Corkey's Registry

Log Roller's, Registry,, 56 k get lost,

okay , so , i thought about it, and,,,,,
about time i posted one here,
96 Explorer XL, 4.0 ohv, auto trans, control trac 4x4,
Special Thanks to - gmanpaint, Turdle, and Maniak, to name just a few,
List Of Mods, that made this truck of the month,


http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=263644


-torsion twist , gone now, , Fox Coilovers hold me up now,
-Trailmaster /Superlift combined front end lift kit, with skid plates,
-4:10 gears front and back, Aussie Locker in the back ,
-Cooper STT 33's all around with Dyna Beads inside, On Custom JT powdercoated 16 inch Wheels,
-Superlift Rear Lift Springs, Trailmaster SSV shocks, and custom JT and Gmanpaint swaybar Disconnects,
-Rockcrusher Custom powder coated diff cover, by JT,
-2 sets of driving lights, bumper, and on custom roof rack,
-optima red top battery
-gps for nav with roads and topo
-backup cam
-Kenwood head unit
-Kenwood door speakers, homemade crossovers, extra tweeters,
-amp bypass ,from gmanpaint,
-Kenwood Sirius control box,
-2 12 inch Kenwood dual voice coil subs ,
-custom forum stickers from Blee,
-cb mounted back of console, with custom antenna mount,


this is my Explorer,



engine compartment is all stock , with 350,000 kilometers on the origional engine and trans,

front suspension is stock , with the 2 inch torsion twist ,

rear end has newer springs, i got from gmanpaint, with sway bar disconnects from gman and Turdle, and add a leafs from Maniak,

inside is mostly stock with a few exceptions,
i have a window mounted gps, and backup cam screen , and a Kenwood head unit,

cb mounted to the back of the console,

sirius control box behind the back seat , and one big amp, for the subs


and a couple of 12 inch Kenwood dual voice coil subs,


and 31x10.5x15 inch goodyear wrangler territory tires,

 

[corkey]

the front of the new lift was in the form of a superlift box kit, with drop brackets for the differential from Trailmaster, making this a hybrid kit,
i was able to use my factory double cardan front Driveshaft, after getting another one at the JY, than because all the brakst were there, we took off the whole front for the coilovers,

after we reassembled the whole front, we put it back on the wheels, and double and triple checked all the bolts, and than next was the alignment,

 

[gmanpaint]

I got my 33"x12.5" to fit under. I did remove the rear sway bar and chop off that Epiglottis to make it fit. I also have removed my rear hitch. I had it under the rig from Mo to Utah, looked funny as heck, but it saved me some gas money for that road trip.

 

[corkey]

a couple of pics of after the lift

 

[corkey]

and the drivers side too ,

 

[corkey]

after a week and a 1/2 of really cold temps, like -30 , i have to say that the work we did is great , coilovers are a bit rougher than when below freezing, but they get warm, and soften up, and this thing is alot more fun in the snow now,, ,

 

[jonlax]

So why go with the hybrid kit that you put together from turdle? Any pro's or con's?

I am looking to do the same since i can compleat this like you in a weekend with some buddies. I was set on a solid (which i have had sitting in storage since this december) but just cant get the room or the time that it would take to compleat such a project.

get a write up with a parts list!

Looks great

Jon

 

[Turdle]

So why go with the hybrid kit that you put together from turdle? Any pro's or con's?

I am looking to do the same since i can compleat this like you in a weekend with some buddies. I was set on a solid (which i have had sitting in storage since this december) but just cant get the room or the time that it would take to compleat such a project.

get a write up with a parts list!

Looks great

Jon

I must clarify

All of the suspension lift hard parts are superlift. The shocks and skid plates are trailmaster. The superlift hard parts are better IMO and the trailmaster jewelry looked better to me which is why I used it.

 

[jonlax]

danke schoen!

 

[corkey]

hmm parts list is long on a build like this, but here goes,

superlift rear springs,
4:10 geared rear axle, (this one was complete, all the brake stuff was not disturbed at all)
Trailmaster rear shocks,in stock location,
custom Turdle-gmanpaint sway bar disconnects,
stock shackles,
we used all the stock bolts,


For the front, we added the superlift front box kit with the a arms and spindles all in 1 piece, but you need ,
The Front Box Kit,
front differential with 4:10 gears,
Spindles,
coilovers
brackets for the coilovers,
gussets for the shock towers,
front skid plates,
drop bracket for the front differential,
side to side mount for front differential,
we used all the stock bolts except 1 we broke taking off the old spindles,

we took the axle out of Jons rig with the springs still on it, brakes and all, and just slid it under mine,
fastened all the bolts and shocks and sway bar links and driveshaft and added brake flex line, bled the rear brakes, and added the 16 inch wheels with 33's
we put a pinch type device lightly on the rear flex line for the brakes, from the frame to the mount on the rear diff so that it did not leak realk bad, just a occasional drip to make sure there was no air going back up inside the flex line,

the front was a bit more complicated, we blew apart the front and just dropped it all on the ground in as little pieces as possible, but left the brake lines attached as we did not want air in the lines, or the abs unit,
we than dropped my stock diff and slid the front diff off the other one under and bolted it up with the drop bracket already on it, and than put on the side to side bracket that goes in the hole for the passenger side bumpstop,
while we had the front all off we cut the brackets off fot the bumpstops to allow room for the coilovers to go in

We than mounted the top brackets for the coilovers in the shock pocket, and drilled the holes in it for the bolts in the back of the bracket,
once that was done we cleaned the frame up with a grinder for welding on the gussets for the shock tower or pocket, and welded them on,
the bottom brackets were already on the other arms off the Turdle,
than we put the front box kit up in 1 piece,

more to come, not finished yet, but no more typing this morning, will finish it up soon,, i will finish this up and polish it up with pics too ,

 

[corkey]

a few pics of some shackles i am trying out on the back,,
the intent of putting them on was just to level it out front to back , or maybe have the back just a little higher up to the front so that it didn't sit weird,
i made these out of some angle i had it's 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 x 1/4 inch.
although they are very strong, i do plan to put a brace in between the uprights like in a set of warriors, ,.
one issue is , as they add 2 inches on top of a 4 inch leaf spring lift , i am very close to the upper limit of the shocks, , may have to find longer ones, ,

 

[corkey]

here is also a pic of my Ex with all the lift and a set of 31's on it,
i tried them out to see what it would look like, was cool ,but with the 4:10 gear the engine and trans worked hard as they are too small a tire for that gear on the highway, ,

 

[vroomzoomboom]

that truck should be grey!

 

[corkey]

yeah , i know it should ,and maybe some day soon, if i ever get the chance to get over there and visit it might end up being Grey , ,

 

[corkey]

this Ex might be going back on T Bars for a short time as i work with front coilovers, and possibly getting longer ones , cause , yeah, i want more lift, , so i have been looking at these,
http://www.offroadwarehouse.com/products/sfID1/12/sfID2/113/sfID3/98/productID/112

 

[gmanpaint]

23" Extended !! Whoa. That's a lot of extension for an IFS.

I'm definitely watching to see how it works out with stock control arms on it.

 

[corkey]

what i am looking for is a shock that is a bit longer at rest and on droop as the ones i have do not seem to be long enough and this is the next size or few sizes up from what i have, and also allows a safety cushion in the length so i do not top out , or droop out the shocks to the end,,
I will still have them reigned in by limit straps,

 

[corkey]

Full droop now, hanging on the limit strap, ,

 

[gmanpaint]

I'm surprised you can get full droop with the sway bar still attached.

 

[corkey]

only 1 side is attached, the other is gone,

 

[corkey]

i picked up all of this today for next to nothing, just in case, and maybe to just see...