Old Man Emu UCB5 might fit. That's what's on my Sport, running a non-standard Old Man Emu leaf pack.

 

[traveler]

I got a pair of bolts from NAPA but they proved to be too long (The threaded part didn't even reach the leaves). They did show me that I had the right diameter however. So I finally found a pair of 7/16 x 4" bolts on eBay. If they get here on time I'll work on them this Sunday.

 

[traveler]

I had some spare time on Friday afternoon so I decided to experiment and bolt the F150 Springs on as is, no leaf swapping. In a side by side comparison they didn't look any longer than the OEM springs. Only issue appeared to be the center bolt, it might move the axle forward a little bit. The Passenger side went on easy enough, but the drivers side the center bolt wouldn't fit into the axle pad. It was then I remembered the passenger side bolt head was rounded off by my attempts to remove it. It was getting dark and I was tired and frustrated so I decided to leave it till Sunday. While putting tools back in the shed, I was looking at the location of the axle on the passenger side that had bolted up. It looked ok, but it occurred to me that if the axle was going to move with the installation of the new spring packs, I'd rather it moved toward the back than toward the front (there's more clearance behind the wheel than there is in front). Is there any die hard reason why the springs can't be installed "backward"?

 

[Turdle]

If the spring has downward arch front mount to axle, the tire will move back as axle moves up. The shackle will swing back also. So, the area I'd want tight is the front of rear tire.

 

[traveler]

Yea, I've thought of that as well. I've noticed that the axle will move backward as the spring compresses. That's why I'm spending this time experimenting. I'll get them mounted up and check the clearances, lift, etc. If they're good then... awesome. If not, I'll have to remove them and play "pick a leaf" to make a workable spring pack. It's also possible I'll get so much lift from the F150 packs I'll have to remove the Warrior shackles and go back to OEM shackles. I've got a lot of options.

 

[traveler]

Looks like its going to work. I got 2-3 inches of lift beyond what I got with the Warrior Shackles and loadmaster shocks. The loadmasters are going away soon for some real shocks. I tightened the torsion bars to get the truck level again. Its not quite level but I don't want to risk damage to the CV joints. I'll post pics tomorrow.

 

[410Fortune]

I’ve always kept the main leaf from the explorer or ranger so the axle fits right back in stock location, then use the bits from the half ton leafs to help support your worn main leaf

So you bolted in the whole f150 spring? Did the axle move forward like you were thinking?

Should be huge improvement over the worn out stockers

 

[gmanpaint]

When I did this F-150 leaf mod (twice), I used all the F-150 leafs except the main. The F-150 main is just too long for the explorer, and under compression, the eyelets will smash the frame above.

Reusing the main with the F-150 leafs netted 2" of lift, after it settled upon a good test ride, and loading up the rear from a dead stop & skinny pedal stomp a few times.

I added a couple of new leafs to the packs (1 long, 1 short), and gained another 2.0" of lift.

These franken packs worked for a little while, but failed after a flexing them off road a bunch.

In Pugly's build thread, I have a detailed write up on this mod with tons of pictures, and the center bolt shown before/after cutting it.

 

[traveler]

Here's a couple pics as promised.

 

[DintDobbs]

She be pretty!