Adding more lift to a Rancho Quick Lift

[mlovett]

Hey guys looking for some help. Last year I had a Rancho Quick lift installed on all four corners of my 2004 Explorer. It looks and rides great but I am wanting to some additionaly lift and was wondering what my options are at this point. With the addition of 265/70/17s I got about 4.5-5 inches total lift but want a little more out of the suspension. I see that some of you are adding spacers to the quicklift and I was wondering how that was panning out? What can I do and how much can I do. I am open to any advice. I am not opposed to purchasing new upper control arms from BTF either. Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[theycallmejake]

I have Ranchos on the fronts(idk what size, had them when i bought them) and the BTF spacers on all 4... i forget what size too. all i know is it was the big ones. haha but! I used to have 285s but this summer i got a 265s and it still looks really good with the "lift". my stock control arms are fine... a little close to pulled all the way down but still drives good/fine off road and on the street. i put new ball joints on when i got the spacers and they look new still.

im thinking of doing a body lift too! just debating spending more money. lol
PA-883

so i guess all in all. get the spacers. they are dependable and work just fine with ranchos (at least up front ;] )
just paint them before you put them in. i wanted to but installed them and dont wanna take them out!

 

[mlovett]

Thanks for the reply and the info! I guess what I am really needing to know is what size spacers should I add front and rear without really causing any problems. I just replaced the ball joints on my ex up front a few weeks ago so I think I am good there. Any additional info on spacer size to use with the quicklift is greatly appreciated.

 

[Ronin8002]

Thanks for the reply and the info! I guess what I am really needing to know is what size spacers should I add front and rear without really causing any problems. I just replaced the ball joints on my ex up front a few weeks ago so I think I am good there. Any additional info on spacer size to use with the quicklift is greatly appreciated.

I know this isn't really answering your question but I was wondering if you had considered a mild body lift, like the 1.5" (about $50). Obviously it doesn't give ground clearance but it would make the truck look taller.

If you really want to put spacers on top of your quicklifts I would stay pretty small, maybe 1.25-1.5" max and also get a set of uniball upper control arms. you may also want to consider installing a set of limiting straps to keep the front spindles from smacking and grinding against your coil springs.

 

[Ronin8002]

Could you please post pics of what your upper control arms/balljoints look like with the weight of the truck on the ground, and also with the front of the truck jacked up off the ground with the suspension drooped all the way out?

I have Ranchos on the fronts(idk what size, had them when i bought them) and the BTF spacers on all 4... i forget what size too. all i know is it was the big ones. haha but! I used to have 285s but this summer i got a 265s and it still looks really good with the "lift". my stock control arms are fine... a little close to pulled all the way down but still drives good/fine off road and on the street. i put new ball joints on when i got the spacers and they look new still.

im thinking of doing a body lift too! just debating spending more money. lol
PA-883

so i guess all in all. get the spacers. they are dependable and work just fine with ranchos (at least up front ;] )
just paint them before you put them in. i wanted to but installed them and dont wanna take them out!

 

[mlovett]

That's what I was thinking was maybe a 1.5" -1.75" spacer up front and 1.0" to 1.25 " spacer in the rear. Right now with the quicklift installed the UCAs are not at a severe angle at all so I was thinking that the spacer sizes above would not increase the angle too terribly bad. I was thinking of trying the spacers first and then adding new UACs later since I just had the ball joints replaced. If you would be so kind to recommend some spacers in the sizes above and where to purchase them I would greatly appreciate it. Also do you know how much extra lift this would add to the vehicle. Again I am running 265/70/17 tires.

I considered a body lift as well but I would not be installing the lift myself as I do not have all the neccessary tools or equipment to do it. The labor of paying some one else would be too costly I think plus there is not kit per say with detailed instructions telling the installer how to do it. I live in a small town and the shop I use is great. Spacers would be an easy, less expensive, and less timely install I think to have done.

Thanks so much for the help. This forum is awesome! Keep the replys coming! Very helpful info!

 

[Ronin8002]

Give Brandon at BTF Fabrication a call, he can build spacers to your specs and has done a lot of good work for many of us:

http://www.btf-fab.com/

Generally you get about 1.5" of lift for every 1" of spacer, so a 1.25" spacer would get you a bit over 1.75" of lift. Add that to whatever the Ranchos gave you already.

It doesn't take much for those upper control arms to go from an "ok" angle to a "severe" angle. Rreally what you have to worry about isn't the arm so much, it's the ball joint. You might be able to get away with all that lift with the stock balljoints for a while but it's not a matter of "if" they'll fail, it's "when". Seems that how long they last depends on how you use the truck. Street driving with no big bumps or anything that articulates the suspension...it'll last longer. If you offroad, expect those balljoints to come apart much sooner.

Either way, you don't want to be going fast when they do fail. Upgrading to uniball upper control arms (also made by BTF) is a good idea because they won't come apart like OEM ball joints. They'll also make it easier to get the front suspension into alignment specs.

 

[mlovett]

So if it were you and you were looking to add the spacers what sizes would you recommend for the front and rear. Would just like to know up front before I give a Brandon a call. Also do you know what type of money I would be looking at for just the four spacers.

In regards to the type of driving I would be doing, mainly street with a little off-road from time to time. I am just looking to get my Ex a little more off the ground. This Ex is not a daily driver either so if I can do the spacers for now and then order the UCAs later, like next year, then I think I will be ok for now. What do you think? Also, are there any other spacers out there that might recommend for comparison? Thanks again for the help!

 

[Ronin8002]

If it were my truck and I had the Quicklifts, I would stay conservative, say 1.25" front and 1" rear.

Brandon charges $250 shipped for 4 spacers. Nobody else markets them for the 2002-2005 explorers that I know of, though I have seen a few people use the Truxxx brand spacers (for 2006-2010 explorers). No real advantage there....brand new they cost about the same as the BTF spacers and you have to modify them to work so I wouldn't bother with those. If you have a welder/fabricator in your town you could probably get a set made for a little cheaper than Brandon's maybe.

Since you aren't driving your truck daily, if you decide to skip the upper control arms then keep a real close eye on your ball joints for excessive play, especially after offroading. Then upgrade the arms when you are able to.

So if it were you and you were looking to add the spacers what sizes would you recommend for the front and rear. Would just like to know up front before I give a Brandon a call. Also do you know what type of money I would be looking at for just the four spacers.

In regards to the type of driving I would be doing, mainly street with a little off-road from time to time. I am just looking to get my Ex a little more off the ground. This Ex is not a daily driver either so if I can do the spacers for now and then order the UCAs later, like next year, then I think I will be ok for now. What do you think? Also, are there any other spacers out there that might recommend for comparison? Thanks again for the help!

 

[mlovett]

Thanks for the advice! And I agree with the conservative approach as well. So with these spacers I am looking at close to an additional 2" of lift right? That should give me a little more clearance with the 265s up front and a little more pleasing offroad look right? Preciate the help! I will talk with Brandon about the UCAs as well. Plan on calling here in a little bit. Thanks again!

 

[Ronin8002]

Thanks for the advice! And I agree with the conservative approach as well. So with these spacers I am looking at close to an additional 2" of lift right? That should give me a little more clearance with the 265s up front and a little more pleasing offroad look right? Preciate the help! I will talk with Brandon about the UCAs as well. Plan on calling here in a little bit. Thanks again!

Yeah you should get a little less than 2" of lift with the size spacers I mentioned..around 1.75". Be sure to post some before and after pics!

 

[mlovett]

Will do and thanks again for the help! Besides the UCAs and limiting straps would you recommend any other changes to the suspension system?

 

[Ronin8002]

Will do and thanks again for the help! Besides the UCAs and limiting straps would you recommend any other changes to the suspension system?

Make some extended swaybar links. The spacers put a lot of downward stress on the front swaybar bushings (the ones mounted to the frame) and make them prone to squeaking. I made a set of extended swaybar links using these instructions (even though the writeup is for a 2nd gen, it's really the same procedure pretty much). Doing this will also help reduce the body roll caused by the higher center of gravity from lifting your truck:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=194211&highlight=sway+bar+links

EDIT: fixed the link

 

[mlovett]

Ok thanks for the help again! Simple instructions and I think I can manage them. Are there any aftermarket sway bars available that will do this? Thanks again!

 

[mlovett]

I found this kit. So am I trying to accomplish a longer sway bar in building my own versus the kit? Or could I just use this kit?

http://www.amazon.com/Moog-K7275-Sw...=UTF8&qid=1347992835&sr=1-9&keywords=sway+bar

 

[Ronin8002]

I found this kit. So am I trying to accomplish a longer sway bar in building my own versus the kit? Or could I just use this kit?

http://www.amazon.com/Moog-K7275-Sw...=UTF8&qid=1347992835&sr=1-9&keywords=sway+bar

you could use that kit as a starting point, but you'll need to get a longer bolt and "tube" because that's for a non-lifted application.

The stock swaybar links will still bolt up with the spacers installed (as will the kit you linked) but will leave the swaybar end angled downward...so the swaybar won't work efficiently anymore, and the additional downward stress on the frame mounted swaybar bushings will cause them to squeak after a while.

 

[mlovett]

Gotcha so I could use the kit and purchase the pipe and the longer bolt and be in good shape? I am assuming that I can do this myself, in the driveway without having to take anything else apart except the old sway bars? In other words I do not have to jack the truck up or put in on a lift to install these right? And to get the right length to cut the pipe and bolt I just need to measure the distance between the LCA and UCA where the old sway bar mounts and subtract 2 inches? This is of course after I install the spacers. Thanks again!

 

[Ronin8002]

Gotcha so I could use the kit and purchase the pipe and the longer bolt and be in good shape? I am assuming that I can do this myself, in the driveway without having to take anything else apart except the old sway bars? In other words I do not have to jack the truck up or put in on a lift to install these right? And to get the right length to cut the pipe and bolt I just need to measure the distance between the LCA and UCA where the old sway bar mounts and subtract 2 inches? This is of course after I install the spacers. Thanks again!

You won't subtract inches...that would make it shorter. You need to make it longer.

What you need to do is:

-measure the length of the swaybar links you have on the truck now...measure from the where the bottom bushing contacts the lower control arm to where the upper bushing contacts the underside of the swaybar.

-Take that measurement and add in the height of the spacer you will have installed on that corner of the truck (eg., 1.25").

That new measurement is how long the assembled link kit needs to be from bushing end to bushing end. Obviously the kit will be too short as it comes out of the box. So cut a piece of pipe or conduit (of the same diameter as the tube that comes in the kit) that will be long enough to make up the difference.

Then find a bolt of the same diameter that comes in the kit that is also longer by the same amount as your spacer height (e.g., 1.25"). If you have trouble finding bolts in that size and length, just get one of those long threaded rods you can get from the hardware store and just cut it to the right length and put a nut on each end.

Should be pretty easy to knock out in the driveway with a hacksaw and tape measure.

 

[mlovett]

Sweet thanks again for the help! Calling Brandon now to order the spacers!

 

[mlovett]

Wanting to post pics of my X but the manage attahcments tab is not available and I do not have an account with a photo webhost. Is there a way to post pics from my computer that I am missing here? I also can not figure out how to create an album. I tries the help section and User CP does not have a photo link. Do I have to have an Elite acct in order to post pics? Thanks again for the help!