explorer dd build plan, any input is appreciated | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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explorer dd build plan, any input is appreciated

bleedingblue84

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2005 F150
not sure where exactly to post this. originally posted it in the explorer/ ranger lift section.
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I currently in the market for an explorer. Looking at early 90s explorers. Going from a lowered truck to an suv will be quite the change. I plan on building a solid daily driver that is family friendly since we have a little one on the way. I live in colorado springs. I want to build an explorer because my friends all have jeeps and I'm die hard ford. So I'm thinking of using a skyjacker 6in class 2 front suspension with either superlift or rough country 4in rear springs and a warrior 1.5 in shackle. Then running 33x12.5s and lockers. I'm not sure which class skyjacker things to order and what to do with my steering.
 



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For the rear, you will get about 5.5" by doing a S.O.A. Add the war153's to that, and you get between 6.5-7" of lift in the rear.
 






just called an offroad shop here in town and they said superlift is out of business. I'm not sure if I want to go soa, mainly due to budget/ no welder, that's why I am looking 4in lift springs under axle with the warrior shackle. should net about a 5.5 in lift. will the skyjacker class 2 ranger front suspension bolt on and what kit should order? I am thinking of going with the extreme drop pitman arm for my steering.
 






I plan on building a solid daily driver that is family friendly since we have a little one on the way.

Then don't buy an early 90's explorer. Take it from someone who has had 6 explorers 4 of which were first gens.

Daily driving you'll get at best 20mpg , they have way to many early electronics in them that over complicate what should have been a very simple and straight forward vehicle.

But most of all , it has no air bags , weak pillars , and a bad crash test rating.

I don't have a family and I buy them only to build movie cars or as a sort of hobby vehicle for fun. It's not a safe car and shouldn't be used as an everyday driver anymore with kids in it. Buy a later model explorer if you want something safe to drive.

Heck buy a minivan or anything with better safety , just don't use a first or second gen as a daily driver.
 






What i meant by solid is something that is reliable with a solid drivetrain. Not concerned with airbags. Won't ever go with a minivan. if i can't find a clean explorer, I'll look into a bronco. Either way its going to be 1 or the other. Back up plan to weak pillars is add a cage for weekend end wheeling when i I'm not with the family, which would work on road also.
 






Our main baby hauler is my wifes 2011 F150 supercrew, plenty of safety features. My goal wasnt to get bashed by asking for input on a reliable build. I just needed input on my suspension plan. I simply plan on using an explorer as my dd because in colorado it snows and they are in my price range. Yes the family will ride in it on occasion, but mainly itll be just me. Kind of weird none of my parents 80s to early 90s broncos, f150s, or cars had air bags, until the late 90s cars my mom had I'm still here. By the way air bags wont help an infant in a rearward facing car seat buckled in the back seat. Well this subject just got off topic.
 






A few things..

Being in Colorado, and I'm assuming driving in snow/ice, stay away from automatic lockers. You will want a selectable locker as driving with a automatic locker on ice will make things unnecessarily exciting. Spend the extra for a ARB etc..

As for the lift.. The things you really watch for are lift kits that come with a bracket that you bolt the factory pivot brackets to. I don't think any of those exist for 4"+ lifts though...

Since you want to stay as a DD (at least for you), Stay with the post style Radius arm mounts (rubber or poly) and don't change to Rod ends/Johny Joints/Ballistic Joints. Getting rid of the Rubber/Poly Post style mounts will give you all kinds of road noise.

If you stay spring under, you will need a new leaf pack while going Spring over means you can stick with a stock leaf pack. The Spring over will give you more clearance under the axle BUT you will probably pick up some axle wrap which you wouldn't have with the SUA.

Don't forget, you will need to do gears, so figure in another $1k for gears, over the cost of the locker (assuming someone else is installing them).

For steering, you will need for fa600 drop arm for 4"+ of lift.

Ok, enough rambling.. Once we have a better idea of what your expecting from it and how bad sticker shock is to you we gave give you more info...

Oh yea, the a4ld auto tarns is somewhat weak and doesn't like getting hot so you will want to add a transmission cooler if it doesn't already have one. If you are going to go with a manual transmission, getting your gearing right and possibly using a Atlas transfer case will help if you are going to be doing rock crawling (slow, technical stuff)

~Mark
 






Depending what gears it already has and if you aren't doing any extreme rock crawling you can probably get away with stock gearing on 33s. If it has a stock limited slip you could save money on a locker and rebuilt the factory unit and be safer on icy roads too.

You can throw endless money at these but if you look around you can make a good trail machine on a fairly small budget.
 












I am looking at doing a 6" skyjacker extended radius arm front suspension and I am looking into rear 4" lift springs with the warrior shackle. not sure where to look for the rear springs. if keeping it spring under looks to costly, then I plan on going soa. just talked to an old military friend who lives near by and he offered to weld my shock mounts and spring purchase. who offers 4" rear leafs now that superlift is out of the picture? I hear rough country, but haven't been able to find part numbers yet.
 






Are you sure superlift is gone? AFAIK, they are still around, although they went through management changes more than a few years ago...

I see they still make a 4" (k490) and 5.5" total kit (5.5" uses SOA). You may be able to buy the springs separately but I'd call them to find out.. That would also let you know for sure if they are still around (1-800-551-4955)..

I don't know if skyjacker still makes leaf springs for the rear of the explorer.. a quick search didn't turn up one from them..
 






Went to 4 Wheelparts and they said superlift was out of business. I'll try calling them.
 






×2, I recall Superlift did change hands a few years back during the recession, but they are definitely still around.

Also ×2, the skyjacker FA600 drop arm is something you will want with any lift 4" or higher. The other option is a K-link or crossover linkage, which will require some welding/fabricating, but IMO is better in the end since these setups typically don't exert as much leverage onto your steering box as the big dropped arm will (you can also build more than 4" of lift correction into the setup too, where the FA600 dropped arm is fixed at 4").

Finally, 6" lift Ranger leafs are essentially the same as 4" lift Explorer leafs, so that might open up some more rear options for you (such as Skyjacker's FR36 leafs). Only thing might be is you'll have to turn the spring's centering pin bolts the other way due to the Ex being SUA.
 






Superlift recently got a new manufacturer for their leaf springs. They were on backorder for a bit but i believe theyre readily available now.
Superlift rear springs
http://www.carid.com/1996-ford-explorer-suspension-parts/item-14262759.html
You need sup 340 bushings sold seperately.
You can get the superlift front kit parted individually thru Jr Whitney
The skyjacker pitman is 200 everywhere you go.
 






I have been through several purchased lifts. Started with:
2.5" Rancho lift. Rode very nice on street, but could only fit 31" tires.
4" Superlift with extended radius arms. Rear flexed nice with the new springs, but the front did not move much. 32" tires with no trimming. Knocked a hole in the top of my diff with the Superlift drop bracket. Bad design. Rode well on street.
6" lift with Superlift and Skyjacker drop brackets, Superlift radius arms and mounts, Skyjacker coil springs, Superrunner steering. Broke two radius arms at the axle mount. Had rear radius arm mounts converted to rod ends, made a big difference in flex. Superrunner steering was constantly blowing out bushings until I had a set made from delrin, then problem went away (I think it was nearly every time I used the ARB front locker). 35" tires with trimmed front fenders. Was a little unstable on street.

None of them worked very well. I wish I had listened when I was advised to save up my money and put in a solid axle. I finally wised up and now have a rock star wheeler, that I could see as a daily driver. It drives very nice on the pavement, and flexes like crazy in the dirt.

My advice is to get two cheap cars, one of them a 91-94 Explorer. Drive other car daily, rip apart Explorer and make it into a wheeler. If you can afford a Superlift, you can afford another car to drive to work.
 






4x4Junkie, I removed your posts and the responses since they did nothing to contribute to this thread, and in fact you have no clue at all about the rig in question.

Bkennedy's advice is sound.
 






Superlift is still around..hell you can even order just the soa brackets. .they use stock shock location and everything, dont even have to weld them...waaaayyyyyyyyyyyyy cheaper than getting lift springs and shackles. ..


http://m.summitracing.com/parts/slf-k491
 






I have beams and they work very well in the rare instance I crawl around. But if I drove it more than on and off the trailer I would highly consider the SAS. Mine doesn't stay aligned very well and it the camber is always off a little, don't mind as an offroad truck but as a DD wouldn't be my first choice. If you are going to SAS you might atleast price check the second gens. It will be more expensive to put the axle under but there is alot more of them out there and V8 is an option. You might be able to get a newer, cleaner vehicle for less money to start(rear disc is nice). Nice first gens were bringing more money 2nd gens when I looked for mine. I have wheeled with my buddys bronco and that big body gets tight on the trails.

BKennedy has a point, you could build a cheaper rig if it didn't have to be driven daily. Plus your tires last forever sitting in the driveway.
 






Superlift is still around..hell you can even order just the soa brackets. .they use stock shock location and everything, dont even have to weld them...waaaayyyyyyyyyyyyy cheaper than getting lift springs and shackles. ..


http://m.summitracing.com/parts/slf-k491

I have the SOA kit from Superlift and one side collapsed on the first off road trip. I still have them, but they are plated and welded to the top of the axle now. Its cheaper to go SOA by just purchasing some generic spring perches, lining them up and welding them on. Leave the stock perches there to protect the bottom of the U-bolts.

I have beams and they work very well in the rare instance I crawl around. But if I drove it more than on and off the trailer I would highly consider the SAS. Mine doesn't stay aligned very well and it the camber is always off a little, don't mind as an offroad truck but as a DD wouldn't be my first choice. If you are going to SAS you might atleast price check the second gens. It will be more expensive to put the axle under but there is alot more of them out there and V8 is an option. You might be able to get a newer, cleaner vehicle for less money to start(rear disc is nice). Nice first gens were bringing more money 2nd gens when I looked for mine. I have wheeled with my buddys bronco and that big body gets tight on the trails.

BKennedy has a point, you could build a cheaper rig if it didn't have to be driven daily. Plus your tires last forever sitting in the driveway.

I never thought of a 2nd gen working out better if the plan was to do a SAS, but you are right on the money. A V8 SAS'd Explorer would be very nice indeed.

OP. Since you haven't purchased a vehicle yet (have you?), take your time and figure out what you want, for now and into the future. I just jumped into modifying my vehicle without any thought of where I wanted it to end up. Each time I purchased new parts to make it work better, it was usually against advise from people who are in the business or are very knowledgeable. I know I spent at least $10,000 extra on stuff that did not work for me, and several years of time, before I got what I wanted.
 



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I know with the 2nd gen you will have to do a xfer case swap to get true 4wd-comes awd, it has no springs so either coilovers or add buckets plus you need a steering box. There are plenty of SAS v8 build threads. I love my 300 ponies, rear disc and beefy trans.
 






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