31's or no 31's

[ET]

Can I fit 31x10.5x15 on a unmodified 1994 Explorer? All the tire shops around here seem to think that there is no way it will work. I'm going to add a lift soon(2.5" James Duff), but I need new tires now(yearly inspection).
Also, Does anybody else have a James Duff lift? I'm wondering if its worth the extra $200.00 for the extra goodies you get with JD. I could get the Skyjacker 1.5-2" lift for $150.00 at Rockymountain suspension. Actually that would save me $250.00.

Later, E
Asheville NC

 

[Maniak]

The answer is a definate maybe. My 1992 XLT fit 30" tires without a problem. My 31x10.5 didn't even come close to fitting, but I have seen a few First generation explorers with 31" tires. My '92 had about 140,000 miles on it when I was looking at the 31's without the lift so my spring may have been sagging. The front tires would hit the front of the wheel opening as soon as I turned the wheel. I have since installed the James Duff lift. I wrote an install article about it which can be found at http://mark.legendz.com/off-road.html in the Install Article drop down box. I did some checking and the 1.5-2" lifts aren't worth it unless you just want enough to lift it for the next size up tire. I wanted the 4" lift but then the little woman would not be able to get into the truck easily (she is only 5'1"). The 2.5" lift made the 31's fit easily and I like how it looks and handles. From my quick tests, I might be able to fit 32 (yokahama geolander MT 32's) on my 8" rims with 3.5" backspacing with my 2.5" lift (2.5" and another 1/2 of lift from my new shackles).

Mark


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Mark
mark@legendz.com
http://mark.legendz.com
Off-Road and Motorcycle Information, Pictures and Movies


[This message has been edited by Maniak (edited 11-20-1999).]

[This message has been edited by Maniak (edited 11-20-1999).]

 

[ET]

Mark,
Well wouldn't you know that my Explorer is Electric Blue...too. I can't decide between a 2" body lift, 2.5" duff lift, or just add-a-leaf and make some coil spacers. If money wasn't a problem!, then I would go with the JD Lift. How much, in addition to just the lift kit, did you have to spend(brake lines, Pitman, Bushings). I take it from your article that you must have spent around $700.00 altogether for a proper install.
I wonder if(since i need new shocks anyhow), I could get the JD shocks now and then get the rest of the lift later? Or would the "lift shocks" not work properly at stock height?
Is that picture of the Explorer before or after? I would guess after. How does it ride?

Always Curious,
E

 

[Maniak]

The lift alone cost about $500ish (including shipping). I then needed new shocks (I only needed 2, but I replaced all 4). I was using Rancho Rs9000's at stock height the the rear shocks for a stock height explorer work fine on a 2.5" lifted explorer. The front shocks are another story, they needed ot be replaced when I added the 2.5" lift. I spent over $400 for 4 shocks (rs9000's) and a set of D.O.T. aproved brake lines from Dick Cepek. Other than that, I didn't "need" to buy anything else. I got my new radius arm bushins and axle pivot bushings from James Duff (had them ship it with my lift). I am still using the stock pitman arm but the bump steer isn't that bad. I just remembed, you need an alignment after that. I paid about $135 for my alignment which included the new adjustable bushing.
The pictures on my site of the Explorer are actually the "before" pictures. It had stock suspension, with Rs9000 shocks and 30" tires on 8" rims. I don't have new pictures of the explorer yet. If you are not running your sway bars I wouldn't use the James Duff shocks. The James duff shocks are very soft (on compression). If you still use your sway bars the James Duff shocks should be fine. There is an option for the James Duff kit to give you dual front shocks. I personally haven't found a reason for dual front shocks unless you do desert pre-running. Rock crawling doesn't need the extra shocks. I think the bootom line for cost of the lift was about $1000 which included the parts, the extra parts and the alignment. But of course after we did the lift we spent another $650 on tires. After the tires we got gears and a locker $1823. It is a never ending story. If you can't afford to actually do a lift kit you can get new front coils, make front coil spacers for the front (1.5" lift) and use the add-a-leaf and a set of Warrior Products shackles to lift the rear. This will get you enough to run bigger tires and you can always do the lift later. I found that switching to the rs9000 shocks and getting good off-road tires made a big difference in what I could do off-road. If I had bad shocks and bad tires with a lift I would be no better off.

Hope this info helps..

Mark

------------------
Mark
mark@legendz.com
http://mark.legendz.com
Off-Road and Motorcycle Information, Pictures and Movies