Murraymountain’s Lowered 95 Sport

[Murraymountain]

Beautiful rig! Welcome to the forum. I love the direction you're taking that bad boy. Personally I'm more for powerful and off-road capable but seeing you turn a sport into a street machine piques my interest. Good luck my friend! Awesome to see more of these on the road!

Thanks man I appreciate it!




Anyone know the spring rate on the rear leafs? They are L rated springs.


Also, anyone know what this is and if I need it? It’s under the carpet under the backseats. I do plan on keeping the back seats installed, but it doesn’t look like it affects mounting at all. Maybe for when you lay the seats down? If it serves no purpose I’d like to get rid of it but I imagine it does so I’m curious as to what its purpose is.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

just looked over your thread, heres what i did with mine.

reverse TT, cut down the bump stops up front.
in the back, i ditched the mono leafs for a 4 door leaf pack (that alone made a major handling difference) and used 3 inch blocks cut down to i think to 2 1/4 (i am using a 4406 manual case, and the driveshaft is pretty short and needed about a 4 degree angle on the diff). i also have a explorer express rear sway bar, and a stock front bar (im not sure if its 97 or 98 and up have a different front bar. the difference is where they mount, as well as one is solid, the other is hollow).
if you are keeping it 4x4 you dont want to drop it more then 2 inchs. anymore will put too much angle on the front cv shafts and will fail prematurely (so i have been told)
as for blocks in the rear, everyone that has said bad about them, i have had them in for 12 something years. i have also done so many launches with them and never had any problems. this is also from a 347 with a blower on it. both in 2wd and 4x4 all done on pavement, and a prepped track.
also it may not affect you, but when you drop it, you will want to make sure your clearance on your diff cover and your spare tire mount are good. mine hit my cover but i also have a T/A alum diff cover/girdle and it hit.

 

[Murraymountain]

just looked over your thread, heres what i did with mine.

reverse TT, cut down the bump stops up front.
in the back, i ditched the mono leafs for a 4 door leaf pack (that alone made a major handling difference) and used 3 inch blocks cut down to i think to 2 1/4 (i am using a 4406 manual case, and the driveshaft is pretty short and needed about a 4 degree angle on the diff). i also have a explorer express rear sway bar, and a stock front bar (im not sure if its 97 or 98 and up have a different front bar. the difference is where they mount, as well as one is solid, the other is hollow).
if you are keeping it 4x4 you dont want to drop it more then 2 inchs. anymore will put too much angle on the front cv shafts and will fail prematurely (so i have been told)
as for blocks in the rear, everyone that has said bad about them, i have had them in for 12 something years. i have also done so many launches with them and never had any problems. this is also from a 347 with a blower on it. both in 2wd and 4x4 all done on pavement, and a prepped track.
also it may not affect you, but when you drop it, you will want to make sure your clearance on your diff cover and your spare tire mount are good. mine hit my cover but i also have a T/A alum diff cover/girdle and it hit.

That's some good info thanks man! You might have just saved me enough money to get some wheels ordered for it instead, lol. Did you torque the u bolts to any specific torque spec or just did it by feel?

 

[Murraymountain]

Alright yall, let's update this build thread. As I mentioned in the original post, I had an appointment with the tint shop already set up. That day has come and gone and I love it. Probably Could have gone a little darker but it'll do. Not gonna say what % it is cause it's definitelyyyy within what the law says lol. Also as you can tell I decided to go with just putting the rails from the roof rack back on and leaving the cross bars off. Definitely like the cleaner look at the moment.

Looks real good when the sun isn't out.

Got it home from the tint shop and put it on jackstands and went full steam ahead on mods (still the only shop that's touched the car under my ownership other than the Ford dealer that I work at and that was just to get the leaking windows sealed and I got to watch the process so).

Not long after I got the motor back together from the valve cover job, I started getting a nasty rattle at certain RPMS. I finally looked into it as I was doing my coolant flush and sure enough when I hit the cats, one of them was rattling. So naturally, I cut those out too and am running a full straight pipe now. The back cat was indeed blown as you can see what fell out in the picture. I may put a resonator in it at some point if I don't like how it sounds but other than that, I am done touching the exhaust system on this car (unless something lets loose) until it goes under the knife for the V8. I won't add any pictures of the current exhaust on the car because it looks absolutely horrendous lol. That's the one thing I did some real redneckery on since it's just temporary.

Then I pulled the wheels off and the torsion keys out. Drilled the "divets" in the top side and got some polyurethane to put on top of them there when I put it back together. I also already swapped in new camber adjusters.

Currently still waiting on my Code A torsion bars to put the front end back together. The back I have half way apart but am on hold with that until I get some leaf springs and anti-wrap bars out of the same Mountaineer I am stealing the torsion bars from.

In the meantime, I had a metric TON of interior work to do. So I got to work on that. I went back and forth for a while outfitting the car and interior panels with Kilmat 50 and 80 mil sheets and recovering my headliner and outfitting it with a 600 piece starlight kit. Both sub projects are now complete and oh I am in LOVE with my headliner...

And like I said, as that was coming along, so was the Kilmat sound deadening.

I think the biggest difference was in the doors. Day and night difference. Haven't had it on the road yet, but I know for sure it will be a lot better.

Roof, sides, and doors all done.

All finished! Time for the interior panels.

Unfortunately I did not get any pictures of the doors panels. I ended up putting some material on the edge all the way around where they make contact with the body to act as a cushion and kill any chance for squeaks or rattles as well as around every clip and got brand new clips too. You can see the thin layer of kilmat on the back end of that side panel above.

And after that I finished my headliner and finally after months got it back into the car.

It was a huge pain and I thought it would never end, but it was worth it. Absolutely love it!

Got the starlight motor mounted up and a 12V outlet tapped into a slightly thicker wire going to a relay box that had a constant 12V supply on it and plugged up. Now as long as I can get the panel to fit back on there I should be good.

Got my visors in and LED swapped them. Unfortunately I will have to have them recovered. The passenger side visor is actively disintegrating.

And now I am on to installing my sound system. I have 4 Kicker KSS680's with tweeters, a Kenwood DMX4707S head unit going in (touchscreen), 2 JL 10 inch Subwoofers going behind the backseat, and a CT Sounds 5 channel amp to install. Also have some fresh black carpet coming in from stock interiors. So progress is most certainly being made little by little. I'm gonna keep up the grind with it as I need to take it on a 1200 mile trip to Florida and back in March so I've gotta keep it rolling. Besides, I want to clear the space back up in my shop and finish some other projects, not to mention get back in my daily anyway lol.

 

[DintDobbs]

She's a beautiful project in the works! We here appreciate all customs!

 

[vroomzoomboom]

Did you torque the u bolts to any specific torque spec or just did it by feel?

was a while back, but it was something like 60 or 80 ft/lbs

 

[97Sandbox]

I haven't been on here in a while but I'm chiming in and will keep checking back. I also have a lowered sport as @DintDobbs mentioned.

+1 for @vroomzoomboom's comment regarding lowering limits. I'm lowered about 2-1/4" like him and I don't have issues with blocks in the back.

I swapped OEM explorer traction bars onto my truck, the holes are already there in the frame only tricky part is working around fuel and evap lines on the driver's side.

I have addco front and rear bars, they make a big difference. Upgrading to polyurethane suspension bushings and body mounts will reduce body roll too, but potholes get harsher. It's a trade-off: when you want to "feel the road," be ready to feel all of the road.

My sport is 2wd, so I never worried about CV angles, but dropping 2-3/8" really hurt my front suspension geometry. My alignment is in spec because I have aftermarket camber bolts, but there is noticeable bump steer due to the tie rods running uphill. I've considered a tie rod flip, but I really need to just find a shorter knuckle because my upper ball joints are stressed from the UCA angles too. This is something I intended to investigate further next time I make it to the salvage yard (what knuckles could be swapped in).

Feel free to check out my suspension build thread, lots of pictures.

When you get around to manual and/or V8 swapping, I can help there too -- I just finished manual swapping my V8 Mountaineer.

 

[410Fortune]

1100-1250 psi

1996 FORD EXPLORER 4.0L V6 Leaf Spring | Shop Now at RockAuto

Suspension Parts and More for Your 1996 FORD EXPLORER at Reliably Low Prices. Fast Online Catalog. DIY-Easy. Your Choice of Quality. Full Manufacturer Warranty.

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Rockauto good for this

 

[97Sandbox]

It just occurred to me that since you have a 95, the frame might actually not have provisions for the traction bars which first came on the 5.0 rigs starting in 96. It's worth checking though.

Worst case, you may just have to make a hole pattern from the truck you get the bars off of.

What axle ratio do you have? You may want the whole rear end out of a V8 truck if you don't want to weld mounting tabs to your axle housing.

I should add that I have the 1250# multi leaf packs on my Sport.

 

[410Fortune]

Yeah the 95 frame the t bar months are welded all weird

 

[GRNMACHINE]

Nice Work & Very cool build, but im pretty partial to medium willow Sports!

 

[97Sandbox]

Yeah the 95 frame the t bar months are welded all weird

Darn! Nothing a drill and die grinder can't fix.

 

[Murraymountain]

She's a beautiful project in the works! We here appreciate all customs!

Thanks bud!

was a while back, but it was something like 60 or 80 ft/lbs

Okay I'll keep that in mind.

I swapped OEM explorer traction bars onto my truck, the holes are already there in the frame only tricky part is working around fuel and evap lines on the driver's side.

I have addco front and rear bars, they make a big difference. Upgrading to polyurethane suspension bushings and body mounts will reduce body roll too, but potholes get harsher. It's a trade-off: when you want to "feel the road," be ready to feel all of the road.

I was trying to get a hellwig rear bar but it looks as if they aren't available anymore. I guess the addco rear bar will have to do. Love your rig... I came across it online actually looking up pics of lowered sports lol.

It just occurred to me that since you have a 95, the frame might actually not have provisions for the traction bars which first came on the 5.0 rigs starting in 96. It's worth checking though.

Worst case, you may just have to make a hole pattern from the truck you get the bars off of.

What axle ratio do you have? You may want the whole rear end out of a V8 truck if you don't want to weld mounting tabs to your axle housing.

I should add that I have the 1250# multi leaf packs on my Sport.

Yep. No provisions for the traction bars on the frame. I am thinking I will just do it when I do the V8 swap. I am planning on separating the body and frame at that time for other reasons so I'll just do it then. Not like the 4.0 is gonna hurt much back there lol.

It's an 8.8 rear with 3:73 limited slip. Is the Mounty rear end any better? On the door sticker of the Mounty I got the springs out of it also says D4 so I'm assuming it's the same rear end just with the traction bar mounts added on? Is there a better rear end I should look for in the future? I don't think I'll ever put down enough power to justify a 9 inch swap. I hear the 8.8 is a pretty good one.

Nice Work & Very cool build, but im pretty partial to medium willow Sports!

Thanks man! I am partial to the color and sports as well. First car I bought to fix up and flip was a medium willow Sport and after I sold it I wanted it back so when I found this one I jumped on it.






A couple questions real quick. Shocks. For all you lowered guys, what shocks do you run now? I guess stock height shocks would work on the rear since the distance between mounting points will not change, but the front will. Any suggestions?

And for wheels, here are the specs on what I am looking at. Any reason this wheel and tire combo wouldn't fit?

 

[97Sandbox]

Yep. No provisions for the traction bars on the frame. I am thinking I will just do it when I do the V8 swap. I am planning on separating the body and frame at that time for other reasons so I'll just do it then.

It'll be easy to do with the body lifted up, holding off is a good plan. Frankly, I don't think a stock 302 even needs the traction bars.

It's an 8.8 rear with 3:73 limited slip. Is the Mounty rear end any better? On the door sticker of the Mounty I got the springs out of it also says D4 so I'm assuming it's the same rear end just with the traction bar mounts added on? Is there a better rear end I should look for in the future? I don't think I'll ever put down enough power to justify a 9 inch swap. I hear the 8.8 is a pretty good one.

The Mounty rear end is same as the Explorer and a 3.73 limited slip is a good one to have. I believe the V8 equipped rear ends just have the two extra tabs welded on each side but are otherwise the same. Worth noting though that the parking brake cable bracket is integrated with the driver's traction bar frame mount, so you'll need to mess with that. Not a big deal.

I'd stick with that rear end unless your power goals will require a 9". The 2nd gen already has limited slip available and disk brakes standard so it's pretty good.

A couple questions real quick. Shocks. For all you lowered guys, what shocks do you run now? I guess stock height shocks would work on the rear since the distance between mounting points will not change, but the front will. Any suggestions?

Not sure what the tbar guys use in front, but I imagine something shorter. Just keep in mind, the shock won't have to shorten as much as the drop because it's further in on the lower control arm. Stock style shocks are fine in the rear when using blocks. You will want to run the shorter, F250 sway bar links because the axle and sway bar move up when you put blocks under them.

And for wheels, here are the specs on what I am looking at. Any reason this wheel and tire combo wouldn't fit?

View attachment 462185

Short answer, you can make those work.

That hub bore is bigger than stock, so you may want to run centering rings.

A 255/50R20 will be slightly taller than stock, so your speedometer and odometer will be off. I think a 255 will still fit up front on an 8.5 width at a 25 offset, but it's going to be very close to the upper ball joint. You may want to run spacers to get back towards the stock offset.

With wider tires and a thicker sway bar, you'll likely rub as steering approaches lock. Spacers will help there too, but you may still need to modify the steering stops.

 

[Murraymountain]

Gotcha gotcha. I’m headed to town now to see if I can find new bushings for the leaf springs before I swap them out this evening so maybe I’ll look for those F250 links as well. What year F250 links am I looking for and I am looking for rears correct?

I did see that with the parking brake cable bracket. I think I took that with me from the parts truck but I’d have to go look again.



I’m not too worried about the speedo. I actually picked that size intentionally cause from what I can tell my speedometer is about 3-4 MPH fast so I’d like to get that a little closer.
What’s the stock offset? I might be able to look at a different offset wheel. My goal is to have a wider wheel but also trying to avoid poke. I’d like it to be no further out than flush with the fender flares.


For the shocks, got any brand you recommend?

 

[97Sandbox]

The link I used is Moog K80268, for a 1999 F250. Yes, rears. The poly bushings for Explorers work in them because they have the same eye inner diameters.

The stock offset is 12mm. I'm running 24mm offset wheels though. Slip-on spacers work fine as long as they're snug to the center bore and you run longer lug studs. I'm running nearly stock offset (when you include the spacer) with 17x9s and 275 wide tires, and my sidewalls are just about flush with the stock flares in front.

I have KYB shocks on the rear of my Sport now and Gabriel shocks on my Mounty -- both seem decent. I've ran more "high end" rear shocks and they actually wore out faster than all the OEM style ones I've ran...waste of money. I just get whatever seems like a decent deal but isn't totally garbage quality. Others surely have different options though.

 

[Murraymountain]

Ok. Thank you for all the help! These are the two sets of shocks I saw for KYB. Which ones would you go with? And do I really even need to worry about finding a shorter shock for the front or would a stock length one probably work fine?

This is my last piece to the suspension puzzle for stage one of this build so this will be a nice final purchase. After this is wheels and I’ll have everything I need for stage one!

 

[97Sandbox]

I can't really say whether you will bottom out the front shocks, maybe someone running a lowered torsion bar setup can chime in. If you're keeping factory bump stops for now, you can go ahead and run OEM style shocks. But you'll probably be hitting the bump stops once you're lowered. Once you cut the bump stops, you need to start worrying about bottoming out the shocks.

These are the rear shocks I have that I like:

If you do go with the shocks you posted above (I'm sure they're fine too) you might want to get them on RockAuto, they're cheaper there.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

I am working, so I skimmed the thread- to confirm you are cutting the mounts to lower the bars? Not just crnking the bars down? If you do a reverse crank, then the total travel wont change as long as you dont change the bump stops. You are just changing where it sits in the stock travel.

If you lower the mounts then I have no clue, sorry.

I can say I like the KYB Gas Ajusts they are good shocks they held up to lots of towing and wheeling before going to Ranchos. For a street rig I see no downside.

 

[Murraymountain]

If you do go with the shocks you posted above (I'm sure they're fine too) you might want to get them on RockAuto, they're cheaper there.

I ended up going with those KYB gas-a-justs like you mentioned. Turns out all 4 of my stock shocks were blown completely.

I am working, so I skimmed the thread- to confirm you are cutting the mounts to lower the bars? Not just crnking the bars down? If you do a reverse crank, then the total travel wont change as long as you dont change the bump stops. You are just changing where it sits in the stock travel.

If you lower the mounts then I have no clue, sorry.

I can say I like the KYB Gas Ajusts they are good shocks they held up to lots of towing and wheeling before going to Ranchos. For a street rig I see no downside.

I did a torsion key flip.





Quick question for you guys that have messed with interior. I have about 10 days left before I'm taking this car on a 1200 mile road trip and still have no interior in it so the pressure is on big time. Do the seat belt mounts go underneath the carpet? Bolt and all? I don't remember seeing the actual mount beforehand so I believe they do but I am unsure.