add-a-leaf? SOA? or 4 inch lift leafs?

[red.EDDIE.4x4]

hi all, im about to put a 4 inch rough country lift on my X.
it comes with the add-a-leaf but am less then impressed with the rear sag people have. i would like some opinions on what i could or should do.
i found a 4 inch lift leaf by superlift that should sag very little if any. or i could use the stock leaf and do an SOA conversion and have the rear up a little more then the front. if i went with SOA i could put coil spacers in the front or get a 6 inch lift spring.
basically im just asking should i go with a 4 inch lift leaf? or SOA? thanks.
also, any tips or tricks when installing this lift?

 

[red.EDDIE.4x4]

not all at once now...

 

[Tbars4]

...There is some good info to be found in the "How To" in my signature...

..You might also want to talk to this guy...
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=225727

 

[ryan_0731]

soa

I have a 91 four door with the stock rear leaves, I done the spring over axle swap and it works pretty good for me. It was cheap, I could use the original springs and had longer shocks laying around, also swapped spring pads side to side. I had built a die one time to stamp leaf spring perches so i had some perches sitting to, this was the only reason I went this route. I am very pleased with the way it rides and works on the trail. you can see some pics of how it works here, sorry I dont have any pics when I was doing it.http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=247540
hope this helps u decide

 

[red.EDDIE.4x4]

thanks for the info on SOA. im convinced on that now, but what can i do to the existing 4 inch lift in the front to match the rear?

 

[rngmStr]

Sloped Body Lift http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=127121

 

[red.EDDIE.4x4]

looks a little bit redneck to me... can i lower the rear shackles an inch or so? or coil spacers up front?

 

[rngmStr]

depending on your lift brackets you may get away with spacers in your coils up front, it may be alignable "within specs" afterwards...........

 

[red.EDDIE.4x4]

as long as firestone can align it ill be happy. im sure there are other options to lift the front up to match the rear.

 

[ryan_0731]

front lift

i run 1.5 inch spring spacers in my front, however I have only alighned the steering, I havent tried to adjust anything else. with my front tires and wheels the camber doesnt seem to be to bad, but with the stock tires you can see it needs to be adjusted. Its deffinatly not perfect but for what road time it sees its ok for me and handles pretty well. thats how mines done, don't know if it will work for you or not, i have read about adjustable camber bushings a lot of guys use to get it right. good luck

 

[red.EDDIE.4x4]

thanks, i really only need an inch or so in the front. if i can make the rear leaf shackle a little bit smaller the front and back should be level.

 

[SwaintaN]

just curious where are you getting your RC lift? mine came with the new leaf packs

 

[red.EDDIE.4x4]

i bought my kit directly from Rough Country. i actually bought a RC lift for a bronco II with blocks because it was much cheaper then the explorer kit with leaf packs. i wasnt going to use the leaf packs because i did the SOA conversion so all i really needed was the front lift. now i just have some rear blocks and U bolts laying around.
i guess Rough Country started putting actual leaf packs in the kits...it says they include add-a-leaf, which in my opinion is crap.

 

[SwaintaN]

yeah they have been doing packs for a while, the aals are only good if u want a slight lift or level it out, i have aals just sitting around, haha bad investment, will use them im sure.. but not right now.. i got my rc lift right from them, worth every penny, HOWEVER one of the packs were set wrong, and threw a bushing.. so i had to get them to send me a wrong pack and replaced the bushing.. but its worth it.. had to lose the sway bar in the back, but its all good.. like my rc lift, haha. have tho and be safe