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How to: Dauntless76 Registry + Sport Trac Body Lift Instructions

Prefix for threads which are instructional.
Well hello all!

I've been following along for a while, since I got my 2001 Sport Trac in October of 2011 with 98k miles.

The only additions at this point is a sticker and the nerf bars


I found this site fairly quickly but really didn't have the monetary means or the time to do anything major to it. First thing was the addition of a topper for some cross country moving to Idaho


The shorty with a totally loaded back end. Poor thing has some saggy ass..



Arrived in Idaho with an unloaded truck finally. Doesn't look nearly so sad



Finally I got my nerve up and added a 1" TT and 265/75/16 bfg at's




Next I got a K&N Air Intake system after reading a bunch about it on here (LONO was the real culprit in making me want one lol)




While I was installing it I took the time to clean my throttle body. Really helped out all the way around and I would highly suggest it to anyone interested.





Next it was time to defeat the saggy butt and give myself a little more lift while I watched all the other lifted beautiful Tracs on here



Also installed 1.25" spacers in the rear, I really love the wider stance still. That rollerskate look really doesn't do it for me.



155776_10152730693570103_12239668_n.jpg




Ahh looks soooo much different so far from where we started. But so much more to go!



For instance I have it in my head I'd love to have some offroad lights and we definitely need to do something about that rounded explorer nose. So on the Westin Light Bar goes. It was a pain in the ass to put on by myself, and to this day I can't figure out why the mounting brackets have slotted bolt holes rather than just holes, since they are brackets for 2001-2005 Sport Tracs. But I digress...


I was immediately a fan, and had all the intentions of putting on a 3" body lift that summer until life got in the way. I broke my left ankle that April (only a week or so after this picture) and got a new job back in Iowa so it was pack up everything, move, oh and no paychecks for 4 months while I was down, but in the midst of all that I got my favorite Trac pic to date.

On the way back to Iowa I made a pit stop at my college friends place in Minnesota and talked him into installing my fog lights for me (bribery with beer and pizza always works)

It's a 3" diameter bit and worked flawlessly to remove the "caps" in the bumper.

Still in the mood to modify and expand on what my truck could become I bought the cheap modifications, still wanting that lift. Not the summer of 2013 though. Instead I sated myself with shocks all the way around and smoked headlights and taillights. Front shocks are Rancho RS5000's and rear are Monroe Sensa-Trac Load Adjusting Shocks (coilovers). I was determined to never again have a saggy ass explorer. Install on the front shocks was a breeze, required a little sawzall action on the top bolt on the driver side but otherwise was easy. I can't even explain the kind of hell the rear installation was. They are serious load adjusting shocks and raised my back end 1.75" easy once they were installed.

Then it was time to suffer through another winter in Iowa. It's been unpleasant to say the least but at least we really got snow this year so it wasn't just bitterly cold. Now that I'm back into reasonable weather (was 62 today) the projects can begin anew. I am determined that by June I'll be lifted and by November I'll have my 33x12.5x15 duratracs and can really say I got where I have wanted to be since the day I found this forum.

Last week I decided enough was enough on these awful roads and got Addco sway bars for the Trac courtesy of Todd Z at Zabteck. I HIGHLY recommend that upgrade if you haven't already. Its a truly spectacular driving difference. Feels like a new truck all together.



And to bring this post to a close this is how the trac sits today. Not quite two years with me, 28k miles later, and I'm convinced it drives better today than it did the day I bought it.



There will be much more to come in the coming months. April will bring red LED interior: dash, control panel, interior lights; RECON LED third brake light; and herculining the cladding and bumpers. May I'll buy and install my 3" PA Body Lift and add a 1" spacer to the front and start saving my nickles and dimes for Black Rock 905 Defenders (15x8, 5x4.5, 3.75" backspacing) and 33x12.5x15 Duratracs before next winter rolls around. It's going to be a good year my fellow enthusiasts. I look forward to any and all feedback, many of you have been instrumental in my progress thus far, its much appreciated.




-Daniel
 
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I like the look with the spacers in the rear!!
 






Thanks CJ! Ive always thought the STs looked a little fat because of their rounded body lines. The taller they get, with wider tires, the leaner I think they look. It's too bad more people in Iowa dont lift their Tracs. There are a bunch of STs just all bone stock.
 






Updated 5/25/2014

So this is just my update/ how to for the body lift. I finished my body lift a couple weeks ago and have been slowly putting everything back together. I was also waiting for a nice weekend to paint all the cladding so I hadn't bothered to put everything together again.

So here goes.

First off this is the body lift kit. Performance Accessories Body Lift #70023 . The box looks as such:


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First thing you should do is go through and make sure you have everything in the box that you are supposed to have. I had to drill out a bigger hole in the mounting bracket for the radiator but you may not have to.

You'll need:

PA BL 70023
New body bushings. Unless you just replaced them just do it. This will save you hours.
Metric Deep Socket set (You'll need a 19mm so go big)
Standard Deep Socket set (ya Ford sucks)
regular socket sets at least metric I would have both
Multiple socket wrenches (Will post a picture of why later...)
A 2ft Breaker bar OR 2.5' 200lb torque wrench :D
Torx bits 50 and 55
Several vice grips (the bigger the better)
A strong drill
A dremel
A sawzall with metal cutting blades
A 2ft socket extender
3 ton floor jack
4x piece of lumber about 2 ft long
Work light
Wheel blocks or sandbags.
An empty bolt organizer tray from Lowes/Walmart/Home Depot for all the eclectic bolts you are going to have laying around.
A friend who has another car for when you go get tools you didn't have...
A friend to cuss while they hold onto the rusted body bolt mounts underneath and you torque
Beer
Beer
Beer
36hours of uninterrupted free time
And my personal suggestion: Put your tools away after using each one. I am missing a few sockets...


First off remove the front seats and the plastic that runs along the door and covers the seat belt mounts etc. You'll need your Torx here for the seat belts (on the seat not where the seat belt itself mounts). Be careful when using the torx it'll eat up the bolts if you aren't nice to it.

031.JPG



Remove the plastic over the rear storage compartment for easy access to your body mount bolts there. I wouldn't/didn't take the carpet off, it'll pull up easy enough for access without removing the whole thing, but you'll want easy access to that. The rear seats do not need to come out.


This is a perfect time to unhook the battery (your truck is going nowhere until you are done from now on). Also take the moment to remove the #6 fuse in the cab (confirm that it is your Air Bag fuse).


Next go through and unhook EVERYTHING that may bind. The instructions in this part and every part suck so I'll try to cover them.

Unhook the fan shroud from the radiator and make sure its sitting freely on the fan.

Unhook the grounding straps behind the engine (straight towards the cab from the fan shroud somewhat next to where the steering bar comes through the firewall)

Remove the air intake and leave the throttle body exposed. This would be a perfect time to clean it if you haven't recently.

Unclip the abs lines from their plastic retainer. Be GENTLE. (they are sturdier than they look though)

Unclip the abs lines from the little pieces of plastic (trees with clips attached) in the drivers side wheel well. The positive cable is down there under an upside down U shaped clamp as well, unhook that.

Follow instructions for how many wires to remove in the drivers side wheel well there are a few.

Unhook the parking brake line on the driver's side frame rail. You'll need to unhook it from itself (little tabs in two different places along the wire) and from the frame where it hooks right under the toeboard body mount.

Unplug the wires at the transfer case and make sure they are hanging loose, mine were already yours may not be.

Unhook the grounding straps on both the driver and passenger side as such:


c-HN2Eq8ysT52ji-MbqIzgZ7bFzs9z18LH_i9oQdiQ=w967-h725-no



It doesn't matter if you hook the top or bottom.


Unhook the wires for brake lights/trailer lights/tag lights from the little tree clips along the bumper.

Reach in and unscrew the tag lights behind the bumper (if you have a hitch try needle nose pliers its a really tight fit) and twist to release the lights from the little housings.

Unscrew the Fuel filler from the bed and push down underneath carefully. You'll need to remove the cap while moving it you can put back on after.


033.JPG



Unscrew the plastic fender wells from the bed. They are compressed under it so you'll just have to be mean to them to get them out, just set them on the tires.

Unplug the fog lights and make sure none of those wires will bind.

Remove the front valence (5 screws at the top, two bolts under the fender well in front of the tires, and the screws from the little plastic pos's guarding the fog lights)

Unbolt the steering column. I couldn't get it apart at this point but it'll come apart nicely during the lift. Just go slow and keep checking it. DONT turn the wheel after its unhooked. I used a sharpie to make sure I knew where it was lined up and that it was lined up when I put it back together.

Recheck your instructions to make sure you didn't miss anything. Remove the bed of the truck and set aside somewhere safe. Be careful lifting it that you don't catch the back of the truck. It'll scratch the hell out of it.. (you'll need your other Torx for this)


034.JPG



044.JPG



Remove the front bumper for access to the first two body bolts.

You should be good to start the actual body lift at this point. Go through twice more and make sure you got everything in the instructions that needs to be unhooked.

The first two body bolts are reverse of the others. The bolts go up instead of down. You'll need your socket extender here. Only remove one side. Leave the other side on but loose.


aXbbi1qhuIW_E1OKpWXDU8AGUddx8xnSVZPA3oJEng=w267-h199-p-no


Pull up the carpet and loosen/remove the toeboard body mount. This is where your vice grips are going to play their pivotal role in the lift. If your lift is anything like mine these *******s will not let go. They'll just spin the bottom nut washer thingy (technical term ;) ) Mine shredded a few deteriorated bushings with them. Have a friend watch them when you try to loosen them. DO NOT use PB blaster. I did and a lot of talk basically says if you do you'll get more spin than if you hadn't. The washernuts are hexed internally and that's supposed to keep them from spinning. If they do spin try this:


Middle Body Mount
046.JPG




045.JPG



Rear Body Mount
047.JPG



Front Body Mount
040.JPG



041.JPG



039.JPG




If you bought new body bushings as I suggested then the front body mount is how you can do every one of them. Just tear the bushing up, clamp on and remove. It may save you literally 5hours of cussing, grunting, and generally being manly.


Once you have one side removed and one side loosened grab that 4x and jack. Make sure you have one of you watching just for binding. Go SLOWLY. I admit it looks really sketchy when you start, your driver's side will be WAY lower than the passenger side and it honestly seems like it'll fall off. It wont. Deep breaths.

You can put the 4x on the body near center. To spread the point of contact out you can run a big ass bolt through the top and attach a 2x4 on top. I didn't, but thought about it.

Carefully jack it up, make sure the jack is centered under the 4x. It tended to want to lean out of place for me but just keep adjusting it. Until it is settled and in place stay out of the way in case it slips off. Even after keep your fingers out from between the body and frame.


050.JPG



049.JPG



Do not loctite yet. Run the new bolts and washers down and tighten just the first couple turns so it wont slip off the new body blocks.


Move to the other side and repeat. The body may shift a few inches if you unhooked all of the bolts, or even if there is just enough play. I got it back in line by having my buddy slowly release the jack and I shoved the body so it would slip over a bit.


051.JPG



If you haven't ever done a body lift before be prepared to have a joyous moment. After all the hard work its wonderful to stand back and see just how much 3" is. Its a LOT for this.


The rest is pretty straight forward. Reattach everything you took off. The bed will need to be put back on. Follow the instructions on the little things the pictures are terrible but you've done most of the hard stuff now.

The radiator is the only part I had trouble with after this. Visualizing what is supposed to happen here is the pain. I'll alleviate that for you.


You have two pieces of hardware for lowering the radiator. One is a box shaped thing, the other is a straight piece of metal. The straight piece is for the top as so:


acZdJxTzyg8i9Rn4DRPkc_znTOwjQ-kYyWSaKv6ruw=w967-h725-no



The box is somewhat more annoying. When you pull the radiator (using the jack CAREFULLY from underneath is what I did) up you'll pull the little rubber bushings from where it sits off too. Those go in one hole of the box, a bolt goes in the other. Its the placement of the boxes I had trouble with.


022.JPG



The radiator is on the left of the picture box is dead center. The radiator used to sit where the bolt is on top of the bushing. You are just dropping it below. I had to drill a new hole for the box on the driver's side, I just couldn't get that thing bolted in like this one was. No idea why. Oh and that is the body mount bolt sticking up right of the radiator mount. In case you wondered where that was or how it looked.


My last major bit of advice is DONT start your truck yet. Go through and look at everything in the engine compartment and along the sides. I missed the AC hose pressing against the drive belt... Guess how long it took the belt to cut through the hose.. Yup 30 seconds was right. Post new hose this is how I have it


024.JPG




025.JPG



Those are 50lb zip ties, you could use 100lb ties if you wanted to. I'll probably find a more permanent solid design going forward but this works fine for now. You can see how close that hose is to the belt though. Just make sure you go through everything and make sure you don't make the same mistake. Cost me $440 to replace the hose and recharge the system. You don't want that.


The front bumper will need to be trimmed so that it will sit flat. Here is how I did it originally:


005+%25283%2529.JPG



You can see where the crush zone touches the frame horn. That pushed the passenger side fog off just enough that it looked dim. Fixed that with a couple dremel blades (yes I know its not really what a dremel is designed for)


021.JPG



If you don't do your trimming this is what the front bumper will look like:


002+%25282%2529.JPG



052.JPG



Aww the little chevy.


The fog lights get a little nylon spacer so they line up with the valence holes. If you don't use them they will be too low (they still work fine just look weird, most of the rest of the body lifters didn't bother)

017.JPG



019.JPG



018.JPG



That bright spot on the plastic is the crack I put in it by tightening it too much. Be nice to it. Its only a little piece of plastic.


I think that's mostly it. At this point in the project its just putting things back together, and trust me by this point you'll have seen every inch of your truck and get it done fine.

If you have any questions feel free to hit me up, or any of the Lifted Members. We are always happy to help they have done some crazy stuff. Enjoy your beastly ride! :rangergreen::salute:


This guide is not intended to replace good mechanical sense, professional installation or guaranteed results. Any injury or damages resulting in following this guide are strictly the responsibility of the reader.
 






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