Budget Beater Support Requested

[SteelCityTA]

I just acquired a 1998 2 door 4x4 explorer and my intentions are:

Making it a full-time off-road vehicle, in that it will never be on the road.

I do not want to invest much into this though. I am thinking of just lifting it and putting larger tires on it just to cruze off-road.

Basically to go through trails n such.

The biggest factor in doing so again is $$$.

I plan on investing most in tires - and I can determine cost once I get a little more help from the pros.

I need help with a inexpensive lift and a tire size that would correlate to it. What do you suggest?

 

[LoganD]

You could go the cheapest route, which would be WAR153 shackles/Torrsion Twist and then a 3 inch body lift. Which if I remember correctly adds up to under 300$. That'd get you enough lift to tuck 33's under there. This route is vastly superior to a 2,000$+ suspension lift. Just do some searching around on the site, and you'll find more than enough information to complete the project

 

[redneckin]

hockey puck it.

 

[SteelCityTA]

LOL - Hockey Puck! Now that sounds cheap! Can I get some more detail on this lol. Thanks for the replies guys!

 

[SteelCityTA]

Off subject - Do you guys know anything about the wheel specs? I want to buy some black steelies off summit or jegs and i know the pattern is 5x4.5, I want 15's yet I am unsure of the back spacing...I want the wheels to stick out a bit further than the stock...like i said it will never be on the road so the tires can stick way out...

 

[SteelCityTA]

kinda like in the pic above...

 

[4rd4life]

should find everything for tires in here welcome to the site!
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=11

 

[redneckin]

Hockey Pucking 101:

go to the local hockey arena, and in the back, they have buckets upon buckets of hockey pucks. what you do is sneak back there and get a couple 5 gallon bucket fulls. you figure, 1 puck= 1 inch of body lift. so 3 pucks per body mount, i believe there is 10 body mounts, 10 times 3 is 30, so figure 30 pucks give or take. then, get yourself to the hardware store and get some long grade 8 bolts, long enough to fit through the pucks, and as many of them as you have body mounts. also get the nuts for them. and stainless steel work help against rust, so i would get those. once you get all your materials home, go into the garage. loosen up all your body mounts and lift the body of the truck in the air. this helps when you have a vehicle lift when you can lift the body by the pinch points and not the frame. drill holes in the pucks, put um in place, and there ya got an extremely low budget (and potentionally dangerous!) body lift, and enough clearance to fit 33's. if the tires rub, get out ur old sawzall and cut them fenders up for clearance. hockey pucks are very easy.

 

[Turdle]

Hockey Pucking 101:

go to the local hockey arena, and in the back, they have buckets upon buckets of hockey pucks. what you do is sneak back there and get a couple 5 gallon bucket fulls. you figure, 1 puck= 1 inch of body lift. so 3 pucks per body mount, i believe there is 10 body mounts, 10 times 3 is 30, so figure 30 pucks give or take. then, get yourself to the hardware store and get some long grade 8 bolts, long enough to fit through the pucks, and as many of them as you have body mounts. also get the nuts for them. and stainless steel work help against rust, so i would get those. once you get all your materials home, go into the garage. loosen up all your body mounts and lift the body of the truck in the air. this helps when you have a vehicle lift when you can lift the body by the pinch points and not the frame. drill holes in the pucks, put um in place, and there ya got an extremely low budget (and potentionally dangerous!) body lift, and enough clearance to fit 33's. if the tires rub, get out ur old sawzall and cut them fenders up for clearance. hockey pucks are very easy.

They give hockey pucks away? Or are you stealing them?

Hockey pucks are for hockey, body lift spacers are for body lifts. Do not use stolen hockey pucks to lift your truck. If it was that easy PA would put hockey pucks in their body lift kits.

 

[Slowlyvverot]

I agree with Turdle. Call me crazy but that sounds an awful lot like stealing...and the hockey puck thing has been gone over and over since the dawn of wheeling. It's unsafe ghetto lift at its worst. A body lift is not a bad idea but hockey pucks are not the right way to do it.

If you want cheap lift for a 2nd gen, grab a wrench and crank the torsion bars up two inches. Any higher and your CVs will be toast in short order. Warrior shackles in the rear and you will have enough to fit 33x12.5s with a good deal of trimming in the front.

 

[redneckin]

just go with a PA Body lift. Cheap. easy.

 

[98 5oh XLT]

see, lol, you guys just dont live on the edge. people are gonna ask where you got ur lift, and you can tell them the five finger store lol. yeah its alot but it would be a good weekend.

I may be poor but every single mod ive put into my truck ive paid for. I do hope your not bragging about stealing sports equipment to jack up your ride because a) its a unsafe mod, b) stealing is wrong in general c) doesnt make the rest of us who work our rears off to make our trucks stand out and what we want look good.

 

[NICE59FORDF100]

/Father-Figure_on/

I agree with all comments above, granted, it is your truck, you can do what you want, but heed the advice above and spend the money on quality parts that are designed for the vehicle.. Not to mention that not only is theft kinda illegal, its morally wrong and this board does not condone nor approve of such actions...

/Father-Figure_off/

 

[the_aszman]

3" body lift , check
4dr leaf packs , check
shackles with 2 aal's , check
torsion bars cranked , check
12.50x35x15's , check
sawzall , check

cost factor , low

fun factor----priceless

 

[redneckin]

I may be poor but every single mod ive put into my truck ive paid for. I do hope your not bragging about stealing sports equipment to jack up your ride because a) its a unsafe mod, b) stealing is wrong in general c) doesnt make the rest of us who work our rears off to make our trucks stand out and what we want look good.

edited:

sorry for the thieving post. i do not steal, nor will ever steal anything ever. i work my tail off just like most every other person. hell, if you wanted a hockey puck lift you could buy the pucks. sorry for the improper post and i apoligize sincerly for what i said, which is edited.

 

[Dono]

Hey, redneckin, I was quite entertained by your post of the hockey pucks.
I didn't take you that literally. If I were to use hockey pucks, I'd ask for them. Im betting you would also.

I found your response quite funny, and did not take you as being serious. Maybe you were, maybe you weren't. Tough to know by typing sometimes. I see some did take you literally, and seriously.

For what its worth, I enjoyed the laugh (because I took your post as meant to make people laugh). Anyway, the warnings not to use hockey pucks are great advice. I've never attempted anything like this, so I can't comment with any real knowledge.

Lets have some fun here, and be safe!

 

[redneckin]

absolutly was not serious. but, as for the puckin, it is a real thing. we went to an everblades game last year and asked if they had used hockey pucks they were trowing out, and they literally had 3 5 galon buckets full and gave them to us. we body lifted my buddies ranger mud truck like that. ill see if he can send me pics of it.