3rd gen lift help please

[Robert1312]

Hi I'm new to the explorer I'm pretty mechanically inclined and have lifted solid axle jeeps and stuff but this is new what are the dos and donts to suspension loft and body lifts and options for parts or kits I can' seem to find any kits or parts to piece together to make a complete lift not for the 3rd gen anywhere

 

[Robert1312]

This is my baby

 

[extra-medium]

Your options are a complete custom lift kit
Rancho Quick Lift Struts.
Body lift.

 

[HndsmBwndrful]

I had same problem I have 2004 limited . Expedition and f-150 no problem but no lift kits . For some reason there called differently by chance I saw a reference and searched and I found it. There referenced leveling kits, advertised to fix the rake of the truck. I ordered the kit got the 3" strut spacers in the front and 2" in the rear . I love it, gave it a solid stealth stance .No suspension changes, rides on factory hardware and no codes (I have advancetrac with 4x4) looking into a body lift next

 

[odnfpd]

I’m running a 2.5”/2.0” Supreme Suspensions leveling kit on my 03 Explorer along with 265/75R16 BFG A/T KO2’s. The person who helped me with it said my oem quickstruts were still in perfect working order. Fast forward a year: the front suspension has sunk .75”. I have new MOOG Quickstruts for all four corners in the garage waiting for a warmer weather installation. The kit was pretty affordable and ridiculously high quality in both fit and finish. I’d highly recommend it.

 

[HndsmBwndrful]

Same with Supreme Suspension I ran 3" front 2" rear. At first it levelled out and got rid of the rake, in time the front settled and the rake is back. The moog struts did it at all help elevate your truck or just restore an old suspension?

 

[odnfpd]

I haven’t installed them yet, but I’m hoping that I’ll end up a little higher than I did after the initial install. My Explorer has 107,x.. miles and is still sitting on the original suspension. It’s very much still winter here in Montana and I’m waiting for warmer weather. But I will post before and after pics along with measurements before and after.

 

[Mountymaniac]

There's a body lift thread on here that was pretty helpful. 1.5in for less than $50. I just finished mine today and it was fairly painless (quick tip: if you work front to back in pairs, instead of one side then the other, you don't have to disconnect steering column). I ordered supreme suspension spacers and the BTF extended upper control arms which will be going on in a few weeks. That paired with the 265/75/16 stt pros should net me about 5inches overall lift. Anymore than that would take some serious custom fab

 

[Christ h]

Hello they only make the lift leveling kits 3"front and 2"back for 3gen Explorers you can also get heavy duty shocks and struts that will lift your front 2 1/2" and back 5" with the lift leveling kit will give you a 5 1/2" front and a 7" back. You can also get knuckles for the front shocks. Piece it together under $500.00

 

[domct203]

Hello they only make the lift leveling kits 3"front and 2"back for 3gen Explorers you can also get heavy duty shocks and struts that will lift your front 2 1/2" and back 5" with the lift leveling kit will give you a 5 1/2" front and a 7" back. You can also get knuckles for the front shocks. Piece it together under $500.00

There is no way you will get over 3” of suspension lift in a 3rd generation Explorer without serious modifications. The IRS axles will rub the frame with over 3” of lift. The IFS control arms & upper ball joints will not take more than 3” without serious modification or custom replacements. Aftermarket front UCA’s are available to help with the ball joint angle when using a 3” lift in the front, but just those alone are well over $500, and will never give you 5-1/2” of lift regardless.

What do you mean by ‘knuckles for the front shocks”? The 3rd generation is an IFS with McPherson style struts, not shocks.

Most 3rd generation owners will do a 2”-3” suspension lift utilizing strut spacers, and / or a 3” body lift utilizing the Performance Accessories PA883 kit for the Ranger. You can get strut spacers to give you from 1-1/2” to 3” of lift using the OEM style struts, and most are available in 1/2” increments.

Dom

 

[Christ h]

Thanks for the information

 

[Chase47074]

Your options are a complete custom lift kit
Rancho Quick Lift Struts.
Body lift.

good evening i was curious if you had put that rancho lift in your ford explorer and if so will you post a picture along with order part numbers please.im looking to lift the 03 ford explorer i just picked up.thanks for your help

 

[domct203]

good evening i was curious if you had put that rancho lift in your ford explorer and if so will you post a picture along with order part numbers please.im looking to lift the 03 ford explorer i just picked up.thanks for your help

How much lift are you looking to achieve? The Rancho Quick Struts will be about 1" to 1-1/2" of lift over stock. they are not a lift 'kit', just extended shocks, similar to using strut spacers.

A quick google search led me straight to the product numbers, and quite a few posts here at ExplorerForum.

quickLIFT™ LOADED

 

[Chase47074]

i figured i would get the rancho quick strut rellace tue coil with a one from coilspring.com i would like to achieve about 3 to 4 inches but i know i cant get that just from the strut so im looking into a body lift as well. thanks again for your help i appreciate alk your knowledge and input on our 3rd gen explorer.

 

[Bohknows17]

i figured i would get the rancho quick strut rellace tue coil with a one from coilspring.com i would like to achieve about 3 to 4 inches but i know i cant get that just from the strut so im looking into a body lift as well. thanks again for your help i appreciate alk your knowledge and input on our 3rd gen explorer.

As others have said, really 3 inches of lift is all you're gonna be able to get on these trucks. It's also important to note that if you do go for that you're going to be putting a lot of stress on both your CV joints and UCA/Ball joints. Other than just constantly replacing your CV joints, there's not much you can do there that I know of. It would be extremely wise to look into picking up a set of uniball UCAs from BTF Fabrication.

I've seen plenty of guys who run the quick lifts and are happy with them. I also know some who haven't been crazy about them. Personally I think strut spacers are the way to go, you can find them in a range of different sizes. (important to note that the actual height of them isn't how much lift you'll get by installing them) Doing the 1.5 or 3 inch body lift on top of that should give you plenty of clearance for whatever size tires you'd like to run.

And no, you can't run strut spacers AND quick lifts. Hope this helps a bit.

 

[Chase47074]

it did thank you. im looking for distant travel room for tires where i go canping and hiking their is a dried up creek bed i have to drive through that has large rocks everywhere so its easier to navigate with a vehicle that can flex a little more and from what i read on strut spacer they decrease that factor. i could be wrong so please correct me if im wrong im a complete rookie when it comes to independent suspension so this is all a learning experience for me so please the more you can help i am very greatful for .

 

[Bohknows17]

it did thank you. im looking for distant travel room for tires where i go canping and hiking their is a dried up creek bed i have to drive through that has large rocks everywhere so its easier to navigate with a vehicle that can flex a little more and from what i read on strut spacer they decrease that factor. i could be wrong so please correct me if im wrong im a complete rookie when it comes to independent suspension so this is all a learning experience for me so please the more you can help i am very greatful for .

This is basically what I built my truck for, to be able to get to any campsite, trailhead, put in/take out point, ect. The strut spacers shouldn't necessarily decrease the amount of travel you have, but they definitely won't increase it. I can't speak to if the quick lifts will increase the amount of travel you have, but it seems plausible.

If you want to see the setup I have on my truck, just follow this link. Basically though, I have 1.5 inch strut spacers, which gives me clearance to run roughly 32 inch all terrains. A plus of the smaller spacers (I get maybeee 2.5 inches of lift from them, more from my tires) is that they don't change much in the rest of the geometry of the suspension (Ex, ball joints). I have just over 5,000 miles on this setup, and it's been perfect thus far. If I wanted to run larger tires I'd have to do a body lift, but I'm not rock crawling or mudding, so 32's will do.

It took me a while to really figure out the independent suspension, and really I didn't have a complete grasp of it until I installed my lift. So no worries. Ultimately, it comes down to what you think will work the best for your needs!

 

[Chase47074]

good looking rig. it does look like it would handle what i need it for. does it start to sag when you start loading your gear up. so with the strut space i could do tue body lift as well. i do plan on getring the ugraded upper control arms do to its my family rig as well so saftey is a big concern for me.this is my stock 03 xlt i bought for the wife

 

[Bohknows17]

Nice truck. I haven't noticed any sag when we've been loaded up. Carried gear, bags, and food for four people when we went camping in Colorado this winter, plus my roof basket. It'll do it again for a few weeks this summer. Here's some pictures where you can see that the ride height is unchanged. Also, yes to being able to do a body lift and strut spacers. Here's the thread that explains the 1.5 inch body lift.

(note that ground isn't level in this picture)

 

[extra-medium]

The quicklifts gave me about an inch in the rear, and leveled the front. I am running 265/75/16's and they give it a nice beefy look, but don't look oversized. They fill out the wheel arches. I have posted pics around the forum, just can't remember where. I am on my chromebook, not my laptop so I don't have any pics available to post.