anyone made there own front lift?? | Ford Explorer Forums

  • Register Today It's free!

anyone made there own front lift??

fangz

Active Member
Joined
January 8, 2005
Messages
81
Reaction score
0
City, State
perth western australia
Year, Model & Trim Level
98 xlt sport
anyone out there tried makin their own front end lift kit?from what i can gather it looks to me like the popular superlift and trailmaster front lift kits are made with basic brackets that bolt on to the existing frame, iv looked at some close up piks and i reckon they could be easily made in a home workshop,it would be cool to hear from anyone who has tried it!!
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year or try it out for $5 a month.

Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





i cant see it being too difficult, as long as you had accurate measurements to keep your suspension geometry right.and you would need the spindles from one of the kits in order to match the drop of the lower control arms.
 






I am fairly good at metal working, however i would not trust myself to make something that my life rests on everyday. If you get lift kits from a company and something goes wrong, you have some sort of backing. If you build one yourself and something goes wrong, yu only have yourself to blame. not for me personally, but if you want to best of luck!
 






i reckon with the right strength materials and good weilding it would be fairly easy and heaps cheaper than buying a kit,,, hmmmm i wonder if their kits are machine or hand weilded?? the superlift kit looks asthough its held together with a brace bar and bolts!
 












If I ever could get my hands on a damn vehicle I would love to fabricate my own lift. As long as you approach it correctly and dont slack off or become complacent, then I dont see why anyone with some pretty decent metal working skills cannot do this.
 






To fab up an IFS lift in my point of view would be pointless. Grab a D30 and throw it under.
 






boominXplorer said:
To fab up an IFS lift in my point of view would be pointless. Grab a D30 and throw it under.

I agree.
 






boominXplorer said:
To fab up an IFS lift in my point of view would be pointless. Grab a D30 and throw it under.

Just out of curiousity, why do you say that it would be pointless?
 






travel is one thing. T-bars would have to go. CV's aren't as good as solid. Little things like that
 






In allot of contexts having a lifted IFS/IRS vehicle would be pointless, but there are some applications that require 4 wheel drive but without the need for ultimate flex and 39" Swampers. If I was rich enough to have the money to blow I would love to build a Baja vehicle out of a new gen explorer and my own little lift with custom suspension. There are offroading applications for an independant suspensioned vehicle, just not in the normal old boring and slow mudding like most do. I suppose it is just the natural racer coming out in me, but I like to go faster than 15 miles per hour when I am trying to have fun in a vehicle. I guess it is all how were bred and raised.
 






now if you are 2wd IFS is the way to go
 






boominXplorer said:
now if you are 2wd IFS is the way to go

2wd and a trophy or baja truck -- mm that's nice! I agree with boomin -- IFS is best when 2wd and do desert racing or something similar.

-Drew
 






ExplorerDMB said:
2wd and a trophy or baja truck -- mm that's nice! I agree with boomin -- IFS is best when 2wd and do desert racing or something similar.

-Drew

I would go for 4 wheel drive in a baja vehicle even if it does add a little weight it adds alloooooot of controllability. That is why all rally racers are 4 wheel(awd) drive, because they need the controllability that can only be had from a 4 wheel drive vehicle at high rates of speed in turns and corners.
 






Its a lot harder to get the kind of travel that you need up front on a baja vehicle with 4WD.
 






Hartman said:
Its a lot harder to get the kind of travel that you need up front on a baja vehicle with 4WD.

Meh...You can still get some pretty decent travel if things are setup right. A baja explorer would be a fun idea but I think I would probably want something with a little lower center of gravity. But I would still build one if I had the money to blow on one, after all my other car projects.
 






Featured Content

Back
Top