91 X getting a superlift 5.5 inch lift

[Burns]

ok thursday i am ordering a superlift 5.5 inch lift. for those who have done it before how hard is the instal, what is the hardest part, and how long did it take u. all help it needed. :exp:

 

[Blee1099]

good luck on the lift kit.. btw, please reduce your signature down to 6 lines or less.

 

[Burns]

ok better. now any tips for the lift.

 

[Burns]

anyone

 

[93liftedXLT]

start posting when you actually get the Lift..lol and post pics

 

[Burns]

Well Nothing Bad About Knowing What Your Getting Into Before You Get Into. Lol!

 

[bitchinexplorer]

what size of tires are you going to run?

 

[Infragate]

The lift is not hard to install at all, just time consuming so don't expect to do it in a weekend. I did a majority of the lift myself and it took me a full week to do it but i had a few fitament issues. A few tips, if your putting on extended radius arms, make sure to apply some heat to the radius arm bolts that hold them to the beams as they use lock tite when putting them together at the factory, and you may need a large bar to break them free. When removing rivots, i found the easiest method ( with handtools ) was to grind the head flush then drill a decent size hole in the centre of the rivot before attempting to wack them out. They are very tight and drilling the holes will allow the material to collapse, so to speak, and allow the rivot to be removed from the hole alot easier. I found that the easiest way to remove the passenger side pivot bracket was to grind the rivots flush and hit it with a BFH. A few hits and it fell out leaving me with beautiful holes for the new one, this will save you from having to wack out 4 extra ones individually (rivots). When loosening off the stock brake lines make sure to use a line/flare wrench otherwise you run the chance of stripping the fittings and running into a few hours extra time, i found that mine were very tight but a little bit of patience and working them back and forth and they worked out great. If i were to have used a regular wrench they probably would be stripped. There really isn't much to it everything else just bolts up, there are a few holes to drill but the instructions should guide you through it. Just make sure to torque everything to spec. When doing the SOA in the rear, welding perches to the axle is the only right way of doing it, having them loose just resting in the stock ones, not such a good idea. but the rear will be a walk in the park, and there is tons of info about it here on the site, just search.
Good Luck with the install, don't rush and enjoy it, it is alot of fun to watch it change as the parts get put on.

 

[Burns]

thanks about the info "Infragate" that is what i was lookin for. as for the tires i plan on using 32 or 33. no desion yet. i have 31s on there now so after i get it on ill just take it to the tire shop and roll one or the other next to it and decide. but open to sugestions.

 

[Infragate]

Well, i run 33x12.5 bfg muds on 15x10 wheels and i absolutely love the way it looks and the fact i have a wider stance gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. I don't know if 32's would be big enough for you with the 5.5" lift, after a while you may regret getting them as you get use to the way the truck looks and probably would have wanted the 33's. With the wider wheels there is going to be fender trimming and quite a bit depending on backspacing etc, i probably took out 2" worth of fender but i got creative and made it look good so you can't even tell. But i don't rub on my swaybar or anything like that. I can turn lock to lock now and rub nothing. Look around the site, there are pics of all sorts of 1st gen explorers with different tire sizes, im sure it will help you decide.
Dan

 

[Burns]

can you (Infragate) add a picture of u x on here so i can see the tire desion. im about to order the lift in a few mins.

 

[Mean Green]

i did my first one in 97 on my wifes 92 by myself and it took me 8 long hours. the worst was the factory rivets on the radius arm brackets and front diff brackets. i found the old torch works fastest with a lil' bit of grinder clean up.

 

[Infragate]

Sorry, i don't have any way to get pics up on the site yet, but im workin on it.

 

[DeRocha]

I'm currently working on installing a skyjacker lift on my 93. The kits are similar as such my experience should be relevant. Here are some tips not in any particular order:

Rivets: I used a grinder with a cut-off wheel to make multiple slices (waffle appearance when done) into the rivet heads. I then used an air hammer to knock off the heads. I have found that after removing all the heads it it MUCH easier to pry the entire bracket off by using a pry bar then it is to drive the individual rivets out. If removing the Radius arm brackets I would use the bracket itself to pry it off the rivets after the heads are knocked off (leaving the rivets in the frame). You then drive the rivets out of the frame (which is much easier since they are no longer held by the bracket). Also search this site for threads on replacing Radius arm bushings as they will go into detail about removing the rivets etc.

Drills: I used a std corded drill and a Right angle drill (huge benefit when drilling in tight areas). My kit called for 1/2 and 7/16" holes so I picked up 2 drill bits of each size (to save any repeat hardware store trips). To prevent the bit from overheating (and dramatically extend its sharpness) I would dip the tip into a small container of water every 15 secs or so. I also would pre-drill holes with smaller bits.

As mentioned in the above post of the bolts/nuts were installed with red loctite at the factory. Red loctite isn't meant to come off with hand tools whereas the blue version is. Anyway the Red stuff will however burns off at 500F making it many times easier to remove. My Radius arm nuts wouldn't budge under a 1000ft/lb impact gun. I hit the nuts with a std propane torch for 1-2 minutes each and they came right off. BTW the Radius arm is held in place by (28mm = 1 1/8" 6pt bolts/nuts). You will need a deep socket for the coil spring stud bolt.

When drilling holes through an existing bracket make sure the bracket is fully secured before drilling ensure all the holes will line up. In my case the new brackets had at least 1 hole already in the frame which I secured the bracket with. I then used vice grips at the other end to ensure it didn't move around since drilling such big holes will do that with only 1 secured point.

When drilling through the frame near the fuel filter side I slipped a piece of steel (3x8") behind the tubes to prevent any accidental damage when the drill bit punches through the frame.

New Radius arms: I had to notch out some material from my radius arm to allow it a full range of motion. Basically the arms should fit onto the beams and be allowed to freely move so that the threaded end can swing into the center of the drop down bracket. Mine brackets did not make this full swing and were a few inches short. I had thought about trying to muscle the arms into place, but realized after PMing a member that the arms need to freely move into position. My instructions just indicated some vehicles require slight modification and don't go into detail on what exactly needs to be modified. I ended up notch out some material from my driver's side radius arm to allow it a full range of motion. The passenger side arm was fine, but the beam itself was ground down slightly (1/16" in one place) to correct the fit. The upper and lower Radius arm bolts should be installed by hand only (don't resist the urge to force them in as they can easily get miss-threaded).

When reinstalling the axle pivot bolt I used a floor jack and short piece of 2x4 to raise/press the end of the axle into position. It will be a tight fit so make sure when pressing it in the holes in the busing and bracket will line up. I used a pry bar near the axle pivot bushing to initially fit it into the new bracket. Once the beam was in position I used an alignment tool (looks like a tapered punch) to get the axle pivot bushing centered in the hole. You just tap the tool into the center of the hole and it will pull the beam into position.

 

[Infragate]

So what size lift did you go with Derocha? The skyjacker is apparently alot better of a kit but i scored my superlift used and cheaper so i went with it. Before putting it in though i added reinforcements to the drop down brackets to beef them up like the skyjackers. The superlift springs are a bit rough so i have a set of skyjacker coils comming, should ride alot better.
One thing i find is that the steering is pretty bad with the lift and Ford's Y linkage Geometry, so i have started building a super runner steering linkage system of my own. Im not to fond of the fact the tie rods are not easily replaced with superlifts kit so i have come up with a better design and its alot beefier too. No bushings used in the idler arm either. I will post pics when i get a camera and an Elite Status.
Dan

 

[DeRocha]

So what size lift did you go with Derocha? The skyjacker is apparently alot better of a kit but i scored my superlift used and cheaper so i went with it. Before putting it in though i added reinforcements to the drop down brackets to beef them up like the skyjackers. The superlift springs are a bit rough so i have a set of skyjacker coils comming, should ride alot better.
One thing i find is that the steering is pretty bad with the lift and Ford's Y linkage Geometry, so i have started building a super runner steering linkage system of my own. Im not to fond of the fact the tie rods are not easily replaced with superlifts kit so i have come up with a better design and its alot beefier too. No bushings used in the idler arm either. I will post pics when i get a camera and an Elite Status.
Dan

Do to state lift laws :thumbdwn: I cannot lift the Explorer more than 4.5". As such I'm installing the 4" kit. The 4" & 6" kits are basically the same, but have different length front and rear springs. The kits share the same drop down brackets, Radius Arms, and mounts. So if I want to go to 6" later on I just have to replace the front springs and do a SOA in the rear, pull the axle pivot bolts and move the beam into the 6" lift hole and tighten it up and align it.

 

[unclemeat]

If you retain the stock radius arms inspect and if questionalble replace the radius arm bushings. It is also advicable to replace the ball joints.

 

[Burns]

well as for all the comments they are a good help of what i am gettin in to.
the lift should be a my door friday or monday. the rivets have allready been taken out.
when the explorer was not mine the owner had my dad do all the work on it. so he has done some front end work and he has taken the rivets out and replaced them with harden steel bolts. so i have noi rivet prolbem.

 

[badash]

hey burns, how much did that superlift 5.5" cost you? and where did you buy it from?

I'm looking into buying one myself..

 

[Burns]

i got mine for around 750 to 780. dont have the bill in front of me. www.rockymountainsusp.com