91-09 Explorer 5" of lift for under 300.00 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

91-09 Explorer 5" of lift for under 300.00

99ex22

Explorer Addict
Joined
June 5, 2008
Messages
1,410
Reaction score
8
City, State
Wilsonville, Oregon
Year, Model & Trim Level
2000 5.0L 4x4 Eddie Bauer
Well I searched around and noticed we didn't have a thread with good information for the newbies who want to lift their second gen and it gets tiring explaining it everyday I sign on here so I thought I would create a page that will help people understand what they need to do to lift their trucks. I'm not it anyway trying to score free elite membership for a while as I am trying to make my life a little easier so I don't have to type this stuff again. So here it goes:

Disclaimer: Do at your own risk. I will not be held responsible for personal injury or vehicle damage.

Warrior Shackles
Most of us on the forum have started with the Shackles and TT. Shackles as in lift shackles for the rear leaf springs and TT as in torsion bar twist in the front. You can pick up universal lift shackles at pretty much any auto parts store for cheap But I recommend getting the Warrior Products shackles part # War-153.

You can pick up a set of Warrior Products lift shackles at www.desertrat.com for 69.95

Here is a fantastic write up on the installation of the shackles created by a member on here Four0Sport...http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=212451 FYI If you live in the south or the west coast it will not be as difficult as we do not use salt on our roads.

Add-A-Leaf
You can also do a Add-A-Leaf in the rear instead of the shackles or with the shackles. You need Part number EXP13120 35.00 from www.4wheelparts.com and here is a great write up on how to install them by a member on here V8BoatBuilder...http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=97676

Torsion Twist
After your done with lifting the rear your going to want to level it out a little bit by cranking up the torsion bars up front. Here is a great thread created by a member on here CBoug76...http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47345 All you do is tighten that adjuster bolt on both sides in the picture and it lifts the front end. You cannot exceed 2" though do to CV Joint binding so measure carefully. You might need a longer bolt for the driver side to get the full 2" of lift. The reason being is the gas tank and the driver always being on the drivers side. Here is the link for the bolt that you might need...http://www.fastenal.com/web/products/detail.ex?sku=0121853 I got mine at my local ACE Hardware store. Also your going to need to Get an alignment afterwords as you may have thrown it off a little bit. If you don't get one it's not that big of a deal. The truck will still drive straight and it won't harm anything other than maybe wearing your tires un-evenly if you go without for a long period of time.

Now that you have roughly 2" of lift you can fit a 31x10.5 tire without any rubbing or a 32" tire with some trimming.

3" Body Lift
Now if that's not big enough for you, you can do a 3" body lift, it will run you right around 180.00. If your truck is a 1995-1997 you need part # PA-853 for the ford ranger, If your truck is a 1998-2001 you need part # PA-883 for the ford ranger. I purchased mine from www.suspensionconnection.com
Click on body lifts, ford body lifts, then ranger. Here is a pretty good write up on how to install the 883 kit, Its on a sport but it's pretty much the same process for us 4door guys. Also I think he welded something in the installation which is not needed.http://mudmarine.tripod.com/3bodyliftinstall/index.html And here is a BETTER write up on how to install the 883 kit. It's on a sport again but it's the same process for 4 doors.....http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=240957

The front bumper brackets that come in the kit work perfect. The rear ones, not so much. In the 883 kit you can flip the brackets that come in the kit upside down and use the left one on the right and the right one on the left. I'm not sure if the same goes for the 853 kit though.
If not you can make your own or get some made. Here is a link for the brackets....http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=172250

Other than that everything you need comes in the kit except for the bolts directly behind the 2 front seats so you use the factory ford bolts out of the very rear of the cargo area for those two. Here are the bolt lengths you need for every mount...I got this info from CAHUNTERMAN when I was in the process of installing my lift.

Front mounts - 180MM
Mounts that are in front of the front seats - 140MM
Mounts just under the rear of the front seats - I used the stock bolts from the very rear mounts.
Mounts in the front of cargo area - 160MM
Mounts in rear of cargo area - 200MM

For those of you who don't like body lifts super lift and trail master both sell a 4" suspension lift for over 2000.00 but you don't gain anymore than you do with the body lift due to the Torsion bars. All the suspension lift does is drop everything down 4" so save your money and do the BL

Now that you have roughly 5" of lift for a total price of around 290.00 you can clear 33x12.5 tires.

You first gen explorer owners can do the exact same thing, You just need to purchase Coils Spacers to raise the front 2" and of course buy the body lift that you need. They make a 2" body lift and a 3" body lift for the first gens.

Third and 4th gen explorer owners can do the 883 body lift and roadbully's spacers. Here is where to get the spacers....http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2013988#post2013988 And here is how to install the body lift on a 3rd gen....http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=219234

I hope this helps a lot of people, I know it would have been a big help for me when I was trying to do all this.
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





Great job man!:thumbsup: This will surely help anyone who is new to the forum get started!
On a budget too!
 






Yeah much appreciated even if all that stuff is over there its given me an idea on what to look for down-under.
Thanks :thumbsup:

p.s. about the t/bar adjuster bolts, we don't have those stores over here so do you have a size & thread type for me or do I have to take one out & upset the height & everything to take it to a bolt shop.
Any info would be a great help. Thanks again.
 






Great Condensed write up:thumbsup:

The only thing's I would add is,(1) on the parts list. The front stock mounts, are a real pita. A large pipe wrench is needed to remove these. They spin in place, and you need to get a grip from top and bottom. I ended up cutting mine off. Major farm tractor dealers have a parts counter. That is where I purchased the new grade 10.8 bolts and fender washers to replace the odd mount washer/bushing. Re-use the rubber mount bushing, and rubber spacer, and install lift puck using the new hardware. I have not seen this info anywhere on the forum.

Also,(2) the front and rear bumper brackets had to be made from flat stock, bent, cut, and drilled.Kit # 853 My '95- A little mod to the rear bumper and frame horns, was also needed. The front valence will be in the way for tow hooks, so I had to do away with it.
 






thanks, gmanpaint- I didn't have that problem, a pair of vise grips and a couple wrenches and they came right out. Of course my truck has been in the west coast it's whole lift so their isnt a spec of rust on it....Maybe that has something to do with it.
 






Nice write up. Hopefully this should really help some of the newer people to the forum or who ever. But you might want to make one correction.

"Now if that's not big enough for you, you can do a 3" body lift, it will run you right around 180.00. If your truck is a 1995-1998 you need part # PA-853 for the ford ranger, If your truck is a 1998-2001 you need part # PA-883 for the ford ranger. I purchased mine from www.suspensionconnection.com"

I believe you meant 1995-1997 for the PA-853.

Good job once again.
 












Yeah much appreciated even if all that stuff is over there its given me an idea on what to look for down-under.
Thanks :thumbsup:

p.s. about the t/bar adjuster bolts, we don't have those stores over here so do you have a size & thread type for me or do I have to take one out & upset the height & everything to take it to a bolt shop.
Any info would be a great help. Thanks again.

Click on the fastenal.com link in the t bar section. that is the exact bolt you need. im not sure if they ship world wide though.
 






Well I searched around and noticed we didn't have a thread with good information for the newbies who want to lift their second gen and it gets tiring explaining it everyday I sign on here so I thought I would create a page that will help people understand what they need to do to lift their trucks. I'm not it anyway trying to score free elite membership for a while as I am trying to make my life a little easier so I don't have to type this stuff again. So here it goes:

Disclaimer: Do at your own risk. I will not be held responsible for personal injury or vehicle damage.

Warrior Shackles
Most of us on the forum have started with the Shackles and TT. Shackles as in lift shackles for the rear leaf springs and TT as in torsion bar twist in the front. You can pick up universal lift shackles at pretty much any auto parts store for cheap But I recommend getting the Warrior Products shackles part # War-153.

You can pick up a set of Warrior Products lift shackles at www.desertrat.com for 69.95

Here is a fantastic write up on the installation of the shackles created by a member on here Four0Sport...http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=212451 FYI If you live in the south or the west coast it will not be as difficult as we do not use salt on our roads.

Add-A-Leaf
You can also do a Add-A-Leaf in the rear instead of the shackles or with the shackles. You need Part number EXP13120 35.00 from www.4wheelparts.com and here is a great write up on how to install them by a member on here V8BoatBuilder...http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=97676

Torsion Twist
After your done with lifting the rear your going to want to level it out a little bit by cranking up the torsion bars up front. Here is a great thread created by a member on here CBoug76...http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47345 All you do is tighten that adjuster bolt on both sides in the picture and it lifts the front end. You cannot exceed 2" though do to CV Joint binding so measure carefully. You might need a longer bolt for the driver side to get the full 2" of lift. The reason being is the gas tank and the driver always being on the drivers side. Here is the link for the bolt that you might need...http://www.fastenal.com/web/products/detail.ex?sku=0121853 I got mine at my local ACE Hardware store. Also your going to need to Get an alignment afterwords as you may have thrown it off a little bit. If you don't get one it's not that big of a deal. The truck will still drive straight and it won't harm anything other than maybe wearing your tires un-evenly if you go without for a long period of time.

Now that you have roughly 2" of lift you can fit a 31x10.5 tire without any rubbing or a 32" tire with some trimming.

3" Body Lift
Now if that's not big enough for you, you can do a 3" body lift, it will run you right around 180.00. If your truck is a 1995-1997 you need part # PA-853 for the ford ranger, If your truck is a 1998-2001 you need part # PA-883 for the ford ranger. I purchased mine from www.suspensionconnection.com
Click on body lifts, ford body lifts, then ranger. Here is a pretty good write up on how to install the 883 kit, Its on a sport but it's pretty much the same process for us 4door guys. Also I think he welded something in the installation which is not needed.http://mudmarine.tripod.com/3bodyliftinstall/index.html

The front bumper brackets that come in the kit work perfect. The rear ones, not so much. In the 883 kit you can flip the brackets that come in the kit upside down and use the left one on the right and the right one on the left. I'm not sure if the same goes for the 853 kit though.
If not you can make your own or get some made. Here is a link for the brackets....http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=172250

Other than that everything you need comes in the kit except for the bolts directly behind the 2 front seats so you use the factory ford bolts out of the very rear of the cargo area for those two. Here are the bolt lengths you need for every mount...I got this info from CAHUNTERMAN when I was in the process of installing my lift.

Front mounts - 180MM
Mounts that are in front of the front seats - 140MM
Mounts just under the rear of the front seats - I used the stock bolts from the very rear mounts.
Mounts in the front of cargo area - 160MM
Mounts in rear of cargo area - 200MM

For those of you who don't like body lifts super lift and trail master both sell a 4" suspension lift for over 2000.00 but you don't gain anymore than you do with the body lift due to the Torsion bars. All the suspension lift does is drop everything down 4" so save your money and do the BL

Now that you have roughly 5" of lift for a total price of around 290.00 you can clear 33x12.5 tires.

You first gen explorer owners can do the exact same thing, You just need to purchase Coils Spacers to raise the front 2" and of course buy the body lift that you need. They make a 2" body lift and a 3" body lift for the first gens.

I hope this helps a lot of people, I know it would have been a big help for me when I was trying to do all this.

this is a very good source, it answered many of my questions. thank you.
 






thank you very much! do you know if this can be done if the explorer has air ride? it doesnt work now as it is so i dont care if it doesnt work with this. but i dont know if it has to be removed or what. i cant find anything on it.
 






I just got done doing some research for you gotflex and I believe all you can do is the body lift. If you do the shackles or aal or tt it messes with the air ride sensors and what not. But even with just the body lift you should be able to clear 33's with some trimming and 32's without a problem.
 






I've got the ARC crap as well, so far I've just been ignoring the light when it comes on, is there any way to turn those sensors off at all? I've been told on a thread here to just block the airlines, haven't tried it yet but will soon as I do the shackles. Bloody shackle bolts come out towards the car centre right where my 2nd fuel tank is so its going to be a longer job than I thought.
Ah well......
 






So I posted in another forum asking this question before, but I'm just looking for a little more feedback just to make sure. I have an 02 Sport and I just recently got a set of BFG AT T/A KO 295/75r16s and I'm wondering what exactly I need to do to clear without any fender trimming or with fender trimming. It's a 2WD so I can clear some decent height with the TT, and I have WAR-153s that I'm going to install in the rear, but I wasn't sure if I still needed to get an AAL and/or PA 883. Thanks in advance everyone! :salute:
 






Gah, yeah I was afraid it was going to come to that. I just saw those tires for such a great deal that I couldn't pass up the offer to buy them. The only other bit of info I have is that fact that they are used, so I measured them and they are about .5-1" less in diameter than 33s. But, yeah, I realized after buying them that they were gigantic and that I would need to do some extensive work. I'm pretty much just looking for the cheapest and easiest way to get this done, haha.
 






if they're less in diameter than a 33 you should be able to clear them with the tt, shackles and body lift. Sports can usually clear 35's with that amount of lift because their wheel wells are larger.
 






if they're less in diameter than a 33 you should be able to clear them with the tt, shackles and body lift. Sports can usually clear 35's with that amount of lift because their wheel wells are larger.

Yeah, I thought that I had read somewhere that Sports had larger front wells, so hopefully that will stand true enough for me. Thanks for the advice, I'm probably gonna go ahead and start looking at the 883 right now. Hopefully all this can go off without a hitch! :D
 






I just got done doing some research for you gotflex and I believe all you can do is the body lift. If you do the shackles or aal or tt it messes with the air ride sensors and what not. But even with just the body lift you should be able to clear 33's with some trimming and 32's without a problem.

the air ride doesnt work as it is now, so it shouldnt make a difference right?
 






I can't say, im not familiar with air ride suspension. I know explorerexpress.com sold a kit that ditched the air ride all together but I think it may have been a lowering kit.
 






Does anyone know the difference between the PA-853 and the PA-883 BL kits?

I'm just curious as to what parts are different, (steering extension, bumper brackets, etc)

Si
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.











Back
Top