Any suggestions for mods?

[NHarris]

Hey all,
I need some suggestions for my Explorer. I want to add something or a few things, but I'm drawing a blank on what to get. I want to order something this weekend.
I am planning to get a lift and bigger tires when I replace my struts this summer, along with a gas tank skid plate. I plan on keeping the stock wheels as they are tough as can be.

So anyone have any ideas on what I should at to my Explorer?

 

[MCD04EB]

full brush guard? roof rack? umm....... tire rack? haha thats really all i can think of right now....

 

[NHarris]

Give me a few days on the tire rack. haha. I'm working on it. I may get bigger tires depending on if I can find a deal on a used set.

 

[MCD04EB]

haha i know i was just messing with ya. your doin good on the carrier. what size tires do you have right now?

 

[NHarris]

245/70/16. I found a good deal on 245/75/16's. The guy says they have good tread, but I haven't looked at them yet.

 

[HiImBrian]

Window vents? I want to get some for my ex eventually.... But seeing as how you've already got most of the simpler stuff I can think of, those can be a great little add on and an easy way to blow some coin......

 

[MCD04EB]

245/70/16. I found a good deal on 245/75/16's. The guy says they have good tread, but I haven't looked at them yet.

awesome! what lift are you going to get??

 

[NHarris]

Rancho quicklift. I need new struts and I know one of mine has a broken spring. I at least want a 1.5" lift

 

[lynchy wa]

Have you checked out the struttek thread? Those with a front lift from btf will give you the lift you want and change in your pockets, just a thought. 1.5" Body lift? Both of those could give you a couple more option's on your tyres.

 

[NHarris]

I've thought about strut spacers and I'm thinking of ordering a set, but Im not installing them myself. The ball joints would need replacement too. I can do an alignment for free at the shop. I also need the big tires.

 

[lynchy wa]

That was one of the thing's that steered me away from the rancho quicklift, you cant fit lift spacer's.

 

[NHarris]

I'm not too in to those lift spacers. I havent heard too good about the articulation (flex) and I will need as much wheel articulation as possible. I definately would use spacers, but I would rather use rancho quicklifts as I need to replace my struts anyway.
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[LONO100]

you can't go wrong with a MAF or CAI intake. i got the K&N 77 MAF intake and it is making a noticable difference in perofrmance. a few extra HP and most of all i'm noticing an increase in gas mileage, close to 3 mpg increase. simple bolt on project that will only cost you a few hundred and on top of that it gives your motor that muscular sound.

 

[Ronin8002]

Does anyone know exactly how the rancho quicklift struts work?

If they lift by adjusting the length of the shock by limiting how much it will be allowed to compress when the vehicle's weight is on the struts, I would think it would limit upward articulation which would impact ride quality I would think.

The strut spacers don't limit upward articulation since the strut can still fully compress, but downward articulation gets limited by how far the strut can extend before the suspension components become the limiting factor (i.e., balljoint angle gets maxed out, or the spindle touches the coils at max downward articulation). This could be resolved by limiting straps, which would stop the downward extension of the strut before the balljoint or spindle become limiting factors. The best way I think is still the mythical replacement upper control arms which are both longer (so that solves the spindle touching the coil problem) and include a uniball instead of a ball joint (solves the issue of the balljoint being limited in its range of motion).

Overall costs I think would be higher with the Rancho setup. You could get more lift with the strut spacer/new upper control arms option.

A mild body lift could also be a great way to get clearance to run larger tires without even messing with the suspension geometry at all.

 

[n.gardner]

Flowmaster 40 series
cb radio

 

[Wills05xlt4x4]

Does anyone know exactly how the rancho quicklift struts work?

If they lift by adjusting the length of the shock by limiting how much it will be allowed to compress when the vehicle's weight is on the struts, I would think it would limit upward articulation which would impact ride quality I would think.

The strut spacers don't limit upward articulation since the strut can still fully compress, but downward articulation gets limited by how far the strut can extend before the suspension components become the limiting factor (i.e., balljoint angle gets maxed out, or the spindle touches the coils at max downward articulation). This could be resolved by limiting straps, which would stop the downward extension of the strut before the balljoint or spindle become limiting factors. The best way I think is still the mythical replacement upper control arms which are both longer (so that solves the spindle touching the coil problem) and include a uniball instead of a ball joint (solves the issue of the balljoint being limited in its range of motion).

Overall costs I think would be higher with the Rancho setup. You could get more lift with the strut spacer/new upper control arms option.

A mild body lift could also be a great way to get clearance to run larger tires without even messing with the suspension geometry at all.

Watch the video on this page... explains how quick lift works


http://www.strutmasters.com/Explorer-Rancho-QuickLIFT-p/rs999781-1.htm
Hahahaha site says we can clear 35"'s with quick lift... seems like they've never measured the wheel well...
Looks like a great SAFE way to lift plus you can wirelessly control them with add on...

 

[fedyfedz]

fog lights behind the grill
interior lighting(leds)
Audio stuff

i just ordered a throttle body and headers

 

[Ronin8002]

Watch the video on this page... explains how quick lift works


http://www.strutmasters.com/Explorer-Rancho-QuickLIFT-p/rs999781-1.htm
Hahahaha site says we can clear 35"'s with quick lift... seems like they've never measured the wheel well...
Looks like a great SAFE way to lift plus you can wirelessly control them with add on...

Seems like the controller/adjustment is more for changing the valving, or the stiffness, of the shocks themselves.

It did mention that the gain in height is due to a different height of the spring seats.

This sounds to me like the way a coil spring spacer works (not strut spacer, like the BTF type)

Basically it goes between the coil spring and coil spring seat (with the strut disassembled) and it takes up space in there...keeping the coil from compressing as much. The lift comes from the fact that the truck's coils can't compress as much when the truck's weight rests on the suspension...so the truck sits higher.

The upside of this is that the shock still has the same downtravel as stock...so it tops out before the control arms/spindles interfere with the coils (as what happens to a lot of people with BTF spacers when the suspension travels downward far enough). Your control arms would still be angled as with the BTF spacers. How much depends on the size of the coil spring spacer.

The downside with a coil spring spacer is that up travel is affected...the spring can't compress as much as it could stock. How this would affect ride quality on an OEM strut probably depends on how big the coil spring spacer is. I suspect that the Rancho setup is supposed to let you adjust the shock itself to compensate the ride quality for the loss in up-travel.

There would be a limit to how big of a coil spring spacer you would put in...if you went too big you could ultimately take away your up travel to the point where the ride would suck. Again, I think the Rancho setup has tried to address this by keeping the coil spacer size they use mild and softening the ride with changes in shock valving.

The only other downside of coil spring spacers or rancho quicklift assemblies would be that it looks like you have to disassemble your strut and use a coil spring compressor to install the coil spring spacer (or the shock itself with the rancho).

Might be worth researching coil spring spacers to see if you can just get the coil spring spacers without the rancho strut. Would be cheaper but hard to say what the effect on ride quality would be without somebody trying it. I might give it a go if I can find the right parts.

You could do this with BTF spacers but I would think they'd need to be small enough to keep the spindle from hitting the coils in the front and the axles from touching the frame in the rear. Currently with 1.75" in the front and 1.5" in the back my spindle does touch the coil at full droop and the axleshaft does touch the frame. It only happens when the wheels are completely off the ground though. Still plan on doing limiting straps to fix that.

 

[NHarris]

Ronin this is what I am concerned about:

I just pulled my spacers. It's been a year with so many wrecked parts It's hard to list. The latest was a broken strut. I replaced it and pulled my spacers. I'm leaving the body lift though.

So for things that you can be pretty sure will break if you take your vehicle off the pavement.
Ball joints - I did them several times.
Hubs - 4 times on the left and 3 on the right.
ABS sensors seem to go quite often as well.
Struts - only once but how many do we need to break right.

I had 2" on the back and my axels have wear marks where they'd rub on full extension so there's a chance in the future my axels will break as well. It's just not worth it.

I love wheeling but will buy a vehicle purpose built in the future.

So now I have a sissy looking truck but it won't be costing me $200+ a month in parts and labour.

I'm probably going to keep my truck stock with 265/75/16's. For my mod, I think I will go with a full brush guard and sell my bull bar.
In addition I need new spark Plugs and probably need a brake job this month.

I know you have a lot of good reasons for them, but I think I will get the uniball upper A-arms before I consider a lift.

 

[tkd91]

rock sliders