33's/BL/TT/AAL reliability questions

[Hokie]

Anybody seen any pics of a rear bumper not raised after a 2" BL? How ghetto does it look?

I guess its looking like I'm not going to do a BL b/c I still need the practicality of this truck as my daily driver and can't keep a full size spair on the roof and don't have the cutting skills/tools to raise the rear bumper and have it look right... Kinda stinks though, I love the thought my truck riding higher

 

[Chris4x4Gill2]

If you look on my page in my sig there is a picture of mine with the bumpers not mived after a 3" BL. Its on Page 4. And to run the 33's on mine, I had to do some Major trimming. That was with TT/AAL/SHackles/3"BL. Since you are using a narrower tire and stock rims, you probably wont have to trim much at all if any.

 

[GJarrett]

Don't drill new hole in bumper, just raise the crank up

I lined up the spare tire crank access hole by removing the crank off of the frame (it's only held with a couple of screws), then getting a scrap aluminum piece 2" thick, used it for a spacer to raise the crank level 2", then bought longer screws to rescrew the crank on top of the spacer back onto the frame. It worked just fine.

 

[jasonb]

for the spare.. just throw it up on the roof or in the cargo area. that's the only choices unless you have a rear tire carrier. that or run with a smaller spare. i don't think running a smaller one on the front for a few miles will hurt. heck.. there were donuts for spares forever.
you could fit the 265 without trimming anything except that little plastic piece that hangs out for no reason.. robert cut it off in those pics above. and only would really need the budget boost.
with the 3" BL and stock wheels.. i didn't have to trim anything else for road driving and only rubbed like twice very minimally while doing relatively hard offroad trails. btw.. i have the TT/shackles as well and run 285s. since then.. i have added spacers and have had to trim a decent amount.. all plastic though.

 

[Robert]

BTW up through '97 Ford frequently included a donut spare with Explorers that came equipped with the 255 70R16 tires. When Ford redesigned the hatch in '98 they gave it enough room to include the full sized spare so the stopped doing that. My '97 4x4 Sport with limited slip came equipped with 255 70R16 tires (30.1") and a 215 70R15 spare (26.9"). There is nothing mentioned in my Owner's Guide as to run the small sized spare on the front, only a brief sentence that some vehicles may be equipped with a smaller sized spare than the rest of the tires. I found it ironic though that in the '98 Owner's Guide Ford states that the use of different sized tires on the Explorer may result in damage.

In any event, I have 33" tires with a now 30" spare. I have done the 2WD mod and fully intend on putting the spare on the front if I ever get a flat. The Pathfinder 30x9.5 was the largest tire I could cram under mine with my Hidden Hitch. I even tried letting all but 5 PSI out of my 265s when I had them and tried cramming one up there. It still wouldn't go and hung down similarly to the Rodeo's I've seen (the ones that look like their spare tire is not all the way up). Since I am not removing my hitch, use my cargo area frequently and would knock anything taller than 6" off my roof when I pulled in my garage, the spare I have is the spare I have to live with.

 

[Alec]

Robert, time for a new rear bumper

I know Rick was thinking about selling me his if he goes with a new one. You should ask him if he's still planning on getting a new one made at FST, his is pretty cool

 

[Robert]

I actually thought of that (although briefly) but the three problems that come to mind are 1) I don't think my bumper would hold up too well when off-roading with a 100 lb. tire mounted to it after raising it for my body lift, 2) I can't stand it when anything blocks my view out the back and the tire would block a lot more of my view than I'm willing to give up and 3) I don't want to mess with moving the tire 3 or 4 times a day to open up my hatch.

 

[Robert]

Oh, OK, I see you are talking about a completely new bumper so I guess my reason # 1 doesn't hold water. In that case, my reason # 4 would be that I'm still recovering from the frying pan upside my head after my Wife found out that my $700 tires also required $1700 worth of new gears and lockers so that I didn't destroy my $2400 transmission.

 

[Hokie]

Robert, did you raise your spare tire crank mechanism 3" after the BL like Gerald described? If so, did you just buy longer bolts and put on 3" sleeves to raise the mechanism up?

 

[Alec]

Robert,
My modification of Cory's bumper design makes it very easy to get to the rear hatch. Rick's bumper is designed similarly, though for a DD you'd want to redesign it a bit and make it a little easier.

All I have to do on mine is pull out a locking pin and pull on the latch. Takes about 4 seconds to swing the tire out and put it back. On Rick's you have to swing 2 arms though to fully access the back, and his takes about 15 seconds to fully open.

About the visibility thing, mine is off to one side so it's not that bad. On the highway it's not bad at all. In the city I just have to look a little longer in my side mirror and have more awareness of who's around me. I've already got used to it. Parallel parking definately takes a little more concentration though.

 

[Robert]

Originally posted by HokieBert
Robert, did you raise your spare tire crank mechanism 3" after the BL like Gerald described? If so, did you just buy longer bolts and put on 3" sleeves to raise the mechanism up?

No, I drilled a 5/8" hole behind my license plate towards the top of my bumper. Had I known how easy it was to lift the mechanism instead though, I probably would have tried that route before I drilled the hole. The hole isn't visible though until you take off the rear plate. I just had to throw a screw driver in the jack compartment to remove the license plate screws in the event of a flat.

 

[Hokie]

Hey Robert,

When you did your trimming to fit the 285's, would you say it was the extra width or the extra height that was causing rubbing? I'm looking at some Kelly Safari tires and they come in 255/85-16 which is a 33x10.0, which is pretty much what I'm looking for... less rolling resistance (need MPG!) but still plenty wide and good height. I'm thinking this might be a better setup to minimalize rubbing than a 285. Or maybe I should just shut up and buy the 265's that I've been planning on forever now...

 

[Robert]

I'm sure it had to do with the combination of both. Had I just gone higher without wider or wider without higher, either scenario may not have rubbed and neither way would have rubbed as much as going both ways. Mine rubbed when I turned my wheels to about a 45 deg. angle. The first couple of cuts eliminated that, however when I hit bumps while turning (such as going up a drive) it still rubbed. So, back I went to cut some more. The minimal amount of cutting I did isn't noticeable to anyone that doesn't specifically look for it. I really like the size on there now. It rides a lot more softly than my 265s did. Even with 35 PSI in the tires, it rides very well. With my stiffer swaybars and shocks, it feels more stable (and comfortable) than it did with my original 255 Firestone tires with my stock suspension. You will definately have to do a body lift regardless of which 33" equivalent you go with though or you will hit the top of your wheel wells when your suspension goes up. My 265s rubbed the top of my wheel wells before my body lift. My 285s would have hit much harder.

 

[jasonb]

i'd venture to say... 255/85r16s wouldn't rub at all with the 3" body lift. my 285s didn't rub until i put spacers on. and that includes off roading. they did rub like 2 times very minimaly over a 2 day trail ride with sway bars disconnected. well.. i had already cut some of the front bumper before just for looks.. so i'm not sure if it would have touched there.
after the spacers... i had trim a lot.

 

[Hokie]

(digging up an older thread here...)

I think my final setup will be TT up front with older 4 door leafs + AAL + shackles and a 2" BL... So this will give me in the neighborhood of 4-5" of overall lift...

Do y'all think 265/75R16's (on stock rims) would look too small with this setup? I don't think the 33's would be worth the decrease in gas mileage and don't want to trim tupperware...

I know section is running 32's with his 2" susp. and 3" BL and it doesn't look bad, but he's also got more offset and wider rims...

 

[Chris4x4Gill2]

That tire would measure out to about 31.5" tall. Thats about the same as most 32's. With the set up you are planning I would thin kyou would get about 3.5 to 4 inches of lift so those tires wouldn't look out of place. Might as well do the 3" if you plan on going bigger later.

 

[Hokie]

Originally posted by Chris4x4Gill2
Might as well do the 3" if you plan on going bigger later.

yeah, i'm going for the most user friendly and reliable setup and i'm starting to read some horror stories about the 3" lifts and the steering extension... So i think the 2" would be the best trade off for me. That is also why I'm looking at the 265's b/c they would offer the best mileage for my SOHC (probably better than my factory setup too) which is a good thing for my DD.