Brett
Moderator Emeritus
- Joined
- April 21, 1999
- Messages
- 1,210
- Reaction score
- 9
- City, State
- Littleton, CO
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 94 Explorer Sport
BigDave,
I'll try to answer as much as I can. First of all, if you are looking for a inexpensive lift kit, then go with a James Duff 2 1/2". Keep in mind that the Duff kit does not come with extended radius arms, longer brake lines, or any other of the extra goodies that other companies offer, such as Rancho. I run the James Kit, and so far I've been very pleased with it.
As for gears, if you run 31's you can get away with 3.73 gears. However, 4.10 gears are a better match with 31" tires. You didn't mention if your truck was an auto or manual. This also makes a difference when selecting tire size and gear ratios. You may also want to consider adding traction devices such as lockers or posi's. I have 4.10 gears, 5spd, and 265/75/16 tires, rear Auburn Posi, and front ARB locker. I would recommend that you at least have a professional shop set up the differentials. They have all the proper equipment to set up the diffs properly.
As for changing the Speedo gear, this is an easy fix. See David Meisner's write up on this for more info. http://www.4x4central.com/speedo.html
For the roof mounted spare tire carriers and /or rear bumper mounted spare tire carriers, a lot of people on the board are using one or the other. However, the rear bumper setup is something you'll have to custom make. The roof-mounted carrier is available aftermarket.
There was some good writeups on air lockers, however that information was corrupted and lost. Anyway, the air locker uses a small air compressor which is mounted somewhere convenient. Compressed air is fed into a fitting installed in the differential housing. A steel tube runs from the fitting to an air seal housing which is locked in position on the bearing journal over a small air inlet hole in the differential. Compressed air is thus injected into the air locker while it is rotating. The compressed air activates an annnular piston built into the differential and completly locks the differential via a large locking gear. When the switch is turned off, the compressed air is exhausted through the solenoid valve and small heavy duty coil springs in the differential release the locking ring. The differential will now act like a normal "open" differential.
The description of the air locker came from the install instructions that came with my kit.
I hope this helps you.
I'll try to answer as much as I can. First of all, if you are looking for a inexpensive lift kit, then go with a James Duff 2 1/2". Keep in mind that the Duff kit does not come with extended radius arms, longer brake lines, or any other of the extra goodies that other companies offer, such as Rancho. I run the James Kit, and so far I've been very pleased with it.
As for gears, if you run 31's you can get away with 3.73 gears. However, 4.10 gears are a better match with 31" tires. You didn't mention if your truck was an auto or manual. This also makes a difference when selecting tire size and gear ratios. You may also want to consider adding traction devices such as lockers or posi's. I have 4.10 gears, 5spd, and 265/75/16 tires, rear Auburn Posi, and front ARB locker. I would recommend that you at least have a professional shop set up the differentials. They have all the proper equipment to set up the diffs properly.
As for changing the Speedo gear, this is an easy fix. See David Meisner's write up on this for more info. http://www.4x4central.com/speedo.html
For the roof mounted spare tire carriers and /or rear bumper mounted spare tire carriers, a lot of people on the board are using one or the other. However, the rear bumper setup is something you'll have to custom make. The roof-mounted carrier is available aftermarket.
There was some good writeups on air lockers, however that information was corrupted and lost. Anyway, the air locker uses a small air compressor which is mounted somewhere convenient. Compressed air is fed into a fitting installed in the differential housing. A steel tube runs from the fitting to an air seal housing which is locked in position on the bearing journal over a small air inlet hole in the differential. Compressed air is thus injected into the air locker while it is rotating. The compressed air activates an annnular piston built into the differential and completly locks the differential via a large locking gear. When the switch is turned off, the compressed air is exhausted through the solenoid valve and small heavy duty coil springs in the differential release the locking ring. The differential will now act like a normal "open" differential.
The description of the air locker came from the install instructions that came with my kit.
I hope this helps you.
