Calling All Suspension Helpers!!!!

[MurkinMan2000]

OK!

I have talked with Jeff (goober) extensively, and I was wanting to re-create the look of his 4" superlift on his 91. He told me that the rear is starting to sag because of the type (and quality?) of the arched rear springs.

Are there any stronger SPRINGS that i could get in order to have a 4" lift minus the sag

And i am opposed to a 5.5" lift, so dont even ask!
I think the 4" is all i need, plus it looks sleeker.

Thanks!
MurkinMan

 

[rpenner54]

Everyone that I have seen so far that has stayed spring under eventually sags big time and at some point needs to go to a SOA to keep it up there. The Explorer is just to heavy to stay SUA if you plan on lifting it any. Ricks current rear springs used to be on Paul B's Explorer as a Spring under. All I gotta say about that setup is that when I saw it I was way unimpresed with how they were holding up. I think they were brand new and they had already sagged a number of inches. These were/are the best springs made also. National Springs. I think that is why Rick got them from Paul too.

Now I am not saying SUA is a bad idea, it just needs to be well planned out if your going to run it on a vehicle as heavy as the Explorer.

 

[Scott B.]

The thing to do is have a set of springs custom made, from someone like National Spring. You give them vehicle weight, height required, etc., and they build springs.

I have a set on the rear of my Ranger, and they are good springs. They ride smoother (smoother than stock) and flex really well. HOWEVER, they have settled some. If you go this route, have them add an extra 10% to your figures when they are designing the springs. You will pay a slight bit in ride quality (still much smoother than stock) but the springs shouldn't settle as much.

Realize, the more you flex any spring, the quicker it will settle. That is an unfortunate fact of life.

 

[CHH777]

MurkinMan2000,

Go with SOA in the rear. If you have the original rear springs you won't get 5.5" of lift in the back. I'm running a 4" lift on the front and SOA in the rear and the truck is almost completely level. My rear springs have "relaxed" a bit since 1994.

 

[rpenner54]

Originally posted by Scott Bosso
The thing to do is have a set of springs custom made, from someone like National Spring. You give them vehicle weight, height required, etc., and they build springs.

Thats what were on Paul's Explorer. Very thick suckers. Very un-impresive performance wise and durability wise. If he reads this I am sure he would confirm this.

 

[MurkinMan2000]

OK...

I see that the SOA seems to be a logical choice here.
First of all, I understand SOA to mean "spring over axle." Am i misguided in thinking so?

Second of all, can the ride be TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY level with a rear SOA job???

PLease give me some general info concering SOA and the pros/cons.
Muchos Gracias.

MurkinMan2000

 

[Maniak]

Keep in mind that just becuase it is level doesn't mean it will look level. We have OME springs and Warrior shackles.. that is almost 4" of lift. The front is only the Duff 2.5" springs. When the rear was lifted 2.5-3" it looked like the rear was lower than the front. But when measured it was level. The bumper design we used when we made our bumper makes the front look higher than it is. Now that the rear is lifted the 4" it looks much better.. (just threw the alignment off again).


Mark

 

[DOGMAN]

Before I installed the springover Superlift 5.5" kit, I had the Superlift 4" kit, with the new rear springs in the stock spring under arrangement. Take my advice, go with the springover set-up, you won't like the sagging of the new rear springs and the stiffer, not as compliant feel of the springunder set-up. I went through two sets of rear springs before I finally talked Superlift into swapping me out for the 5.5 springover set-up. The ride is far superior as well as the much greater flex.

When I did my springover, I took my stock springs apart, cleaned up everything, installed new anti-friction pads, repainted each leaf individually, used bolt style clamps instead of the crimp style (allows leaves to separate on droop to a greater degree than stock), new metal spacers, new bolts, and left the original rubber bushings intact. This gave me a very comfortable ride with plenty of flex. Compared to the ride of the springunder 4" springs -- there is no comparison -- I would never go back to those high arched, drooping pieces of metal.

By the way, I got about 6" of lift when I installed my springover, which is what I wanted. If you're determined to only want 4" (I thought that way too -- I'm glad now I went with the 5.5 springover), you can try, but I wouldn't recommend it. One other thing. One of the problems with a springunder set-up is that you can never increase your height after sagging, the only thing you can do is get new springs. With a springover, if you had to you can add lift blocks to increase the height without having to replace the springs. Not recommended, but always a possibility. Something to think about.......

Weigh all the possibilities, then get what YOU want!

Good Luck.

 

[MurkinMan2000]

Cosmetic Proportion

Ok..
I know there are mechanical reasons for opting for the sky-high 5.5"

HOWEVER! The tires i want to run are 32x11.50, and they would look puny in comparison to the lift.

I'm looking for a more surly-looking setup. If the tires would fit under a 3" scheme while having a good ride and handling quality, i would probably want that as opposed to the "bouncy-boy" configuration.

I'm not looking for the ultimate off-roader, but a beach machine to some degree.

Help!

 

[Brett]

MurkinMan,

Why don't you go with the James Duff lift. I have it on my truck and have not had any problems ever with it - ever. My alignment has never been off (something most trucks with the superlifts can't say) and the ride quality is much superior over stock as well as most other systems on the market. I'm basically running 32" tires (265/75/16) with only minor rubbing on the radius arms (I've got the JD extended radius arms - much superior in many ways to the weak superlift units)

If you want it to be at least a 3" setup, just add coil spacers in the front, and a slightly longer shackle in the rear. (This is what I have done and never run into any trouble)

[Edited by Brett on 10-27-2000 at 09:11 AM]

 

[Gopher]

My springs on the rear havent settled to much. There 3.5" lift springs. There from fabtech. Knowing them they more than likely bought the springs from somewhere else. All i know is that the springs are thinner than stock, but have 6 leaves. There flex pretty well and ride very well. I've contemplated going to a SOA, but so far the SUA has worked good enough for me. No sag so far. (keeping fingers crossed)

 

[rockylaurence]

TRY THE REAR SPORT MONO LEAF

The 95+ Sports used a rear Mono (as in one) leaf. This reduces the lift by almost 2 inches when used as a SOA. Only thing is, a 4 door Explorer may be too heavy. Another option is, use the stock springs and remove the Over load spring from the bottom of the pack. This will remove 3/4" from the lift on a SOA. I'm going to remove the Ovrld spring on my pack when I add the Ranger main leaf to return the lift to normal. Maybe a combonation of your old leafs and the Mono leave will work with the heavier 4 dr and give you the 4 inches your looking for?

 

[CHH777]

MurkinMan,

I really don't think you'd have an uneven ride with 4" of lift the front & SOA in rear. As you can see mine is pretty level:

Dead Link Removed

Plus, if you have a 4-door the added weight may set the rear even lower...

 

[Goober]

That's what I'll be doing shortly. I have the 4" now, and will SOA soon. If it does sit a little high in the back, I'll put some spacers under the front springs till it looks right. Good thing I kept the old stock-length shocks and rear spring pack. Who says being a pack-rat doesn't work out?

 

[CHH777]

You could also remove the overload spring and drop the rear another 1/2" or so...

 

[Anime]

Looks nice

thats a smooth lookin lift CH777...is it JUST SOA in the rear? What did you use for the 4" up front? Any issues/problems?

 

[CHH777]

Anime4x4,

Thanks. Yes, just a SOA in rear. 4" Superlift w/ext. RAs in the front. The SOA has caused No problems. The 4" in front is another story...

 

[Anime]

Trying to stay on topic

Well...this thread is about the 4" lift so whats the quick summary of problems with the Superlift 4" RA's?
(Curious myself) not a good idea to get these?

 

[Goober]

The only problem so far is just the slight sag in the rear(4" arched springs). The pull to the right was there before the lift and everything. Everything else has been ok.

 

[CHH777]

I got the new (improved) RAs and have had no problems with them so far...