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anyone with a lifted 98-99 Sport?
- Thread starter BonesDT
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Djohnson
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Sweet looking truck DJohnson!! I still yet to get the front driveshaft. I have to get a hold of the guy building mine. After the snow we have been getting up here, i'm going to need it pretty soon. Plus, I will need to get some all terrains put on and not the mud terrains. They are sliding all over the road. Keep up the good work.
TarHeel085
And den
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i have a theory on this, if your X came stock with 16" wheels and the SOHC then you have 4.10's of some sort, cause i do to its a beautiful thing!
Sport 4x4
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Sherwood, your X is almost exactly what I'm trying to do w/ mine. But I have a few questions if you don't mind. Does Superlift make a lift for our Sports? How does your Sport ride compared to stock? How does it perform off road now? Any info would be sweeet..
Sport 4X4,
Superlift does make a 4" lift for ours. There is a couple people on this forum that has put one on. I have a Trailmaster 4" lift on mine. There are a few differences between the two but they both work really well from what I have seen on mine and heard from Superlift owners. Your Ex will ride a little harsher with the lift on because of the shocks and depending on what kind of tires you put on them. I got the Mickey Claws in mine which arent too bad a tire but the do get loud when they wear down and they do wear down fast. Mine are a year old now and they will probably last maybe 6 more months at best. But I tell you what, they really do kick major butt in the mud. I was down in Attica, Indiana doing some off roading and lost the front driveshaft, which is totally another problem I will get too, and got into some mud and water and came to a stop with my back tires a rolling and just when I thought I was stuck, them Mickeys got me out. It was pretty cool. Now with the front driveshaft problem. With lifting it 4", you are essentially sretching the front and rear driveshafts. The back driveshaft shouldnt be a problem because it has a slip shaft which the shaft alone will lengthen and shorten with the workings of the suspension. The front driveshaft is not made to do that because of the independent front suspension. Its got very little travel in the shaft where the shaft goes into a "pot" which has pinball machine like balls inside with the shaft itself is slotted to match the balls. I hope I didnt confuse you with all that. If you ever seen one before, you will know exactly what I mean. Well anyways, I blew my "pot" out because I lengthened the shaft which was kind of expected. A new shaft with dual cardon style u-joints and a slip shaft will run about $300. I heard on this forum that they got them for a little less. But usually no more. Trailmaster offers one but they want almost $700.
Offroad, it works really well. With me still making payments on it, I still baby it alot. But when you want to go through mud or crawl a rock ledge. It will do it. Good luck and feel free to ask questions. Thanks, Eric
Superlift does make a 4" lift for ours. There is a couple people on this forum that has put one on. I have a Trailmaster 4" lift on mine. There are a few differences between the two but they both work really well from what I have seen on mine and heard from Superlift owners. Your Ex will ride a little harsher with the lift on because of the shocks and depending on what kind of tires you put on them. I got the Mickey Claws in mine which arent too bad a tire but the do get loud when they wear down and they do wear down fast. Mine are a year old now and they will probably last maybe 6 more months at best. But I tell you what, they really do kick major butt in the mud. I was down in Attica, Indiana doing some off roading and lost the front driveshaft, which is totally another problem I will get too, and got into some mud and water and came to a stop with my back tires a rolling and just when I thought I was stuck, them Mickeys got me out. It was pretty cool. Now with the front driveshaft problem. With lifting it 4", you are essentially sretching the front and rear driveshafts. The back driveshaft shouldnt be a problem because it has a slip shaft which the shaft alone will lengthen and shorten with the workings of the suspension. The front driveshaft is not made to do that because of the independent front suspension. Its got very little travel in the shaft where the shaft goes into a "pot" which has pinball machine like balls inside with the shaft itself is slotted to match the balls. I hope I didnt confuse you with all that. If you ever seen one before, you will know exactly what I mean. Well anyways, I blew my "pot" out because I lengthened the shaft which was kind of expected. A new shaft with dual cardon style u-joints and a slip shaft will run about $300. I heard on this forum that they got them for a little less. But usually no more. Trailmaster offers one but they want almost $700.
Offroad, it works really well. With me still making payments on it, I still baby it alot. But when you want to go through mud or crawl a rock ledge. It will do it. Good luck and feel free to ask questions. Thanks, Eric
Sport 4x4
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Would I have to order a Ranger kit? Would I be able to walk into a 4x4 shop and tell them to put in a 4 in. Superlift in? I don't have the tools and/or the time to attempt it myself. When I eventually get it done, I want the same type wheels as you have but I am going to put Cooper Discover ATs on mine. I love those tires. Does Edelbrock make shocks to fit a lifted X?
No, they do have the Superlift Kit for the Explorer. It is rather new out. You can have a 4x4 shop install it but it will cost about $1000.00 to do it if not more. And I dont know if Edelbrock makes shocks for the lifted Ex. My Trailmaster came with them so I know they got them out. I'm sure that Superlift will offer some.
DocVijay
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PS.
I also ordered some 4.10's and am goping to get a 1" longer driveshaft. It doesn't have to be done, but I figure why not. Better safe than sorry. Trying to find a place locally to make me an aluminum one.
I also ordered some 4.10's and am goping to get a 1" longer driveshaft. It doesn't have to be done, but I figure why not. Better safe than sorry. Trying to find a place locally to make me an aluminum one.
Klowns
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Doesn't have to made for the sport, all it is, is 3 or 2 inch blocks that go between the body and frame. I'm guessing the sport just will use less "Hockey Pucks" then a normal EX would.
Nate1
All 4 wheels locked
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A few Q's too from me
runnin a '99 X-Sport 4x4 4L SOHC... stock 16 rims
I cant tell if ive got 4.10s or not... but God I hope I do. If anyone can tell me how to find out, I would greatly appreciate it.
You can find some (sorry) pics of my car at http://www.nweibley.com/car.php
anyways, to my q's
I don't think I'm gonna go with the superlift, but rather the trailmaster, cuz trailmaster seems to make better components, even if the steering devices are not as easy as superlift's. So, same old, hows the ride quality, how does control-trac handle it? Do you find those annoying IFS 'bottom out clunks' gone? How about installation... would you trust a 4x4 shop doing it, or would you only DIY? And what about the t-bar drop down brackets? How far down do they extend? I hear that they drop down almost all the way parallel with the front axle, making your center of your undercarrige a good snag spot... have you noticed this? Man, I love your X, its exactly what I hope mine will look like one day... only, hehe, I hope to have a nice front driveshaft, so as to not have to worry about breaking it... I suppose I'll fork out the cash and get a dual cardon... I guess it's worth it.
Thanks man, just like Bones said... WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE!?!
runnin a '99 X-Sport 4x4 4L SOHC... stock 16 rims
I cant tell if ive got 4.10s or not... but God I hope I do. If anyone can tell me how to find out, I would greatly appreciate it.
You can find some (sorry) pics of my car at http://www.nweibley.com/car.php
anyways, to my q's
I don't think I'm gonna go with the superlift, but rather the trailmaster, cuz trailmaster seems to make better components, even if the steering devices are not as easy as superlift's. So, same old, hows the ride quality, how does control-trac handle it? Do you find those annoying IFS 'bottom out clunks' gone? How about installation... would you trust a 4x4 shop doing it, or would you only DIY? And what about the t-bar drop down brackets? How far down do they extend? I hear that they drop down almost all the way parallel with the front axle, making your center of your undercarrige a good snag spot... have you noticed this? Man, I love your X, its exactly what I hope mine will look like one day... only, hehe, I hope to have a nice front driveshaft, so as to not have to worry about breaking it... I suppose I'll fork out the cash and get a dual cardon... I guess it's worth it.
Thanks man, just like Bones said... WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE!?!
DocVijay
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Look on the sticker on the door of you X. Check the axle code. If you post it, most of us can tell you what gears you have, as well as whether it's an LS or open diff.
nweibley, I found out my gear ration by looking on the tags on the diff covers. You can also call up the local Ford dealer and give them your vin numbers and they can let you know. I just now checked my axel cods compared to yours, mine says D2 under axel while yours says D. I have 4.10 gears, so I dont know what you have.
The ride quality will deminish slightly depending on the tires you get. I went out and bought mud terrains so I cant compare all terrains just yet. The mud terrains are louder and vibrate your truck a bit. Some days worse than others. Depending on how much you go off-roading should depend on what kind of tires you go with. If I would do it over again, I would have bought the BF Goodrich AT KO's. I just did not use the mud terrains to make them worth the buy. But hey, they look cool!!! hehe The control-trac works the same. As soon as the rear tires slip, the front jumps right in which sometimes stinks especially up here in Michigan when you want to fool around and fishtail in the snow. I dont have that problem right now because I dont have a front driveshaft because it blew out in Attica. That is the biggest problem I had thus far with the lift. I'm still waiting on the guy to get mine done. As far as the IFS bottoming out. I really dont remember it happening when it was stock. It sometimes sounds like it does once in a while but I think its my shocks. Not sure though.
I installed mine on my own simply because by the time I traded in all my pop cans and pennys, I had no money left to spend $1,200 on the install. Luckily, I had total access to a huge pole barn with all the industrial tools you can imagine. If your decent with tools and instructions and can get someone to help once in a while, you can do it yourself. Just read the directions about 50 times over and over and familiarize yourself with your task. As far as trusting a 4x4 shop to do it. Ask questions. Mostly with other people who had them do work. One good thing about getting it done is that they most likely will stand behind their work and redo anything that may go wrong.
The t-bar dropdown brackets are a little extrusive. I will get some pics as soon as the little lady brings it home from work. If you do some rock crawling or similar, it probably will be a problem. Me, I dont care because my main purpose in this lift is looks. I dont do a whole lot of off-roading but it is sure nice when you want to. I go mudding and sand duning mostly. She is my baby and I treat her like she is my own child. Heck, I run right down to the car wash when they drop a crap load of salt up here so it wont eat my truck up!! I am assuming you were talking to me so I say thank you for the compliments and if not, my bad. hehe
The front driveshaft you have to realize when you lift the suspension you are thus stretching both driveshafts like I said in an earlier post on this thread. The rear shouldnt be worried at all since it has a slip shaft because it is meant to be stretched with the working motion of the suspension. The front on the other hand is not since the IFS does not require the driveshaft to move up and down at all. If you look at your front driveshaft, you will see on the transfer case end that there is a "pot" looking end to it. Inside is about 5 pinball size balls that is slotted into the driveshaft. When you stretch it about an inch. You pull all those to the end of that "pot" thus putting a lot of strain inside against the "pot" walls resulting in cracking the walls and blowing out the balls. I can get pics of that too of mine when I get the pics of the t-bar. I'll get back with pics in afternoon. Oh, by the way. I like your brushguard. That is the style that I wanted. I like how them main vertical bars slant out rather than go straight up like mine. Eric
The ride quality will deminish slightly depending on the tires you get. I went out and bought mud terrains so I cant compare all terrains just yet. The mud terrains are louder and vibrate your truck a bit. Some days worse than others. Depending on how much you go off-roading should depend on what kind of tires you go with. If I would do it over again, I would have bought the BF Goodrich AT KO's. I just did not use the mud terrains to make them worth the buy. But hey, they look cool!!! hehe The control-trac works the same. As soon as the rear tires slip, the front jumps right in which sometimes stinks especially up here in Michigan when you want to fool around and fishtail in the snow. I dont have that problem right now because I dont have a front driveshaft because it blew out in Attica. That is the biggest problem I had thus far with the lift. I'm still waiting on the guy to get mine done. As far as the IFS bottoming out. I really dont remember it happening when it was stock. It sometimes sounds like it does once in a while but I think its my shocks. Not sure though.
I installed mine on my own simply because by the time I traded in all my pop cans and pennys, I had no money left to spend $1,200 on the install. Luckily, I had total access to a huge pole barn with all the industrial tools you can imagine. If your decent with tools and instructions and can get someone to help once in a while, you can do it yourself. Just read the directions about 50 times over and over and familiarize yourself with your task. As far as trusting a 4x4 shop to do it. Ask questions. Mostly with other people who had them do work. One good thing about getting it done is that they most likely will stand behind their work and redo anything that may go wrong.
The t-bar dropdown brackets are a little extrusive. I will get some pics as soon as the little lady brings it home from work. If you do some rock crawling or similar, it probably will be a problem. Me, I dont care because my main purpose in this lift is looks. I dont do a whole lot of off-roading but it is sure nice when you want to. I go mudding and sand duning mostly. She is my baby and I treat her like she is my own child. Heck, I run right down to the car wash when they drop a crap load of salt up here so it wont eat my truck up!! I am assuming you were talking to me so I say thank you for the compliments and if not, my bad. hehe
The front driveshaft you have to realize when you lift the suspension you are thus stretching both driveshafts like I said in an earlier post on this thread. The rear shouldnt be worried at all since it has a slip shaft because it is meant to be stretched with the working motion of the suspension. The front on the other hand is not since the IFS does not require the driveshaft to move up and down at all. If you look at your front driveshaft, you will see on the transfer case end that there is a "pot" looking end to it. Inside is about 5 pinball size balls that is slotted into the driveshaft. When you stretch it about an inch. You pull all those to the end of that "pot" thus putting a lot of strain inside against the "pot" walls resulting in cracking the walls and blowing out the balls. I can get pics of that too of mine when I get the pics of the t-bar. I'll get back with pics in afternoon. Oh, by the way. I like your brushguard. That is the style that I wanted. I like how them main vertical bars slant out rather than go straight up like mine. Eric
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DocVijay
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Just to throw out some numbers. I measured my Explorer before and afte the lift, and here's what I got. Remember I did the Pro Comp 3" spindles, SOA, and put on some 33's. The numbers are more than I expected.
All measurements taken at the same spot before and after. The before measurements are a little off, as the pavement was't perfectly flat, but OK for general idea.
Before:
FL - 27 1/2" FR - 28"
BL - 24 1/2" BR - 25 1/4"
After:
FL - 32 3/4" FR - 33 1/4"
BL - 32 " BR - 32 1/4"
Change:
FL - (+) 5 1/4" FR - (+) 5 1/4"
BL - (+) 7 3/4" BR - (+) 7"
All measurements taken at the same spot before and after. The before measurements are a little off, as the pavement was't perfectly flat, but OK for general idea.
Before:
FL - 27 1/2" FR - 28"
BL - 24 1/2" BR - 25 1/4"
After:
FL - 32 3/4" FR - 33 1/4"
BL - 32 " BR - 32 1/4"
Change:
FL - (+) 5 1/4" FR - (+) 5 1/4"
BL - (+) 7 3/4" BR - (+) 7"
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