2" shock absorber lift?

[Sexploder]

So to get 2" of lift on my 96 Explorer XLT, i bought bigger shackles for the rear and I was planning on cranking my torsion bars in the front. Although I know that over time, the front end can droop. Next week I will be replacing my front lower ball joints and I wanted to know if I could get 2" lift in the front by upgrading my shocks rather that going with a TT (no possibly droop in the future)
These seemed like they might be something that would do it:
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=2846043&cc=1119653

I am pretty limited on my knowledge of IFS and I don't know if I would be able to just buy those shocks to get 2" lift and not have to upgrade/change anything else in the front suspension. I may be completely wrong in thinking this is possible, but please correct me if I am wrong.
Thanks for the input.

 

[DjDom]

No shock will give you lift in the front.

There is only 1 shock that will give you a lift, and those are Monroe Sensatrac Load Adjust in the REAR.

To lift the front, you need a TT. However, the Rancho 5000 is a great shock. I have some ready to put on my truck.

 

[Sexploder]

No shock will give you lift in the front.

There is only 1 shock that will give you a lift, and those are Monroe Sensatrac Load Adjust in the REAR.

To lift the front, you need a TT. However, the Rancho 5000 is a great shock. I have some ready to put on my truck.

if I were to get the Ranch 5000, there are 2 different options on rockauto. One of them is for a trucks with 1"-2 1/2" lift and the other is for 0" lift w/out front raised height. I will have a full TT and shackle lift in the back, so would that mean I should get the 1"-2 1/2" lift Rancho's?

 

[obie]

There are kinda shocks that will give you a lift in the front. If you were to go through the expense and effort of converting to coilovers, you can get the 2" of lift you want. However, it's basically the same as a TT as you get the lift by preloading the coils to put your suspension into droop, and it reduces downtravel and has all the other drawbacks of a torsion twist.

 

[obie]

if I were to get the Ranch 5000, there are 2 different options on rockauto. One of them is for a trucks with 1"-2 1/2" lift and the other is for 0" lift w/out front raised height. I will have a full TT and shackle lift in the back, so would that mean I should get the 1"-2 1/2" lift Rancho's?

No, by doing the torsion twist you aren't gaining any more travel and don't need longer shocks. You're just exchanging center control arms for control arms into a droop position. Just run the stock travel Ranchos, those will do you fine.

I've run Rancho 5000s on both my 98 Exs, my 97 F150, and now my 03 ST. THe one 98 Ex though now has Fox shocks on it.

 

[DjDom]

No, by doing the torsion twist you aren't gaining any more travel and don't need longer shocks. You're just exchanging center control arms for control arms into a droop position. Just run the stock travel Ranchos, those will do you fine.

I've run Rancho 5000s on both my 98 Exs, my 97 F150, and now my 03 ST. THe one 98 Ex though now has Fox shocks on it.

What Obie said is correct.

Don't get the ones for a lift as they will just bottom out and make the ride horrible.
Get regular sized Ranchos.

 

[Mrhobby100]

What Obie said is correct.

Don't get the ones for a lift as they will just bottom out and make the ride horrible.
Get regular sized Ranchos.

Really? Are you sure about that because Rancho isn't a bunch a dumb rednecks in a warehouse somewhere. I am sure that they found that the different shock helps with the slight lift people give to their explorers.

Oh yeh forgot to mention that I have been running the ranchos for the torsion twist for about 9 months now and they don't bottom out at all and I like to hit the speed bumps in the parking lots pretty good and I recently got the speed up pretty good going down holy Jim trail hitting the pot holes at about 35 wasn't to bad, they made my ride feel way better. The shock now sits perfectly at half shaft (that didn't sound right lol) and is able to move up and down without bottoming out in either direction. I am also 2 wheel drive and it seems like with the 2wd my tt seems to get me up higher than the all wheel drive explorers with the tt. So if you are 2 wheel drive which I didn't look at your specs for sure go with the rancho's for the lift but if your AWD I don't have enough experience with the AWD to know how high the tt gets it compared to mine. My explorer sits pretty freaking high for tt and lift spindles. I know the lift spindles don't change the geometry of the control arms but the control arms on my explorer are angled down pretty steep for just a simple tt but still have some down travel. Maybe the guy I bought it from changed something with the key ways or the bolts going to the key ways to get more lift (maybe longer bolts are in their I never checked)

Ehhh stock shocks aren't that big of a deal to me I am having long travel and custom spindles made for me right now. Time for coilovers

 

[Sexploder]

Really? Are you sure about that because Rancho isn't a bunch a dumb rednecks in a warehouse somewhere. I am sure that they found that the different shock helps with the slight lift people give to their explorers.

Oh yeh forgot to mention that I have been running the ranchos for the torsion twist for about 9 months now and they don't bottom out at all and I like to hit the speed bumps in the parking lots pretty good and I recently got the speed up pretty good going down holy Jim trail hitting the pot holes at about 35 wasn't to bad, they made my ride feel way better. The shock now sits perfectly at half shaft (that didn't sound right lol) and is able to move up and down without bottoming out in either direction. I am also 2 wheel drive and it seems like with the 2wd my tt seems to get me up higher than the all wheel drive explorers with the tt. So if you are 2 wheel drive which I didn't look at your specs for sure go with the rancho's for the lift but if your AWD I don't have enough experience with the AWD to know how high the tt gets it compared to mine. My explorer sits pretty freaking high for tt and lift spindles. I know the lift spindles don't change the geometry of the control arms but the control arms on my explorer are angled down pretty steep for just a simple tt but still have some down travel. Maybe the guy I bought it from changed something with the key ways or the bolts going to the key ways to get more lift (maybe longer bolts are in their I never checked)

Ehhh stock shocks aren't that big of a deal to me I am having long travel and custom spindles made for me right now. Time for coilovers

I have a 96 4x4 XLT. I am going to be getting slightly longer bolts for the TT because as far as I have read, it sometimes is lower on the left side where the gas tank and driver are. To compensate for that, I will be getting an identical bolt just longer so I cant turn it more than the stock bolt. Just recently, I noticed a creaking coming from the rear. I want to say its the rear shock, but im not entirely sure. Ill check it out soon, but that could an excuse for me to get some rancho 5000s

 

[Sexploder]

What Obie said is correct.

Don't get the ones for a lift as they will just bottom out and make the ride horrible.
Get regular sized Ranchos.

What kind of lift does rancho mean in their description. A 1"-2 1/2" suspension lift?

 

[corkey]

you do not get lift from shocks, and the stocks are long enough for what you should get from a torsion twist, (only 1 1/2 inches,, if you go higher the suspension gets stiff, and your cv joints and ball joints are in peril as they will be hit harder when you hit bumps, causing way more problems for your Explorer,,
also mre than 1 1/2 inches from a torsion twist puts your cv joints at a bad angle almost all the time, and they will let go in a bad way,,

 

[corkey]

ask me how i know ,,, lol

 

[Sexploder]

you do not get lift from shocks, and the stocks are long enough for what you should get from a torsion twist, (only 1 1/2 inches,, if you go higher the suspension gets stiff, and your cv joints and ball joints are in peril as they will be hit harder when you hit bumps, causing way more problems for your Explorer,,
also mre than 1 1/2 inches from a torsion twist puts your cv joints at a bad angle almost all the time, and they will let go in a bad way,,

Oh wow. Definitely don't want that happening to me . Its strange that you say that because a lot of people have followed the how to in this thread. http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=238214
What would you recommend to lift my front IFS 2"? I am on a budget so I wouldn't exactly be able to afford an expensive suspension lift (as much as I would love to get one).

 

[corkey]

i have a Superlift,torsion twist equivalent and shackles, so i got about 5 1/2 inches,, but it was not cheap,,

if you want to do it well and have enough tire room,
i say that a body lift at about $200 is the best bang for the buck,,
sure it's 3 inches and a bit harder, but if i was going to do it all over again, i would do the body lift torsion tiwist and shackles, for about 4 1/2 inches of lift next time,,
i went to a 35 inch tire, but it's not really needed unless you are doing deep mud , or real big rocks,, 33 is enough really

 

[Mrhobby100]

you do not get lift from shocks, and the stocks are long enough for what you should get from a torsion twist, (only 1 1/2 inches,, if you go higher the suspension gets stiff, and your cv joints and ball joints are in peril as they will be hit harder when you hit bumps, causing way more problems for your Explorer,,
also mre than 1 1/2 inches from a torsion twist puts your cv joints at a bad angle almost all the time, and they will let go in a bad way,,

This is exactly what I am talking about. I don't have the all wheel drive explorer so I am not to experienced with it but I did have a feeling that if a 4x4 explorer had their control arms at such a steep angle as mine something like this would happen to the front drive shafts.

He is right unless you want to do some really major suspension work then you should go with the body lift.


( At times I am glad I am 2 wheel drive but then when I gotta go through mud in the winter it gets sketchy and I wish I was 4x4)



I WANNA SEE ONE OF YOU ALL WHEEL DRIVE EXPLORER GUYS DO A LONG TRAVEL KIT AND KEEP THE 4X4.

 

[Mrhobby100]

I have a 96 4x4 XLT. I am going to be getting slightly longer bolts for the TT because as far as I have read, it sometimes is lower on the left side where the gas tank and driver are.

Here on explorer forum we call that the gangster lean. I don't have any front sway bar so mine is real noticeable on a full tank of gas. I usually run only half a tank to reduce the lean till I get a fuel cell tucked back where the spare tire used to be.

 

[Sexploder]

i have a Superlift,torsion twist equivalent and shackles, so i got about 5 1/2 inches,, but it was not cheap,,

if you want to do it well and have enough tire room,
i say that a body lift at about $200 is the best bang for the buck,,
sure it's 3 inches and a bit harder, but if i was going to do it all over again, i would do the body lift torsion tiwist and shackles, for about 4 1/2 inches of lift next time,,
i went to a 35 inch tire, but it's not really needed unless you are doing deep mud , or real big rocks,, 33 is enough really

That's reassuring that I'm headed in the right direction. Although, I thought you said that having your torsion bars cranked all the way up kills your cv joints. I'm going up to Tahoe in July and the last thing i want happening is having my cv joints go out on me

 

[Sexploder]

Here on explorer forum we call that the gangster lean. I don't have any front sway bar so mine is real noticeable on a full tank of gas. I usually run only half a tank to reduce the lean till I get a fuel cell tucked back where the spare tire used to be.

That's not a bad idea! Definitely a modification ill consider doing down the road

 

[obie]

A long travel kit is perfectly doable with 4wd. Dixon Bros Racing makes one for Rangers and Explorers. The only difference between 2wd LT and 4wd LT is that 4wd needs longer and heavier duty CV shafts. The custom CV shafts are a large reason of why the DBR kit is so expensive.