Already have a decent lift..whats the next step?

[DitchWitch]

Already have a decent lift..whats the next step? NEW PICS! P3

95 4wd 4 door X
So far I have:
3" Body Lift
TT
rear Shackles
rancho Rs9000s
33x12.5 15x8 mud lugs 4:11 in the rear

I know the rear is a little lower than the front. Im not looking to go with a bigger tire now, but when these go I may go with a 35. I am looking more for suspension upgrades to finally do some wheelin..and maybe another inch or 2?

Questions:
1. Are the F-150 springs what I want? Is there more lift with those? Any certain year?
2. The sideways shock underneath...ditch it?
4: Is there a front twin shock bracket I can buy, or is this a fab?
Thanks

Pic: (Ill probly be ditching the plastic trim and running boards..damn holes!)
ALL NEW pics on page 3!

 

[Tbars4]

...i would start saving for bigger gears, say 4.56's...then you could run bigger tires which give you more ground clearance and the gears make make it easier on your whole drive train...tranny cooler and tranny temp guage are a plus...

...your truck looks great as it is...when you start wheeling you will start losing parts like your running boards....

 

[brianjwilson]

It looks great currently.
A block won't lift the rear with the spring under axle, it would lower it. What rear shackles do you have? The warrior shackles are 3" longer than stock and would lift 1.5". If you have those, maybe put an add-a-leaf in there also.
Lift spacers won't work, because you have torsion bars. What I would do...
Add-a-leaf
Ditch the rear stabilizer shock
Ditch the running boards (use a roll on liner to fill and cover the holes left), I actually like the fender flares though
Get a locker if you plan on wheeling it. Aussie lockers are cheap and easy
Try some swaybar disconnects to allow the suspension to actually work offroad
Upgrade shocks (if you wanted to spend the money, camburg offers an upgrade for the front that includes bilstien 7100's with reservoirs and limit straps)
Transmission cooler and temp gauge

Oh, and keep the 33's. Your CV axles and transmission will thank you.

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

looks nice u should do exhaust

 

[DitchWitch]

It looks great currently.
A block won't lift the rear with the spring under axle, it would lower it. What rear shackles do you have? The warrior shackles are 3" longer than stock and would lift 1.5". If you have those, maybe put an add-a-leaf in there also.
Lift spacers won't work, because you have torsion bars. What I would do...
Add-a-leaf
Ditch the rear stabilizer shock
Ditch the running boards (use a roll on liner to fill and cover the holes left), I actually like the fender flares though
Get a locker if you plan on wheeling it. Aussie lockers are cheap and easy
Try some swaybar disconnects to allow the suspension to actually work offroad
Upgrade shocks (if you wanted to spend the money, camburg offers an upgrade for the front that includes bilstien 7100's with reservoirs and limit straps)
Transmission cooler and temp gauge

Oh, and keep the 33's. Your CV axles and transmission will thank you.

Thanks for all your input guys.

The shackles are from autozone. So I dont know much about them..
As far as springs go..are they not needed?
I will be ditching the 5th shock.
Is SOA what im looking for in the rear? Or just add a leaf?

I would like to do the exhaust, but being a v6 I just dont see it being worth it. May just clamp a flomaster in there and see what it sounds like.

 

[tvalentino]

nice lift man i love the way your truck sits... do you get any rub at all

 

[mounty71]

Exhaust won't help you much offroad, and if you keep the stock tubing, putting in an aftermarket muffler won't either, the stop tubing is what most restrictive part. Going SOA will lift the rear about 6", so it'll be significantly higher than the front. I would do the add-a-leafs with the shackles and leave it SUA, then disconnect the sway bar when you go wheeling. I would definitely get a locker or at least L/S sometime soon if you want to do any serious trails. Your truck looks really good, now you just gotta make it go where you want.

 

[brianjwilson]

I think the autozone shackles don't lift much. I could measure my warrior shackles (eye to eye) and tell you what they are if you wanted to compare. Most you would gain over your current shackles might be an inch or less...
Like mounty71 said, the SOA will lift way too much. 33 is a good tire size, just focus on getting traction (shocks, locker, sway bar discos).

 

[beenwrong2002]

truck looks awesome...if it were me i'd take off the airdamn (plastic piece under the bumper where your tow hooks come through)...to me it just looks better without...seeing those 33X12.5 compared to my 33X10.5 makes me regret buying mine

 

[DitchWitch]

I think the autozone shackles don't lift much. I could measure my warrior shackles (eye to eye) and tell you what they are if you wanted to compare. Most you would gain over your current shackles might be an inch or less...
Like mounty71 said, the SOA will lift way too much. 33 is a good tire size, just focus on getting traction (shocks, locker, sway bar discos).

Thanks for all your input guys!
A measurement of your shackles would be great

Well I think I have enough Ideas for a start, im gonna do some stripping in the next couple days. And see if I can find AAL locally.

On a side note..any idea ballpark on how much places charge to put a front 4:11 gear in?

 

[Ray Lobato]

Well if you actually want to do some serious wheeling, then forget about the shackles and exhaust and get some lockers.
You can have 35" tires but they won't do you any good if you are just running in 2 wheel drive. Let me Explain with a open differential, power is going to only one tire, one in the front and one in the back. With lockers, front and back, all four tires are powered.

Lockers, is where it is at, and while your at it, you might want to change the gearing. It is always cheaper to put gears and lockers in at the same time.

Save your money and get LOCKERS and GEARS.

My second suggestion would be an Atlas II transfer case. This was the second best investment I ever made for my truck.

My third suggestion would be get some armor. Rock sliders are a MUST, that is unless you don't mind crushed panels.

Did I mention LOCKERS and GEARS?

 

[brianjwilson]

Well if you actually want to do some serious wheeling, then forget about the shackles and exhaust and get some lockers.
You can have 35" tires but they won't do you any good if you are just running in 2 wheel drive.
My third suggestion would be get some armor. Rock sliders are a MUST, that is unless you don't mind crushed panels.
Did I mention LOCKERS and GEARS?

x2

 

[Tbars4]

...x3......

 

[Donner]

Since you're removing the trim...

What's under there? I can't tell the color, but if it's all blue, that would be sweet! Grille?

 

[hunterdan]

A little off topic, but how did you mount the lights to the bumper? I am thinking of getting some round offroad lights mounting those to the top of my bumper, and the rectangular ones lower on the bumper like you have.

Dan

 

[Lefy]

X4
Aussie locker in the rear best 230 dollars I ever spent on the truck.
with 35s you'll eat up front end parts if your Wheeling it

 

['97 V8]

Make sure you check your axle code on your door. if you have a d2 or d4 code you have a limited slip and the aussie locker will not fit in your carrier. You will need an open carrier to fit an aussie locker.

 

[1BADCJ8]

I think your rig does look pretty sweet.

I'm wondering if a simple body lift will easily allow fitment of 32's on one of these? I've got plenty of experience lifting all my Jeeps myself (follow my link) but I've never done an SUV let alone one of these.

I'm an Explorer nube. I'm looking at buying an '89 as a daily, not to wheel as I have that well covered but I can't have a stock height, stock tire anything...lol.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Charlie]

 

[trevell407]

Looks like you could use some new headlights,
where'd you get your body lift from?
Nice lookin X